The First Practice for Pursuing the Truth: Letting Go

Letting Go of the Barriers Between Oneself and God and One’s Hostility Toward God

I. Letting Go of One’s Notions and Imaginings About God: Letting Go of One’s Notions and Imaginings About God’s Work

F. God’s Work Does Not Change People’s Innate Conditions; It Aims to Change Their Corrupt Dispositions

Tell Me, does the degree to which people resist and rebel against God have anything to do with whether their caliber is good or bad? Do people resist and rebel against God because of poor caliber? Have you ever considered this question? Is this a question that’s worth considering? (Yes.) Some people say, “Because we have poor caliber, because the caliber God gave us isn’t good, we resist and rebel against God severely.” Is this statement correct? (No.) Based on our previous fellowship about the differences between innate conditions, humanity, and corrupt dispositions, which category does caliber belong to? (Innate conditions.) It belongs to innate conditions. So, do you know whether the various aspects of innate conditions are related to people’s humanity and corrupt dispositions? Let’s start with caliber—does caliber determine the degree to which a person rebels against and resists God? (No.) Why do we say that it does not determine it? This relates to the reason why people resist and rebel against God. Do people rebel against and resist God because of poor caliber? (No, it’s because we have corrupt dispositions.) That’s right—this aligns with reality. Your resistance and rebellion against God, and your inability to submit to the truth, are not due to poor caliber, they are due to you having corrupt dispositions. And so, you cannot complain about God giving you poor caliber just because you are able to resist Him. Caliber, or any other aspect of your innate conditions, are inherently conditions that you yourself have; they are intrinsic, innate conditions that you possess as a created being. Regardless of which aspect of innate conditions it is, it does not lead to resisting God, and it has no relation to corrupt dispositions. For example, being tall does not mean that you have less corrupt dispositions. Being beautiful or having fair skin does not mean that you have no corrupt dispositions. Being born into a race that people esteem and look up to does not mean that you have no corrupt dispositions. In other words, no matter what innate conditions God has given to a person, and no matter what a person’s innate conditions are like, they have no relation to that person’s corrupt dispositions. For example, a person’s appearance itself does not lead to resisting God. However, because people have corrupt dispositions, when someone is good-looking, they may think, “I’m beautiful, so I should have status and be respected.” These are revelations of corrupt dispositions. Some people use their good looks to bring their strengths into play, thus revealing many erroneous statements and actions. These statements and actions are all caused by their corrupt dispositions, not by their innate conditions. Regardless of whether you have good or poor caliber, caliber itself does not lead to resisting God. If you have good caliber but do not understand or accept the truth, you will still resist and rebel against God because you have corrupt dispositions. If you have poor caliber but can accept the truth, and once you understand what God tells you to do or not to do, you can abide by it, and you are able to not act based on your corrupt dispositions, then you will not rebel against God, nor will you be slippery and slack off, or be perfunctory, willful, or arbitrary and reckless. Regardless of whether you have poor caliber or not, as long as you have corrupt dispositions, then even if you can understand God’s words, you will still rebel against and resist God. Because you have corrupt dispositions as your life, you naturally develop various satanic thoughts and viewpoints, and satanic philosophies for worldly dealings, as well as satanic viewpoints that underlie how you view people and things, and you will show off, defend yourself, and constantly want to stand out and hold yourself above others, and even to control and rule over others. These manifestations all stem from people’s satanic nature. If you do various things based on your satanic nature and satanic life, then regardless of whether you have good or bad caliber, you will resist God. Caliber itself does not lead to resisting God. You have poor caliber, but can you act according to God’s words as long as you understand them? If you do not have corrupt dispositions or do not live by your corrupt dispositions, then you absolutely can achieve this. Take having a particular strength as an example—people often think, “Since I have this strength, I’m superior to others; I should have status in God’s house, I should be a leader or a pillar in God’s house.” These thoughts are not caused by having a strength but are caused by corrupt dispositions. Because people have corrupt dispositions as their life, all the things they reveal, live out, and exhibit, as well as their perspectives, stances, and principles in viewing various people, events, and things, are all caused by them having corrupt dispositions as their life. These are not caused by any innate condition that God has given them. Do you understand? (Yes.) What do I mean by fellowshipping these words? The purpose of this fellowship is to enable you to more clearly understand and recognize your actual situation, and to recognize what your caliber is like—don’t be a person who has no reason, and don’t engage in pointless struggles over having average or poor caliber, or even offer pointless excuses to illustrate that your caliber is not poor. These actions have no value. This fellowship is meant to enable you to accurately understand your caliber and your various abilities, and then find your proper position and conduct yourself according to your proper station. This will help you more to be a proper created being, stand properly in your position as a created being, and fulfill the duties of a created being. Of course it will also, to some extent, help you more to cast off your corrupt dispositions. Regardless of what level your caliber or various abilities are at, they do not determine the degree to which you resist and rebel against God. In other words, it could also be said that your corrupt dispositions do not depend on the class of your caliber, and even less do they depend on what your innate conditions are like. The corrupt dispositions of humans arise within their innate, intrinsic flesh. After humans were corrupted by Satan, their corrupt dispositions became their inner life. When you have not yet cast off your corrupt dispositions, you take advantage of your innate conditions to speak and act based on this satanic life. This means that before you have cast off your corrupt dispositions, you are taking advantage of the various innate conditions that God gave you to serve the attainment of your own purposes. And so, we can say this: If you do not cast off your corrupt dispositions, you are taking advantage of or trampling on the various innate conditions that God has given you; if you are in the process of pursuing the truth and practicing the truth to cast off your corrupt dispositions, you are taking advantage of the various innate conditions that God has given you properly and effectively; when you transform from having corrupt dispositions as your life to having the truth as your life, you are using the innate conditions that God has given you properly and correctly—in other words, in a more meaningful way. Do you understand now? Innate conditions themselves are not the root cause of humankind’s resistance against God. Instead, people’s satanic corrupt dispositions and the life implanted within people by Satan are the root cause of humankind’s resistance and rebellion against God. Isn’t this the case? (Yes.) Is this issue now basically clear to you? (Yes.)

