Walk Out of the "Mind Prison" of Sentiment

By a Falun Dafa practitioner named Quzhi in Shanxi Province, China

(Clearwisdom.net) With Master's benevolent protection I successfully escaped several dangerous situations while persistently studying the Fa, sending forth righteous thoughts and clarifying the truth. I completely denied the old forces' several attempts to arrest me.

This morning I had a nightmare in which I went to a place by mistake. Then, remembering that my mother was waiting for me at home, I started driving home in a rush and almost got into a serious accident. When I finally got home, I found that my son was not there; therefore I went to look for him. Next, I was imprisoned in a dirty and horrifying concentration camp. People there were at risk of getting food mixed with an Alkaloid drug that would make you unconscious. Whoever ate that food would be pulled out and have their organs removed. I tried to help others to leave the evil camp. The evil wanted to control me. An evil person pretended to be a "cook" and tried forcing me to eat his food. I realized there were drugs in the food so I refused to eat. Worrying that the food might poison others; I grabbed the cook and hit his head until the cook stopped moving. Then I woke up and found myself in bed. Thinking about the nightmare, my first thought was to refuse to accept such an evil test. I only walk on the cultivation path arranged by Master. I will not go to such an evil camp.

This nightmare made me realize that there are two types of prisons. The first is a physical prison, such as a brainwashing center, detention center, prison, labor camp, etc. The second is the invisible "mind prison," consisting of attachments to fame, personal interest and human sentiment.

Although I was never physically imprisoned, I was attached to human sentiment for my mother and my son. It was easy for me to clarify the truth to strangers, friends and other relatives, but difficult to clarify the truth to my mother and son. The less attachments I had to family members, the more effective I would be at clarifying the truth to them. Master told us,

"Those who are attached to affection for family will definitely be burned, entangled, and tormented by it. Pulled by the threads of affection and plagued by them throughout their lives, they will find it too late to regret at the end of their lives." ("Cultivators' Avoidances" from Essentials for Further Advancement)

This nightmare made me recognize that my attachment of affection for family had caused unnecessary troubles. The attachment to affection is like the Alkaloid drug that makes me lose my mind, rendering me unable to clarify the truth effectively.

Master said,

"Some of you have done poorly in clarifying the truth to your families, and that is because you haven't done it right. One reason is that you don't know what their stuck point is, you are unclear on the cause. Another thing is that when you clarify the truth to your family, you always regard them as family, rather than as sentient beings who are to be saved. You are a cultivator, and you are above ordinary people. You know that in this lifetime you are family, but did you know that in your previous life you might not have been? You know that in this lifetime this person is your wife, but who knows whose wife she will be in the next lifetime. In this lifetime that person is your child, but whose child was he in his previous life?

As cultivators, you should all be very clear on this, and you can't be mired in the kind of concept ordinary people have of being related to someone. Regard him as a sentient being and save him as you would any other sentient being. Then when you talk with him, the result will be different--guaranteed. Don't first think of him as family. When you instead talk to him as though he is someone to be saved, it will be different. In reality, the knowing side of his being is aware that, "You and I are family in this life, but in my next life I will be in someone else's family." The core of his being knows this. When you truly have righteous thoughts as you save him, his true thoughts will be able to tell, and he won't be mired in ordinary people's feelings anymore." ("Teaching the Fa in the City of Los Angeles")

As soon as "Teaching the Fa in the City of Los Angeles" was published, I studied it carefully twice. I realized that I could not be attached to the affection for family. I must treat them as ordinary people waiting to be rescued. Though it was difficult to do in the past, I clarified the truth to my father and brother again, and was successful in convincing them to recite, "Falun Dafa is good," and "Truth-Compassion-Forbearance is good." When my mother was hospitalized, my brother stopped a potentially severe medical accident from happening to our mother by reciting, "Falun Dafa is good" and "Truth-Compassion-Forbearance is good."

Not too long ago my father had blood in his urine and was hospitalized. He worried it might be cancer. I told my father many examples of people suffering from cancer who recovered by reciting, "Falun Dafa is good" and "Truth-Compassion-Forbearance is good." I hoped he could try reciting these words to relieve his pain, yet my father did not listen. Though I was very busy at work, I took personal vacation time to keep my father company in the hospital. The test results showed that he had a tumor which needed to be surgically removed. The doctor told my father that he needed to stay in the hospital for at least ten days after the surgery. My father trusted modern medicine and consented to the surgery. After the surgery, he had difficulty urinating. I then decided to treat him as a sentient being waiting to be rescued, so I sent forth righteous thoughts to eliminate any evil factors around him and read Zhuan Falun to him. I asked my father to recite, "Falun Dafa is good" and "Truth-Compassion-Forbearance is good" again, and told him it would not hurt even if it did not work. My father agreed. A miracle happened right away; he started urinating and left the hospital within two days.

A friend of my father was in the same hospital for hydrocephalus. When my father visited him before the surgery his friend could not even recognize him. My father felt very sad, saying there was no hope for his friend. I asked my father to let me try convincing his friend to recite, "Falun Dafa is good" and "Truth-Compassion-Forbearance is good" and see if a miracle would occur again. If he didn't want to recite, he wouldn't lose anything. My father agreed to my idea to help his friend.

I visited my father's friend and clarified the truth to him and his wife. His wife is a doctor. She used all the treatments she could think of to save her husband and they all failed. As soon as I arrived, my father's friend recognized me and talked to me, though he had not talked to or recognized anyone for days. I told the couple about how my father and brother's recitation of "Falun Dafa is good" made miracles happen and asked them if they would like to try. The wife agreed. I told her she must be very pious when reciting, and I promised to give them a copy of Zhuan Falun. When I visited them again to give them the book Zhuan Falun, my father's friend was much better and everyone was very happy. I gave the book to the wife, telling her to read it word for word to her husband as long as there was time.

When I told my father about his friend's situation he was very happy.

In the past, when distributing truth-clarifying fliers and DVDs to my sisters and other relatives, I put them in their purses or briefcases when they were not paying attention, like a thief. Now, when treating them as ordinary people waiting to be saved, I gave them the 2006 Global Chinese New Year Gala DVD in person. They were all very happy to accept the DVD.

When I was attached to affection for family, I was not effective in clarifying the truth to them. When I let go of the attachment, I became very effective.

The nightmare awakened me to the realization that I must let go of the attachment of affection for family and leave the "mind prison."

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2006/4/20/125665.html

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