(Minghui.org) I recently realized that I have an attachment to getting bargains whenever I shop.

I was outside a fashion store one day when I spotted a unique dress on a mannequin at the shop entrance. It appeared to be an exceptional bargain for only 20 yuan.

I bought it and put it on as soon as I got home. My husband pointed out that there was a hole in one of the sleeves. I looked and saw a cigarette burn. I returned it to the store and received only 15 yuan back because there was a fee for returning the item.

I needed to buy gifts for relatives and friends because the New Year Festival was approaching. I ordered three cases of almond milk from a discount store through WeChat. The price for each case was about 25 yuan less than usual. When I picked up the cases, my husband noticed that the expiration dates would be up in less than six months. The almond milk could not be given as gifts. I ended up keeping the entire order for my family.

Through these incidents, I realized that I had a strong attachment to purchasing bargains. Nowadays, there are all sorts of products that merchants sell in different ways. They have clearances, group discounts, and web auctions. Consumers find lowered prices hard to resist.

Most importantly, I occasionally was attracted by products I saw in windows and turned my Falun Gong truth-clarification outings into shopping trips instead. Also, when I went on the web to help my children with their studies, I often wasted time looking at new products that had become available.

In a nutshell, I was severely indulging this attachment. I knew that, at age 40, I was not acting like a cultivator.

I realized that I was not progressing in my cultivation because of many attachments. It wasn't just the attachment to bargains, but also to showing off, finding an easy way to go through life, laziness, and others.

I erased all the web addresses for shops in my WeChat account. That made me feel better. The attachments in my heart that had bothered me over the past couple of years were leaving me. Other than daily necessities, I was no longer attracted to the tricks that society uses to sell things.

I had more energy once I had calmed my heart down. I knew what I should do—clarify the truth. Telling people about Falun Gong got easier for me. Memorizing the Fa also helped me do better.

Thank you, Teacher, for your inspiration. I will work harder to cultivate well.

Views expressed in this article represent the author's own opinions or understandings. All content published on this website are copyrighted by Minghui.org. Minghui will produce compilations of its online content regularly and on special occasions.

Category: Improving Oneself