Western Practitioner: Some Aspects of the Attachment of Zealotry

My understanding from Master Li's teachings on the attachment of zealotry is that Falun Dafa practitioners should not behave in an irrational way and be eccentric or go to extremes. Such behavior can be damaging to Dafa. I would like to talk about some aspects of the attachment of zealotry that I have come to understand through my cultivation.

For example, from time to time I read in experience sharing articles about practitioners who, after learning Falun Dafa, stopped meeting with their friends or stopped playing a musical instrument because they considered the activity an attachment. This kind of behavior seems to be present in new practitioners who don't have a deep understanding of the Fa. If I stop meeting with my friends, don't I lose an opportunity to clarify the truth to them or to people I meet through them? If I am talented in writing and I stop writing because I consider it an attachment, doesn't this mean that I am not doing my job well as Master requires?

I remember a few months after I had learned Falun Dafa, I was invited to the home of a friend I hadn't seen for a long time. I went there full of intention. "I will talk to them about Falun Dafa!" I was thinking this, and it was the only thing I had in mind. I didn't even care to hear about how my friend was doing. How disrespectful! So after a bit I told them that I wanted to talk to them about something important, meaning Falun Dafa. They were immediately resistant. The sister of this friend mentioned her cousin from Australia, who was a very nice person, but every time she got together with them she talked about her religion and tried to convert them. I have also experienced a situation in which a person approached me and wanted to be friends just because he intended to try to convert me. After I said I wasn't interested, he disappeared.

Falun Dafa practitioners should clarify the truth with compassion and wisdom. If I approach people full of intention and the attachment of zealotry, won't I create a negative effect? My truth clarification now comes naturally in the flow of a discussion. We can save a person when we clarify the truth to them with compassion without having to talk to them about Falun Dafa full of zealotry.

Another thing is the importance of realizing that we cultivate in our lives; we do not separate ourselves from our lives in order to practice cultivation. This is also something connected to the attachment of zealotry. After I had practiced cultivation for some time, I developed the fear that I was full of attachments and I wanted to give up everything I used to do. As a result I became disconnected from my life and I put a big burden on myself that was damaging to my cultivation. Teacher says that we should cherish our human lives. If we disconnect ourselves from our lives and lose the setting where we can practice cultivation, how then are we supposed to cultivate? In fact, we have to find the right balance between doing things for Dafa and maintaining a normal life in society.

These are a few thoughts I have come to realize in my cultivation and I wanted to share them. Please, kindly point out anything inappropriate.