(Clearwisdom.net) Someone raised an issue recently at a group study session. "One fellow practitioner with technical computer skills often repairs computers for other practitioners. When he gets busy he works day and night. Because he does not have a fixed income, he has to rely on his family to live. When practitioners want to pay him a fee for repairing a computer he always refuses, no matter how the practitioners have tried. Because of this, the practitioners feel guilty, but they do not know what to do." My reply was that he could find a job so he can work and validate the Fa at the same time; nothing is affected. Another practitioner interjected, "He is very busy repairing computers for other practitioners. Everyone asks him for help, so he has no time to find a job." We discussed this issue for a while, but before we knew exactly what to do it was time to send righteous thoughts.
After sending righteous thoughts my mind became clear. We should not be bogged down in the actual things and think of ways to solve this one problem; this is the human way. We should share understandings from the perspective of the Fa. I recalled a Minghui article, "Searching Inward in a Solid Way," where it said, "Can one truly search inward when he or she hears or sees something?" I had an insight when I first read this article, but once I encountered something my first thought was to criticize the practitioner for not finding a job.
I quickly looked within. I am also partly responsible for the fellow practitioner's having no time to find a job. If there was something wrong with my computer I would have someone find this practitioner to fix the problem for me. Sometimes it took him several hours. Sometimes he took the computer home and then worked on it until the middle of the night. Initially I felt grateful, as he had helped me so much. I also envied his skills. I respected him for unselfishly making contributions to Dafa and having cultivated well. But I also felt uncomfortable, because I had taken up the practitioner's time without paying him. At mealtime I would cook several more dishes for the practitioner or bring fruit for him. This seemed to ease my mind a bit, and I felt a little more balanced. But now I think that all these human mentalities are selfish.
After this had gone on for a while, once I encountered a problem with my computer, no matter big or small, I would rely on him and wait for him to come to fix it. He would come with just a phone call. Sometimes he may say, "I am busy and cannot come today. I'll come tomorrow." But I still thought, "Won't this delay my work? What I am doing is the grave matter of validating the Fa and cannot be delayed. If he does not have time in the daytime, I'll go to find him in the evening." I had not considered whether he had finished his Fa study or whether he was tired or not. I just considered my needs, as if by not coming to help me he would affect my validating the Fa. I was just like the abbot Master describes in Zhuan Falun, who neither has the skills nor wants to learn the skills, but still feels justified to instruct those practitioners with skills to do this or that, as if they should serve me. The computer expert was like the junior monk in the story who cooks the meals and who works hard and tirelessly, and sometimes even has no time to eat. But I still criticized him for "not going to find a job." So, do I still have a bit of the compassion that a Dafa cultivator should have? What kind of mentality is this?
Then Master's Fa rang a bell in my ear,
A wicked person is born of jealousy.
Out of selfishness and anger he complains about unfairness towards himself.
A benevolent person always has a heart of compassion.
With no discontentment or hatred, he takes hardship as joy.
An enlightened person has no attachments at all.
He quietly observes the people of the world deluded by illusions.
("Realms" in Essentials for Further Advancement)
Master's Fa clearly tells me that I acted out of jealousy, which I should cultivate away. I continued searching within myself. Why did I still ask him for help while he was busy and could not come? This was because first out of my concern for safety; second, my attachment to convenience; third, my paying no money (that is a hidden attachment to money); and fourth, my considering only myself - that is, my work could not be delayed. When I wrote to this point, I remembered that several years ago a practitioner who was good at computers came to teach me how to use my computer. He taught me for two to three days but I still did not know how to use it. The last time, while he was still busy doing something else, I called him to come to help me. I complained that he was not patient in teaching me by saying that if he had been a little more patient I would have mastered the skill. Not long afterwards, police arrested him. When I learned the news, my first thought was that his cultivation had not been good; he had loopholes and he had not studied the Fa enough. Now when I think of this again I feel that had I not taken so much time from him, his cultivation would have been better. How could I still complain about the fellow practitioner? Even if the fellow practitioner had not done very well, I still should unconditionally send righteous thoughts to strengthen him, because he had already given too much of himself! This kind of regret cannot be balanced by my just saying the word, "sorry;" it is a sin! I should double-compensate for this sin in my cultivation. To help other practitioners remember the lessons that I have learned, I want to make the following suggestions: