PureInsight | August 13, 2001
I have been practicing Falun Dafa for about three months and, while reading Zhuan Falun, Master’s suggestion to give up drinking alcohol and smoking struck a chord in me. I had been struggling to give up smoking for at least 10 years off and on, and it had proven to be too difficult for me.
I managed to heed the call and took advantage of the opportunity Master offered me.
Master made it incredibly easy for me to give up drinking and smoking; the cravings disappeared with just a thought of help toward Master.
I started to try to analyze why giving up was so easy for me, when Master's words from lecture six came to me: 'Some people do not have a very strong Main Consciousness and will comply with the thought karma to commit wrongdoing. Such people will be ruined and drop in levels. Most people, however, can remove and resist it with very strong thoughts from themselves (a strong Main Consciousness). With this, it indicates that this person can be saved and can distinguish good from bad. In other words, the person has good enlightenment quality. My fashen will help eliminate the most of such thought karma. Once it transpires, one will be tested to see if one can overcome such bad thoughts on one’s own. If one is determined, the karma can be eliminated.”
After pondering these words, it seems to me that all addiction is thought karma and it is generated by those living beings we build into the world that is our body and mind. Cravings, therefore, are not generated by our true selves, but by external factors we perceive as being ourselves. These are the old forces trying to keep us from upgrading ourselves and regaining awareness of ourselves as our true selves. People often talk to me about “giving up” attachments and now I am beginning to see that the part of us that thinks it is giving something up is not our true self, as our true self will be gaining something when we defeat thought karma or overcome attachments.
To use an analogy, if our mind and body are our garden, and we are the gardeners, it is the weed that yells “ouch” when it gets pulled out, and it is the gardener who is happy to see his garden improve. In other words: the craving is not me and if I am aware of this, then I will not think that I am giving up something, but that I am gaining something.
To look back at my struggle with smoking, whenever I asked master for help, the cravings would go and I would feel the opposite, a calm and peaceful feeling.
This feeling is becoming stronger as I practice and study the Fa more diligently, and I am now beginning to know this feeling as being generated by my true self. It is the feeling of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. Master gives us an incredibly clear insight into the psyche of addiction and attachment and his benevolent teachings allow us to discard the old psychological baggage and regain that which we have lost: our true selves.
To conclude, I would like to state that these words (apart from Master’s quotes) are my insights on my level, and as such are necessarily flawed.
Any suggestions are welcome. Heshi
