(Minghui.org) Continued from part 1
Some Falun Dafa practitioners know that having sex outside of marriage is a manifestation of lust, and is a sin. Being attracted to someone and wanting to get close to them is lustful desire.
There are many manifestations of lust, such as being attracted to handsome men or beautiful women, admiring movie stars and celebrities, being jealous of the attractiveness of others, or paying too much attention to one's appearance.
Many things in the secular world can move a person's heart. However, what appears to be acceptable behavior for everyday people may be bad in the eyes of gods.
Dealing with lustful desires is a big test for cultivators. If we are not moved by these desires, then Master and divine beings can protect us, and prevent the old forces from interfering with us. If we constantly send forth righteous thoughts, the demons of lust and other negative elements will be disintegrated. If we cultivate diligently, our thought karma, lust, and other negative things will not be able to control our bodies, and we will be able to overcome this cultivation test.
If Dafa practitioners can truly understand that Dafa is sacred and solemn we will not indulge in lustful desires. We would not dare to.
Practitioners came from very high levels. We cannot possibly reach consummation if we don't let go of everyday people's lustful desires. The process of cultivating is a process of getting rid of filth. Only when we can let go of human notions and attachments will we attain a divine level.
Taking Control of Our Thoughts and Behavior
The difference between humans and gods is that a god controls everything in their world. If we allow human notions to control us, then we are human. If our righteous thoughts can dominate, then we will become a divine being.
Many ancient Chinese stories say that heaven is watching us. The ones who cannot overcome lustful desires will be punished, and those who can will be rewarded.
It is not a case of not acting on our thoughts and desires, as once a filthy thought arises, the gods see it.
Master said:
“In the macrocosm and in the microcosm, all beings are closely watching all these things on the earth. They know Dafa disciples' every single action and every single thought. Everything that Dafa disciples do is clearly displayed before the eyes of higher beings. So be sure to do well and win their admiration.” (“Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Boston”)
A practitioner should not have any lustful thoughts, not to mention having inappropriate sex. We must walk righteously on the path of cultivation, keep ourselves pure, and fulfill the historical oath that we once made.
Master said,
“...many people have not behaved decently, and have not taken their own cultivation seriously. This will bring you trouble, hardship, even pain, or even the loss of your life.” (Fa Teaching on World Falun Dafa Day)
Attachments to Lust Can Have Serious Consequences
Practitioner A was single. After he became ill and passed away, other practitioners found many pornographic pictures on his computer. According to one of his friends, he chatted with women online, using inappropriate language. He even had sex with one of them.
Practitioner B had an affair before she started practicing. She later became ill. When practitioners sent forth righteous thoughts for her, one of them, whose celestial eye was open, saw a man's image in her dimensional field. She admitted that it was the man that she had the affair with. She couldn't get him out of her mind, and often thought about the time they spent together. She eventually passed away.
Practitioner C, who is of advanced age, became very sick. When practitioners sent forth righteous thoughts for her, one of them saw, through his celestial eye, that a divine being said that she had inappropriate feelings towards her son-in-law. When she denied it, the practitioner reminded her that it was inappropriate to have these feelings, even if she just thought that he was attractive. She admitted that she liked her son-in-law's looks, but didn't realize that it was inappropriate.
Practitioner D liked a female practitioner. He asked her out, and mentioned his feelings towards her. He told her that he was a practitioner, and all he wanted to do was to give her a hug. But the hug led to sex. He was later arrested, imprisoned, and tortured.
Practitioner E said that after he had inappropriate relations, he saw in his celestial eye that the sentient beings in his world were being eaten by demons, and the buildings were collapsing. His body in that dimension was rotten.
As Dafa practitioners, our mission is to save sentient beings. How can we let them suffer because of our mistakes?
One practitioner talked about her experience. She said, “I watched a TV show and was attracted to the male star. I knew that this was a strong desire that I needed to eliminate, but I couldn't stop thinking about him. Even when I meditated or sent forth righteous thoughts, I kept seeing his smile. While driving one day, I was fantasizing about being with him, and crashed the car into a fence. The old forces took advantage of my loopholes. If it wasn't for Master's protection, I might have lost my life.”
Having lustful thoughts can generate lust-related thought karma. The thought karma interferes with practitioners. It also interferes with our Fa-study and exercises by making us sleepy or distracting us.
Some Practitioners Can Overcome Attachments to Lust
The following are two examples where practitioners did well on the test of lust.
One female practitioner often received text messages from a male practitioner, which she believed were masking his feelings. When she read his texts she felt that something was not right, and later deleted his contact details.
