(Clearwisdom.net) Before some people started to practice Falun Gong, they were stubborn individuals in their everyday lives. We do not want to mention here the advantages and disadvantages of this personality trait in ordinary people; instead, we would like to talk about the effect of this characteristic as it relates to practitioners.
The advantage is that during the process of cultivation, when you meet with a big test and tribulation, sometimes it is difficult for you to let go of your attachment, yet you are very clear about the Fa principle, and you can make it through the test due to your stubbornness. During the process of validating the Fa, you can do very well with powerful righteous thoughts, fully understanding the Fa and the characteristic of stubbornness.
The disadvantage is that the person with such a personality trait always considers himself to be right. During the process of Fa-rectification cultivation, he has been rectified a lot. However, when the process of Fa-rectification is not easy to observe, he will stick to his own ideas, which will lead to problems in personal cultivation and validating the Fa. My personal understanding is that if one wants to overcome this shortcoming, one should study the Fa more and increase the capacity of one's compassion. At the same time, one should be very modest and think more about others' opinions. If one can think about everything from the viewpoint of the Fa-rectification, generally such people will rectify themselves.
This is just a piece of my personal understanding. Please point it out if there is anything wrong. Heshi.
June 22, 2007