(Minghui.org) In the process of cultivation and working together as a group with fellow practitioners, I have noticed a distinct pattern: when a practitioner’s daily life is relatively smooth, enjoying prosperity and happiness, the practitioners around them become concerned. Under the guise of “looking out for a fellow practitioner,” people often worry that this person will become immersed in the comforts of everyday life and as a result, neglect their cultivation.
Behind the Concern
Upon closer examination, I realized that beneath these concerns lie feelings of jealousy, a sense of unfairness, and resentment. The persecution has caused some practitioners to suffer financial difficulties, others to suffer from sickness karma, and many to face ongoing family conflicts.
Having lived in this environment for so long, we have unwittingly developed a misconception that cultivation should naturally be difficult and fraught with obstacles, and that something must be wrong the moment life becomes comfortable.
Dafa Cultivation Is Blessed
I once knew a fellow practitioner who married a quite well-off partner. After becoming married, he seemed to participate less in group study sessions than before. Some practitioners began to criticize him, believing that he was indulging his desires and had become relaxed in his cultivation because his living conditions had improved.
Similarly, when young practitioners had to work regular jobs and were too busy to participate in group activities, others felt resentful, complaining that they were selfish and indifferent to the group as a whole.
Master has never said that Dafa disciples must be poor or live in hardship. Cultivating openly and with dignity in ordinary society—maintaining good careers, a respectable income, and owning decent homes and cars—is in itself an aspect of validating the Fa. This not only demonstrates the capabilities of Dafa disciples, but also reflects the immense grace that Falun Dafa bestows upon sentient beings.
Attachments of Selfishness and Jealousy
Why is it that when we see fellow practitioners living well, buying homes, or vacationing with their families, we sometimes feel unhappy and start to scrutinize and find fault with them? Master teaches us to look inward whenever we encounter anything. When I saw these improper manifestations within the cultivation community as a whole, I suddenly realized: Why is Master letting me see these things? Do I harbor such a mindset myself?
When I took the time to reflect on myself, I was shocked to discover that I, too, harbored feelings of jealousy and selfishness. I often wished that other fellow practitioners would be like me and put Dafa-related tasks first. When I noticed practitioners unable to participate in Dafa work because they were busy with their children and families, I felt a sense of resentment.
Digging deeper, I discovered a very ugly deep attachment: my life is currently quite leisurely, free from major family responsibilities. When I see practitioners my age enjoying warm family lives with children running around them, my jealousy is stirred.
Deep down, I too long for that kind of busy, happy life, but I don’t have it. Therefore, when I see myself making sacrifices and taking on more tasks for the group while others enjoy personal happiness, I feel it is unfair—which is an extremely selfish attitude.
Everyone’s cultivation path is different, and Master’s arrangements vary; yet I was using my own standards to judge others and demanding that they follow suit.
When I overheard other practitioners whispering to each other, “Just ask her if anything comes up; she’s got free time,” the imbalance in my heart became even more apparent. Hearing those words, I felt an overwhelming sense of distress and resentment welling up inside me.
My selfish mind thought: “Why is it that everyone else is busy looking after their own immediate families, yet—simply because I have no children and am not tied down—it is taken for granted that I must be available at any moment to take care of tasks for the group?” Upon realizing this unhealthy mindset, I knew I had to focus on cultivating it away.
“Cultivation Equals Suffering” Is a Mindset From the Old Forces
It is not just me; I have observed that some older practitioners harbor the same mindset toward younger ones. They view the fact that young people are busy with their personal lives, careers, or vacations as an attachment to the happiness of ordinary people.
The mindset that “cultivation must involve suffering” is, in essence, following the path arranged by the old forces, inviting unnecessary suffering upon oneself, and creating a generation gap within the cultivation community as a whole.
My husband and I shared a very close and harmonious relationship—something that was evident to everyone around us. However, when my family faced a severe tribulation, and fellow practitioners came to share their insights, they consistently urged me to let go of marital affection, to be emotionally detached, and even stop caring for my husband.
Some even bluntly criticized me, saying, “You’re a cultivator, yet you still yearn for the happy, mundane life of ordinary people.” At the time, I felt that some of these views were too extreme.
I eventually came to understand that letting go of the attachment to sentiment does not mean becoming a heartless person or resorting to extreme actions that lead to the breakdown of the family.
Master teaches us to treat all beings with compassion, so why should we be cold toward our own family members? Isn’t that going to extremes? This inadvertently gives the old forces an opening to disrupt the family environment, thereby undermining our efforts to clarify the truth to family members.
By writing this article, I have come to realize that the overall environment serves as a mirror for practitioners to reflect on themselves.
When we see fellow practitioners happy, we should rejoice for them; when we see them facing difficulties, we should offer understanding and support with a compassionate heart, rather than judging, scrutinizing, or imposing our own personal notions upon them.
The cultivation path for Dafa disciples in the secular world is immeasurably broad. Let us set aside all human attachments and discard the old forces’ notion that “cultivation must involve suffering.” Let us treat our fellow practitioners with righteous thoughts and pure compassion, and strive together on the path of validating the Fa.
Articles in which cultivators share their understandings typically reflect an individual's perception at a point in time based on their cultivation state, and they are offered in the spirit of enabling mutual elevation.
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Category: Cultivation Insights
