|
Brief Discussion on Not Being Led by Our Attachments
By Dafa disciple in Hebei Province
(Clearwisdom.net) In handling everything that we encounter during our
day-to-day cultivation practice, every practitioner runs the risk of becoming
disturbed by our human attachments. It is because you have those attachments and
don't realize it. Of course, some could realize it immediately if we study the
Fa [Falun Dafa teachings and universal principle] steadily. Master said
in Zhuan Falun,
"When you always maintain a heart of benevolence and compassion, you will
have time or room to buffer the confrontation and think, should a problem
arise suddenly."
Since so many people are soaked inside with feelings of fame, self-interest
and emotions, there are all kinds of attachments that result. Thus, we need to
maximally correct ourselves through cultivation, and not be disturbed by these
things. It is easy to say, but hard to do.
Su Dongpo was an artist in the Song Dynasty. He often discussed Buddha and
Tao with his friend, Buddhist monk Foyin. One day, Su Dongpo wrote a poem. One
of the sentences in the poem was, "Wind from eight directions is not able to
disturb." On the surface, the poem sounded like praise for the founder of
Buddhism, Sakyamuni. In fact, he was referring to himself. He felt very good
after he wrote it. He sent his young servant across the river to deliver the
poem to his friend, Foyin. The young servant crossed the river and gave the
letter to Foyin. Foyin saw Su Dongpo's true meaning and the attachment it
contained after he read it. He grabbed a pen and added a note, "Nonsense!" The
young servant came back to Su Dongpo and handed him the letter that had Foyin's
note. Su was angry and immediately crossed the river to debate the matter with
Foyin. When he came to the temple, the temple gate was locked. Foyin had left.
There was a note on the door, "'Wind from eight directions is not able to
disturb' (you); 'nonsense' brought (you) over the river." Su Dongpo understood
his problem immediately.
Using this story as a mirror, we can see that cultivators often have similar
things too. This reveals whether we have cultivated firmly, and whether our
xinxing cultivation is firm or not. Master said in Zhuan Falun, "An Arhat
should be free of attachments, with a heart that cannot be affected." In fact,
on the other hand, displaying human attachments is not a bad thing. The key is
that we cannot leave it alone, or be unable to recognize it. If we never take it
seriously, then it will occur again. During our cultivation, we should always
grab the attachment and get rid of it. We should not make the mistake again
after we enlightened to it the first time. From this aspect, it is not bad when
our attachment is shown. The key is how we cultivate, how to upgrade our level,
how to constantly improve ourselves and purify ourselves while we do well in
validating Dafa and saving people.
That is to say, besides correcting ourselves and improving ourselves through
cultivation during the Fa-rectification period, we must do well in the three
things that Master told us. Only so can we genuinely and rapidly improve.
Ignoring any one of these is not Fa-rectification cultivation. Then, in our
studying the Fa, sending forth righteous thoughts, and clarifying the truth,
there is also the issue of being disturbed by ordinary people's attachments.
(The attachments here refer to those of our own or other people, and those of
cultivators and every day people.) For example, the reason that we don't settle
our mind during Fa study or meditation is because we have those attachments and
have gone along with them. When we clarify the truth, we are not able to explain
it clearly, do not have wisdom, or have fear. When others don't like to listen
to us or say bad things, we are anxious and angry. As a matter of fact, we have
already been disturbed and moved by ordinary people's attachments and yet do not
realize it. When we are sleepy during sending forth righteous thoughts, or think
about all kinds of things and cannot settle our minds down, or think about the
interests among ordinary people or other things, it is because we are affected
by the attachments and have not realized it. In the truth clarification material
production sites, there are practitioners who are not able to coordinate with
each other and argue with each other. As long as we do not treat other people
kindly and do not do things that are genuinely from our heart, it would be
because of human attachments taking control. These instances show that, if we
don't improve our xinxing, we cannot do anything well that a Fa-rectification
period Dafa disciple should do.
We should correct ourselves through cultivation, and assimilate to Falun
Dafa's principles. Only when we stay with Falun Dafa on everything, can we
easily recognize our human attachments that we had not recognized before, and
that we have not gotten rid of before. Then we will be able to do what we are
supposed to do, truly take our own path, and improve faster on the path of
assimilating to Falun Dafa and Fa-rectification cultivation. |