PureInsight | March 23, 2010
[PureInsight.org] My wife (who is also a Dafa practitioner) noticed that I had been busy writing an article for two days without going out to clarify the truth and I hadn’t spent enough time on studying the Fa and doing the exercises. She reminded me to put studying the Fa and saving sentient beings as the highest priority. I explained to her how important the article was and that it’s also a way to clarify the truth. I added I would make up time to study the Fa and do exercises later. My wife pointed out that I was quibbling and making excuses. I disagreed and thought she couldn’t understand me. So I continued to work on my article.
I sent the article out. The next day, I didn’t see it published. I reviewed my article and found some areas to improve, so I made some corrections. However, I kept failing to send it out. I still couldn’t send it a day later even after I sent righteous thoughts (this seldom happened in the past). I told my wife about it and she said I should look inside to find my attachment. It was then that I paid close attention to my thoughts. I calmed down to study the Fa and then I looked inside. As a result, not only did I find many of my attachments and human thoughts, but also I found an attachment that I never paid attention before and I was not clear about—covering up.
Recently I wrote quite a few articles. Almost all of them were published. Several articles were put into the Weekly Edition of Minghui.org. I was so glad that I sang songs while walking. I was too glad to hold back (my attachment of zealotry). When I went to the group Fa study, I consciously or unconsciously mentioned my articles to fellow practitioners to draw their attention to them (my attachment of showing off). Every time after I submitted my articles, I waited for them to be published. When I visited those websites, the first thing I did was to check whether my articles were there. If there was a new article of mine published, I was too impatient to wait to read it; if there wasn’t, I immediately felt so depressed that I didn’t even want to read other practitioners’ articles (my attachment to validating myself). My standpoint of writing articles was not pure or righteous. Even though I wrote them to validate the Fa and save sentient beings, I still had a thought of leaving behind a good reputation for myself in history. In other words, I said I wanted to write about the touching miracles that Dafa disciples performed, however behind this I was after fame.
But all these attachments and human thoughts were covered up and protected by another attachment without my realizing it. Not until this time when a fellow practitioner pointed it out, did I realize it after looking inside. Looking back, even when fellow practitioners pointed out the areas I needed to improve, I often explained it away or quibbled with them, which was actually covering up my attachment. Just like Master said in the lecture Fa Teaching Given in Manhattan “And with some people, it’s even to the point that if they do something wrong and others kindly point it out, they make excuses for themselves. As soon as their error comes up they try to explain it away, telling bald-faced lies and trying to find some external reason for it. Is this kind of behavior, which is beneath even ordinary people, befitting a Dafa disciple?” While looking inside I had a clearer understanding about my attachment of covering up. The attachment of covering up is more hidden yet has worse effects than other attachments, as it protects other attachments and it is more difficult to recognize.
The attachment of covering up is a breeding ground for many other attachments; it is the protecting umbrella for them. The attachment of covering up is also a living being in other dimensions, so it needs an environment and conditions to live. When human thoughts and other attachments are about to be disintegrated, the attachment of covering up rushes out to protect them. Because what it protects is against the characteristic of the universe, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, it is worse than and dirtier than the other attachments.
The attachment to covering up is something cultivators very often use to protect their human thoughts and attachments. When their human thoughts and attachments are touched, they naturally find excuses to explain things away and quibble. Sometimes they even use Dafa as an excuse. The manifestation of the attachment of covering up sounds reasonable on the surface, and it may even be high-sounding. Therefore it can confuse people easily.
The attachment of covering up is a habit of protecting oneself when dealing with affairs or interacting with people. After having been brainwashed by the wicked Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for sixty years, Chinese people nowadays have lost the ancient Chinese sincerity, kindness and honesty. The attachment of covering up has become a habit. Cultivators were ordinary people before their cultivation, thus the habit still exists. When one’s human thoughts and attachments are about to be exposed, when one’s fame and personal interest are about to be damaged, the first reaction is to protect oneself and cover up. This has become so natural that it is like when an object suddenly comes at you, the basic instinct is to close one’s eyes or duck.
The form of existence of the attachment of covering up is different from other attachments. It is not so obvious, not like the attachment of fame, self-interest or emotion. It shows up tangibly or intangibly, intentionally or unintentionally; sometimes it is visible, sometimes it is invisible. It exists in your cultivation and life at every moment. However, it is hard to draw your attention to and caution against it.
Today we have analyzed the attachment of covering up so that we can recognize it, see through it, eliminate it and finally discard the attachment. This is very important.
Translated from: http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2009/12/14/63115.html
