Eliminate the Attachment to Self-Interest

[PureInsight.org] One time I went to a shoe-stand to buy shoes. The owner was an elderly lady. Her shoes were much cheaper than other stores, but I still took a while to bargain with her. Finally, I got a deal and was satisfied. But very soon I felt bad. I had pursued self-interest and totally forgot to consider her situation. Actually, a few dollars more or less didn’t make any difference to me. What could I do with the money I saved? At that time, my thought was very bad; I didn’t think of how the elderly lady made a living. The attachment to self-interest had been lurking in my mind.

I looked back upon my everyday thoughts, which reflected the attachment to self-interest. I didn’t want to take the right path but rather attempted to profit at other people’s expense. I asked for something in exchange under the guise of cultivating Buddhahood, i.e. what could I gain when I save sentient beings? The attachment to self-interest is really dangerous. Without knowing it, the attachment made me feel that cultivation was like doing business: today I put in a lot of work, what would Buddha reward me with? Yesterday I worked very hard, why am I not treated well today? Because of the attachment to self-interest, I was swallowed by its demon nature. My hands, feet and even my mind were bound with self-interest. Therefore, I could hardly show the impressive and dignified manner of a cultivator.

When I looked further, the attachment to self-interest was like a sort of phony kindness on the surface, but underneath, it penetrated into the cells of the human body; or like the string of a musical instrument full of demon nature, stirring up a person’s mind, controlling a person’s mental ability, siphoning off a person’s essence. The attachment to self-interest kept changing into different forms, trying to disguise and confuse my true self. When a person develops the attachment to self-interest, it will gnaw at the heart and mind. This is its true colors and manifestation.

I am a Dafa disciple in the Fa-rectification period. I must eliminate the attachment to self-interest. Master has arranged my cultivation and everything in my life, including, of course, my finances. The money I spend every day is from Master. My heart is in the Fa; my body will be in the new universe; I am a particle of Dafa. The evil is nothing. I wrote this down to expose my attachment and eliminate it.

Translated from: http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2010/5/22/66308.html