Put Down Human Attachments, Especially Sentimentality and Selfishness

By a Dafa practitioner

(Clearwisdom.net) The human world makes people obsessed and makes it hard for them to put down many things. Everyone is more or less immersed in sentiment. People do not see clearly what sentiment is, especially when it is directed towards our relatives. In a superficial sense, we help our relatives. But if someone is not a relative, can we treat him as if he were? Your relative and you are two independent lives. If you are good to him only because he is your relative, then you are actually being good to something that belongs to you. Your generosity is not based on unconditional giving to an independent life; it is just because that life happens to be your relative. What is the essence of being good to something that belongs to you? It is, of course, egotism and selfishness. It is not truly done for others. When someone says that he cannot abandon his feelings for relatives, he really means that he cannot let go of his sentimentality and selfishness.

Although people cannot say it clearly, they know it in their hearts. For example, oftentimes the real meaning of affection today is to satisfy our desires and to have a companion and a home in this life. Affection keeps us from being lonely and feeling helpless. Raising children gives us happiness in this life, provides heirs to inherit our goods, and continues our legacy after death. Someone who wants attention will seek a beautiful partner. Another may seek a partner who has talent, status, fame, or property. Another seeks the happiness of falling in love. Another may want to show that he cares for others. Another wants the feeling of being safe, comfortable and being protected. Another wants to satisfy a desire of being a leader and having an advantage over others. Whether it is for sentiment, affection, friendship, or interest, it is all to satisfy the self. If we were to magnify the motivation, this would be the scene in the microcosmic world.

When we put down sentiment, there will be another level of existence. By letting go of the attachment of sentiment, we will get along with others, have compassion, be more tolerant and considerate of others, and be good to everyone. What is more, many worldly burdens of sentiment are dispensable, not really necessary. Ordinary people often think that being indifferent to sentiment is bad and will result in loneliness. However, practitioners understand various levels of profound Fa principles, so they can see through sentiment and be indifferent to it; such a state is very unusual in this chaotic world. At a certain realm, a cultivator will sense worldly things more clearly. The problem is, after we start cultivation, do we really want to put down all human attachments? Many times, we only think about how we can do human things better in this or that respect, and we do not dare to put down all sentiment and human selfishness. However, it is fundamental for a cultivator to completely put down all human attachments and selfishness. No matter how good an ordinary person is, he is still human and not a cultivator.

Our improvement during cultivation is important, but what we're after is not just personal Consummation. In reality, we bear responsibility for countless sentient beings. At this present, busy time, we should not forget that we are not just good people: we are cultivators of Dafa. We should not only have high moral standards in the world. What is more important is to keep elevating the realm of our hearts. Can we outguess the human world as if it were reflected in a bright mirror, and do things wisely? We don't have disputes with people at this time before Fa-rectification comes to the human world. We try our best not to let ordinary people misunderstand our truth-clarification actions; we try to help them to understand, and finally to untie their hearts.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2005/8/27/109218.html

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