Look Inward Into Every Thought

By a Falun Dafa practitioner in Mainland China

(Clearwisdom.net) I usually practice the Falun Gong exercises in the morning, but for several days I woke up too late. I realized it was interference, so I sent forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the interference, but the same thing happened again. I felt my mind was calm when eliminating the evil, so how come it did not work? I looked inward and tried to find attachments, but I could not identify anything. I thought, "I must buy an alarm clock so I won't sleep late again."

One evening while I was doing the first four sets of exercises, I remembered Master's words,

"We'd say that a good or bad outcome comes from one thought. The difference in one thought leads to different results." (The Fourth Talk, Zhuan Falun, 2003 translation version)

I found the reason why I overslept. I was busy with work during those days, and it was late when I finished studying the Fa and doing the exercises. Before I went to bed I thought, "I'm too tired; I must get a good night's rest." It was exactly because of this human thought--a seemingly normal thought--that I overslept in the morning.

Why didn't my righteous thoughts eliminate the interference? It was because I did not look inward and did not find my notion and attachment--the desire to sleep. It's not that the righteous thoughts did not work; instead, human notions and attachments were blocking the righteous thoughts and preventing them from generating greater power. The reason why problems and interference arise even though I send forth righteous thoughts on a daily basis is my attachments. Therefore, we must find our attachments when we run into problems and interferences.

Moreover, when we encounter problems and interferences in certain areas, we should not think that we as a whole body have gaps. In the past we looked mostly for problems with the coordinators and the people involved in the matter. We focused our energies on sending forth righteous thoughts to eliminate interferences, but in fact each of us should look for our own shortcomings. We as a whole body have no gaps. Dafa is harmonious and indestructible. Our attachments cause all of the problems. We are cultivating ourselves in Dafa, and all of us are in various stages of cultivation. The side of us that has cultivated well is instantly separated, and the remaining human side is still cultivating. Our human sides still harbor attachments and notions to varying degrees; when we experience interference, we must identify our omissions--the hidden attachments and degenerate notions and human thoughts--and eliminate them. If we do, our righteous thoughts will instantly take effect and the evil will be disintegrated within an instant. The situation, no matter how perilous it appears, will change.

This incident made me discover many notions and attachments, such as thinking, "I can't do it" and "I can't quiet my mind" when doing the exercises and also: "I am not good enough," "I don't have time to study the Fa," "I am tired," "I am drowsy," and "I am uncomfortable." Human principles and notions formed over thousands of years are blocking me from the depths of my being. Although I can be aware it sometimes, I cannot discard it in my subconscious mind and have not completely changed my human notions.

In my understanding, every bad thought and every human notion is an attachment.

I realized that if we do not completely change our human notions, we will not be able to tear away the most surface human shell. Judging Dafa with human thoughts when studying the Fa will prevent us from understanding the real meaning. If we regard things with human notions, we will not be able to pass a test or endure a tribulation and suffering, and we will encounter interference and persecution. If we give up human notions and handle everything with a cultivator's way of thinking and with a god's righteous thoughts and actions, the magnificent Buddha Law will manifest itself, and we will be able to pass any test and overcome any tribulation.

I still have many attachments, and I will study the Fa well and continuously find and eliminate them in the future.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2007/4/12/152654.html

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