Letting Go of the Attachment to Pursuit

(Minghui.org) I was arrested in 2001 by local police and taken to the police station after a practitioner the police arrested confessed that he had provided truth-clarification materials to me. The police interrogated me and brutally tortured me, including beating my feet, legs, and body with a wood stick. They later illegally detained me at the detention center. The prisoners there were instructed by the prison guards to hit me in the head repeatedly with a plastic bottle filled with two liters of water, which caused me to have intense headaches. I was also stripped naked and locked in the restroom, they poured cold water over my head again and again. I was under a lot of physical pain and mental pressure.

One night after I had been detained there for three months, a prisoner suddenly asked me a question about Falun Dafa. At first, I feared that he would beat me if I clarified the truth about Falun Dafa to him. But soon after, my righteous thoughts overtook my fear. I clarified the truth about Falun Dafa to everyone in the prison cell, including him. Later that night, I had an encouraging dream that four Falun wheels that held fire were spinning above the sky, and a group of children were running around happily as if they were celebrating the New Year. I was released from the detention center a few days later.

After I returned home, I studied the Fa diligently and truly cherished the precious opportunity to study the Fa. Although I walked out of the detention center with righteous thoughts, I was not happy about it at all, as I could not figure out what omissions I had that caused this tribulation. Moreover, I felt resentful towards the practitioner who revealed my name.

After I thought more about what happened, I finally found my strong attachments to pursuit and looking outward, which contributed to my tribulations. I felt that a wall around me in another dimension collapsed after I identified these attachments. Since then, my cultivation has improved, and I often had a feeling of sudden enlightenment that the Fa principles just flew into my mind while I was working or walking.

As I continued to look within, I recalled that I often felt that cultivation may be over soon and I wouldn’t have enough time to cultivate, since I obtained the Fa late in January 1999. I was eager to improve my cultivation level as quickly as possible, especially when I felt my improvement was slow. While in the midst of this attachment of pursuit, I happened to meet the practitioner, who later revealed my name to the police, during an experience sharing at another practitioner’s home. This practitioner pretty much took over the entire sharing and talked most of the time about his experience.

Another time, a practitioner told me there was a fellow practitioner who cultivated well, and we should share cultivation experiences with him. I went to the sharing and saw that it was the same practitioner. He talked the whole time, from morning until afternoon, about his own cultivation and also answered questions from other practitioners. I did not feel there was anything wrong with it. However, this practitioner revealed my name after only seeing me twice, which caused me to be imprisoned and persecuted.

After going through the tribulation, I completely understood that it was my pursuit and looking outward that led me to this practitioner who was enlightened on an evil path. As far as I know, the other two practitioners who led me to meet this practitioner also went through tribulations afterward. They both were arrested and detained. One of them was hit in the face by a prisoner, which almost caused him to become completely blind and has made his life and cultivation very difficult. After he was released from the detention center, this group of practitioners who were enlightened on an evil path almost dragged him back to their group.

After I suffered the persecution, it was good that I looked inward to find my attachments that contributed to the cause of the persecution. Otherwise, it would be like a mine laying on my path of cultivation that I would step on again sooner or later. I no longer felt any resentment toward the practitioner who revealed my name but felt sorry for him instead. All tribulations are caused by our attachments. If the practitioner became enlightened on an evil path due to compliments from the practitioners around him and the attachment of pursuit by other practitioners, then we were all responsible for it and added fuel to the flames on this matter.

Although I found my attachment to pursuit, the evil Party’s harassment did not stop. On New Year’s Eve, I celebrated the New Year at my parents’ home and received a phone call from the police station near where I lived. A police officer ordered me to report to him by phone every day during the Chinese New Year period.

I thought of Master’s Fa after putting down the phone:

“No matter what the situation, do not cooperate with the evil’s demands, orders, or what it instigates.” (“Dafa Disciples’ Righteous Thoughts Are Powerful”, The Essentials of Diligent Progress II)

I told myself to follow Master’s Fa and not to cooperate with the evil. However, I also feared that I would be detained and persecuted again if I didn’t comply with their request. I thought of leaving my home and hiding. This way I did not need to cooperate with the evil and could avoid being arrested. However, I knew the next day is the Chinese New Year and my entire family and relatives would get together. If they knew that I would rather be homeless and lose my educational opportunity than call the police, they would not understand it and would be angry at me, or even angry at Dafa. I knew I could not make it more difficult for any sentient beings to be saved. It really was a difficult decision.

While in the midst of that dilemma, I suddenly realized that it was the evil from other dimensions that controlled the police, and I should eliminate those evil factors. I felt enlightened and at ease. A person would not dare to do anything to a practitioner if they were not controlled by evil from other dimensions. I immediately started sending righteous thoughts every hour. I could see a golden shining light with my celestial eye and thought there must be a great battle in other dimensions to eliminate the evil. After I finished sending righteous thoughts, I felt very relaxed and knew the tribulation was dissolved. Since then, which was 14 years ago, the evil Party and the police have not harassed me. I thought about it after I sent righteous thoughts: how did I have the righteous thoughts to eliminate the evil behind them? It was probably because all I thought about was following Master’s requirements and selflessly thinking of others first.

When I looked back at this period of time in my cultivation, it was often very emotional for me. A huge change in my cultivation status occurred after eliminating the attachment of pursuit. I could no longer be moved by many things, and I no longer had an interest in pursuing supernatural powers. On the contrary, I have a more thorough understanding of the Fa about supernatural powers. I also made sure not to experience zealotry or showing off. I finally got through this tribulation in cultivation smoothly. The right choice I made based on righteous thoughts paved a smoother cultivation path for me. It was also the best choice for the sentient beings, including my family and the police, as it prevented the police from creating more karma for themselves by continuing to persecute me. I truly understand that all the persecution practitioners experience is caused by evil in other dimensions. Moreover, I became calmer and clearer while handling things after that.