(Minghui.org) During the winter in China, many people enjoy sitting around the heater to talk or play cards, or stay in their warm beds and get up late. This attachment to comfort can be a test for cultivators.
Having a warm bed is not an issue, but having an attachment to one can destroy a practitioner's will. Without realizing this attachment, practitioners who enjoy staying in their bed will miss doing the morning group practice. They will then find excuses to forgive themselves and rationalize this behavior, thus empowering their laziness.
I experienced this tribulation in the past. Sometimes, after trying very hard to get up in the morning, I would go back to sleep right after finishing the exercises.The warm bed was like a magnet that pulled me in and made me feel very happy. The old forces took advantage of my loophole and enlarged my attachment, encouraging me to continue seeking comfort. As a practitioner, I knew it was not right, but I couldn't eliminate the habit.
I eventually looked within and asked how I could be a cultivator if I couldn't break through the attachment of comfort. Other practitioners were able to get up for morning group practice, but why couldn't I? What if others completed their cultivation and leave, while I got left behind?
I then thought about the practitioners who were persecuted in prison. They were tortured, even for doing the Dafa exercises, and deprived of sleep. I thought of the cultivators in the mountains and how they were able to meditate year round in a remote area, without a blanket or warm bed. I felt ashamed compared to those cultivators!
I decided to stop my bad habit once and for all. After I got up, I folded the blanket so I couldn't return to bed. Since “warmness” was gone, I wouldn't hurry back to bed after doing the exercises. I then got into a good habit of studying the Fa after sending forth righteous thoughts. I was able to finally resolve my attachment to comfort.
Many practitioners in my area still face this problem. I hope my experience sharing will remind them to strive forward steadily in cultivation and let go of this attachment. Although cultivation is a step-by-step process, our attitude also reflects whether or not we take cultivation seriously and behave accordingly.
Fellow practitioners, let's cultivate diligently together!
Category: Improving Oneself
