(Minghui.org) An obvious appearance of self-righteousness among practitioners is that a person is obsessed with himself, persisting in proving what he has done, and claiming that what he is doing is right, and that it is for a specific reason. On the other hand, he is obsessed with others' mistakes, trying to change others, and even using certain methods to force others to change. Let's focus on the latter here.
When one is obsessed with fellow practitioners' mistakes, it is generally not out of malice. But, one had found the deficiencies of others and is anxious for them, or anxious about their affecting saving sentient beings. However, he does not recognize his own problems.
Fellow practitioners who have not been polluted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) culture rarely hold a self-righteous behavior. However, self-righteousness is not unique to those influenced by the CCP.
In ancient China, there was a story of a wise man's suspicion of his neighbor. If a person valued his own opinions too much, and thought that his own opinions were always correct, then he is self-righteous.
We need to ask ourselves, “On the basic point of cultivation, does it align with Dafa when we ask others to do as we instruct?”
Of course, if we notice the problems of fellow practitioners, we should point them out. Especially if their actions could bring losses to Dafa, they must be stopped. But how should we point them out? How to stop them? What Master taught us is “...advising people to be good,...” (“Explaining the Fa for Falun Dafa Assistants in Changchun,” Explaining the Content of Falun Dafa), “Don’t give him an audience...” (Teaching the Fa at the Western U.S. Fa Conference) and “...wouldn’t the bad attitude of that person be a perfect chance for you to cultivate yourself?” (Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Canada).
If you have self-righteous thoughts but are not alert to it, you will think that you are better than other practitioners on a specific issue. This can be dangerous and perhaps it will play the role of creating gaps between fellow practitioners. This is contrary to the original intention of helping fellow practitioners improve.
Category: Improving Oneself