6. Various Manifestations of Innate Conditions, Humanity, and Corrupt Dispositions

Before we fellowshipped on the topic of caliber, we fellowshipped about some manifestations in three aspects: innate conditions, humanity, and corrupt dispositions. What manifestations did we fellowship last time? (Last time, the manifestations fellowshipped were diligence in doing things, doing things with methodically, starting strong but finishing weak in doing things, and exercising caution in doing things, as well as talking big and boasting, carelessness, loving to showcase oneself, disdaining the poor and favoring the rich, currying favor with those who have power, having an exceptional memory, and so on.) We will not fellowship any further on these. We will continue fellowshipping about the various manifestations of innate conditions, humanity, and the revelations of corrupt dispositions. When these manifestations occur, you must know what type of manifestation they belong to, and you must be able to differentiate and discern them; only then can you approach them accurately. If some manifestation pertains to innate conditions, which are unchangeable, then you do not need to concern yourself with it. If it belongs to some defects or flaws of humanity that can be overcome, corrected, or changed, then you should try to correct and change them. If there is no need to overcome them and they do not affect your performance of duty or your pursuit of the truth, then you do not need to pay attention to them. If a manifestation is neither a problem of innate conditions nor a problem of humanity, but involves corrupt dispositions, then it must be changed. If you do not transform or change it, then, with a form of life that is dominated by corrupt dispositions taking root and wielding power within you, what you live out and reveal are not merely minor problems such as being unable to get along with others or being displeasing to others and failing to edify them. Instead, what you live out and reveal reaches the level of violating the truth, violating the truth principles, resisting God, rejecting God, being antagonistic toward God, and—it can even be said—of standing in opposition to God. Precisely because corrupt dispositions are of this nature, once these manifestations involve corrupt dispositions, you must come to know these corrupt dispositions, and then seek the truth, understand and grasp the principles of practicing the truth, and practice according to the truth principles to replace these corrupt dispositions, so that these corrupt dispositions no longer dominate your life, and in their place, the truth becomes your life and dominates your day-to-day life and what you live out.

