PureInsight | February 21, 2010
[PureInsight.org] Some practitioners may read this title and think that I am exaggerating. However, after examining their own path or that of other practitioners, they will know that it is reality.
Teacher said, “If you are still unclear about what a Fa-rectification disciple is, you won’t be able to step forward in the current tribulation, and you will be led by the human world’s pursuit of comfort to ‘enlighten’ along an evil path. Master’s heart has always been pained by those who have fallen, and the majority were ruined by that pursuit” (“Fa-Rectification Period Dafa Disciples,” Essentials for Further Advancement II). In the past, I did not understand this paragraph very well since pursuit of comfort is not as big of an attachment compared to fame, interest and sentimentality. How did it destroy so many Dafa disciples?
When looking back at my cultivation journey, however, I was shocked since almost every time that I had falling down it was related to pursuit of comfort. I remember it was July 20, 1999 that I was first illegally detained. Why did I yield to the evil? On the surface it was fear—fear of jail and fear of death. If we dig further, it was the pursuit of comfort. When threatened with imprisonment, when threatened by my employer of losing my job, when seeing elderly relatives crying and when facing the desperate expression from my spouse, the feeling was beyond description. In the end, rationality and wisdom was lost, replaced by a statement giving up the practice of Dafa—which is a blemish that can never be removed. Later, I was “transformed” in labor a camp. In addition to fear of death and of suffering, there was also the fear of losing my wife, my children, my parents and other relatives. I was deceiving myself, thinking of pretending to be “transformed” in order to be reunited with family members sooner. Later, I came to understand that behind fame, interest and sentimentality, there was comfort. This powerful attachment manipulates one into being fearful of this or that, and eventually causes you to enlighten along an evil path. At that point, I understood further Master’s words.
This attachment is not gone after we recognize it. It exists in our dimension and constantly interferes with our cultivation and prevents us from doing the three things that Master wants us to do. Since the Beijing Olympic Games, more than 10 practitioners in our local area were illegally sent to labor camps or sentenced to imprisonment. My attachment of fear also came to the surface. It caused me to go out less often to do truth-clarification. On the surface, it appeared as fear of persecution. In fact, it was pursuit of comfort—thinking of spending this period of time peacefully. Why did I feel like that? I realized it was determined by the essence of human nature. Dafa practitioners were also formed by materials in the old cosmos. We live in the dimension of Three Realms and conform to the ordinary society to the maximal extent during our cultivation. That means we are all soaked in the materials of fame, interest and sentimentality; we are all soaked in the materials of “comfort.” This is our cultivation format and cultivation environment today. However, we need to get rid of such substances and reach the standard of the new cosmos.
Pursuit of comfort has different manifestations on different practitioners. Some are attached to seeking fame and interest. Although they know such things in ordinary society cannot be taken with them to the next life, they cannot let them go. For example, some practitioners are doing business. The more they gain, the more they want to make; the more they lose, the more eager they are to make it up. They are totally lost in profit and gain and forget completely about Dafa practitioners’ responsibility and mission. The old forces saw this and they gradually strengthen their attachment. They weaken their dedication to cultivation, arrange for them to have no time for doing the three things and destroy them in the end. Some practitioners are lost in sentimentality for their spouse, children, the elderly, and others. While sacrificing for them every day, they have no time for Fa-study or truth-clarification, and cannot concentrate on sending forth righteous thoughts. When practitioners are lost in sentimentality, they are on the outskirts of cultivation, and gradually they drift away from the Fa. Some practitioners are consumed by the pursuit of comfort and desire for material indulgence. However, they use the Fa to cover up their attachment, saying Master told us to conform to the ordinary society to the maximal extent, and Master told us to balance well our family relationships. They do all of this knowing those are attachments and human notions but still try and to defend their actions. How can this be true cultivation?
Pursuit of comfort exists in our dimension, our thinking and understanding, and in our daily habits; it follows us like a shadow. On the surface, it appears normal and not noticeable. Because it so gentle and deceiving, it is the worst. It makes you sink into the indulgences of ordinary society, gradually losing your rationality. You become lost in the pursuit of fame, profit, sentimentality, lust, and eventually you forget your vow and mission.
Today, I am writing about the pursuit of comfort. On the one hand, I am using this opportunity to wake up myself. On the other hand, I am reminding fellow practitioners to pay attention to this. It can lead to many other attachments and gradually destroy a practitioner. It is not unusual for a practitioner to have attachments, but we have to get rid of them. If we cannot recognize this attachment according to Fa-principles, pay attention to it in our mind, and get rid of it in our behavior, we will be harmed and in the end destroyed. Only by recognizing it and getting rid of it can we clear the hindrance on our cultivation path, catch up with Master’s Fa-rectification, and return with Master upon reaching consummation.
Please point out anywhere inappropriate or incorrect.
Translated from: http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2009/10/27/62274.html
