(Minghui.org) I’ve practiced Falun Dafa for decades, and while recently discussing my cultivation experiences with other practitioners I’ve realized that everyone has a fundamental attachment that is hard to get rid of. It constantly interferes with us and prevents us from making progress: this is the attachment to “self.” It manifests in many ways especially between practitioners. In seemingly insignificant matters, we stubbornly hold on to self and we use Master’s teachings to cover it up. I want to share my understanding.
Master spoke of the issue of showing off in Zhuan Falun. Some practitioners mention how many lectures of Zhuan Falun they read every day, or how many paragraphs they’ve memorized. Others say they meditate for 3 hours, or they do the second exercise for 2 hours. Some talk about how many materials they distributed that day, or how many people they helped to quit the CCP: “I did this, I did that,” and so on. Some practitioners even brag: “I was arrested, but I did not cooperate with the police, I shouted ‘Falun Dafa is good’. I refused to wear prison clothes,” and so on... There are practitioners who show off that they know more than others by spreading hearsay: who wrote this article, who makes truth clarification materials…
Showing off is a major taboo in cultivation, and this attachment can easily taken advantage of by the old forces. I observed that this played a significant role with many practitioners who were severely persecuted. I also have this problem. I thought I had a good understanding of the Fa principles, and I did the three things well. I felt I did well when I was sent to detention centers, labor camps, and prison. Intentionally or unintentionally, I drew attention to myself among practitioners; I was persecuted many times, these were closely linked to my attachment of showing off and doing things.
Actually, Master lifted all of us from hell, so what is there to show off? We are simply a particle of Dafa, everything we have is given by Master. Without Master and Dafa, we are nothing. What is there to show off?
In assisting Master in Fa rectification, when we eliminate the evil that is undermining Dafa and persecuting practitioners, we should have the spirit of supreme dominance. Yet, when we face sentient beings we should be humble and be able to endure humiliation, only then can we attain the righteous enlightenment of selflessness and altruism.
This problem is especially pronounced among those who are praised for cultivating well. These practitioners often think they are doing well in studying the Fa, they have a good understanding of the Fa, they have good enlightenment and they are conceited. Some say: “I don’t need to clarify the truth any more, I only need to help other practitioners improve their understanding of the Fa, and pass tests.” Some practitioners organize Fa study groups but never study the Fa, they even claim studying the Fa is pointless—what’s important is to share understandings. Consequently those who attend such Fa study groups only argue on certain specific issues, and constantly fight which is also a human attachment.
Master said,
“The very act of using human thinking to stress who’s right and who’s wrong is in itself wrong. That’s because you are then using the logic of ordinary people to evaluate yourself, and using that logic to make demands on others.” (“Fa Teaching Given in Manhattan”, Collected Teachings Given Around the World Volume X)
The moment you think highly of yourself and insist that your understanding is correct, you are already in the wrong.
Human beings inherently adhere to the human principles formed in their bones over thousands of years. Master pointed out in many poems in Hong Yin the negative influence “modern concepts,” “theory of evolution,” and “atheism” have on people.
It’s especially easy for those who are indoctrinated by Communist Party culture to go to extremes. Due to our occupations, gender or character etc, we may stubbornly cling to our notions, understandings and habits. We tend to see problems and handle them using human notions.
For example: when I shared cultivation understandings with a practitioner who is going through “sickness karma,” his mother asked me if her son was suffering from brain atrophy. I replied, “Master has already removed the root of the disease from those who truly practice cultivation. Who said he has brain atrophy?” She said, “A practitioner who is a doctor.”
We should examine ourselves when we experience tribulations and let go of our attachments. Yet some practitioners forget the Fa and handle the situation with human thinking.
When some practitioners are arrested they should use the opportunity to look within and improve their character. Out of fear, they do things a practitioner should not do. Some people move Dafa books or devices used to produce materials to another practitioners’ house during sensitive times. Others return materials such as Minghui Weekly to the materials production site or the coordinator, resulting in several boxes of Minghui Weekly, computers, printers or other devices being found at the coordinator’s house when police ransack the place which add to the practitioner’s tribulation. Some practitioners are afraid to go to the Minghui website even though they have a computer. Instead they obtain printed copies of practitioners’ cultivation sharings from the practitioners who produce them and so on. These practitioners ignore the added burden and security risks imposed on materials production sites.
