A New Practitioner’s Experiences of Eliminating Attachments

(Minghui.org) I began practicing Falun Dafa three years ago. I had heard about Falun Dafa several years before, but unfortunately, due to various obstacles, I wasn’t able to begin my cultivation sooner.

Before I began cultivating, I was an arrogant, self-satisfied person. I had a habit of looking down on others. As a psychologist, I constantly analyzed people and pointed out their mistakes.

I would like to share some of my experiences in cultivating away these attachments.

Eliminating the Attachment to Showing Off

I used to have a strong desire to stand out in group settings, and to be the center of attention. This resulted in a show-off mentality. After some time, I decided to eliminate this attachment. I began carefully observing myself and identified almost every behavior that stemmed from this mindset, including speaking loudly, laughing loudly, giving unsolicited opinions in groups, or even wearing clothing that would attract compliments.

After I started this process, I had a dream one night in which I saw myself as a seductive woman. I was behaving in a flirtatious manner, nearly naked, and I took pleasure in others watching me. After waking up, I reflected on the dream and realized that this was a manifestation of my attachments. It had taken on my form. From that day on, I consciously worked to eliminate it with righteous thoughts, repeatedly reminding myself that “this is not me,” and denying it.

I had the same dream again a week later. This time, the seductive woman had someone’s else face, and I was simply an observer watching her. After this dream, I realized that I had managed to eliminate that attachment at my current level, and that I needed to continue cultivating to fully remove it.

The Challenge of Emotional Attachments to Family Members

Several years ago, a conflict arose between me and my brother. The root cause was my desire to interfere in his life and the affairs of other family members. This created years of tension within our family. Eventually, we agreed to try to maintain a healthy relationship. However, I still couldn’t stop worrying about his life, which I believed lacked direction and reason.

We had another argument during the Nowruz holiday this year. I was so upset at myself for not behaving like a true cultivator that I wandered the streets for hours in sorrow. I had forgotten Master’s teaching:

“I would say that this is your wishful thinking. 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 had read this sentence more than one hundred times, so why did I still interfere? I decided to look for the root cause of this emotional behavior.

I realized that I was showing the same tendencies with friends, and even fellow practitioners. I had the attachment of believing that my perspective was always the correct one, and that I was the one who had to show others the right path. I forgot that everyone has their own predestined journey, and that I was trying to control others.

Reflecting on my cultivation path, I saw that even when I did recognize issues correctly, I often lacked compassion. I pointed out others’ faults without paying attention to the cultivation of speech, and caused harm.

Master said:

“I often say that if a person is free of any personal notions, isn’t motivated by self-interest, and is truly looking to benefit others, then when he points out another person’s shortcoming or tells the other person what’s right, that person will be moved to tears.” (Teachings at the Conference in Singapore)

During my interactions with fellow practitioners, I realized that I sometimes held the attachments of complaining and blaming. I forgot that my fellow practitioners were also in the process of cultivating. Perhaps they were already aware of their shortcomings, but hadn’t yet been able to eliminate them, or perhaps they are unaware and needed to elevate their levels to realize their issue.

At first, I thought quoting Master’s words would provide sufficient justification to make others accept what I said. But over time, I realized that my understanding of Master’s words might not be entirely correct, and perhaps these other practitioners needed to go through a process of cultivation themselves.

So, I’ve come to believe that I must be even more compassionate toward fellow practitioners, so that we may all return to our true homes.

I am so grateful for Master’s guidance, enlightenment, and protection along the way. Thank you, Master!