(Clearwisdom.net) It has been many years since I have obtained the Fa. My cultivation state was sometimes good and sometimes poor. Although I have fewer attachments that before, they are not eradicated. Now and then, my attachments show up to interfere. Why are all these attachments so hard to eliminate? Why is it so hard to get rid of ordinary people's thinking? Today, I am enlightened that the cause is attachments which are hiding behind the "I." An attachment to "I," that is, selfishness, is the most fundamental attachment and is the root cause of all attachments. Aren't all attachments about "I love," "I want," and "I" as the center? It is because deep in our hearts we don't want to hurt "self" or give up "self" that it is impossible to fundamentally eliminate attachments.
Not only that, getting to the bottom, it can be found that the basis of my thinking is on "self." What I think and what I do are all for "myself." Even doing the three things now is still for "myself." I found today that I am such a selfish person.
For a long time, I did not cultivate well and did not do well on things related to Fa-rectification. But I did not want to face these issues directly. I thought as long as I did the three things, I would eventually reach consummation. But I did not feel at ease; instead I felt like I was hanging in mid-air. Finally, I asked myself: can a person like me reach consummation? Do I meet the requirements for consummation? If today everything were over, where would I be placed? Where could I be placed? No matter how well I behaved on the surface, I cannot deceive myself. Reflecting on all that I have done in the past, the basis was for myself, and the motive was impure. Why is that what I do and what I think cannot be for Dafa, for the universe and for sentient beings and everything? Why in my heart don't I have sense of the responsibilities and mission as a Dafa practitioner in the Fa-rectification?
After all, every Dafa practitioner in the Fa-rectification has great historic responsibilities for the universe and sentient beings. Why in my mind don't I have such a sense of responsibility? Why can't I emphasize sentient beings in my every thought? Why can't I start with validating Dafa and saving sentient beings in every word and each action? No matter how well we do on the surface, when the basis of our thinking and the starting point of our behavior are for self or for selfishness, we deviate from universal characteristics and will not have the power of Dafa. On the other hand, when we do something for Dafa or for sentient beings, our mind is pure and is in line with the universal Fa, so we have the power of Dafa. The purer our minds are, the more we are in line with the universal Fa, the greater the Fa's power, and the more help we can get from righteous Gods.
If our starting point when we do the three things is to reach consummation, we will not be able to make full use of the power Teacher gave us. But if our starting point is for sentient beings, the power given to us by Teacher can be fully brought out and can play an important role in validating Dafa and saving sentient beings. When we emphasize Dafa and emphasize sentient beings in our hearts, the basis of our thinking can be rectified. Then, what we think and what we do will certainly be things to validate Dafa and to save sentient beings. This way of life can be described as a Dafa practitioner during the Fa-rectification.
Original article date: 9/22/2008.