Finding Attachments by Looking Inward and Examining My Mind and Thoughts

By practitioner in China

(Clearwisdom.net)

Police officer Li Bing, the leader of the Public Security Team in Balinzuo Prefecture, Chifeng City, has actively persecuted Falun Dafa practitioners in Balinzuo Prefecture during the past few years. He has arrested practitioners, taken their personal belongings, and stolen their money.

(Clearwisdom.net) In my profound experience, I have realized that a cultivator can always find not-yet-removed attachments by looking inward and examining his or her mind and thoughts. A Buddha, Tao, or God is pure, embodies Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, and does not have any attachments. Therefore, his mind and thoughts will be pure, with no attachments, and will be assimilated to the characteristic of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.

For example, an atom of iron cannot be found in pure gold, because gold containing an iron atom could not be called pure. Any iron atoms in the gold must be removed. They did not come from the gold component, because gold is gold.

Similarly, if a practitioner's thoughts contains certain attachments, then these attachments must exist in the practitioner's mind, as they cannot emerge from the part assimilated to the Fa (any thought found in the portion assimilated to the Fa certainly conforms to the Fa). Thus, a practitioner can always find attachments by looking inward and examining his or her mind and thoughts.

Two specific examples can illustrate this point. One example is that when I watch good food programs on TV, I suddenly want to try the food. I know that this thought to eat is not coming from the part of the Fa assimilated during my cultivation. Instead, it is from the not-yet-removed attachment to food that is being reflected into my mind. Because of this, I can easily see that I still have an attachment to food.

Another example is that I used to love looking in the mirror and never missed any chance to look at myself in a mirror. Then I realized that my desire to look in the mirror was not from the part of the Fa assimilated during my cultivation. Instead, it resulted from my attachments to lust and self-love that blended together and reflected in my thoughts. Thus, I found more attachments.

These attachments are not the real me; they are independent-minded. They issue orders to the human body. They are "the iron atom mixed into the gold." They do not conform to the characteristic of the universe, and they also create karma that may eventually lead to physical tribulations for cultivators. These attachments are pollutants. They must be eliminated, as the new universe created after the Fa-rectification will not allow their existence.

An attachment is manifested through a practitioner's mind, thoughts, and actions. As long as practitioners pay attention to their mind and thoughts and measure them against the Fa, they can recognize the source of their thoughts. Then, they can easily detect, reject, and eliminate the hidden, not-yet-removed attachments.

The above is my personal understanding at my current level. Please kindly point out anything inappropriate.

Posting date: 11/21/2009
Category: Practitioners' Insights
Chinese version available at http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2009/11/11/212394.html

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