(Minghui.org) I read an article regarding a young Falun Dafa practitioner’s prophecies about the future development of societal affairs. I would like to share my unexpected enlightenment from reading that article. It helped me remove my hard-to-relinquish attachment to the end time for the persecution of Falun Dafa and the end time for the Fa-rectification.
Stubborn Attachment Reached a Breaking Point
I knew we had to eliminate the attachment to time, but it was not easy. The attachment to time was so strong as if it were engrained in my mind. It affected my thought process and pattern, whether I wanted to think about it or not. I sometimes said it was time to eliminate the attachment, but deep down I still tried to figure out whether things would come to an end this fall or next spring. When things didn't happen by my expected time, I kept pushing back my imagined timeline, thus giving the attachment room to linger.
When I read the abovementioned sharing article, the end time predicted by the young practitioner was far later than I had expected. That practitioner predicted the persecution wouldn't end until about seven or eight years from now, and I felt it was really unbearable. My mind went blank. It felt like an astronomical number, which was so long that it made me lose the concept of time.
Before reading the article, my expectation of the end time was like an abacus bead confined by two endpoints. When things didn't happen by my expected time, I simply moved the bead closer to the other end. No matter where I moved it, however, the bead was still far away from the other end in my imagination. But after reading the article, the seven-to-eight-year prediction made me feel like the bead had suddenly been moved to the other end. I felt I was falling apart.
My intense disappointment broke the attachment. I let it go with a deep sense of hopelessness. At that moment, I was still able to look within and search for the cause of my breakdown. Why did I feel the way I felt? Who was breaking down? Me or someone else? The moment I was able to do that, Master removed the substance. From that point on, the substance of the attachment to time was truly gone.
Master taught us:
“It resembles the case of a regular person: One has a lot of attachments in youth, but by the time one becomes old, with the passage of time one’s future seems hopeless. Those attachments are naturally relinquished and worn out. These side-path practices also use this method.” (Lecture Five, Zhuan Falun)
Master also said:
“Our practice has a focus and truly points out those attachments. By abandoning them, one will make very rapid progress in cultivation.” (Lecture Five, Zhuan Falun)
I have learned in my own practice that true Dafa cultivation can be very fast. In an instant, one reaches a state that would take people in other schools of cultivation a very long time.
Realization After the Impact
Most people pay attention to time when they do things, such as how to accomplish something in two years or how to manage their time. To them, time can become a motivation to push them forward.
We cultivators should not use time as motivation because it would become an attachment. When cultivators eliminate the attachment to time, it will change our notion and our way of thinking.
Why is it not good to be attached to time? For instance, if I believe there are two years left before the Fa-rectification ends, I'd then begin the countdown and worry things may not be accomplished within the two-year window. I would warn people during my truth-clarification efforts to hurry up to quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its youth organizations, or else it would be too late if they didn't do it right away. It may appear I have their best interest in mind when in fact it's my attachment to the two-year timeframe that motivates me to do things, not compassion.
I realized that many of my decisions were made based on my hypothetical end time. I would feel frustrated when my expectations were not met by my imagined deadlines. When cultivators elevate to higher levels, their way of thinking will be completely different. They will be driven by the power of the Fa and cultivate as if they had just started. In other words, their motivation is not driven by time or a countdown.
The attachment to time also made me slack off in my cultivation and run away from my problems. It's like holding onto a large load of baggage, tenaciously dragging them towards that self-perceived point in time.
The 2020 U.S. election and the abovementioned prophetic article came as a heavy whack on the head when I thought the Fa-rectification was about to end and I could finally breathe a sigh of relief. This made me realize the seriousness of cultivation. I must truly cultivate myself, search within, and pass the test. I cannot pass the test by dragging baggage along or hoping to cut corners.
My thoughts fluctuated after I saw the end time was pushed too far. But after I finished reading the article, my mindset changed. I was no longer attached to time. The feelings of upset, disappointment, and falling apart only happened when I read that article. It’s no longer about the issue of the end time being delayed again, but I feel the substance of the attachment to time is truly gone.
Breakthrough
I noticed my cultivation state changed after I removed the attachment to time. When I study the Fa teachings, the deeper meanings of time in the Fa teachings keep revealing themselves to me. I feel that I have let go of the attachment to time and that I can handle it calmly now.
I also have a purer heart when I clarify the truth. In the past, I was motivated to do things because I was counting down the time to the end of the Fa-rectification. The diligence that I thought I had was not true diligence. The source of the motivation did not come from the Fa but rather my attachment to time. It was not a real motivation. It would not last long or stand the test of time, but could only bring more trouble. Only now am I in the right mental state when clarifying the truth. After having cultivated for so many years, I finally have righteous thoughts in this regard.
I understand that in the last leg of our cultivation journey, we become stronger and stronger with Master's reinforcement. The ability of Dafa disciples is revealed and we take the initiative to restrain the evil and create an environment for saving people, not passively waiting in a confused and lost state.
The publication of that sharing article might not be an accident. When I heard fellow practitioners’ disagreement with the article, I thought if we view it from cultivators' standpoint and look within when it shook our hearts, it would help reveal our own problems. Isn't that a good thing? If we keep looking outward, we might go off track in our cultivation. We should not dwell on others’ right or wrong but instead look for areas in which we should improve. We need to rectify ourselves and catch up with Master's Fa-rectification.
In the past, when a goal was set, I used the counting down of time as motivation to push myself forward. Now that the man-made barrier is removed, my path is brighter and wider. Now it is the power of the Fa that guides me, and the sense of urgency comes from the responsibility and mission.
We should not be attached to how long the Fa-rectification will be. We also should not give the Chinese Communist Party that much time. We don’t acknowledge the persecution and we negate the arrangement of the old forces in its entirety.
This is my understanding at my current level. Please kindly point out any shortcomings.
Editor’s note: This article only represents the author’s current understanding meant for sharing among practitioners so that we can “Compare with one another in study, in cultivation.” (“Solid Cultivation,” Hong Yin)
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Category: Improving Oneself
