(Minghui.org) My mother told me that I loved books and Chinese characters since I was a little child. I liked to browse through my mother's books, and, although I could not recognize most of the words, I never tore or damaged them.
As I grew up, I liked books about history, geography, philosophy, and mysterious adventures. When I visited the city with my father, I wasn't interested in anything except books. I even imagined that if I had nothing else except a room full of books, I would be happy and not long for anything else.
After I began cultivation, although I no longer liked to read everyday people's mainstream books, I still had a deep attachment and yearning for the concept of “book,” that is, the essence of knowledge and wisdom I thought they contained.
Moreover, I always liked to ask why. I wished to understand the historic causes of events and the ins and outs of a matter. Over the years I gradually formed stubborn notions, which became my fundamental attachment, and I was deeply trapped in it without even knowing it.
I've recently reflected on my thoughts when I first started on the path of cultivation in Dafa. Although I understood that the fundamental purpose of life is to return to one's original true self, when I first came to Dafa, I actually started cultivation because I thought Dafa could satisfy my attachment to exploring history.
During the course of my cultivation, I became aware of some truths about the universe, time, space, and history. However, sometimes I would drown myself in this and thus wasted many cultivation opportunities.
We all know from the Fa that all the arrangements in history and everything humankind has lived through was all paving the way for today's Fa-rectification. If we are attached to certain aspects of history, that would be reaching for the shadow and letting go of the substance.
An enlightened being who has reached Consummation will know the past, present, and future of everything in his dimension. That is his ability and state of being. As a cultivator, however, attention to the past is a strong attachment and an obstacle.
We are in the Fa-rectification period of time, and all things in history belong to the human level. If we are attached to those things, it is the same as tightly holding onto stuff from the old universe, and this will become an excuse for the evil to interfere.
Even when we use historical events and figures to clarify the facts to the precious Chinese people, we should use history wisely and conform to people's attachments to untie the knots in their minds and help them understand the truth, instead of letting ourselves become attached to history and the past without realizing it. The attachment will become a major obstacle. This is the fundamental reason why, later on, I rarely wrote articles about reincarnation. Even when practitioners try to explore this aspect with me in private, I wouldn't say anything except for very special circumstances. I do not want to interfere with fellow practitioners' thoughts. If I indeed interfere with other practitioners' cultivation, that would be my sin.
We know that the fundamental guide of our cultivation is the Fa, and we can cultivate well as long as we cultivate according to the Fa. Other people's sayings, including that of historical figures, are, at best, only references. Never give them undue importance; otherwise it will become a powerful impediment on our cultivation path.
I have been very attached to books to the extent that all I wanted were books and the wisdom I thought they contained and nothing else. After I began cultivating, when I read a certain part of Master's Fa, I would unconsciously develop the wrong thought of carefully pondering over it as though I were studying it to gain knowledge. What Master teaches is an all-inclusive Fa. One will go astray if he misunderstands the Fa as “knowledge.”
After I realized this, I found that my long-buried stubborn attachment was eliminated. I am not attached to wanting to know “why” like before; instead I just study the Fa with a calm mind and constantly improve myself. As my vision and level elevates, I understand more and more. But now when I understand things, I feel that my understanding is natural. I no long have the thirst for seeking knowledge from outside or a sense of joy and superiority about what I do have. I've truly experienced the wonder and freedom of letting go!