Some people don’t reflect on their shortcomings when there are conflicts. Instead, they blame others. Especially when everyone in the family is a practitioner, this problem stands out. When they encounter problems, they hold the other party to the standards of a practitioner. Yet they forget that they are practitioners themselves and they should first look within when there is a conflict.
I attended a cultivation experience-sharing to help a family of three: father, daughter and son-in-law, resolve some long standing conflicts. The father complained about the son-in-law. I stopped him and said, “We’re all practitioners, conflicts don’t happen for no reason. We must have attachments we need to eliminate. If you continue speaking, you’ll get angrier. Because you want others to sympathize with you, if I let you continue then aren’t I doing a bad thing?” He said, “I understand what you’re saying, but I can’t do it.” In other words he didn’t want to cultivate himself.
The father complained and said the son-in-law did not respect him. The more he spoke, the angrier he became. The daughter said the husband only paid attention to himself and did not respect her.
Everyone thought the other person’s issue was trivial. I felt if someone could face the problem with the mindset of a practitioner and look inward, the problem would be resolved. For example, if the son-in-law let go of self, apologized for not giving sufficient attention in the past and say he would take care to correct his behavior in the future, perhaps the conflict would be over. However, because everyone refused to look within, the conflicts were not resolved.
Master said,
“Go and truly cultivate yourself—when you get into a conflict or run into some problem you should look at yourself and see what’s wrong, and ask yourself how you should handle it, using the Fa to evaluate things. Wouldn’t you say that is cultivation? Whether you are cultivating and are able to do this outside of the secular world or in regular society, ask yourself, could an ordinary person manage to do that? He couldn’t. Then, aren’t you someone who is cultivating himself? When something upsetting happens, something that angers you occurs, or there is personal gain at stake, or your ego suffers a blow, are you able to look inward and cultivate yourself, searching for your own shortcoming, and even when you find yourself in such a situation and you’re not at fault, are you able to have an attitude of, “Oh, I understand—I must not have done well in some regard. Or if I really didn’t do something wrong, perhaps it’s that I’m paying off karma that I owe. I’m going to handle it well and pay off what I should.” And as you continually encounter such things, you should continually cultivate yourself. Then, if a cultivator can handle things in that manner, using true principles to cultivate himself, then aren’t the unpleasant things that you experience in the ordinary world good things?” (“Dafa Disciples Must Study the Fa”, Collected Teachings Given Around the World Volume XI)
When we run into problems, the first thing we should remember is what Master taught in the Fa; if an enlightened being encounters this situation, we should think of how he would handle it instead of letting the emotions of an everyday person and notions control us.
Master has systematically arranged our cultivation paths, so we should follow Master’s arrangement and walk our path well, do the three things he requires of us. Some practitioners continue to do things their own way and do whatever they want.
Some fail to respect the customs and habits of everyday people, others don’t pay attention to a practitioner’s image when they’re in public: they speak carelessly, and this behavior leaves a bad impression on non-practitioners. Some practitioners don’t listen to other practitioners’ advice so they’ve been repeatedly arrested, sent to labor camps or prisons.
Other practitioners ignore Master’s teachings to not participate in pyramid sales and so on. They get other practitioners to participate in fundraising, investment products, promoting products on various platforms and so on. They refused to listen when practitioners repeatedly point this out and even used lack of a job as an excuse, quoting Dafa out of context to cover up their actions. They don’t reflect on themselves as to why they have no source income even after practicing cultivation. Some practitioners who take part in these things were persecuted, and some suffered huge economic losses. Other practitioners exhausted their energy in legal battles, others even had their lives taken when old forces exploited their loopholes.
Practitioners get practitioners to take up free treatments, or buy health products. They treat themselves as ordinary people and forget they are practitioners.
Some carelessly put Dafa books anywhere resulting in them being damaged or dirtied. Many practitioners who passed away had such problems. Respecting Master and the Fa is a very serious matter.
I discovered that those with such strong attachments were often strong-willed before they practiced cultivation. They were elites among everyday people and called the shots at home. They are also comparatively more diligent in cultivation and do the three things better. However, their competitive nature is obvious. Particularly when family members are practitioners too, this competitive nature stands out.
