(Minghui.org)
Teacher said:
“If he is able to let go of life and death, he is a god; if he isn’t able to let go of life and death, he is human.” (“Teaching the Fa at the Fa Conference in Australia”)
“If a cultivator can let go of the thought of life and death under any circumstance, evil is sure to be afraid of him. If every student is able to do this, evil will of itself no longer exist.”(“Eliminate Your Last Attachment(s)”, book Essentials for Further Advancement II)
Every Dafa practitioner must believe in Teacher and Dafa and let go of the attachment of life and death. As many veteran practitioners may know, once we achieve this, the tribulations and difficulties on our cultivation path will be easy to pass.
Then, what is truly letting go of life and death? Is it the same as not being afraid of death?
In ordinary society, some people couldn’t find the meaning of life, lost hope, and committed suicide. Were they afraid of death? No. Then, did they let go of the attachment of life and death? Certainly not. On the contrary, they wanted to give up and escape from reality. It was a cowardly action. Their Main Consciousness was not in control. The misery they felt resulted from enormous thought karma. As a result, they were surrounded by layers and layers of deviated substances, which were derived from sentimentality.
Other people in society risk their lives to fight and engage in violence. Have they let go of the attachment of life and death? No. They are being controlled by their demonic side and have become irrational. Once they calm down or get punished for their behavior, they may regret it because their actions were irrational and not from their true self.
Some practitioners who experienced sickness karma were eventually hospitalized. When fellow practitioners told one such practitioner to let go of the attachment of life and death so that she could pass this test, she replied, “I can let go of the attachment of life and death, but I am afraid of pain.”
Some practitioners who were tortured by evil agents of the communist regime and eventually yielded to them also said, “I’m not afraid of death if I die instantly, but I just can’t bear the suffering.”
If death was as comfortable as tasting delicious food or as easy as walking on the beach, who would be afraid of death? Thus, being afraid of pain is actually a manifestation of not being able to let go of the attachment of life and death.
An everyday person's suffering is endless and may seem unbearable because of his enormous karma. But for Dafa practitioners, all of the suffering is within our limit of tolerance. Although sometimes we may feel that we've reached our limit, we can still bear it. If we can’t tolerate it, it must be because we fall short in believing in Dafa and Teacher. Of course, if we could walk our path righteously all along, the evil would be unable to take advantage of our loopholes; thus, such suffering would not happen in the first place.
Since ancient times, people have feared death yet for another reason. There are many things that people are attached to in this human world. For example, they worry about their children, money, spouse, etc. Death means that they have to give up all of this. Because they don’t want to let it go, they are afraid of death.
Truly letting go of the attachment of life and death doesn’t mean one has to die. For practitioners, it means that we can let go of all of our desires and attachments, including attachment to our human body. Once we achieve this, we will be calm and peaceful. Then, the interference from sickness karma and evil persecution will count for nothing on our cultivation path.
In order to achieve this, the fundamental requirement is 100 percent belief in Teacher and Dafa, without any reservation.
The above is my understanding of letting go of the attachment of life and death. Please point out anything inappropriate.
Heshi!