Discarding Attachments While Cultivating

(Minghui.org) I started on the path of Falun Dafa cultivation in 1998. During my 26 years of cultivation, I’ve had many experiences of discarding attachments and improving my xinxing.

Discarding Attachment to Sentimentality for Family

One day last year, my wife called my daughter-in-law. After they chatted a bit, my four-year-old granddaughter took the phone and wanted to talk to her grandma. My wife asked, “How is your dad? Has he gone to work?” The little girl said, “Dad hasn’t been working for several weeks.” My wife asked, “Why?” The girl replied, “Dad wants to find another job. He is on his computer now.” Upon hearing that, my wife talked to our son and asked about his situation. Our son said, “The company has not been doing well and has not paid wages for several months. I have been looking for a new job, but have not found one yet.” My wife comforted him with a few words and hung up the phone.

After being told the news, I tossed and turned in bed all night. I could not sleep all night. I thought, “During the pandemic, my granddaughter could not attend kindergarten, so her mother had to quit her job. My son’s salary was the only source of income for that family. They live in Beijing. Their monthly rent alone is more than 5,000 yuan. Besides paying for their daily expenses of food, car usage, and their daughter’s kindergarten, they also pay the mortgage for their hometown residence. How can they live without his salary?” I was upset and miserable.

At breakfast the next morning, I told my wife that I didn’t sleep well. My wife (also a Dafa practitioner) asked, “Was it because of our son?” She continued, “We need to read the Fa more. Nothing happens by accident. This is all aimed at our human attachments. Getting rid of our attachments is not something we can just talk about. You have often said that you were not attached to family ties. Now you are being tested.” 

I asked myself, “Why am I so distressed and worried?” As I traced my feelings, I discovered that it was truly about my affection for family members, and my desire for personal interests. I quickly said to Master in my mind, “Master, I don’t want these attachments. The upset feeling is not from my true self. I will follow Master’s teaching and cultivate myself based on the Fa.”

Master wrote, 

“You are unable to interfere with the lives of others, and neither can you control others’ fates, including those of your wife, sons, daughters, parents, or brothers. Can you decide those things?” (Lecture Four, Zhuan Falun)

I came to realize that there was not much I could do to change my son’s situation. Human reactions are the most inept, and my worrying was only a waste of effort. I also realized that my sentiment for my children and my desire for self-interest are large obstacles on my cultivation path. I came to understand that I should just leave everything to Master’s arrangement. I kept reading the Fa, and my mind gradually calmed down; I felt relieved and experienced the beauty of elevating myself in the Fa.

Discarding the Attachment to Personal Interests

Jingzhe is the 3rd of the 24 solar periods in the traditional Chinese calendar, and it usually begins around March 5 and ends around March 20. Last year, during Jingzhe, the wheat fields were turning green, and the wheat seedlings started growing. However, my wheat field looked withered and yellow, without any green. I was worried upon seeing it. My attachment to reputation arose; I worried that other people would say, “Why is a Falun Dafa practitioner’s wheat field like this?” Occasionally, I went out to our field to look at it. One such time, I heard someone say, “Their wheat is growing miserably. The owners will be lucky to just recover the cost of the seed.” I tried to calm myself, thinking, “Don’t worry too much about it. Just let everything follow its natural course.” My wife also said, “Let’s assume our field is resting for the season. Let’s calm down and study the Fa.”

The greatest loss for a farmer is to lose one season of harvest. I thought, “There must be something wrong in our cultivation that was taken advantage of by the evil. We should not allow the evil to succeed. We must discard our attachments to personal gain, discard our ordinary notions, and correct ourselves while cultivating.” I told myself, “I want to cultivate to an enlightened being in the new universe no matter what hardship I must go through. I want to do the three things well that Master entrusted me with, and to save lives; I want to fulfill my vows and be worthy of Master’s salvation.”

We let go of our attachments. When the wheat harvesting season came, although our wheat did not grow as dense as the wheat in other people’s fields, the wheat grains in our field were large and plump, with a yield of more than 550 lbs per 1/6 acre! This was far beyond our expectation. Thank you, Master!

Discarding the Attachment to Lust

Other practitioners rarely share their experiences of discarding the attachment to lust, probably due to personal privacy. They are generally unwilling or embarrassed to share these experiences face-to-face. Here I want to share some of my experiences of eliminating lust. I hope to improve together with fellow practitioners.

Master said,

“... sexual attraction and desire are a fatal roadblock that a cultivator absolutely must overcome.” (“Fa Teaching Given at the 2004 Western U.S. Fa Conference,” Collected Teachings Given Around the World, Volume V)

Both my wife and I are Falun Dafa practitioners. Through our 20-plus years of cultivation, we have given up our sexual desire. However, I still have an attachment to lust; I still like nice-looking clothes when I see them in the mall and like to comment on good-looking girls on the street. Once, while doing the exercises, some pornographic images appeared in my mind. I was alarmed and rejected them immediately. However, as soon as I rejected them, they appeared again. I realized it was a stubborn attachment. I kept thinking, “This is the demon of lust, trying to interfere with me. I am a Falun Dafa practitioner; I must reject its interference and discard my attachment to lust.” Through constantly rejecting it, the interference from the demon of lust has reduced a lot. With Master’s help, I discarded a lot of bad things. Thank you, Master, for your compassion!