Letting Go of the Attachment to Money

I thought I had cultivated well in terms of money. Originally I took money lightly. After I obtained the Fa, I let it go without much problem. However, half a year ago, my mind began to be very much disturbed by the thought of money. Recently I have shared understandings with fellow practitioners and found out that we all encounter the "money" problem. And this problem occurs also to "generous" practitioners. At first, some friends and relatives came to borrow money. Several days later someone else came to borrow money. Then, later even, a practitioner came to borrow money to make a living by doing business.

It was difficult to handle all these issues, especially the last one, lending money to a practitioner. I did not tell my husband, as he was not at home at the time, before I loaned the practitioner 5,000 yuan. I said several times to my husband that the practitioner promised to return the money very soon. But something unexpected happened and the practitioner could not return the money as promised. My husband complained from time to time that even practitioners could not keep a promise. I began to blame the practitioner and my husband in my mind. All my human notions appeared. I realized the seriousness of the problem: I had not been attached to money, then what human attachments should I let go?

After I studied the Fa repeatedly, I realized that I had a strong attachment to saving face. I discovered the crux of the matter after Teacher arranged so many events for me. I was afraid that everyday people would call me not generous, that fellow practitioners would think that I was attached to money and did not cultivate well. What's more, whenever I had extra money, I would buy something I liked rather than necessities. I felt quite light after I discovered the attachments derived from money and let them go.

Other practitioners also encountered money problems. One practitioner told me that she felt upset about money. She had planned to rent her master bedroom to another practitioner. The renter would pay her mortgage by renting the bedroom. She and I agreed on renting the room to a practitioner even if the practitioner would pay less. However, another practitioner said to her that the practitioner was validating the Fa and hoped that she would not collect the rent. So this practitioner was puzzled and in the end she rented her room to a non-practitioner. I felt upset once I found out. Actually, this practitioner had never accepted anything from others. I intended to give her an old computer. She insisted on paying for it, or she would not accept it. She saves all her money for validating the Fa. Her monthly income is less than 1,000 yuan, but she has to pay 460 yuan for her mortgage, and she lives in a room less than three square meters. Noticing that she only ate steamed buns for meals, I brought her some food, but she refused to accept it. She said that she was happy with her life, and if she accepted others' help, it upset her.

Some practitioners appear to have cultivated diligently. They buy whatever they want for themselves. Whenever they need anything for validating the Fa, they turn to the coordinator for help. They even look for Teacher's words to defend their attachments. They have not realized that they have not let go of their attachments to material profit and things. In comparison with the previously mentioned practitioner, they have a large xinxing (character) gap.

Let's talk about the wealthy practitioner. The other day I went to the practitioner who owns a business. I told her that I was temporarily short of money and she was the only one I knew who was wealthier, so I turned to her for help. To my surprise, she said, "I'll search within to find out why I have recently met several similar things." She pays more than 10,000 yuan for her mortgage monthly. In addition to the mortgage pressure, fellow practitioners come to her business and take whatever they need. And she has to pay off the loan for them every two months. One practitioner takes a computer home and another takes several boxes of paper. As a result, this wealthier practitioner has become debt-ridden. I almost burst into tears when I heard her say, "Is it OK for me to lend you the money next month?" Later, I sent her a message to tell her that I would not borrow money from her, that I would manage to solve the problem by myself. Then we both shared a lot of our understandings. She said that she could not understand it when some practitioners brought back the goods they had bought days before and said that the goods were not suitable. Instead of retuning the goods to the store, they brought it to her place and she had to pay for them. This kind of thing kept happening, so her family members have a very bad impression of practitioners. We are all practitioners, Dafa disciples. We are all studying the Fa. The Fa asks us to consider others at any time and any place. Have you ever thought about the troubles you have caused fellow practitioners?

Recently I was thinking about these incidents, my personal feelings, and fellow practitioners' experiences. I enlightened to something that I had never understood before and I'd like to share this understanding with fellow practitioners.

Pay in Advance When You Ask Fellow Practitioners to Buy Something for You
If you ask a practitioner to buy something for you and you do not return the money promptly, the practitioner will run out of money. I paid for other practitioners until I had only a few yuan left and then I had to turn to my daughter to borrow some money. My daughter did not understand this. Now if I encounter this situation, I will say calmly, "You'd better give me the money right now, or I cannot afford it." Usually they'll pay right away with a smile.

