Understandings After Losing My Keys

I occasionally lose my keys, something I've done ever since I became a practitioner. For example, when participating in outdoor group exercise in China years ago, I would sometimes hang my key ring on a nearby tree branch. Frequently, it wasn't until I arrived home that I would remember that my keys still hung on the tree.

Some ten years have passed since then. Recently, I came to an understanding of the phenomenon. The function of a key is to open a lock. Without a key, there is no way to open the lock. Many of my attachments are playing the role of different locks, constraining me from improving. This time, I lost a key ring that had many keys. This reminded me that I still have many attachments that I haven't let go of: jealousy, struggling, lust, fame, and material interest. After identifying these attachments, I decided to concentrate on eliminating them.

Several weeks go, I dropped my keys somewhere on the ground. I looked everywhere for a long time, but I still could not find them. This happened at night and it was dark outside There were no street lights nearby. My daughter (a practitioner) called me asking why I hadn't returned home yet. I told her about the keys and asked her to help. She began to send forth righteous thoughts for me. I also sent forth righteous thoughts, and I began to look within. I found I had too many human notions and did not discipline myself with a Dafa practitioner's standard. Finally I found the keys. Upon arriving at home, my daughter said that while she sent forth righteous thoughts, she saw many black substances being expelled from my head. After they were expelled, she received the phone call from me saying that the keys were found.

Reflecting on this, I remembered Teacher's words, "It's like a master key, unlocking that old-force factor that seals the world's people off and prevents them from learning the Fa. " ("Teaching the Fa at the 2003 Atlanta Fa Conference") However, I have been doing very poorly in this regard. Teacher has compassionately arranged sentient beings for me to save, but I have let Teacher and the sentient beings down, again and again.

Thank you, Teacher, for reminding me through this incident, to learn to look within. This helps me to remember my prehistoric vows and my mission to save sentient beings. This has caused me wake up from the attachment to seeking comfort, and become diligent. I will follow the Fa to find and let go of my attachments. While cultivating myself well, I will save sentient beings and fulfill my vows.