My Thoughts About Identifying Attachments

(Minghui.org) Quite a few practitioners have experienced “sickness karma” or other tribulations and then did not eliminate the underlying attachments for a long time. Although they searched within and sent righteous thoughts to remove them, the results differed in each case.

One practitioner said that she could not dig further when she looked within. Yet the root of her attachment was still there. I had a similar experience and gained some understanding about what to do.

Look Within: the Earlier, the Better

Master mentioned the following about the issue of hospital treatment:

“Some illnesses are quite serious, and so hospitals require early treatment if one has such an illness. If it becomes too serious, hospitals will be helpless, as overdoses of medicine can poison a person.” (Zhuan Falun)

I realized that we have to look within every day to determine if each of our words and deeds meet the Fa’s requirements. Upon finding a problem, we need to immediately dissolve it, and not let the interference sneak in. It is easier to recognize and eliminate bad thoughts when they first begin to show up.

It is easier to deal with our errors initially, when not much time has passed. However, if one fails to look within over time, the garbage will pile up day after day and become like a mountain.

Pay Attention to Looking Within and Sending Forth Righteous Thoughts

Master asked us to look within, which is truly a treasure. But attachments are alive and know that if they are discovered, we can destroy them. Therefore, the attachments try very hard to set up all kinds of obstacles, making us feel tired and stopping us from seeing the attachments for what they are.

We need to overcome this with a strong will. It is a fierce battle in another dimension. We must keep looking for our attachments, one after another, and eliminate them. Then we need to dig deeper to find the root attachments behind them and cast those off. Then we must keep looking for more.

Some practitioners identified their attachments but did not eliminate them, which equated to letting the evil entities run away, so the entities keep doing bad things. We need to keep looking within and eliminate the elements in other dimensions that prevent us from seeing our attachments. It is easier to identify attachments when we look within with strong righteous thoughts and when we do so thoroughly.

The Key Is to Study the Fa More and Better

Master stated:

“The Fa can break all attachments, the Fa can destroy all evil, the Fa can shatter all lies, and the Fa can strengthen righteous thoughts.” (‘Drive Out Interference’ from Essentials for Further Advancement II)

Studying the Fa well is the fundamental guarantee of eliminating all kinds of attachments. At the same time, attachments can interfere with our attentiveness while studying the Fa, which can keep us from identifying our attachments and removing them.

Many thoughts can come to mind while studying, such as this or that important matter which one “needs to do immediately, or else it would be forgotten.” Such thoughts come from the interfering evil. It made you put down your Dafa books to do your “important things,” or you read the Fa, but it caused you to think about other matters while reading. Or it made you feel sleepy when you were studying the Fa.

So one does not absorb the Fa, and gradually strays away from it, not to mention failing to identify one's attachments. Then one cannot cultivate to a higher level.

Every interference that is hard to identify during our process of doing the three things is created by the old forces, including the tiny attachments in our life. We should better identify them and take them seriously. We should not treat them as if they are nothing, as they can destroy a practitioner. Let us do what Master told us to do.

Master said:

“The closer it gets to the end, the more you cannot let up; the closer it gets to the end, the better you must study the Fa; the closer it gets to the end, the stronger your righteous thoughts must be.” (“To the Canada Fa Conference” from The Essentials Of Diligent Progress)