(Minghui.org) When I was released from prison my heart felt unbalanced upon learning that most of my former classmates and friends were living a good life. I thought to myself “I could have lived a better life than all of them if I hadn’t been persecuted for my belief in Falun Dafa.”
I gradually developed the thought that I had lost everything in this human world because I practiced Dafa, and that maybe I would have been better off had I not practiced. I was shocked when I had this terrible thought. So I dug deeper and found that it resulted from not having eliminated my fundamental attachment after all these years of cultivation.
Teacher said,
“What’s a fundamental attachment, then? Human beings acquire many notions in this world and are, as a consequence, driven by these notions to pursue what they yearn for. But when a person comes to this world, it is karmic arrangements that determine his course of life and what will be gained and lost in it. How could a person’s notions determine each stage of his life? So those so-called "beautiful dreams and wishes" become pursuits that can never be realized, despite painful attachments.” (“Towards Consummation” from Essentials for Further Advancement II)
I always had an ambition to beat others and get ahead in my career. Being raised in a family of intellectuals, I was considered a child prodigy due to my math skills and photographic memory. My grades were ranked top in my school and I never doubted that I would have a bright future.
When I started cultivation in Falun Dafa, I was determined to be diligent. Soon after I began the practice, I was asked to be the coordinator of our local Fa study group, even though there were many veteran practitioners in our group including one person who had attended Teacher’s Fa lectures and another a high ranking official. I was in my twenties at the time and felt very happy with my “achievement.” With a sense of feeling so capable, our experience sharing following Fa study often became my solo performance. Though I hadn’t achieved much in the world of everyday people, I felt that I had achieved a special status in Dafa cultivation.
Every practitioner has his own obstacles on the path of cultivation. My attachment to being the coordinator of our local Fa study group is a reflection of my fundamental attachment. At the last stage of the Fa-rectification period, if the fundamental attachments are not eliminated, the old forces will interfere with your cultivation and saving sentient beings.
Teacher said,
“When a cultivator's mind departs from the Fa, the evil will find its way in.” (“Fa-Lecture at the Conference in Florida, U.S.A.” from Teaching the Fa at the Conference II)
Thus, we need to eliminate every thought that doesn’t conform to the Fa.
I’d like to share the following Teacher’s words with everyone,
“Eliminate your last attachment(s). Everything you have accomplished through cultivation practice has already established your infinitely wonderful, and sacred, future Attainment Status. Take every step well, and don’t tarnish what you have already attained. Let the part of you that has been fully cultivated glow with an even purer brilliance.” (“Eliminate Your Last Attachment(s)” from Essentials for Further Advancement II)
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Category: Improving Oneself