Forgetfulness

We will continue to fellowship about the various manifestations of innate conditions, humanity, and corrupt dispositions. The last manifestation we fellowshipped about last time was having a good memory, right? (Yes.) Then what aspect does forgetfulness belong to? (Innate conditions.) This is an innate condition and also a defect of humanity—just these two aspects. Is forgetfulness a corrupt disposition? (No.) Obviously not. Some people are forgetful because they are naturally poor in memory, while others become forgetful due to aging of the brain and declining memory as they grow older. If forgetfulness is innate, it belongs to innate conditions; if it is acquired, then it is a defect of humanity. Being naturally forgetful is, of course, also considered a defect, right? (Yes.)

Being Adept at Planning Before Doing Things and Being Particularly Calculating

Being adept at planning before doing things—what aspect does this belong to? (A merit of humanity.) This is a merit of humanity. Before doing something, people who are adept at planning plan ahead, and then follow the steps, without being impulsive, reckless, or rash. They act in a steady way, not rushing to go do things on a whim, but consider beforehand how they should go, whom to go with, what to do in special circumstances, what documents or items need to be brought, whether to bring some essential daily necessities depending on the environment, and so forth. They are able to take all of these things into consideration. Before doing things, they make thorough preparations, considering more factors and being more meticulous in their considerations. They will assess in advance the distinction between favorable and unfavorable conditions, and they will differentiate between the best-case scenario and the worst possible consequences. They will make reasonable arrangements to achieve the best results. Because they are adept at planning and making reasonable arrangements, their handling of matters is usually more thorough. Unexpected situations in the things and itineraries they arrange occur less frequently, and the results of their work tend to be better. People who work with them do not feel anxious but instead feel more at ease. So, can it be said that being adept at planning belongs, relatively speaking, to a merit of humanity? (Yes.) That covers being adept at planning. Then, is being calculating good or not? (It’s not good. It is a defect of humanity.) Being adept at planning is a merit and strong point of humanity—it is positive—while being calculating is a defect of humanity. For example, if two people have a meal that costs ten yuan in total, and when paying, a calculating person pays five yuan and fifty cents while the other person pays four yuan and fifty cents, they feel: “This isn’t right—he paid fifty cents less. Each person should pay five yuan for it to be fair and reasonable.” They even calculate such a small amount. If they feel that they have lost out, they become uncomfortable and are always looking for an opportunity to recoup their losses through scheming means. If they cannot recoup their losses in this way, they can’t eat well or sleep well. Being calculating is a defect of humanity. If this becomes serious and they calculate even in major matters, always trying to extract benefit from others or take advantage of them, or frequently resorting to schemes for the sake of their calculations, then this is no longer merely a defect of humanity but involves a corrupt disposition. If one’s being calculating does not affect others or harm their interests and is only present in trivial matters of daily life, ultimately leading to frequent failures or poor results in handling affairs, this is a defect of humanity.

