(Clearwisdom.net) Halfway through writing this paper, a two-word phrase suddenly appeared in my mind--"Mind Prison." What really ties us up is in our hearts. On many issues we are unable to see the Fa from the Fa's perspective; we are unable to look inside ourselves, to cultivate inwards. We are influenced by acquired notions and follow the laws of the old universe. Master tells us to:
"Calmly reflect on how many attachments you have
As you get rid of human mentality, evil is naturally defeated"("Don't be Sad" from "Hong Yin" II, English version B)
Cultivation is all about cultivating one's heart, and our practice directly targets our human hearts.
Families Are a Good Cultivation Environment
Falun Dafa practitioners cultivate in ordinary human society. Families are an important unit of society where human beings can relax. Moreover, the family is a good cultivation environment for cultivators. Many attachments, desires, and other things that we cannot give up can be removed and given up in this environment. Master tells us, "If you don't sever emotion, you won't be able to cultivate." (Zhuan Falun, English version 2003)
Terrorized by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the non-practitioners in my family have interfered with my cultivation. Many families can become a "prison" that restricts cultivators. If you don't understand the Fa or think that they are being good to you for fear of your safety, then it will be even harder for you to break through this intangible yet solid "prison." After recognizing this, I immediately thought that I had to break out of this "prison." Besides studying the Fa more, while sending righteous thoughts, I added a thought to eliminate the sources of my family interfering with me. These family interferences then decreased sharply.
Eliminating Interference from Attachments to Fear
I obtained the Fa in 1996 and underwent huge physical and spiritual changes. All my illnesses were healed and my husband saw how I improved. Whenever I have the chance, I tell him about the beauty and magnificence of Dafa. Therefore, when I practice the exercises at home, he does not interfere much. However, whenever I participate in activities to validate Dafa, he always protests. He thinks that there are just too many bad people nowadays and is afraid that I will be reported to the authorities. So all the truth clarification work I have been doing have been done behind his back.
Master has told us time and again,
"Yet for cultivators, fear or lack thereof proves [one's] humanity or divinity, and it is what differentiates cultivators from ordinary people. It is something that a cultivator must face, and the biggest human attachment that a cultivator must remove."
("Study the Fa Well, and Getting Rid of Attachments is Not Hard")
The attachment to fear is something that has to be eliminated. However, I could not seem to overcome my husband's fears, so what could I do? Master told us that there is a law of mutual generation and mutual inhibition in the universe. I thought, "Nothing is fixed and unchanging. Why don't I change the matter formed by the attachment to fear? Using righteous thoughts, using wisdom to replace this fear, wouldn't it be eliminated then?" Once I clearly had this thought, it became easy to do things.
Persevere in Group Fa Study
In the spring of 2006, a fellow practitioner met with trouble while working on truth-clarification materials, and our group Fa study at her place had to be moved elsewhere. Because this practitioner was known to be very diligent, once something happened to her, the effect was very profound, especially among elderly practitioners. Some did not have a good understandings of Fa principles and were very afraid. I looked for them one by one to tell them what Master told us,
"Whatever you experience during your cultivation--whether good or bad--is good, for it comes about only because you are cultivating. A cultivator cannot achieve Consummation when laden with human thoughts, laden with karmic debts, or laden with attachments." ("To the Chicago Fa Conference")
Master also said,
"But no matter what unfolds, you have to keep up your character, and the only way to truly do it right is to follow Dafa." (Zhuan Falun, English version 2003.) I told them to eliminate their attachments to fear, and also told them that the group Fa study should continue. They all agreed, and in the end we decided to hold our group Fa study at my place. Initially, when my husband began to see people coming to my home to study the Fa, he was rather puzzled. I did not tell him about what happened to the other practitioner. Later, he found out and was very afraid. He said, "We cannot hold it at our place, I am afraid." I replied, "What are you afraid of? They are all good people. They are people that cultivate Buddhas, Daos and gods. Having so many cultivators come to our home is your good fortune." I also added another thought in my heart, "What you say does not count. No one or anything can change this." Regardless of my husband's protests, our group Fa study continued.
Once, after the practitioners left, my husband asked me, "Have you told them?"
I said, "What?"
"Not to come again. I could not open my mouth, I couldn't say it." He was dumbstruck. I thought, "This is human emotion--attachments to face--restricting him. These people are all good old friends and relatives." From then on, he did not have the face to mention it again. In the end, he even sometimes helped prepare for meetings.
The family is a good cultivation environment, but you have to treat it with righteous thoughts. As long as we maintain righteous thoughts and righteous actions, nothing is impossible, and anything can be done.