Treat Practitioners with Righteous Thoughts.
To the practitioner who rents her room to others: You may tell the coordinator calmly and peacefully that you cannot make a living without collecting rent. The coordinator will understand this and the problem will be solved. In a conflict, it seems that the other party is wrong, but if we keep looking within, we'll see where we fall short. Because we are all cultivators, we are supposed to search inward, let go of human attachments, and upgrade our xinxing.

To the practitioner who owns a business: If you cannot afford to pay for other practitioners, just tell them directly that you have no special funds to do so. If you tell the truth, they will understand. If you don't tell them, they won't know about your situation. Those who take things from you do not know that other practitioners also take things from you. To those who come to return goods, tell them that they need to return the commodity themselves. But you must speak calmly and peacefully. If you are agitated, don't you need to let go of your attachments?

Teacher asks us to search inward, but we like to dig into a bull's horn and only look for others' mistakes. Even if the other person is a rich practitioner that is considerate of others, we cannot take whatever we want from him/her. Regardless of what business you do or what life you have, that is your cultivation environment. We were born for this Dafa and everything is for our cultivation. How can we cultivate ourselves if no one makes any tribulation for us? Isn't it an arrangement by Teacher in order to upgrade our xinxing when conflicts surface among fellow practitioners? We must be able to endure the tribulations created by everyday people as well as by practitioners. The side that a practitioner has cultivated well is invisible--only the part that has not been cultivated well shows up, and isn't this just for us to improve ourselves? Isn't it a loophole if we cannot pass the test because the tribulation was caused by a practitioner?

Value All Dafa Materials
I've noticed a phenomenon that some technically-oriented practitioners love to use new equipment. I saw several printers at the coordinator's home, some of which are expensive. There is nothing really wrong with some of them. They are only a little bit old. Some have minor defects. But they were all sent to the coordinator's house. The money we used to buy these machines was all donated by Dafa disciples, who saved the money out of their daily necessities. The fundamental premise for us to do the three things (Study the Fa [the teachings of Falun Dafa], send forth righteous thoughts and clarify the truth about Falun Dafa and about the persecution to the world's people) well is to cultivate ourselves well rather than only to do things without cultivating. If we have loopholes, the old forces will interfere and persecute us. Cultivation is really very serious. We must study the Fa well, cultivate ourselves well, and take everything that happens around us, regardless if good or bad, as something to upgrade our xinxing. Only in this way is one really cultivating diligently.

Let Go of Attachments to Materials and Put All Our Money into Validating the Fa
Many practitioners have cultivated very well in this regard. One practitioner in the countryside makes only 600 yuan a month as a nanny. However, she often donates money to the truth-clarifying site and keeps almost nothing for herself. I have known her for two years. She hasn't bought many clothes for herself. She mainly wears discarded clothes from her employer.

Another practitioner makes less than 700 yuan a month. She pays 200 yuan for rent, phone calls, and food. She uses all the rest of her money to buy envelopes, stamps, and printing paper to tell people the facts. The cell phone she uses is the one I almost got rid of. She collected all the cardboard I was ready to throw away, sold it for a few cents and was pleased to say that she could buy a few more envelopes.

My mother is 82 years old this year. She often tells me that I don't need to buy anything for her and we need to use the money to make more truth-clarifying materials. When I visited her last time, she said with embarrassment that she would give me money and asked me to buy a pair of shoes for her. She asked me to buy the cheapest cloth shoes. Her words reminded me that I had not bought any clothes for her for a long time. At that time she only had one pair of shoes that were not worn out. But she insisted on buying just one pair and said she could mend the worn out ones and wear them at home.
These are all my personal experiences, and there are still a lot more. While the practitioner we mentioned before who owns a business took one check after another to pay off the other practitioners' debts, she said to her 83-year-old mother, "Let's save some money, save as much as possible." Then let's take a look at our Teacher. When Teacher imparted the Fa, he took with him boxes of instant noodles. After seeing all these examples, can't you see your hidden attachment to material goods? Can you reach consummation without letting go of these human mentalities?

Letting go of the attachment to money is only one aspect of cultivation. We still have many other attachments we need to get rid off. However, the attachment to money can connect with miscellaneous attachments, so we must be very clear-headed about it. Let's study the Fa more, search inside ourselves during conflicts, and do the three things well. In the last and most valuable Fa-rectification period, let's cultivate ourselves without leaving any loopholes, reach consummation, and follow Teacher home.