(Clearwisdom.net) From the seemingly trivial matter of having some cucumbers taken from me, I came to see a major loophole in my cultivation.

I went to the vegetable market to buy cucumbers that cost four yuan on May 28, 2011. I then went to another stall to buy beans, leaving the cucumbers on the side of the stall. When I asked the stall vendor to weigh the beans, she was busy weighing vegetables for another customer, so she asked me to hand the beans to her neighbor to weigh. After I finished paying, I turned around to pick up the cucumbers, but they were gone.

I asked the vendor, "Where are the cucumbers I just left here?" She replied, "I didn't see them!" I looked for the customer who was having her beans weighed, but she had left. I realized right away that this woman had taken the cucumbers.

Four yuan was not a lot of money, but I had gone to the vegetable market for years and in the daytime, and nothing had ever been stolen. Sometimes I would forget the vegetables I had purchased and the vendor would call me back. Many times I returned money to the vendors when they gave me too much change.

Master said,

“When people who have bad thoughts think about wrong things, under the strong effect of your field they might change their thinking, they might stop having bad thoughts for the time being.” (Zhuan Falun)

As a practitioner, having my vegetables stolen is something that should not happen in my field. However, it did happen. This indicates that I still have human attachments that should be eliminated but that I have not identified. These attachments make my field impure and cause me to be unable to rectify people’s incorrect thoughts and behavior.

I looked within to examine myself. Before I arrived, I wanted to buy the expensive gold cucumbers. However, when I went there the stall was very crowded, and they were selling very fresh green cucumbers for a cheaper price. I thought, why don’t I buy these fresh and cheap ones? So I changed my mind and decided to buy the green cucumbers. Due to my attachment to money, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to get them, so I squeezed into the crowd to buy four yuan worth of cucumbers. After I bought them, I was satisfied with what I got and then went to the another stall to buy beans. “We’d say that a good or bad outcome comes from one thought. The difference in one thought leads to different results.” (Zhuan Falun)

Because of my attachment to personal gain, I lost the cucumbers that I had bought.

I realized that my attachment of personal gain resulted in my losing the cucumbers. As Master said,

“All your attachments, as long as you have them, all have to be worn down in different settings. You will stumble, and from that grasp the truth. That’s how you cultivate.” (Zhuan Falun)

As practitioners, we should not have a preoccupation with personal gain or loss and gain. If we have this attachment, we may have to lose something in order to realize it and have our attachments pointed out. Therefore, as practitioners, we should keep our xinxing high and not worry about material possessions or personal gain. These attachments are not only reflected in the large tests in our everyday lives, but also in the tiny day-to-day details, which can often be more difficult!