(Clearwisdom.net) I have been cultivating in Dafa for three years. At first, I felt I was improving rapidly, and that I was eliminating all kinds of attachments. However, after July 20, 1999 when I returned to China from the United States, the rate at which my xinxing [heart and mind nature; moral character] improved slowed down. Often, those attachments that I thought I had eliminated would attack many times stronger than before. I seemed to be repeating the same old cycle. Because of this I often felt extremely sad and hopeless.
Not long ago, I read Master's newest lecture "Lecture Tour in North America" and I was deeply shaken by Teacher's Fa. I made up my mind that no matter how strong the evil force that tries to stop me from cultivating diligently is, I would devote my life to eliminating it.
One morning I had a dream. In my dream I noticed that there was a hole in my left thumb and that a small white sprout was in the hole. So I held up my thumb and pulled it out. The more I pulled at the sprout, the longer it became until it was several inches long. I felt a little scared and nauseous. It also felt like it was connected to my heart, as my heart would tighten when I would pulled at it. I made up my mind to pull it out completely and tugged at it hard. I was able to pull the sprout out from its root. At this point my finger hurt a great deal. To my surprise I noticed that the sprout was actually a white string. The outer end of the white string had a flat edge as if some sharp tool had cut it. But at the root was a knot! Immediately afterwards I woke up and my finger was still hurting in the area where the "hole" had appeared. I felt that this was a hint from Master. In English, "attachment" implies being "attached to" or "tied to" something. The knot at the root of the string brought this association out to me. The other end had a clear cut, which means this attachment is cut piece by piece throughout the cultivation process. Although it is connected to the heart and seems endlessly long while you are trying to pull it out, it's actually not that long and you can pull it out from its root if you persist. I looked inside my heart, and I discovered that the attachments that I often felt were so deeply rooted have vanished completely like clouds and smoke. I have never before felt so light. I know many practitioners have the same challenge I do, and here, I want to tell everyone, don't be confused by attachments. Although at times they appear to be impossible to cut off completely and even seem to grow back after you cut them, they are on the verge of being completely eliminated. As long as we firmly believe in Dafa, persist in cultivation and are strict with ourselves, there is no attachment that we cannot root out!
