Cultivate Away the Attachment to Comfort

I have always been envious of practitioners who have few responsibilities and are diligent in cultivation. I believed that my time had come because my child had gone off to college.

One evening while my husband was at work, I had planned on 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). However, feeling sleepy after finishing sending forth righteous thoughts at 7 p.m., I fell asleep on the sofa, so I did not send forth righteous thoughts at 8 p.m., 9 p.m., and midnight. I also missed the morning exercises.

I should have been more diligent. Why did I slack off? I kept asking myself: "When the evil persecution was the most severe, I was able to put sentient beings as the first priority and make it through steadfastly; why is it that now I'm not as diligent as when I just obtained the Fa?"

Sometimes when I look at myself, I find that I'm attached to wealth and luxury and all its comforts. There are practitioners in our local area who used to be very diligent, but gradually fell behind and do not take cultivation seriously because of their attachments to wealth, fame, and comfort. It really breaks my heart.

In the book Journey to the West, Monk Tang Sanzang, Monkey King (Sun Wukong), Pig Bajie, and Sand Monk all practiced cultivation. Eventually Monk Tang Sanzang and Monkey King all achieved Buddhahood, Sand Monk reached the fruit status of Arhat, and Pig Bajie had a good title conferred upon him. We are Fa-rectification period Dafa practitioners who have even greater responsibilities. We have the most precious and unprecedented opportunity of walking our path with Teacher. As long as we believe in Teacher and the Fa and as long as our will for saving sentient beings is solid, we will definitely be able to cultivate away the attachment to comfort as well as other attachments.

I began to examine myself for shortcomings. I acknowledged the old forces' arrangements in my believing that staying up until midnight was painful and extremely difficult. In fact, from the perspective of the Fa, it is a false impression, which is simply nothing to a cultivator. What is crucial is to have righteous thoughts. I have humanly fostered attachments and evil demons. Envy and longing are all attachments, and what's even worse is the attachment to comfort.

Whether you are diligent or not does not depend on the environment. It is up to your heart. I remembered there was an article written by an elderly practitioner in the Fifth Internet Experience Sharing Conference for Practitioners in China. She not only did household chores, but also took care of her grandchild, yet it did not affect her doing the three things well. On the contrary, it actually helped her. In the morning she took her grandchild to play outside, and she used this opportunity to advise people to quit the Chinese Communist Party and its affiliated organizations. She also distributed truth-clarification materials. Her grandchild was also active in talking to strangers and led people to her. In the afternoon when her grandchild took a nap, she would study the Fa with fellow practitioners.

A high school student practitioner in our area perseveres in studying the Fa, no matter how busy he is with his homework. He practices the exercises and sends forth righteous thoughts. In particular, he does not skip sending forth righteous thoughts at midnight, even though many adults, including me, don't. At a critical moment when there was a battle between good and evil, Teacher led us to eliminate the evil and purify the universe. What a sacred and solemn mission! Yet, I was sleeping soundly because of my attachment to comfort.

The ancient people said, "The attachment to comfort is worse than poisonous wine." A man will die after drinking poisonous wine, and if a cultivator indulges in comfort, it is like an ordinary person being poisoned.

Cultivate away the attachment to comfort and be responsible for the countless sentient beings in our world and for everyone who has a karmic relation with us. Fellow practitioners, let's strive forward to the final stage of the Fa-rectification.

I hope by revealing my own shortcomings that I can help and encourage fellow practitioners to do better.