(Minghui.org) I often feel that cultivation is truly fulfilling and enjoyable, and when I let go of my attachments, the light-hearted feeling of happiness cannot be matched by anything else.
It has been eighteen years since I started cultivation in Falun Dafa. I had long been searching for the meaning of life and after I started cultivation, I felt that I had at last understood the truth and found my real goal in life – assisting Master in the Fa-rectification and saving sentient beings.
I hold a firm belief in Master and Dafa in the face of difficult tests, and truly believe that as long as we keep moving forward, we will be able to fulfill our sacred vows.
Here, I would like to share with fellow practitioners how I overcame xinxing tests by looking inside and working to rid myself of specific attachments.
Overcoming the Attachment to Preconceived Notions
I was recently involved in a Dafa project and had problems with the coordinator. I felt that he was not very articulate and sometimes it was rather hard to understand what he meant, even after I asked three or four times. I was very frustrated and thought that he was not capable of doing the job.
I then realized that I was not behaving like a cultivator because I was looking outward instead of inward.
I calmed down and shared my thoughts with a fellow practitioner who knows me well. Together, we found a big attachment of mine.
Because of my upbringing, I have always mingled with people who are generally refined, intelligent and well-groomed. So when I come across people less “outstanding” by my standards, I subconsciously develop some prejudice against them.
I tend to think that those outstanding people are “good” and feel very happy and comfortable working with them.
However, Master has taught us, “Zhen-Shan-Ren Is the Sole Criterion to Discern Good and Bad People” (Zhuan Falun), and yet I judge people by my own human notions, expecting everyone to be good-looking and capable of satisfying my notions. My behavior has indeed deviated from the guiding principles of Dafa.
After I realized my attachments and notions, I rejected them. When I looked at the coordinator again, everything seemed different, and I could see the radiance from the coordinator in his endeavor to clarify the facts to people.
Getting Rid of the Attachment to Self-admiration
My second test was to get rid of the attachment to self-admiration.
I remember my friends commenting on this attachment of mine when I was still a university student.
I never felt that I needed others to acknowledge my merits because I could do it myself! By and by, self-admiration and pride formed a thick shell around me.
I know that I should not get into conflicts with people so as to not interfere with saving sentient beings; but when it comes to fellow practitioners, when conflicts arise, my attitude is generally cold and I tend to ignore them.
In Dafa cultivation, we must let go of all notions that are not in line with the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. Once, during a group Fa study, Master also dropped a hint to urge me to abandon my attachment to self-admiration.
Since childhood, I have always wanted to prevail over others. Even when I went shopping, I expected sales people to treat me deferentially. This sentiment might have stemmed from my spoiled childhood, and I took it for granted that everyone should be nice to me.
I realized that it is in fact an attachment to selfishness and it goes directly against the righteous enlightenment of “selflessness and altruism.”
With this understanding, I feel that layers and layers of my false self have been peeled away, and my true self is showing more and more. I am also more in control of my thoughts, reactions and behavior.
Abandoning the Attachments to Selfishness and Comfort
Before I started cultivation, I had a pretty bad temperament and I tended to fuss over trifles and got angry easily. I had a strong tendency to be jealous and resentful. I also tended to underperform on important occasions when under pressure.
After I started cultivation, I made a complete change and Dafa also opened up my wisdom. I did very well in a number of major exams, which enabled me to study and then conduct research in my desired university. I was also admitted to my current company, a Fortune 500 company, with excellent pay and benefits. My work is not very demanding, which allows me sufficient time to do the three things.
Thanks to Dafa cultivation, I met my kindhearted and caring husband, who is also a Dafa practitioner; my parents-in-law are also very kind to me, treating me even better than my own parents. All these blessings were beyond my wildest imagination in the past, before my cultivation in Dafa.
However, as Dafa cultivators, we must not be attached to such blessings. My understanding is that it is only natural that Dafa cultivators are outstanding people. This is because we have been granted the mighty virtue of Dafa and the honor Master has given us.
We do not pursue such blessings, nor should we focus on them. Instead, we demonstrate our outstanding merits to people in order to validate the profundity of Dafa for the sake of saving more people.
I truly feel that we do not have much time left for saving people, yet the number of people that we have saved is still very small.
I realize that I still have strong attachments to selfishness and comfort; in addition, I tend to rely too much on Master, thinking that we won’t be able to save that many people and we can rely on Master in the end. All these are unwarranted thoughts and must be cleared out.
Thoughts on Truth Clarification
In truth-clarification, I feel that maybe we could take a more relaxed or even a bit more humorous approach in order to reach more people.
Recently, a well-known film director said openly that he agrees with the principles of Falun Gong, but feels that our truth-clarification ways, such as doing the sitting meditation at tourist attractions and holding parades, are a bit more too “solemn.”
People living a free society have a limited ability to accept things, and it might be important that we show people the demeanor of Dafa practitioners in a more relaxed manner, so that more people can be saved.
Around six months ago I became involved in media work and made a film, in which the news is reported in a lighthearted and relaxed manner. We also included Falun Gong content in the film. The program was well received.
I hope that with the strengthening of Master, the films we make will play an even more influential role in society.
I’m very grateful to Master, and am determined to do even better in cultivation and in saving sentient beings.
