(Clearwisdom.net) As cultivators, we need to get rid of attachments such as jealousy, zealotry, fear, hatred, longing for profits, competitiveness, lust, pride, feeling inferior, showing-off, pursuit of comfort, etc. Attachments like these are caused by human notions and they are easy to notice. As long as a cultivator wants to get rid of these attachments, he or she will be able to.
However, some other attachments have become difficult to recognize over the years of human evolution, especially the past several decades of Chinese Communist Party culture and atheism spreading in society. "Many attachments have already become second nature, and these people themselves cannot detect them." (Zhuan Falun)
For example, an elderly practitioner said: "I am already 80 years old." Thus, some aging signs started to show on him. The hidden human notion that the physical body would decline was affecting him. Later, he realized this and got rid of the attachment and he became energetic and young-looking again.
When another practitioner was imprisoned, Teacher transformed serious tuberculosis symptoms for him to scare the police away, so that the practitioner was able to get out of jail. After that, he told fellow practitioners repetitively that he didn't really have tuberculosis and all the symptoms were transformed by Teacher. Because he was so attached to worrying that fellow practitioners might think he had tuberculosis, he had a cough for a couple of months. Then a fellow practitioner pointed this out to him. He realized it and got rid of the attachment, and in turn, his cough disappeared.
Some practitioners had certain kinds of diseases before. Although they were cured after practicing Dafa, some pathological symptoms would still emerge from time to time. Every time that happens, they would think: "Oh, I had this disease before, (so no wonder I am having these symptoms again.)" Actually, it is these thoughts that keep the symptoms going.
A third practitioner has been imprisoned several times. He said to fellow practitioners: "I couldn't send forth righteous thoughts every time I was in jail. Even though I am not there any longer, I still can't. It is all because of the persecution against me." Later, in the sharing with fellow practitioners, he realized this notion was a human attachment and should be let go. He did, and noticed that it has been easy to enter the state of sending forth righteous thoughts ever since.
There are many other human notions difficult to detect as well, especially among some older practitioners who were born in communist China and were affected deeply by the Chinese Communist Party culture. Distorted theories such as atheism, men can defeat the nature, material things first and spirituality second, etc. were held as truths. These theories are still poisoning us in an unnoticeable way.
Teacher said in Teaching and Explaining the Fa at the Metropolitan New York Conference:
"With many things you shouldn't be constrained by human notions. You might say that you've formed certain habits before, but what's been bestowed upon Dafa disciples today is the state of Gods, and you should progress toward the state of a God."
The time of Fa-Rectification is drawing near, we need to locate our human notions and get rid of them. Seize every moment. Fellow practitioners, we must not fail to live up to Teacher's merciful salvation.