(Minghui.org) I would like to share my experiences of dealing with the test of lust. I feel ashamed of myself because I still haven't completely gotten rid of my lustful attachments. One of the reasons I wrote this article is to encourage myself and other practitioners to eliminate the attachment to lust and do the three things well.
I started to practice Falun Dafa with my parents in 1998, but we slacked off in our cultivation when the persecution started. I studied the Fa, but not often, and I rarely clarified the facts or sent forth righteous thoughts. However, I considered myself a practitioner, and I believed in Master and the Fa.
I've had strong lustful desires from a young age. It's an arrangement by the old forces and requires diligent cultivation to overcome. I've often had tests in this regard but always failed. Because I slacked off in cultivation, I struggled painfully with desire although I had tried to eliminate any lustful thoughts.
The test became more severe after I broke up with my girlfriend in 2015. She was not a Dafa practitioner and didn't want to cultivate. My heart was heavy, and I suffered every day because of emotion and lust.
Renewing my Cultivation
I had the chance to join a Fa-study group and clarify the facts about the persecution with fellow practitioners in public in the fall of 2016. Since then, I have been actively involved in all kinds of projects, including face-to-face conversations to tell people about the persecution, installing satellite dishes for NTD so people can watch TV programs that expose the persecution, rescuing arrested practitioners, and more.
It seemed that my cultivation moved up a gear overnight, and my xinxing level improved. My understanding of the Fa became clearer. All of a sudden, I saw what a cultivator's state and level should be like. I thanked Master for his salvation and fellow practitioners for their help.
I bought all the Falun Dafa books–45 volumes–and read them one by one. I saw the sacredness and beauty of cultivation, and I diligently devoted myself to doing the three things well.
Meanwhile, the interference from emotion and lust lessened, and my desire weakened. I matured in cultivation, and my understanding of the teachings of Falun Dafa and the standards required of a practitioner improved.
Besides doing everyday people's work, the remainder of my time is spent studying the Fa, practicing the exercises, and working with fellow practitioners to let more people know about the persecution. My heart has become more peaceful. I believe that I am in the state of a true cultivator.
My Understanding
A practitioner who is diligent in cultivation will not run into many problems regarding lustful desires. They can easily eliminate the interference. But a practitioner who does not study the Fa, do the exercises, or send forth righteous thoughts well will find it difficult to eliminate them. It is very difficult to pass this test without a solid belief in Master and the Fa.
It is a slow and gradual process to eliminate lustful desire. If one slacks off in cultivation, attachments will accumulate, and the tests will become larger and larger. This is what happens when one pursues comfort. Many practitioners failed to pass this test, and their cultivation levels fell.
Master said in ”Teaching the Fa in the City of Los Angeles”:
“I have talked before about the old forces' interference. Have you thought about the following? [Sexual desire] is one of the factors [they use] to hold you back! What do the old forces and the old cosmos see as the gravest thing? Lust, [in the form of] sexual activity outside of marriage. That's what they see as the most serious of things. In the past, once someone violated the precept on that, he would be thrown out of the temple, and his cultivation would be utterly finished. So how do gods look at this now? Do you know what they have said in the prophecies that they left behind? They prophesied that all of the Dafa disciples who would be left in the end would be those who had maintained their purity along these lines. In other words, these things are extremely serious to them. So the old forces and all of the gods in that cosmos will not defend anyone who violates the prohibition on this, anyone who doesn't do well in this regard; in fact they will push you downwards. They know [and think to themselves], "Li Hongzhi, you won't abandon your disciples, so we will make you abandon them." That's why they have the students who have made mistakes make more mistakes, over and over, and in the end do wicked things and go to the opposite side. "We will fill his head with crooked understandings and make him damage Dafa. Then we will see if you still keep him." And you know, that is what they have done. Do you think all those who have "enlightened" along an evil path really wanted to go toward evilness? There are reasons behind all of that.”
An article published on Minghui.org said that a cultivator in the old universe would fall if he or she violated this standard, but in the Fa-rectification Master will still give him or her chances. This is Master's boundless benevolence. The mechanism is completely different from that of the old universe. If we can fix our mistakes and cultivate diligently, we will still have chances. But cultivation is difficult, even without lustful desire. So, we should not violate the standard and add more difficulties to our cultivation.
For a practitioner, upholding the standards is the most important thing, and violating these standards is destroying oneself. So, we should not make any mistakes in this regard. If we can uphold the standard, we will have opportunities to get rid of the attachment to lust. If we violate it, the possibility of further cultivation will be dramatically reduced. There have been many lessons in this regard. I hope every practitioner will maintain their purity.
