The Attachment of Pursuit Is a Big Obstacle in Cultivation

The attachment of pursuit can appear in almost any conflict or obstacle of people. Many troubles and tribulations Falun Gong cultivators have faced were also the result of not giving up past notions, which in turn resulted in undesired results.

For example, when the persecution started, some Falun Gong practitioners took their personal gain or loss or their fame seriously; or had a strong attachment to Consummation. As a result, the old forces saw these and used them to create rumours and deceive people, and thereby extend the persecution.

The persecution in China has been very brutal. Many practitioners have been affected, yet they have reacted as everyday people suffering from the persecution, hoping the end will come soon, so that they can get past this painful period. This is understandable from an everyday person's angle. However, as practitioners, it is very improper to have this attachment. The Fa [Universal principles, the teachings of Falun Gong] has higher requirements for cultivators than for those who don't practise. When the attachment gets strong enough, it makes practitioners forget about righteous thoughts and righteous actions, and forget that as practitioners, their great pre-historic vow was to save sentient beings.

Over the past two years, we have seen that people in different areas have seriously violated Falun Dafa's requirements. Although there were not many of these people, due to their strong attachment, their actions got a lot of publicity and had a bad influence on the practitioners in the surrounding areas and local residents. Many of the incidents were directed by the "610 Office" and police from behind the scenes, but why was there always a small portion of practitioners who followed and supported them? Through Fa study, I gradually understood what was behind these phenomena: Other than not studying the Fa well and too many human notions, one of the main causes was the attachment of pursuit.

The attachment of pursuit is a big obstacle. Clarifying the facts about Falun Gong and the persecution is for the sake of everyday people, who will have a good future when they understand the truth. However, this outcome is obtained naturally through our unselfish efforts, and based on us being truly responsible to the audience during such efforts, telling them about the greatness of Falun Dafa and facts of the persecution without having any pursuit. When we do it this way, the results are good.

Teacher is unconditionally rectifying the Fa and saving us. He does not want any compensation in return. His words and deeds are what we should follow. Furthermore, it is Falun Dafa practitioners' duty to save sentient beings, so it should be unconditional and purely benevolent. However, some practitioners have the strong purpose of establishing mighty virtue for themselves when they clarify the truth. These kinds of selfishness and pursuit often tend to bring about unexpected problems, and can greatly affect the results. Some practitioners have the attachments of competitiveness and doing things as a job, and especially when they are tired or do not study the Fa well, their attachments emerge: They are interested in the results of their efforts, and they are after what positive words and deeds everyday people will express after hearing the facts. Furthermore, in order to pursue these kinds of things, their attitudes and words are polluted with unkind things and carry some forceful intent.

Cultivation is a serious matter, and our understanding of each principle Teacher taught us and how we deal with each problem we encounter in our cultivation reflect whether we are serious and sincere about cultivation. In fact, many of us carry strong energy fields as a result of our cultivation. When our attachment of pursuit emerges, an everyday person in our field will easily feel the impure ingredient. If he does not know much about the facts, or even has some bias against Falun Gong due to propaganda he has been subjected to by Jiang and his followers, when he thinks that our efforts to clarify the truth to him are for some ulterior motive, he will instantly stay away from us and the opportunity will be lost. Then we will have pushed him away, which is against Teacher's requirement for us in "Let Go of Human Attachments and Save the World's People."

Furthermore, there are many practitioners who have not been able to get rid of their attachments for a long period of time. It is because they do not want to or cannot do so, causing them to be unable to catch up with the progress of Fa-rectification.

To put it briefly, we must let go of the attachment of pursuit, especially as Fa-rectification has progressed to this point. This type of cultivation is also near its end and so we should no longer ignore this issue.