(Minghui.org) I've encountered quite some practitioners who dropped in cultivation levels because of their pursuit of fame and gain. While recognizing the difficulty of letting go of attachments to material interests, I'd like to remind everyone to not fall victim to temptations in the human world, as our mission is to save sentient beings.
Resisting temptation can only be done through firm belief in the Fa and Master, and through true assimilation to the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. This is a critical test as the old forces also try to intensify our attachments to pull us down. When we fail one test, another one will follow. Gradually, the hardship will become insurmountable and eventually our cultivation level will drop down.
Below are examples of how several practitioners fell in cultivation.
Celestial Eye Closed
A Dafa practitioner I knew had his celestial eye opened and also had the supernormal ability of precognition and retrocognition. He could see that we were a married couple in previous lives. He helped me a lot, but his cultivation status was worrisome.
He had stable income from a hotel business. Strongly attached to wealth, he received a loan for almost one million yuan to lease a plot of land to grow potatoes as he was told that was a quick way to get rich. Unfortunately, because of lack of techniques in planting and experience in selecting seeds, he grew poor quality potatoes so he could not get a good price for them and he lost almost all of his money. He had to borrow money wherever he could to pay for the loan. This hardship made his life miserable.
Because of the attachment, he could hardly study the Fa and do the three things that a Dafa practitioner should do for more than one year. He could no longer focus on cultivation and his celestial eye was closed.
A Contractor's Cultivation in Shambles
Another practitioner who is a successful contractor, had a strong attachment to profit and lust. He went to work in very early morning and came home after 8 p.m. every day. He was extremely tired and went straight to bed. Actually, as a an independent contractor, he should have had a lot of time to do the three things after his routine work was arranged.
As time passed by, he became less diligent in Fa study and doing the exercises. His xinxing dropped. The old forces, dark minions, and rotten ghosts took advantage of his loophole of lust to destroy him. His cultivation now is in shambles.
Young Practitioners Gone Astray
Some young practitioners took fame and gain lightly before they joined the work force. Once they got jobs and started families they began to go astray. Their Gong pillar and xinxing thus started to drop and eventually completely ruined. We can save others only if we can overcome the temptation of fame and gain, otherwise we will be dragged down by ordinary society.
A Cordyceps Grower Awakened
A female practitioner once stopped doing the three things and spent all of her time growing cordyceps for big profit. Seeing Master's law body leaving her, she quickly knelt down on the ground, saying in tears “Master, please do not go. I'll correct my mistake!” But her renewed diligence only lasted a few days. She was pulled down again by the attachment of emotion.
One day when she lay down, she saw a pretty young lady crying at her bedside. It was her real mother in heaven, who showed up to warn her that she would not be able to return home if she kept making this mistake. She cried and became diligent ever since. However, she regrets having lost precious time.
Time Is of the Essence
If we are still unrepentant, we would not have time to cultivate well and remove all our attachments. We would not be able to awaken sentient beings. Our families in heaven would nervously watch us. Master is worried. When his powerful Gong comes during the Fa-rectification period, we may be disintegrated with the old cosmos if we have not yet rectified ourselves. We thus should bear in mind the following passages of Master's Fa teachings.
Master said in “Falun Gong, Chapter 1”:
“Attachments to fame and wealth come to occupy much of their thinking—more than cultivation does. From that point on their gong starts to diminish, becoming smaller and smaller, until finally it is all gone.”
Master taught us:
“Those who are attached to their reputations practice an evil way, full of intention. Once they gain renown in this world, they are bound to say good but mean evil, thereby misleading the public and undermining the Fa.
Those who are attached to money seek wealth and feign their cultivation. Undermining the practice and the Fa, they waste their lifetimes instead of cultivating Buddhahood.” (“Cultivators’ Avoidances“ from Essentials for Further Advancement” )
In “Teaching the Fa in New York City” on March 23, 1997, Master said:
“Could you move up without cultivating your mind? Could you move up without meeting the requirements of that realm? Could you go up to heaven while loaded with all kinds of emotions and desires, with various attachments, and with a craving for money that outweighs your wish to become a Buddha? That’s absolutely impossible. I think you’ve all understood this. That is, a cultivator is extraordinary...”
Only being diligent in true cultivation can we get rid of the temptation of fame and gain. We can then overcome various challenges and return to our original true selves.
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Category: Improving Oneself