What kind of problem is being stingy? (A defect of humanity.) What manifestations constitute being stingy? For example, if a stingy person is about to drive somewhere and someone says, “It just happens to be on the way, can you give me a ride? It’ll only take five minutes, and I can give you some money for gas,” they fear that the person might not pay after the ride and find an excuse to refuse them a ride—this is being stingy. There are also those who, when someone asks to borrow something from them and they don’t want to lend it, say, “I’m using it right now. I’m not really in a position to lend it to you. You should ask someone else.” They are extremely miserly and mean; they don’t have normal interpersonal interactions and greatly fear being taken advantage of by others, while always hoping to take advantage of others. This is called being stingy. There are also those who, when you ask to borrow ten yuan to buy a meal and some other things, think it over: “I’ll only lend you five yuan for the meal—no more, not even a cent!” The next day when they see you, they even ask, “How was that meal? Did you use the whole five yuan?” Their words subtly hint, “Hurry up and pay me back! You still owe me for that meal. If you don’t pay me back, you’ll have to treat me to a meal!” People of this sort are extremely petty in their self-conduct and adept at calculating. They are not only adept at calculating when it comes to material things but are also especially adept at calculating in interpersonal interactions. No matter what someone says to them, they always read into it and ponder the meaning behind it. If the words harm them or infringe upon their interests, they immediately retaliate. Even in conversations, they seek to take advantage and adamantly refuse to suffer any loss. This is no longer merely being petty or stingy—it is a corrupt disposition. If it only involves always trying to take advantage and avoid losses in daily material and financial interactions, this is merely a defect of humanity and has not risen to the level of a corrupt disposition. However, if it involves the principles of conducting oneself and acting, then it is no longer a defect of humanity but has risen to the level of a corrupt disposition. So, what does generosity belong to? (A merit of humanity.) This can be classed as a merit of humanity. In interactions with others, generous people are not concerned very much about gains and losses. When others take small advantages or take a little something from them, or sometimes when someone fails to return borrowed money to them, they don’t really calculate in regard to such things. They are relatively generous and tolerant toward others—this is a merit of humanity.

