PureInsight | October 20, 2003
[PureInsight.org] Selfishness existed in the whole process of my cultivation. Recently I could see my selfishness in many aspects. When I encountered a problem, I knew that I should look inward. However many times I only blamed myself. I tried to find excuses for attachments that I had not discarded, which actually protected the human attachments. Therefore I had not changed my nature.
Sometimes others' words or an incident reminded me of the attachments I had, and my heart was swayed. I checked myself to see why this happened. As I went deep inward, I found my personal notions, the things I was attached to and the actual interests that I wanted to pursue. The same argument applied to how I was treating our fellow practitioners. In retrospect, I realized that many times I helped my fellow practitioners from my own point of view instead of thinking of them first and did not treat their things as my own.
Sometimes when I encountered a problem I felt bothered and attached to my own feelings. I would think about my own loss and gain and did not immediately realize that I was a cultivator and that I should be strict with myself according to the standard of Dafa. In reality, I found that selfishness was in my every thought and every notion. For example, I would often think, "I should cultivate well; I should validate the Fa; I should study the Fa well; I should improve myself." It was all about "me." I did not give up "myself" completely and did not melt into the Fa to improve myself by Fa study.
In fact, selfishness did not exist in our original, innate nature. We were separated from our original nature in pursuing our own interest. I know clearly that Dafa is dignified. Every level has its own standard. In the process of my cultivation, I tried to get rid of this selfishness. But I could always find it in a new level. It was still there. I then realized that the selfishness existed throughout all spaces in the old cosmos. The old cosmos was doomed to be disintegrated and destruct because of the selfishness.
Selfishness is like a lock. It locks our wisdom and capabilities. Where there is selfishness there exist human notions; where there is selfishness there exists pursuing personal interests. As we continue to get rid of selfishness, our levels are upgraded at the same time. To be a qualified Dafa disciple, we should first consider Dafa and others when we encounter problems; we should think about what Master said on this matter. If we can understand Fa from the standpoint of Fa, if we can give up everything and the self that controls everything, Dafa is rectifying us, and we are getting rid of selfishness completely.
We should do what Master asks us to do. Master said in "Non-Omission in Buddha-Nature" (From Essentials for Further Advancement), "I also want to tell you that your nature in the past was actually based on egotism and selfishness. From now on, whatever you do, you should consider others first, so as to attain the righteous Enlightenment of selflessness and altruism. So from now on, whatever you do or whatever you say, you must consider others—or even future generations—along with Dafa's eternal stability."
Translated from: http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2003/9/14/23471.html
