Attachment to Comfort Can Ruin Practitioners

Reading this article's title, one might think, "That is a little bit exaggerated." However, if one looks back on the cultivation path, I believe one will realize that this really is true.

When I first read Master's article, "Fa-Rectification Period Dafa Disciples" from Essentials for Further Advancement II, I could not understand the following part well.

Master said,
"If you are still unclear about what a Fa-rectification disciple is, you won't be able to step forward in the current tribulation, and you will be led by the human world's pursuit of comfort to "enlighten" along an evil path. Master's heart has always been pained by those who have fallen, and the majority were ruined by that pursuit."

I believed that the attachment to comfort and ease was not anything special compared to the attachments to fame, gain and emotion, so how could it ruin Dafa practitioners?

Thinking back about my cultivation path, I'm shocked. Almost every time I stumbled, it was caused by the attachment to comfort and ease, or was at least related to it. Soon after July 20, 1999, when I was arrested by the CCP for the first time, why did I give in? On the surface it was the fear. I feared being sentenced to jail and I feared being tortured to death. However, digging in deeper, it was the pursuit of comfort.

When they threatened me with putting me into jail, when the people in the higher branches in my work had talks with me and threatened that I might lose my job, when I saw my elderly parents crying sadly and when I faced painful expressions in my spouse's and child's eyes, showing that they wanted me to go home, I was heart broken and lost my reasoning and sense. In the end, I signed a guarantee statement (A statement to declare that one is remorseful for practicing Falun Gong and guarantees not to practice Falun Gong again, not to go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, and never again associate with any Falun Dafa practitioners) in exchange for temporary comfort and ease (temporary personal freedom, family reunion, and the knowledge I wouldn't be tortured to death).

Later I was "transformed" in the labour camp. Besides the fear of death and hardship, the main reason was the fear of being separated from my family. I wanted to temporarily fake "transformation" (actually I was just deceiving myself) in exchange for being with my family. But in essence, it was still the pursuit of comfort and the attachment to a comfortable living among everyday people.

It was this strong attachment that led to my enlightening along the evil path. Now I finally had an understanding of the real meaning of that part of the Fa taught by Master.

As I understand it, in history, Chinese people were virtuous and had great moral character. They all knew that suffering hardships was not a bad thing and they believed that such traits, such as being hard-working, having an ability to endure hardships and having little desire, enabled one to develop great moral character. The pursuit of comfort and gain is a deviated notion that appeared after society's moral values fell.

In modern society this has worsened to the point that most people now think that enjoying life and fulfilling personal desires is the right way to live. This attachment to comfort and ease will not be eliminated by only realizing a little bit of it. It exists in our dimension and follows us around like a shadow. It constantly distracts us from cultivation and constantly hinders us from doing the three things well (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). Since the Beijing Olympics in 2008, more than 10 local practitioners have been illegally sentenced to jail and forced labour camps. My attachment of fear came out and I went out to clarify the truth less and less. On the surface I feared being persecuted, but it was actually due to the attachment to comfort and ease; taking the easy way out.

This attachment is expressed differently in different people. Some practitioners are attached to fame and gain and cannot get out of it. They know clearly that nothing gained in everyday life can be brought with them, but they just cannot put it down. For instance, there are some practitioners who are business people. When they earn some money they want more and more, and when they lose some money they want to earn everything back. They completely fall into the attachment of fame and gain and totally forget their responsibilities and the historical missions as Dafa practitioners. The old forces saw this, so they would constantly magnify the attachments of these practitioners, gradually wearing down their will for cultivation, not letting them have time to do the three things, eventually ruining them.

Some practitioners fell into the attachment of emotion so deeply that they cannot pull themselves out. They cannot let go of the attachments to their children and their parents. They only worry about this and only think about how to fulfil responsibilities to them. So they do not have time to study the Fa, cannot focus when sending forth righteous thoughts, and do not have time to even think about clarifying the truth about the persecution. Just like this, they get tangled up by the demon of emotion and gradually deviate from the Fa.

There are also practitioners who put all their thoughts into pursuing materialistic desire in the everyday world. This is driven by the attachment to comfort and ease, but they use the Fa to cover their attachments. They say that Master told us to conform to the way of ordinary society as much as possible, that Master told us to handle well the relationships with families, and so on. As a matter of fact, they are well aware of the attachments and human notions, but are trying to cover them up with the Fa. How could that be true cultivation?

As I understand it, the pursuit of comfort and ease is a deviated notion. It exists in your own dimension, in your mind, understanding, and notions, and in your everyday living habits. It is like a shadow that exists everywhere. On the surface it seems so normal and does not draw any attention. But actually it is the worst one. It has the characteristics of gentleness, seductiveness, and imperceptibility. It is like a bed of flowers. It let's you be immersed inside the peace and comfort, unable to pull yourself out from fame, gain, lust, and emotion, and forget about everything else. It is like a shot of morphine, it makes you lose your reasons and senses, and become lazy, numb, and dispirited. It destroys your will for cultivation and makes you forget your vow and mission.

Today I write about this to awaken myself as well as to remind fellow practitioners. Let us not take this attachment lightly, because it is a strong attachment that may lead to many other attachments. I believe that it is a slow killer that gradually ruins practitioners. It is normal for practitioners to have attachments in cultivation, but if we cannot clearly see it based on Fa principles, do not pay attention to eliminating it, and do not cultivate to get rid of it in our actions, then we will surely be ruined by it! Only if we clearly see it and eliminate it in cultivation, will we be able to clear the obstacles on the cultivation path, keep up with Master's Fa rectification process, and return home with Master.