Getting Rid Of Bad Habits

Lee Sui Fen - Kajang, Selangor

I am Lee Sui Fen, having practiced Falun Gong for about four years. Cultivation is a process of upgrading to a high level by getting rid of negative elements in oneself. Before this, I used to get nervous and tensed whenever I encountered problems. This caused me great distress. I became very moody and failed to relax myself. After obtaining Fa, I gradually identified the inability to let go of attachments as the main cause of my problem.

What are attachments? According to Master’s 2004 Fa Conference in Chicago, paragraph 19: “You know, why it is that many things, many attachments, can't be removed just like that? Why is it so hard? I've always told you that particles make up particles level by level from the microcosm all the way to surface matter. If you took a look in the extreme microcosm at the material formed by what your mind is attached to, [you'd see that] they are mountains, huge mountains, made of hard, granite-like rock, and once they are formed there's simply no way for a human being to move them.”

Cultivation is the only way to break free of the attachments. Whenever I am in the state of an everyday person, many undesirable attachments will surface. As a result, many things are not done favorably. On the contrary, as long as I conduct myself well as a practitioner, I find that I can do things very well.

Through cultivation, I came to realize that all the negative elements like impatience, moodiness, laziness, jealousy and intolerance are actually resulting from attachments. In the face of conflicts, I have learnt to look inwardly at myself and stop pointing finger at others. I have also come to the conclusion that righteous behaviors come from righteous state of mind. Besides, now I know that real happiness is derived from the process of forsaking negative elements. So, I have adopted an optimistic outlook on life which keeps anxiety and moodiness at bay. And I find that I am now always at peace with myself and others in whatever I undertake.

Of course it is no easy task to get rid of attachments which often result in bad habits. According to Master’s 2004 Fa Conference in Chicago, paragraph 20: “When a cultivator doesn't want to get rid of his attachments, quite often his excuse is, "When other people criticize me, I don't want to hear it, but if Master says something to me I'll want to hear it." But if Master said something to you, would that big mountain of yours just be gone by itself? Would that hard rock just dissolve without cultivation? If I did that for you then it wouldn't count as you cultivating, so I can't do that, and you yourself have to cultivate it away. There are many things that you can't do but that Master can. And so how does Master do them? It's not like as soon as we come into contact I'll remove them. When your righteous thoughts are firm and when you can repel those things, I remove them for you bit by bit; however much you can do, that's how much I remove for you and diminish for you. (Applause) But since you're a cultivator, you have to truly hold yourself to the requirements for a cultivator. Even though sometimes you still can't quite get there yet, you've got to at least have those righteous thoughts, and you've got to cultivate yourselves.”

Through cultivation, it occurred to me that it is of utmost importance to eliminate bad thoughts. Whenever these thoughts materialize, we must be on our guard and try our best to deny their existence. In eliminating these evil thoughts, we must leave no room for mercy, just like when we are sending forth righteous thoughts. At the early stage of my cultivation, I always failed to suppress these thoughts. However, now I have gained the upper hand. Whenever these negative thoughts emerge, I will in no time exterminate them by sending forth righteous thoughts. This successfully undermines the force of the evil thoughts. Despite the fact that sometimes it wears me out, I know that the road of cultivation is not without tribulations.

I can sense the presence of two contradicting forces in my cultivation, namely good and evil forces. When the evil force is at work, we should prevent it from gaining further strength. If we are not diligent in our cultivation, the evil force will usually get the better of the good force.

As a practitioner, I know that we should get rid of all attachments. Some attachments are discarded completely while some are only undermined to a certain extent. According to Master’s 2004 Fa Conference in Chicago, paragraph 16 and 17: “There's another thing I want to talk about. As you know, as Dafa disciples continually cultivate themselves while they validate the Fa, many bad things that were formed among everyday people have been gradually removed during your cultivation process, but some things have only been reduced, while many things have truly been removed. So the things that have been reduced aren't completely removed. There's a reason you can't get rid of them completely yet, and it's to allow you folks, before you Consummate, to live in ordinary society, to save sentient beings in ordinary society, and to do the things that a Dafa disciple should do today. But since these attachments will often show up in your cultivation and your life, they show up in your words and actions in different settings, and can even show up in every single thought of yours during your daily life. When you're affected by a human attachment, then at that moment, or for that short while, or on that matter, your behavior is the same as an ordinary person's. If you often fail to follow the requirements for a Dafa disciple, a cultivator, then aren't you an ordinary person?”

“It's fine to have those human things--when you are able to restrain them in your actions, strengthen your resolve, firm up your righteous thoughts, and handle yourself well, then that's cultivation. Without those things it wouldn't count as cultivation. It's exactly because you have those little things that you're able to cultivate yourself and strengthen your resolve in the process, and when you are able to cultivate yourself in this complicated environment and amidst this persecution, you demonstrate even more the greatness of a Dafa disciple. That's how these things work. But if you're not careful then a lot of times they will make you come across as much attached.”

In the past, I was always distressed at the thought of doing the Falun Standing Stance exercise. However, over time I now manage to get through the whole exercise easily. Besides, now I can sit through the fifth set without fidgeting much. Sometimes I can even sit for one whole hour. At present I can reach tranquility very easily during the exercises. I find that the exercises are really restful and rejuvenating. This is something that money can’t buy.

Through the cultivation of ‘xinxing’, I have become more relaxed and at peace. This has led to better wisdom and increased work competency.

Cultivation has given me a wonderful and uplifting life. Thank you, Master! Wonderful Falun Dafa! The above is my personal experience. Please kindly comment should there be any mistakes.