PureInsight | February 23, 2015
[PureInsight.org] I always thought I didn’t have an attachment to self. Whenever I read Master’s lectures about this topic, I thought he was referring to other people. Whenever I read fellow practitioners’ sharings on this topic, I also thought it had nothing to do with me. I never looked inwards. Cultivation is planned. When an attachment should be eliminated, it will be revealed so that it can be eliminated through cultivation. It can’t be concealed. Studying the Fa more is a good way to eliminate attachments.
While studying the Fa today, I realized I had a very strong attachment to self. It manifested as showing off, being too engrossed, competitiveness, jealousy, an attachment to hearing positive things, self-consciousness, anger when my opinion was rejected, anger when I am not thanked after helping someone, becoming upset when someone doesn’t listen when I clarify the truth, depression when my article isn’t published, etc. These are all manifestations of the attachment to self. I enlightened to the fact that nothing is coincidental in cultivation. Even when clarifying the truth, whether we meet someone who accepts it or someone who doesn’t want to listen, there are elements of cultivation involved. In the past, my clarifying the truth was very smooth. Almost no one rejected it. They all agreed with Dafa and quit the CCP. That was a result of good Fa study. It was Master bringing predestined people to me to hear the truth. It was the power of the Fa and Master’s arrangements. It was Master granting my wish to fulfill my prehistoric vow – assisting Master in Fa-rectification! When I met those people who understood the truth and quit the CCP, I felt sacred and glory. If one does not have attachments, this feeling is normal. The sacred feeling will cause one to be more diligent as well. Master has also encouraged us, “Dafa disciples, you are golden light in the mortal world, the hope of the world’s people, Fa-disciples who help Master, and future Fa-Kings. Keep diligent, Awakened Ones that walk the earth: Everything of today will be the glory of the future” (The Essentials of Diligent Process Vol. III: “Congratulatory Message”).
Gradually, I began to care more about the results of clarifying the truth. I was very satisfied when I heard the gratitude and praise from ordinary people who understood the truth. When my heart was not on the Fa, the attachments to being too engrossed and showing off would reveal themselves. As a result, the effectiveness of my clarifying the truth was compromised. The people listening to the truth would experience interference and not be saved as a result my own attachment to self. Master said, “For a cultivator, all the frustrations he comes across among everyday people are trials, and all the compliments he receives are tests” (Essentials for Further Advancement: “A Cultivator is Naturally Part of It”). Passing the test when hearing compliments is not easy. Only when one’s mind is always on the Fa can one pass the test. Master said, “Cultivation is just awfully grueling, it’s incredibly serious, and if you get just a bit careless you might fall and be destroyed in a day. So your thoughts really have to be proper” (Zhuan Falun). Clarifying the truth with human notions will not have the strength of the Fa. The more one is attached to self, the weaker one’s righteous thoughts. The lesson learned is deep.
On the other hand, my human notions would be completely revealed when I ran into someone who didn’t listen to the truth as well. Especially when I try to clarify the truth to colleagues at work, when someone disagrees or tries to argue, I would form the notion that he or she despises me, so I try to convince them otherwise and prove that I’m right. This is the most classic example of the attachment to self, with the cultivator’s compassion and righteous thoughts completely missing. It is competitiveness and jealousy acting up. Through constant Fa study, I was able to realize these attachments. Revealing them today is also an attempt to eliminate them. There are so many cultivation opportunities when clarifying the truth. If one’s heart is not on the Fa, it is difficult to improve. I thank Master for creating such a good cultivation environment for us, where we can let go of human attachments in the convoluted ordinary society and save predestined people. We truly caught this one time opportunity in all of history. How could I not be diligent?
Writing this has also gradually revealed my strong attachment to self. Since 2006, I have been reading cultivation experience sharings every day on Minghui. Cultivators around the world read the articles on Minghui every day. The articles written during the annual mainland online Fa conference will be left as a reference for the future! How sacred and glorious are they! It is also encouragement for mainland practitioners, so I also hoped that my own articles would be published on Minghui one day. It is the voice of the entire body of Dafa disciples. The first few years when I submitted articles, they were accepted by Minghui and published. In fact, I had an article published on Minghui annually. I have participated in the mainland online Fa conference for eight years now, and my article last year was published on Minghui. I was very happy at the time, but I also didn't have that many attachments back then. When I wrote it, my heart was very pure, and there was no attachment to self. The article I wrote met the Fa standards at my cultivation level, so it was published.
This year, I’ve barely had any articles published. When I searched for the reason, I realized I started caring too much about the final result of getting the article published. I lacked righteous thoughts when writing the article. My goal wasn’t to validate the Fa; rather I was more interested in publishing the article. My heart was not calm. Even though I knew the article was not on the Fa, I still submitted it to Minghui to test my luck. This is a strong manifestation of the attachment to self. It is definitely not a cultivator’s state. How could the article get published? Cultivation does not allow for the slightest bit of superficiality or perfunctory behavior. One must solidly reach the standard to display Dafa’s excellence and beauty and Dafa disciples’ sacredness and extraordinariness. Master gives everything we have to us. In order to save us, Master has given us this convenient cultivation form. In order to save the universe’s sentient beings, Master has given us supernatural abilities. Our doing well is meeting Dafa’s needs, Master’s expectations and our own standards. Failing to do well will be our own regret and loss. What is there to show off?
When helping others, I’m very concerned with the other person’s gratitude and praise. This is actually just an attachment to self. For example at work, when I see a colleague faced with a difficult situation, I would help and console him or her. However, when the situation is resolved, yet they aren’t grateful or thankful, I would become very unhappy and not consider them when clarifying the truth. I treat my parents and sisters the same way. If I help them, I expect gratitude. I realized this is an attachment to hearing positive things. If “I” help you, I should receive your thanks and praise. This is a very strong manifestation of the attachment to self. Master said, “That’s because saving people has no conditions attached, there’s no asking a price, and there’s no wanting rewards, there’s no taking credit. They are way above ordinary people’s good Samaritans, and it’s done completely out of compassion” (Zhuan Falun). When comparing to the Fa’s standards, my xinxing level is too low. I don’t have compassion or meet Dafa’s requirements. I must rectify this. After seeing the manifestations of my attachment to self, I will eliminate this attachment. If I notice an attachment, I will immediately eliminate it without leaving anything behind. This is Master’s requirement of us. I wrote this out after thinking about it today in order to reveal my attachment, purify myself, walk the rest of my cultivation path well, let Master stop worrying about me and not leave regrets for myself.
Please point out anything not on the Fa.
Translated from: http://www.zhengjian.org/node/139995
