(Clearwisdom.net)
Master said,
"Are you continuing on the path because of those human attachments? If so, you cannot be counted as my disciple. It means that you haven't gotten rid of your fundamental attachments and that you are unable to understand the Fa from the Fa." ("Towards Consummation" from Essentials for Further Advancement II)
When I first started on the path of Dafa cultivation, I did not clearly understand what were fundamental attachments. I thought the reason I cultivated the Fa was to transcend the Three Realms and to return to my true origin. I thought I did not have any attachments of pursuit, and I did not have any fundamental attachments that would hinder my becoming Master's disciple. I was even complacent on that note and was certain that I understood the Fa and did the things better than others. I was always self-centered during experience sharing. When doing the three things that Master told us to do, I was also self-centered.
Master mentioned in "Teaching the Fa at the Great Lakes Fa Conference in North America" that for many practitioners, their cultivation and Dafa work were based on the concept of self, and that they always considered "What do I want to do?" in cultivation. Only then did I clearly see how deeply I had been attached to myself and how selfish I was. How can I cultivate to become a selfless being that Master and the Fa require if I remain attached to myself?
Master also said, "Like a particle of Dafa, [you feel that] no matter what it is, you should just do it." ("Teaching the Fa at the Great Lakes Fa Conference in North America" from Guiding the Voyage) After that, no matter what I do, I consider myself a particle of Dafa. No matter what I do, I consider that as a Dafa disciple, I should do it. When doing the three things, I listened to fellow practitioners' suggestions as much as possible and used my ideas to supplement our group effort. At that time, I gained a deeper understanding of the attachments to oneself. Actually I understand that the "fundamental attachments" that Master mentioned are the attachments to ourselves. I regret that I did not realize these fundamental attachments earlier. How could I have been complacent and think that I did not have any fundamental attachments? Now with a deeper understanding of the Fa, I consider everything I do as the things a practitioner should do.
In "Teaching the Fa at the 2004 International Fa Conference in New York," Master mentioned that the fundamental nature of the old cosmos and beings therein is selfishness. I understood that the nature of the beings in the old cosmos is selfishness, and those beings are attached to themselves. So, as Dafa disciples, how can we eliminate the selfishness of the old cosmos? Master already pointed out the path: study the Fa with a calm mind and assimilate to Dafa—these are the requirements of Fa-rectification. As a Dafa disciple, the path is do the three things well and completely negate the old force's arrangements. No matter what we hear, see, or encounter, we should not be trapped by the old force's arrangements and should not be carried along by anything. We can then restrain all unrighteous factors of selfishness.
I finally understood the principle of the Fa, but I still cannot do everything well at all times in my cultivation. For example, when I was doing many things, I usually thought first about how I should do the things well, how I should study the Fa well, and how I should follow the Fa-rectification process. There are too many I's. This is not selflessness, but it is hiding myself more deeply. I conformed to the nature of the old cosmos and old beings and was limited by the nature of the old cosmos. I often feel that I lack the ability to do the things as I wished and the results were not very good. I was even persecuted by the evil many times. Sometimes I also feel depressed and do not know what to do.
In hindsight, I realize that I did not understand the Fa thoroughly. The nature of the old cosmos is selfishness, whereas that of the new cosmos is selflessness. Selfishness is very much ingrained in the beings created in the old cosmos. Many of our attachments to self are so hard to detect, and they were exploited by the old forces to interfere in saving sentient beings. How do we transcend the nature of selfishness of the old cosmos? The only way is to study the Fa with calm minds every day and clearly realize that doing the three things well is fulfilling the great mission that history has bestowed on us. The three things are our responsibility. We should base everything we do on the Fa and harmonize with what Master wants. This is the key to distinguishing selflessness from selfishness. In our cultivation, we should eliminate any thoughts of selfishness and rectify ourselves frequently. If every Dafa practitioners can do this, the old forces will be eliminated completely.
