(Clearwisdom.net) Falun Dafa allows its practitioners to cultivate among ordinary people. This is different from almost all other cultivation practices. This means that Dafa practitioners need to eliminate the attachments of ordinary people in this complicated environment of ordinary people. Because we are cultivating among ordinary people, many ordinary things interfere with us, causing new attachments. A while ago, some of my fellow practitioners and I had more or less developed an attachment to when the Fa-rectification would end. Since Master said, "Well, the Olympics are a few years away, so it's questionable whether the wicked Party will make it that long," ("Teaching the Fa in San Francisco, 2005"), we thought for sure that the Party would collapse in 2008. This is itself an attachment to the time line of Fa-rectification. When we saw that two Canadian lawyers were going around the world, appealing for a boycott against the Beijing Olympic Games, and that more than 15 million people had quit the Chinese Communist Party and its affiliated organizations, our attachment grew still stronger. We even thought that the Party would fall in 2007. Due to this attachment, some practitioners have deviated in their understanding of the Fa and have gone to extremes in their actions.
For example, some practitioners think that it's pretty close to the 2008 Olympics, and the Party's days are numbered. They are therefore less careful and even think it is OK to be arrested, since it won't last too long. As a result, they have lowered their guard and neglected the issue of security. Some other practitioners think that the Fa-rectification is almost over, and we should try our best to clarify the facts and save sentient beings. Therefore, nothing except for the three things is important. They even quit their jobs in society and thought they would be all right as long as they had enough money to live until 2008. Some other practitioners, due to their attachment to the time line of the Fa-rectification, believed that a plague would occur in 2008, and told ordinary people about the plague when they clarified the facts.
In the second half of 2000, some students were also attached to the end of the Fa-rectification. At that time, a fair number of students, after reading Teacher's articles "Towards Consummation" and "Eliminate Your Last Attachments," due to their attachments, failed to have a correct understanding of the relationship between their personal cultivation and the Fa-rectification. They thought that Fa-rectification would end at the end of 2000, and they developed strong attachments as a group. Their actions also deviated from the right path. Many of them were taken advantage of by the old forces, and there were many painful lessons. I believe many practitioners remember that experience well. Now, Dafa disciples have matured, and the possibility of developing a strong attachment as a group is very small. However, since we cultivate among ordinary people, we could be influenced by ordinary people's affairs. Although we all know that we should not be attached to when the Fa-rectification will end, and we all acknowledge it, have we truly let it go in our hearts?
For myself, since I have experienced many tribulations and pains, and am currently being threatened by the evil people, whenever I hear or read things such as, "The Fa-rectification is almost over" and "The evil is close to complete elimination," my attachment to the end of the tribulations and pain is easily stirred, forming an anxious anticipation to the end of the Fa-rectification. The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games is approaching quickly, and there are many media reports about it. For a while, I thought this would be the end of the Fa-rectification. Once I began believing it, a new attachment was formed. At first I thought that I was the only one with this attachment. Recently, when I talked with another practitioner, he said that many other practitioners had the same attachment. I think this is a very dangerous trend. If this continues, it will become an excuse for the old forces to intensify the persecution. We have seen reports on Clearwisdom.net about the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) arresting Dafa practitioners using the Olympic Games as an excuse. So I hope that every Dafa disciple, especially those in China, can pay attention to this issue.
The attachment to the end of the Fa-rectification will not make Fa-rectification move faster. Instead, it will only delay the process of Fa-rectification. Then why have we formed this attachment? I think there are two main reasons.
One cause of the attachment is that we have not studied the Fa well and do not have strong righteous thoughts. We have not maintained a clear understanding about the historic mission of Dafa disciples, to assist Teacher in the Fa-rectification and to save sentient beings. We have not given our mission the highest priority. Instead, we have been interfered with by time. Can the Fa-rectification be ended by an ordinary human event? Can it be restricted by the time predicted by people in history? Our premise should be whether we have realized the goals of the Fa-rectification, saved sentient beings, and finished our cultivation. Even if the time line of Fa-rectification coincided with an event in ordinary people's society or something mentioned in the prophecies, it would be mere coincidence. Otherwise, ordinary people would determine when the Fa-rectification ends. No matter what the current event is, we should not be attached to it. Our first concern should be if there are people around us we can save, and if we can save more people.
Another cause is that we have not let go of the fundamental human attachments. One fundamental difference between a cultivator and an ordinary person is that a cultivator treats suffering as something good, in order to eliminate karma, but ordinary people treat suffering as a terrible thing and try to avoid it. But isn't there an element of wanting to end our suffering hidden in our attachment to the 2008 Olympics? I have noticed that when there is a conflict, my first thought is often to choose the path that is easier for me. Ordinary people cannot apprehend this thought at all. If cultivators do not pay attention, they may easily miss it, too. Actually, this one thought is the attachment to comfort that has existed for thousands of years among people. Although it is manifested as an attachment to the time line of the Fa-rectification, it is actually a deeply hidden, fundamental human attachment that has not yet been eliminated. We should use this opportunity to dig inside our thoughts, find our fundamental attachments, and eliminate them. Looking at it from a different perspective, if the Fa-rectification ends today, we may want to ask ourselves: how many attachments do we still have? How many sentient beings that could be saved have not yet been saved? Have we fulfilled our vows made before history? If we can look at things from this perspective, we will not be anxiously anticipating the end of the Fa-rectification. Instead, we will strive to save more sentient beings before the end of the Fa-rectification.
November 25, 2006
