Getting Rid of My Attachment to Comfort

[PureInsight.org] Since I
started practicing, I shared periodically with fellow practitioners
about sleeping late. I did not truly resolve my problem and, during
critical moments, I even felt fatigue and could not accomplish the Dafa
projects on time.



We had a photography exhibit last year on International Human Rights
Day and the preparation was delayed due to my fondness for
oversleeping. I tended to rely on luck and thought that Master would
help me to complete my photograph with a German screen on time.
However, when the day came, the practitioner who was responsible for
the task was exhausted and overslept, therefore we missed the
opportunity to show the film, and had to use a different film
instead.  When I looked within, I knew very well why this had
happened.  I, however, did not have the determination to get rid
of the interference. I did not want to let go of my attachment to
comfort yet. Actually, that was because I had formed such a deep-rooted
notion about sleep all my life and it was too deep and too difficult to
uproot it.



Not until I started selling tickets for the Chinese New Year's
Spectacular, did I realize the urgency and difficulty of saving
sentient beings. Only by elevating my xinxing
could I save more people, and all other methods from the ordinary
people failed to move their knowing sides. I also understood the
biggest obstacle for my xinxing
to move up was my attachment to comfort, namely, it was my fondness for
sleep. Now is the late stage of Fa-Rectification, and I sleep eight
hours a day. I sleep away so many precious hours and I am
ashamed.  However, I did not do anything to break this
barrier.  Several years ago, Master mentioned in one of his
lectures that many disciples were so busy that they had very little
sleep at night.  From many sharing articles I read, the common
knowledge is that four or five hours of sleep should be sufficient.
Getting up in the early morning also helps to improve the quality of
sending righteous thoughts.  I soon discovered that this was not
hard to do in a group setting but, doing it at home, I went back to the
old way very fast.  Under broad daylight everyone would be up and
busy with their work except me. I stay in bed until after 9 AM.  I
was quite troubled by my lack of willpower and my deep-rooted
attachment to comfort.



In early February, I recognized how difficult it was to sell tickets.
If we could not meet the requirements that Master requested, we would
not be able to sell any tickets.  Another practitioner and I
decided that we should set a good example for others: we would send
righteous thoughts at 5:00AM and start to study the Fa and do the
exercises. If one of us failed to get up, the other would make a
wake-up call. The very first day, neither one of us woke up, and
neither one of made a wake-up call. The second day, I got up but the
other practitioner said that he could not make it. As a result, I
studied a few pages and went back to sleep until 10:00 AM. 
However, we did not give up. The third day, we started to discuss with
more practitioners, and it turned out that everyone wanted to get up
early to study the Fa. Thus we established our early morning Fa-study
group.  Because we all live in different part of the town, we
studied together online. After one week, we all overcame our demon of
sleep to some degree, and I continuously looked inwards and found out
that the root cause of my fatigue was my attachment. For me, getting up
early was the most difficult step. It was harder than walking up to
Heaven. With more Fa study, however, as well as encouragement from
fellow practitioners, I was able to cut my hours of sleep to four or
five.  I had made similar decisions many times before but failed
after I tried it for two or three days.  This time, I was
determined to get rid of my attachment to comfort, just like what
Master said in Zhuan Falun
about quitting smoking, "As a practitioner, why don't you take it as an
attachment to be abandoned, and see if you can quit. I advise everyone
that if you truly want to practice cultivation you should quit smoking
from now on, and it is guaranteed that you can quit."



For several days, I felt that there were noticeable changes. I
recognized that the sleepy materials were going through transformation.
Sometimes, I felt so weak that I could barely stand up. After a while,
my body started to generate heat as if it were burning. In those few
days, I looked into the mirror and found my complexion turning rosy
even with less sleep and, in addition, my skin became more
delicate.  After four years of practicing Dafa, I was wondering
why my physical transformation came so slow.  When I thought about
it carefully, I knew that cultivating in a comfortable environment and
not elevating my xinxing were
the main reasons.  In early February, I set a short-term goal: to
get up early to do one hour of exercises and study one lecture until
the Spectacular in Berlin was over. Many practitioners believed then
that no matter how busy we were and how critical the situation with
selling tickets was, we should study the Fa.  Thus, our morning
study group all a sudden added quite a few more practitioners and the
energy field became more righteous and harmonious.



After the Chinese New Year's Spectacular was over, we knew that our
ticket sales had left a lot to be desired. We also recognized that we
had not cultivated solidly, that we should move forward diligently and
not make only a last minute effort, expecting Master to help. 
Studying early in the morning has continued and become a lasting
goal.  Thus practicing and studying has become the first thing we
do in the morning and is not delayed because of our daily life
activities. At the present, we have maintained our diligence for six
weeks. Some of us who were persistent have become stable; some of us
who were confused and unstable have suffered from fatigue. The most
unusual was some practitioners thought that we were going to extremes
in our cultivation.  Ordinary people also misunderstood and
thought that it was not the cultivation path that Master left us and
the generations to come. Those who persisted thought differently and
believed that we should understand our situation from the standpoint of
the Fa to find better ways to help each other, overcome interference,
and move forward more righteously. Here I would like to openly share
with other practitioners and elevate as a whole body. At the same time
we would gain a greater understanding of diligent Fa-study. All of us
also know that online study cannot replace face-to-face Fa study and
sharing.



My personal understanding is that for time being we need to get online
to study together, and this is really the most effective way to make
use of sleeping time to study the Fa and do the exercises. One day,
when Dafa has spread to every corner of this world and when more people
practice Dafa, practitioners can establish practice sites outdoors in
the morning, just like in Taiwan or in China before the persecution,
and do the exercises or study the Fa together. In reality, such an
environment would be very difficult to create in Europe and other
countries outside of China, because practitioners are very few in
number.  Particularly in Europe, the living condition is too
comfortable, and comfortable living can easily wear down a cultivator's
willpower. When one slacks off in Fa-study, one becomes
depressed.  Sharing about attachment to comfort among
practitioners can also have positive effect, but cannot eliminate the
root of the attachment. Since there are so many practitioners who have
this attachment, why can't we make use of the internet and form an
environment for Fa-study?  From our experience, this method
actually brings very good result.



I have attended a few large scale truth-clarifying activities in Europe
and I found many practitioners wanting to get rid of their attachments
to comfort; namely, sleeping less and practicing and studying
more.  However, only very few of them can persist in real
life.  I heard that many practitioners in North America,
participating in huge projects, sleep only 2-3 hours at night.  I
feel that the whole body in Europe has a lot to catch up. To be honest,
every time the Fa-Rectification reached a new level, most of our
reactions were sluggish and numb in comparison.  This is the
reason why I want to share my experience of our early morning study
with others, particularly with the practitioners in Europe. 
Actually, from the past six weeks I have so much more to share about
getting rid of my attachments, I could have written more
articles.  I gain more understanding practically every day. 
It is not easy for me to write this article due to my limited
understanding, but other practitioners said that my sharing would be
quite beneficial to others.   



Translated from: http://zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2007/3/21/42878.html