One day, he said to her, “We have a predestined relationship. We were so and so in history.”
“Even if it's true,” she replied, “it was arranged by the old forces. I don't acknowledge it. In the Fa-rectification period, I only follow Master's arrangement.”
Another female practitioner usually does not pay much attention to her appearance. When she was going to talk to a certain male practitioner one time, she put on a pretty dress and admired herself in the mirror. She realized that her behavior was different, and changed back into her plain dress.
She wanted to share her understanding of the Fa with that male practitioner, but stopped and thought, “Why do I want to talk with him? I can find a female practitioner to talk to instead.”
She decided not to visit the male practitioner, but still couldn't calm down. She said to herself, “The gods are watching me. I must control myself.” Finally, she calmed down, and the urge disappeared.
The following day, during meditation, she saw a cluster of stuff rotating and approaching her. She realized that it was that male practitioner's universe because she saw his image in it. It went through her body at an extremely fast speed.
She had a very strong desire to see him a few days later. She tried to restrain it, but found it difficult. There was a battle in her mind, as part of her still wanted to see him. She told herself firmly, “I am the main consciousness. I am not going to listen to the feelings of my body. I will not visit him.”
She felt a lot of pressure on the top of her head. She knelt down in front of Master's portrait and said, “Master, the old forces arranged my relationship with him throughout history, and they keep giving me filthy thoughts on purpose. They're trying to destroy me. I don't want those things. I won't cultivate in their arrangements. I only follow you. Please help me, Master.”
She immediately felt a warmth flow through her body. She relaxed, and all of the filthy things and the heavy pressure on her head disappeared. She knew that Master had purified her body, and eliminated the bad substances.
Sentimentality Between Practitioners
People have historical and predestined relationships, and many practitioners feel that they are old friends, and get along very well. However, we need to pay attention to the emotional feelings between us, because it might be covering lust.
One female practitioner liked to hang out with a certain male practitioner, studying the Fa and sharing experiences together. She said, “I enjoy talking to him.” But many practitioners noticed that there was lust and desire behind her words.
Another practitioner had a good impression of a male practitioner. She liked spending time with him. She said, “Although we didn't do anything inappropriate, I wanted to be with him. I wanted to study the Fa, share understandings, and do projects with him. I wanted him to sit next to me. I also paid too much attention to my appearance. Behind my behavior was a strong, lustful desire. Even if we didn't do anything wrong, my thoughts did not meet the criteria of a Dafa practitioner.”
The article “Recognize the Ways in Which the Demon of Lust Conceals Itself” published on the Minghui website, also discusses this issue.
A female practitioner had unknowingly developed admiration towards a male practitioner. She often called him to ask him about this or that, but she really just wanted to talk to him.
Her attachment to sentimentality grew with each passing day. Eventually, she realized that emotions were controlling her, and promptly started to send forth righteous thoughts to eliminate them. She studied the Fa more and tried to correct herself.
These feelings started to come back however, and she felt powerless to eliminate them. An older female practitioner told her that all lives within the Three Realms are immersed in sentimentality. If practitioners don't do well in certain regards, the old forces can exploit their loopholes to persecute them.
Remember Why We Are Here
As practitioners, shouldn't we eliminate our attachments to emotion? Gods are watching us. The predestined relationships between us, no matter how they were formed, should be seen as sacred Fa-related relationships. We should not act like everyday people.
If a practitioner is attracted to another person, and feels sad when they are rejected, they are already indulging the attachment. These thoughts and behaviors are not what a practitioner should have, and they will cause trouble for us.
We should cultivate and become pure particles in the Fa, and be responsible to our sentient beings.
Master said:
“Dafa disciples: I said long ago that sexual attraction and desire are a fatal roadblock that a cultivator absolutely must overcome. [Those people are] driven by human feelings and emotions way too much. If they can't even pull themselves out of this little thing, then it would seem that back then the old forces should have arranged to put them behind prison walls in Mainland China, as only under those circumstances would they correct the problem, right? I wonder how you'd behave in a brutal environment like that. Are you like this because your life is too comfortable? All those who don't remove that attachment and make excuses for their behavior are fooling themselves and trying to fool others--it's not like I've made any special arrangements for you.” (“Teaching the Fa at the 2004 Western U.S. Fa Conference”)
As we cultivate, we should examine every inappropriate thought, and resist and repel them. We should constantly clean up our dimensional field. We mustn't try to hide lustful thoughts. We are not here to pursue happiness, but to save people.
Category: Improving Oneself
