Breaking Free from Life and Death by Letting Go of Our Fundamental Attachments

(Minghui.org) Master published the article, “Towards Consummation” on June 16, 2000. This was the second article Master published after the persecution began. I felt that this article must be important for Falun Dafa practitioners in the Fa Rectification Period and regarding whether they can succeed in cultivation. This was the first time Master mentioned “fundamental attachments.”

In my understanding, fundamental attachments are the root of all our attachments. Fa Rectification is about to end. Has every Falun Dafa practitioner identified their fundamental attachments?

Regarding fundamental attachments, Master said:

“Some people thought that Dafa is in keeping with their own conception of science; some people thought that it agreed with their own code of conduct; some people thought that it spoke to their dissatisfaction with politics; some people thought that Dafa could salvage humankind’s degenerate morals; some people thought that Dafa could heal their sickness; some people thought that Dafa and Master have integrity, and so on and so forth.” (“Towards Consummation,” The Essentials of Diligent Progress II)

Before some local practitioners passed away, I asked them if they had found their fundamental attachments. One said he didn’t even think about it. Others said they hadn’t found them. Some regarded ordinary attachments as their fundamental attachments. For example, one practitioner said that his fundamental attachment was competitiveness. Did he start practicing because Dafa catered to his competitiveness? That didn’t sound right. Some said their fundamental attachments were seeking comfort or lust and desire, etc.

It’s indeed very difficult to see one’s fundamental attachment when one is going through the test of life and death. Or from a cultivation perspective, the old forces arranged for these life and death tests to see whether practitioners were able to find their fundamental attachments.

I identified my fundamental attachments only after I went through a devastating test of life and death. My fundamental attachment was that Falun Dafa agreed with my personal code of conduct, which was loyalty and righteousness, something I cherished more than my life.

Practitioners know that we’ve been allowed to practice because we signed a vow to “Assisting Master rectify the Fa and Saving sentient beings.” Master endured countless hardships to find us and arranged opportunities for us to fulfill our prehistoric vows. This is the connection that allows us to obtain the universe’s Great Fa.

Countless people cherish loyalty and righteousness. Why aren’t they practitioners?

We are beings at the end times. No matter how high our moral realm was, how traditional we were, how noble we were as human beings, how righteous our judgment was when we obtained the Fa, these are the standards at the end times, which are a world apart from the criteria of the new cosmos.

Master ignored how low we sank throughout our various lifetimes and let us obtain the Fa first, thanks to his boundless compassion. However, he seriously warned us in his article “Towards Consummation”:

“It isn’t wrong for human beings in this world to yearn with these attachments for the nice things they pursue and desire. But a cultivator definitely should not be that way. You may start on the path of Dafa with those thoughts, yet over the course of cultivation you need to regard yourself as a cultivator. During the course of cultivation, through reading the books, studying the Fa, and diligently making progress, you should manage to clearly recognize what your thoughts were when you first came to Dafa. After cultivating for a period of time, are your thoughts still the same? Are you continuing on the path because of those human attachments? If so, you cannot be counted as my disciple. It means that you have not discarded your fundamental attachments and have failed to understand the Fa from the Fa. Those who have been weeded out during the evil tests that Dafa has encountered in China are all persons who hadn’t abandoned those attachments. It should also be said that they have negatively affected Dafa.” (“Towards Consummation,” The Essentials of Diligent Progress II)

Master is worried about us. May I suggest that those practitioners who haven’t yet found their fundamental attachments or haven’t thought about it, read the article “Towards Consummation.”

Please point out anything inappropriate.

[Editor’s note: This article only represents the author’s understanding in their current cultivation state meant for sharing among practitioners so that we can “Compare with one another in study, in cultivation.” (“Solid Cultivation,” Hong Yin)]