Eliminating Attachments While Working on Projects

(Minghui.org) I would like to share about improving my xinxing and eliminating attachments whilst clarifying the truth using a cellphone, as well as doing other projects.

Eliminating the Attachment to Personal Interest

For the cellphone project to proceed smoothly, we needed to purchase a large amount of SIM cards. This required the purchaser to pay a lot of money in advance and also take the risk of being reported to the police by the vendor.

I could not afford to pay for the cards in advance so I asked another practitioner, Lian (alias), to purchase the SIM cards for my city.

Once, Lian purchased more than 20 cards with the face value of 100 yuan each. However, the actual balance on each card was only three yuan.

I had a dispute with her. I asked her to return the cards to the vendor because I would not be able to collect the money from other practitioners. She was reluctant because she’d told the vendor she was a Falun Dafa practitioner. She had a safety concern if she returned as the vendor may report her to the police.

I looked inward after I left Lian’s home, and I found my attachment to personal benefit. I asked her to return the cards because I did not want to suffer the loss by myself. I wanted her to take the risk and get a refund. I did not think about her safety at all.

Later, a fellow practitioner returned a card to me for no reason, and I refunded her without complaining. I suffered a financial loss, but I improved in cultivation.

Eliminating the Attachment of Anxiety

In another truth-clarifying project, I collaborated with fellow practitioner Hui (alias). We did not talk via phone due to security concerns. It took us a long time to meet as we lived far apart. We then agreed to contact one another by email.

Sometimes Hui did not reply to my email for up to five days. I became impatient. I realized it was time to get rid of my anxiety.

One time, it took Hui more than 10 days to reply to my email. During those 10 days, I was not as anxious as I was before but I had many negative thoughts about her. I kept rejecting these thoughts, and I gradually became calm. Hui replied to my email by the time I had calmed down.

Eliminating the Attachment to Self

I am the eldest child in my family. I’m a hands-on person and a quick learner. My younger brothers and sisters all listened to me when they were little, as did my parents. This made me self-centered, and I did not accept other people’s suggestions. If I heard different opinions, I would talk back to prove I was right. I was aware of this attachment but it seemed I could not get rid of it.

In another project, fellow practitioners gave me some suggestions about content selection. In the beginning, I insisted on my opinion. I thought my choice was the best, and the content I’d selected was the most comprehensive.

No matter what other practitioners said, I did not accept their suggestions. I felt I had the final say anyway. I even thought the other practitioners were being picky.

Later, Qing (alias) provided me her suggestions again but I still turned her down. She was upset and no longer wanted to participate in this project.

I looked inwards and found my attachment to self. I thought I was superior to Qing. After I realized my attachment, I adopted her proposal. It turned out to be reasonable and worked well.

Since then I have seriously considered other practitioners’ suggestions. Qing came back later on and continued to support this project.

More and more practitioners participated in the project and it became more effective. Many people knew the truth about Falun Dafa and some even obtained the Fa through our project.

Another incident helped me remove my attachment to self. I found out there was an effective group working on a project in a neighboring city, and I wanted to get their help with our project.

I sent them an email asking for help and they agreed. However, they didn’t reply to my follow up emails when it came to the details.

I checked my email twice a day. I was anxious and then I started to complain. I complained to my daughter, and I immediately realized I had the attachment of resentment. My daughter said I not only had that attachment, but I was also self-centered. She said I wanted everyone to listen to me and do everything I said. I decided to get rid of my attachment to self.

After I let my attachment go, the practitioners in the neighboring city soon replied to my email.

Eliminating the Attachment to Competition and Arguing

I found my attachment to arguing when interacting with family members. One of my younger sisters used to practice Falun Dafa. After the persecution started, she gave up cultivation due to fear. Then my father began practicing Dafa and within two months his gray hair turned black. He no longer needed his crutches either.

My sister wanted to resume the practice after witnessing this. However, my mother, who was also a practitioner, passed away soon after. My sister gave up practicing cultivation again because of my mother’s death. She also started to make negative comments about practitioners.

I wanted to talk to her, but she always cut me off. We argued with each other every time we talked.

My family and my sister’s family got together at a restaurant and we talked about the situation in Hong Kong. My sister repeated the propaganda she’d heard from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). I told her the CCP was the source of chaos in the world, and we argued again.

I thought about my dispute with my sister after I returned home, and I did not find my problem. Instead, I thought my sister was brainwashed. However, I began to hiccup when I did the exercises. I felt as if something was choking me. I realized I had an attachment to competition and arguing.

The uncomfortable feeling disappeared immediately after I found my attachment. I then felt relaxed.