(Minghui.org) Master said,
“It would be good if they could manage to search within themselves for the things that they have been able to find in others.” ( “A Dialog with Time,” Essentials for Further Advancement)
From cultivation, I learned that by regarding fellow practitioners as a mirror, and examining ourselves and comparing ourselves with the Fa upon seeing other's attachments, we can uncover our own hard-to-detect attachments.
Since practitioners grew up amongst everyday people, they may have many of the attachments that non-practitioners have. It is just that the degree of manifestation is different in practitioners.
It is easy to see other people’s attachments, but difficult to see one’s own. They are shielded by one’s notions and thought karma. People do not want to look inward. The bad things inside a cultivator’s body don't want to be found by the cultivator because they don't want to be eliminated.
People do not want to look inward because it is difficult to look at oneself honestly. It is easy to use the Fa to judge others, point out other people’s problems, and hope others will change quickly. It is tantamount to wanting the mirror to show a different you rather than changing oneself. This can never happen. I found that when I changed, others around me also changed.
Practitioners are all mirroring each other. When you see someone's attachments, measure them against Dafa, and then examine yourself. This way we can identify our own attachments. They might be the same or something different. The important thing is whether one can truly look inward and get rid of attachments.
Actually, examining other's problems is also examining one’s own. There is no problem that is purely someone else’s and not one’s own. If you only point out other people’s problems, you are looking outward and not inward.
Everyone around us is a mirror. I realized that we can feel uneasy with the reactions of others when our own attachments are revealed. This is one way we are reminded of our deficiencies.
If you see that everyone around you is nice, that means you are nice. If you see that people surrounding you are bad, that is because you are bad. When you complain, criticize, and are displeased with others, you are actually displeased with yourself. The truly bad things are your own complaints, criticisms, and displeasure.
Category: Improving Oneself
