Treat Things Well

My desktop often goes wrong. I haven't repaired my laptop yet. My car is also broken. Initially, the radiator cap was missing. I did not pay attention to it. Now the engine is burned up.

Things I use often go wrong. I used to damage things unintentionally. My father-in-law often fixed things I had damaged.

Sure, I also hope my stuff can last a long time.

With all these things needing to be fixed, what should I cultivate away? (Translator's note: "cultivation" in Chinese is two characters, xiu lian. "Fix" in Chinese is one character xiu, which is the first character in "xiu lian".)

Fellow practitioners told me, if you had treated them well, they would also have treated you well. You have not been nice to them; of course, they are not nice to you.

Indeed, they have gone on strike against me.

When I check into myself, I find some problems. When I use them, I often do not care at all. When my computer is not done with the previous command yet, I impatiently send out the next command. I do not think of adding engine oil to my car. When there is no water in the radiator, I still drive my car without doing anything.

I look at people nowadays: in need of wood, they chop down all trees without considering their future and the future generations. Building reservoirs, people stop rivers in the middle. Who considers the natural law of rivers and earth and ecological balance? Eating and drinking, people consume as much as possible. They discard excess food with indulgence, lavishness, and waste.

Without reservations, without rationality, people are now thinking solely from the angle of selfishness. They don't consider fatigue, rules or characteristics of their things. If things go wrong, they will replace the broken things with newly purchased ones.

Isn't this a type of evil?

In other dimensions, things are living beings.

If we treat things well, such as adding engine oil when the car lacks it, buying only what we will eat, not casually throwing out food or chopping down trees when it's not appropriate, and not using things beyond their limits, we will also have returns. They will be happy to be used by us. Remove the modern notions that "Everything works for me. I don't care. I indulge my desires and use however much I like." and the evil tendency that mindset entails. If we learn to cherish them, maintain them, treat them nicely, we can coexist more harmoniously. They will be happier to be used by us. We will work more smoothly with them.

We should treat all sentient beings, be they humans, animals, or things, very friendly. Everything will be more harmonious.

http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2001/7/30/11088.html