Pettiness

What kind of problem is pettiness? (A defect of humanity.) It is a defect of humanity. What are the manifestations of pettiness? (A tendency to fuss over minor matters.) For example, during a meal, if you say to a petty person, “You have a really big appetite—you eat more than most people,” they get angry: “Are you calling me a glutton?” You made a remark that inadvertently hurt them or made them upset, and they take it to heart and won’t let it go. They can stay angry at you for half a month and refuse to speak to you, and you’ll have no idea what caused this. In actuality, you were just making a casual remark without any intention of mocking them, but they unexpectedly magnify this comment, believing that they were being laughed at. They take even this small matter to heart and exaggerate it endlessly, blowing things out of proportion and showing no forgiveness at all—this is pettiness. Just how petty can this kind of person be? They can be as willful as children—nobody dares to provoke them. When interacting with them, you always have to be cautious, not daring to speak to them normally, because if you do, anything you say might offend or hurt them, and that will result in consequences—the next time you meet, they will give you a sullen face, avoid eye contact, and even smash things. If you try to talk to them, they will ignore you. Neither talking things over with them nor trying to coax them will work. If you sit near them, they will avoid you and ignore you. No matter their age, they are always throwing childish tantrums and acting willfully—isn’t this pettiness? (Yes.) This is a defect of humanity. People like this are very difficult to get along with. When the brothers and sisters fellowship with open hearts together, pointing out each other’s shortcomings, no one dares to point anything out to people of this sort. But if they are not included in the fellowship, they become dissatisfied and start to have some thoughts: “You all fellowship with open hearts together, helping one another, but you don’t treat me as a brother or sister.” Saying nothing at all to them is no good—you have to say a little something to them: “You’re great, but sometimes your temper isn’t so good. However, we also have our faults and often don’t pay attention to what we’re saying.” If you don’t phrase it that way and only say that they have a bad temper and are small-minded, it won’t work—they will get angry. When interacting with them, you have to be especially cautious and speak carefully. If you say one thing that is inappropriate, you will have to bear the consequences. Therefore, it is particularly exhausting to interact with them. Nonbelievers have a term for this, they say people of this sort have “glass hearts,” meaning that they are especially easily hurt. At the drop of a hat, people like this feel wounded, start crying, refuse to eat, can’t sleep, and become negative. They say, “You all say that I’m no good. None of you like me, none of you chat to me, and all of you avoid me and don’t want to be near me.” Isn’t this childish? (Yes.) Someone says, “Your heart is so fragile, like glass—it shatters at the slightest hurt. Who would dare to expose you? Who would dare to have dealings with you? Everyone is scared of doing that.” Saying that people of this sort have evil humanity wouldn’t be objective—they really don’t engage in any evil deeds. It’s just that they’re especially petulant—they’re willful, fussy, and have the temper of a child. You can’t bump up against them or provoke them. If you are forgiving toward them, they say that you’re looking down on them and not taking them seriously; if you get serious with them, they say that you’re being fussy with them—no matter what you do, it’s wrong. When interacting with people of this sort, if your approach is suitable and you manage to please them, even if their caliber is somewhat poor, they can do their duty well. But if your approach is not suitable and something upsets them, they become negative, and you have to rack your brain for ways to appease them. People who are petty are very troublesome. Over a trivial matter, they can cry for ages, to the point that their eyes become very red. If a trivial matter doesn’t go their way, they can pout for hours. When they are out of temper, they can go half a month without paying any heed or speaking to others. People of this sort have a bad temper and are petty, but they still do the work they’re supposed to do—it’s just that they do it with anger. Once their mood improves, they can work well again. Overall, this defect and problem of their humanity is severe. They are likely to create a tense atmosphere and to cause trouble for and place burdens on both themselves and others. People of this sort do not have the magnanimity of adults or the attitude of adults for worldly dealings. They are somewhat like children around ten years old—you couldn’t say that they’re sensible, because they’re not really sensible, but you couldn’t say that they’re immature, because they always speak like adults. If you treat them like adults, then it’s possible that anything you say may displease them and make them feel constrained, causing them to suddenly throw a tantrum like a child. But if you treat them like children, they feel that you are looking down on them. In short, they are very abnormal. This is a defect of humanity. If someone has this kind of problem, they should change and strive to learn to be tolerant and forbearing, to learn to approach and handle issues in the correct way and with the correct attitude, and to interact with others in the rational manner of normal people. Even if most people do not accept the truth or the correct way of doing things, you should not be constrained or influenced by this, nor should you be restricted or bound by this. You should still persist in doing things the correct way. Even if you feel it is difficult, do not give up—this is also part of the learning process. Gradually, your humanity, insight, and other aspects will mature, and you will grow. What is the mark of growth? It is being able to get along harmoniously with most people; it is being able to bear it, understand it, and approach it correctly when someone says something unpleasant, makes a joke, or says something hurtful to you. If what others say sounds unpleasant but reflects your actual situation, you should accept and acknowledge it. If someone inadvertently says something that offends you, and you see that it was unintentional, you should choose to practice tolerance. If someone deliberately targets you and says some very hurtful things, then you need to calm down, pray to God, and seek: “Why are they targeting me like this? What is their intention? Are they an evil person, or is this a revelation of a corrupt disposition? If they are an evil person, then I need to be more discerning and guarded toward them. If what they say is correct and aligns with the truth, I will accept it; if it is incorrect, then there is also no need to argue with them. If they are revealing a corrupt disposition, I will see whether they can accept the truth. If they can accept the truth, then I will fellowship the truth with them. If they do not accept the truth, then I can only practice forbearance.” Doesn’t that resolve the issue? In this way, when you interact with all kinds of people, you can do so with mutual tolerance and mutual assistance, and get along with them harmoniously—this is always better than being a petty person. Petty people, in one respect, bring significant discomfort to others, and, in another respect, they fail to fit in with any group, appearing very isolated and out of place. Some kind-hearted people will feel sorry for you, and everyone will actually want to help you, because you’re all brothers and sisters, but when you always isolate yourself and remain alone like this, don’t you think that you appear awkward to others? (Yes.) Why are you out of place? It’s because you have this defect of humanity, so you should work to overcome it and gradually change, right? (Yes.)