(Clearwisdom.net) I started practicing Falun Dafa in 1998 and have been cultivating for nearly ten years. However, I have not done well regarding the issue of severing sexual desire between husband and wife during the last stage of Fa-rectification.
During the early days after I started practicing, I was very clear in my heart that lust is a fatal test for cultivators. From the very beginning of my cultivation, I took sexual desire very lightly, and when fellow practitioners talked about taking their time letting go of sexual desire, I thought it was indulging in demon nature. However, my husband had been half-hearted in cultivation from the very beginning and had very strong sexual desire because he did not cultivate in the Fa. After July 20, 1999 when the persecution started, we lost our group cultivation environment. Many male practitioners in our local area failed to be strict with themselves in terms of sexual desire in their family lives, even though they were all engaged in vigorous Fa-rectification work. Sometimes they even went so far as to use Master's words, "maintain a harmonious life," as their excuse. I also felt very worried that I could not completely restrain my husband's sexual desire.
I shared my thoughts with fellow practitioners, and they all had different views. Some practitioners thought that we were all at different cultivation levels and in different cultivation states, and we should therefore not force anything--as long as we did not have an attachment to it, just let it be. (This had also become the biggest excuse used by my husband.) However, I knew very clearly that it was not right to still engage in such conduct. I had long enlightened to this in the Fa. As veteran practitioners, especially those who started practicing before July 20, 1999, we have on our shoulders such a great and sacred mission. Moreover, with the progress of Fa-rectification, if our bodies stay at the human level, how can we walk our paths towards Godhood?
Master said:
"... when a person's body moves, the cells in the body will also move, and at the microscopic level all elements, such as all molecules, protons, electrons, and the most microscopic particles, will also move. Yet they have their own independent forms of existence, and the forms of the body in other dimensions will also undergo a change." (Lecture Two, Zhuan Falun)
As genuine Dafa practitioners, each one of us can understand the Fa-principles in this paragraph. Master said that our human body is like a small universe. There are lives within layers upon layers of our flesh body, and when we descended, we also formed affinities with lives at each level. When our conduct fails to meet the Fa's standards, aren't we damaging those lives? In fact, I had enlightened to this Fa principle before July 20, 1999, but I did not strictly adhere to it with respect to sexual relations with my husband. It is secondary that my level dropped--more importantly, how many lives were destroyed each time I engaged in such conduct!
I'm writing this article to alert other practitioners in similar situations. We must learn our lessons in this respect and strictly measure ourselves with the Fa. We must cultivate ourselves instead of looking externally or seeking comfort and shortcuts. In fact, such behavior strongly demonstrates that we are not clear about the Fa-principles and are seeking externally.
Lastly, let all of us Dafa disciples accomplish well our great missions bestowed upon us by Master with a pure mind and pure body.
In fact, we really do not have any more excuses for our improper conduct. Remember, whatever you do, the lives within layers upon layers of your body are also affected.
This is only my personal understanding. Please kindly point out anything improper.
April 11, 2007
Category: Improving Oneself
