(Minghui.org) My son completed graduate school in 2023. He thought he’d easily find a good job, but things turned out to be the opposite: If he wanted to find a good job, he’d have to continue studying. When I heard this, my heart sank. I immediately realized my cultivation state was not right. A cultivator should not be affected by anything, and if this news made me feel uncomfortable, it must have touched on an attachment. I knew this was a chance for me to improve.
I didn’t think about how to fix my son’s “problem,” instead I examined myself. I asked myself, “Why did my heart sink?” My thought, “I was just about to get through this hardship of supporting my son. Unfortunately I have to continue paying for his education. I already paid so much, now I had to continue scrimping on food and clothing.
I’m 50 years old, and if he goes back to school, the best time of my life will be almost over.” I asked myself, “What kind of attachment is this?” My heart answered, “It’s the attachment to wanting to live a comfortable life. This is selfishness, and not being willing to contribute to others.” My son’s issue helped point out my attachment. Cultivation is getting rid of human attachments, but I was still pursuing these things. What was I doing?
Through this incident, I finally found my deeply hidden attachment. I thought, “I don’t want it, I just want to improve my cultivation.” As soon as I had this thought, the substances that made my heart sink disappeared, and I felt lighter and brighter. It was incredible! I looked inward to make sure—it was indeed gone, and my heart was indeed bright and free. It was amazing!
Through this experience, I understood that if a cultivator has attachments, it may attract negative substances in other dimensions. I felt this attachment was a stumbling block on the path of my cultivation. With Master’s help, I found it and eliminated it. Thank you Master!
I also recalled that I thought I eliminated my attachment to my son’s issue before and eliminated it. However, it was still there. Why wasn’t it as obvious as it seemed today?
I asked myself, “I found the same attachment before, so why were the results different this time?” I thought about it carefully, and my heart answered, “My motive before was to get out of the predicament quickly, pass the hardship, and have a better life. Living a comfortable life was my motivation in the past, but this time my motivation was to truly improve and cultivate myself well.”
On the surface, both times it seemed that I was looking inward, but in reality, before I was hoping to practice cultivation as a happy person (having Master’s protection, cultivating the mind, eliminating karma, and not getting sick).
This time I just wanted to truly cultivate myself, eliminate my attachments, and truly improve. Two different motives led to two different results. Once I was headed in the right direction, Master removed those bad substances for me in other dimensions.
I used to think that, although I didn’t cultivate diligently, at least I was on the right path. Through searching within I finally saw the direction clearly and recognized the huge attachment hidden behind the attachment. How dangerous!
If one goes in the wrong direction, all one’s effort are meaningless. I now revealed my true self, and embarked on the path I really should take.
Thank you Master! Thank you Dafa!
Please kindly point it out if anything in my understanding is not in accordance with the Fa.