“Joyful” or “Unhappy”

(Minghui.org) A local practitioner smiles all day long. She is cheerful when she clarifies the truth to people about Falun Dafa, and everyone says she is very friendly. Even when people don’t agree or refuse to listen, she smiles and wishes them well.

Her husband divorced her due to the persecution by the Chinese Communist Party. Sometimes when she clarifies the truth people ask about her husband. She says, “I am divorced.” They wonder how she can be so cheerful, and some say they never met someone with such a good attitude after being divorced.

Many local practitioners are very happy and enthusiastic after they began practicing Falun Dafa. I feel that Master is always with me and takes care of me. However, after many years of cultivation, I no longer have the excitement and sense of belonging that other practitioners have. I put it down to my low enlightenment quality.

I’ve practiced for many years, but I haven’t cultivated to a state where I am always cheerful. Instead, I sometimes feel depressed and my face is stern. No matter what happens, I do not feel happy.

I asked myself, “Why can’t I be cheerful? Why do I never smile? Is it because there aren’t many things that make me happy? Instead there are often unhappy things. For example: My child did not pass the exam. He always plays on his cell phone, is disobedient, and does not focus on his studies. My husband doesn’t treat me well, and there are many hassles among my extended family, and so on. There are so many unhappy things, that’s why I feel displeased and dissatisfied. In short, things don’t meet my expectations, so I am unhappy.

The bottom line is that I still have desires and I pursue ordinary people’s matters. I still care about gain and loss among ordinary people.

I asked myself: What am I pursuing? I want everything to be smooth and good. I want my children to be good and everyone to envy me. I want my family members’ work to go well so they can earn a lot of money. I want my parents to be in good health and not cause trouble for me. I want an affluent life with no trouble. In short, what I want is to live comfortably among everyday people. I am unhappy because my life does not meet my expectations.

What is it that worries me? I fear bad, unpleasant, and troublesome things. I worry about the impermanence of life and the unpredictability of world events. Because I’m afraid of losing out, I’m unhappy. Even if there are happy things, I dare not be happy, for fear that I may lose what I gained. All the “unhappiness” is due to my “not getting it” or “fear of losing it.” In short, this unhappiness revolves around the gains and losses of fame, profit, and affection.

It turns out that after more than 20 years of cultivation, my thinking has not turned around! I still seek gain in ordinary society, and I still cling to the things ordinary people want!

Human notions are the opposite of cultivation. Master said,

“If you live very well among everyday people, how can you practice cultivation? How can your karma be transformed? How will you have an environment to upgrade your xinxing and transform your karma?” (Lecture Six, Zhuan Falun)

As a matter of fact, discomfort is normal. How can it be possible for people to be comfortable when they created boundless karma while reincarnating lifetime after lifetime? Only when one is uncomfortable can one suffer, eliminate karma, and improve. If you have no troubles, it means Master isn’t taking care of you.

I finally realized that my human concepts need to be completely turned around.

After so many years of cultivation, I thought I could let go of personal interest in the face of tests, and do so calmly. I thought I already let go of attachments to fame, gain, and affection. However, the only things I gave up easily were things I felt did not belong to me. Those things I thought belonged to me I grasped tightly. Otherwise, why would I be unhappy and worry about gains and losses? Don’t I feel bad when I experience loss of money, fame, or affection? Can I take these things to heaven?

The Fa principles Master taught tell us that cultivation is about getting rid of human attachments, including all ordinary human notions. We need to let go of and break away from “humanness.” Cultivation is a process of letting go of “human things” step by step and stepping towards the divine. Only by letting go of all human attachments, can one truly walk towards the divine. One will not be able to enter a higher level if one keeps even a little of these human things.

In fact, all those so-called “unhappy” and “unsatisfactory” issues are opportunities arranged by Master for us to break away from humanness. They are good things. They help us break away from human attachments to fame, profit, sentimentality, and affection and move towards the divine. I know this clearly; however, I am still obsessed with them and cannot let go. It is because my human notions are too strong, my human side is too deluded, and my enlightenment quality is poor.

Why can that fellow practitioner be happy every day? Because she let go of human things and doesn’t care about gain or loss. So she naturally won’t be unhappy. She is bathed in the light of the Fa every day, and walks a cultivation path carefully arranged by Master. Every day she does the three things Master asked. Master said:

“We do not seek what everyday people want. Instead, what we get is something everyday people cannot obtain—even if they want to—except through cultivation.” (Lecture Four, Zhuan Falun)

After getting these good things, how could one not be happy every day?