(Minghui.org) I was shopping at a grocery store one day and saw freshly baked bread. I told myself that I needed to buy quite a lot because I hadn’t had freshly baked bread in a long time.
However, upon a closer look, I saw that the bread was not baked to perfection. Some were overbaked, scorched, and tasted burnt and hard. Others were not baked long enough, and thus were pale, and tasted gummy and sticky on the inside. I told myself that I must get some bread because I was craving it.
I started picking out seven pieces of bread that looked delicious, big, and fluffy based on what I expected. I thought, “I will enjoy eating these tasty breads this afternoon.”
I was shocked when I reopened the bag of bread during lunchtime! The bread that I picked earlier had shrunk, turned black, and cracked. What’s more shocking was that one had cracks on the surface that formed an image of a face. That face looked like “Satan’s demonic face,” with two round eyeballs, upside-down eyebrows, a crooked nose, a sinuous face, and a demonic look. I yelled, “Ah!” loud and threw the bread on the floor. I had no desire to eat the bread anymore.
I began to ponder while sitting on my bed. “What happened? Why did the bread turn out like that? Did someone switch the bread when I was not looking? Or was this the old forces interfering in other dimensions? If so, I will negate the evil forces and still eat the bread.”
Just as I was about to reach for the bread, a section of Master’s lecture surfaced in my mind.
Master said,
“With everything you should think of others—first think about others, and then think about yourself. I want you to cultivate to achieve the kind of Consummation that is of a righteous Fa, with righteous enlightenment, one in which others come before yourself. That is removing selfishness, being able to remove “self.”” (Teachings at the Conference in Australia)
I shouted “Ah!” once again. This time I realized that Master was enlightening me.
My mind became as clear as crystal. I was enlightened by what Master mentioned about “selfishness” and “self”. I was enlightened to the fundamental problem of why the bread changed in quality. This was because of my attachment to selfishness. I also knew that Master was compassionately enlightening me to understand issues between right and wrong, eliminate my attachment, and upgrade my xinxing. Master is truly saving me!
I recollected the process of buying the bread and how my attachment to selfishness surfaced. I looked over at all the bread and wanted to pick out the best ones. I wanted to put my money to good use and did not want to spend my money on something that did not taste good. I did not want to lose money. I did not think this was wrong in the beginning and thought that it was normal. Thinking back to that scenario, I noted it was an act of selfish possession.
I asked myself: “Am I gaining profit from someone else?” I told myself: “Yes!”
I thought, “Am I doing a disservice by leaving the unwanted bread for others?” “Yes!”
“Am I only looking out for my own gains and not being considerate?” “Yes!”
It became clear to me that my selfishness was quite severe and Master had revealed a Satan’s face on the bread. Master was pointing out solemnly that my selfishness was too severe. Master wanted me to let go of the attachment to selfishness and eliminate my demonic nature.
Graveness of Selfishness
The entire situation made me realize clearly the selfishness I still held on to. I perceived not only how grave my selfishness was and how severe my demonic nature was. I was also enlightened to how I lacked compassion and kind thoughts. I have learned a lesson from this painful experience. I set a goal to eliminate my selfishness, cultivate my compassion, and change myself from deep within.
My xinxing improved greatly after a month of diligent cultivation. I clearly felt that my selfishness was not as severe and my demonic nature wasn’t as strong. I am able to completely relinquish selfishness and not harm others for my personal benefit.
What is more gratifying is that I can now think of other people’s needs before considering my own needs and desires. I would have never been able to do that in the past. I have made a breakthrough in eliminating selfishness and cultivating compassion. I believe I will do better in cultivation because I have Dafa and Master in my heart.
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Category: Improving Oneself
