PureInsight | April 26, 2004
[PureInsight.org] I am a Chinese person living in Germany. Many Chinese people in my area enjoy making fun of certain German customs from the Chinese perspective. One of the German customs that I heard my fellow Chinese people make fun of the most frequently is how Germans eat grapes and watermelons along with their seeds. One day I overheard a conversation among a group of Germans. One of them told his friends that the Chinese people had the most bizarre custom when it came to eating grapes and watermelons. He said, "I am dumbfounded as to why the Chinese people must spit out the grape peels and seeds when they eat grapes or why they must spit out watermelon seeds when they eat watermelons."
Teacher said:
If these acquired notions become too strong, their role will reverse by dictating a person's true thinking and behavior. At this point, that person might still think that they are his own ideas." (From "For Whom Do You Exist?
(From Essentials for Further Advancement)
This is why we often regard the custom of our own country to be most appropriate. By the same token, the 20% of beings at each level of the universe are of the old forces whose notions dedicate their thinking and behavior. As for cultivators, we all have notions that are difficult to spot and to admit to ourselves, and these notions also look it hard for us to look inward. What should we do to overcome these difficulties and eliminate our notions? I believe only when we conduct ourselves strictly according to Teacher's requirements, can we fundamentally oppose the old forces' arrangements.
Translated from: http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2003/4/14/21189.html
