(Clearwisdom.net) A while ago, I almost accepted evil enlightenment because of my various attachments. I am writing down my experience and state of mind at that time, hoping that it will help other practitioners who have the same issue.
I was very close to experiencing evil enlightenment. What saved me was remembering to "Take the Fa as Teacher." If I had taken one more step in that state, the outcome would have been unfortunate.
I was sharing experiences with another practitioner. He had a good understanding of a certain Fa principle and was very helpful to me. However, he was attached to his cultivation level. After talking to him, my attachment to my cultivation level gradually arose.
The process seemed natural, and being inside of the situation, it was hard for me to realize what was happening. There were a lot of phenomena appearing around me that made me further believe in what I thought. For example, that practitioner saw what I was feeling. He told me what his experience and feelings were right before I enlightened to the exact same things. I was so sure that what I enlightened to was right.
In the process of evil enlightenment, it felt so real that my xinxing improvement seemed especially fast. It felt as if the path I was walking was the most correct and everything seemed so easy after that. If other practitioners had said to me things like: "You are very susceptible to demonic interference with your attachments to zealotry and showing off," or, "Your cultivation is definitely over if you choose to follow any old high and mighty Buddha that comes along," or "You have to walk every step of your cultivation path firmly and truthfully. There is no shortcut," I would never have believed them because I believed that my feelings were real and that what I had experienced was what I had enlightened to from the Fa. I just sighed in my mind, thinking: "There is nothing I can do. Our levels are so different. I won’t talk to them because they won’t understand the high-level things that I say." Those who have evil enlightenment are extra stubborn and are even harder to help compared to those who can pass such tests.
In my experience, if someone has evil enlightenment, it was not necessarily instigated by another person who has evil enlightenment. It is because the person has gaps (attachments) in his heart. However, not everyone with evil enlightenment has problems in all areas. Some of them may do very well in many areas. It may be just in one aspect where he has gone astray and does not realize it. As a result, some practitioners may support him because they see him being right in other areas. This will further make him think that he is right in all aspects because he has support from other practitioners.
Now, I will talk about the details of the day I broke through my evil enlightenment. I was working together with another practitioner. When I was talking with her, I didn’t have any attachments. I was just thinking about the work that we were doing. This way, I wasn’t defensive, and had let my guard down. I was seriously listening to her and thinking about what she was saying. As soon as she mentioned that my cultivation state wasn’t right, I felt dizzy and couldn’t think clearly. At that moment, I thought something was interfering with me. Now that I think about it, something was trying to stop her from helping me because she was hitting the spot and pointing out my problem. Later she said, "When I suffered from evil enlightenment, I allowed myself to be led by what I saw. I walked down many wrong paths as a result." I was suddenly enlightened. She had pointed out what my problem really was.
After the key problem was solved, the rest of the problem gradually dissolved. It was just like a sun beam shining into thick fog and gradually dissipating it. After she left, I slowly realized what my problems were, including being attached to my level, zealotry, showing off, wanting to take shortcuts, and thinking highly of myself in the practice. When the old forces took all these attachments to interfere with me, it made me feel that I had no gaps at all. Though others saw where my problems were very clearly, I couldn’t. People with evil enlightenment are often very stubborn because of this.
There were several reasons why I could quickly understand where my problem was and get past that state. One was that I was always very scared at night. It was the first time I had this kind of terror. I dared not go to sleep. I had to keep the light on and leave the book Zhuan Falun beside my pillow before I could fall asleep. I could barely eat anything and lost a lot of weight in one week. I had to think about what could be wrong. Also, I felt uneasy and unsure of what I enlightened to. I vaguely felt that there was something wrong with putting myself above other practitioners. Because of these reasons, I was more likely to think seriously about what the other practitioner had said to me, and I wasn’t so stubborn. Hence, I could quickly get past the state of evil enlightenment. The biggest lesson I learned was that we must truly take the Fa as Teacher. It is extremely dangerous if we add in any of what we see, feel, and think, as reference in the process of cultivation.
I hope my article can be of help to practitioners with similar problems. When we try to help a practitioner with the evil enlightenment issue, don’t directly tell him what the problem is because he is very stubborn regarding this issue and it will be hard to reach his heart. If we find what he has enlightened to correctly and exchange our views based on that, it is a lot easier to reach his heart and help him. Never rush the process. We don’t have to cut to the point immediately. Don’t let him feel that you think he has evil enlightenment and are trying to help. Otherwise it will be hard the next time you try to talk to him on this issue.
In the process of experience sharing, let him think for himself. After all, every practitioner eagerly wishes to conform to the requirements of the Fa and is willing to share experiences with others. Everyone practices for himself. We can’t change someone’s mind or force anything on someone unless he is willing to accept it. Also, we should help with compassion and stay clearheaded in the process and send forth righteous thoughts if needed. Don’t rush or be moved by any attachment.
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