One type of person insists on determining who is right and wrong in every situation; they only want to hear flattery and are reluctant to hear criticism. When practitioners point out their problem, they don’t look inward to see if they have these faults. Instead they argue and blame others. They insist on being the right one in the dispute.
Another type of person gets angry when confronting the police, they view all police officers as evil, they demonstrate how steadfast they are in front these policemen, how they are not afraid of the evil and shout “Falun Dafa is good.” This is not validating Dafa but validating self. The police officers are beings who can be saved, so we should treat them with kindness and rationality. Their actions appear correct but in reality deviate from the Fa because they are not compassionate. This may lead the police to commit sins against Dafa.
A competitive nature is a huge impediment in making progress in cultivation. Why is it so hard to eliminate this attachment that came from the brainwashing we went through on the “philosophy of struggle” in CCP culture? To eliminate this attachment, first of all besides studying the Fa well and often, we should read the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party, and “Disintegrating the Party Culture” often, and eliminate the influence CCP culture in us. We should form the habit of thinking of others when we do things and reflect on our shortcomings when a conflict arises.
This is a problem in many elderly practitioners. They are attached to their “sickness karma”; their “pension”, their grandchildren and so on.
A practitioner has been deeply distressed over matters concerning her children and grandchildren for over a decade. She still comes to me repeatedly to complain about the same issue. Some practitioners say, “I found another attachment.” I reply, “More than a decade ago, you told me you found this attachment, yet what you found is still the same attachment. Cultivating means letting go of human notions.”
Others can’t see where they’ve gone wrong based on the Fa. Instead they judge right and wrong according to what a certain practitioner said, or what they read on the Minghui website. As time goes by, they become over reliant, following people instead of the Fa. They don’t know how to use the Fa to guide them in cultivation.
Master said,
“So it could hardly count as your working on yourself spiritually if all of your problems are pointed out by others. Of course, while you practice I do make use of others’ mouths to drop hints to you, as your spiritual development is something I, and not those people, arrange.” (Another Stern Warning)
Some practitioners are constantly worried that other practitioners have attachments, and what mistakes they’ll make. They use their own notions to impose demands on them. This is their attachment yet they think they are acting for the good of the fellow practitioner and they are treating them with compassion.
I was worried about my daughter’s cultivation state. She was lazy and reluctant to do the exercises or study the Fa. My wife was very anxious. When she saw that what I said had no effect, she asked practitioners to come to our house to talk to our daughter. Every time practitioners came, my daughter would sit in her room and even slam the door loudly. This matter caused a rift between mother and daughter.
After I came home from prison, my wife told me about our daughter’s behavior. I said, “You’re too attached, you did not regard things with the mindset of a practitioner, instead you treat her with a mother’s sentiment and hold her to your standards. It looks like it’s our daughter’s problem but it’s caused by your attachment. You only see her faults, you don’t see her strengths. Our daughter takes fame and gain lightly, she has a good heart. She’s not like young people nowadays who pay attention to what she eats, or wears, or just have fun, and pursue modern trends. She had three tribulations. If she didn’t practice Dafa, she wouldn’t be able to get through such hardship. She does not have as many attachments as us. In fact, she’s helping you get rid of your attachment to emotion.”
Probably because my wife let go of her attachment, my daughter paid more attention to Fa study and did the exercises every day.
Anything in the human world can become an attachment, most of them are caused by emotion. If we don’t let go of this, we keep thinking about it, another attachment is formed. To let go of this, first, we must study the Fa, and remember our mission. When we truly improve our character and think of sentient beings, would anything we encounter bother us?
Master said,
“I also want to tell you that your nature in the past was actually based on egotism and selfishness. From now on, whatever you do, you should consider others first, so as to attain the righteous Enlightenment of selflessness and altruism. So from now on, whatever you do or whatever you say, you must consider others—or even future generations—along with Dafa’s eternal stability.” (“Non-Omission in Buddha-Nature”, Essentials for Further Advancement)
It is very difficult for humans to “let go of self,” but as a practitioner, we must completely let go of self in order to “attain the righteous Enlightenment of selflessness and altruism.” To reach this goal, the best tool is to study the Fa, and look inward when conflicts arise. If we can remember the Fa and sentient beings, we’ll be able to truly let go of self.