(Clearwisdom.net) We all know that the most important thing at present is to save sentient beings. However, many practitioners are still not able to step forward to clarify the truth and encourage people to withdraw from the CCP on a large scale. From experience sharing with fellow practitioners, I learned some of the reasons why this is so. They claim they are too old or too young, don't have enough time, have too much work, etc. The core reason for all these excuses is that we can't let go of ourselves and our xinxing is not up to par. Then a fresh, new excuse came up: "Above everything else, to study the Fa is first and foremost; only if my xinxing is improved can I step out to clarify the truth. If my xinxing is not up to standard, the effect of clarifying the truth and saving sentient beings will not be good."
It may sound well grounded. But if you think further, it is not in the Fa.
In "Teaching the Fa in Canada, 2006" Master said:
"You do have to do everything well, but you can't go overboard; when you go overboard it's another attachment. Also, you need to have the right attitude toward Dafa and truly regard yourself as a cultivator. How you try to be diligent, how you regard the Fa, and how you cultivate--including the length and priority of your Fa study--you can't neglect any of these things, and they are actually more important, for this is your path, the path that you are to take. You are precisely to cultivate out of ordinary human society, and you are precisely to exist alongside the Fa-rectification while it is under way and be responsible to sentient beings. That is why you are to cultivate this way."
Master mentioned "the length and priority of your Fa study." My personal understanding is that Master was reminding us. Though Master repeatedly emphasizes the importance of Fa study, that is not to say that to study the Fa can be an excuse for our not doing all the other things. As a Dafa disciple in the Fa rectification period, the purpose of our studying the Fa and cultivating our hearts is to save sentient beings. It is our great wish and prehistoric vow. It is our mission we must fulfill. The Fa rectification is nearing the end, and the time for us to save sentient beings becomes shorter and shorter. Only if we try our best to step forward to meet people can we come across the predestined people that Master has arranged for us and thus save them.
The current time is so precious that it is worth more than gold. It is just like the 72 hours after an earthquake. Despite aftershocks it is the best chance to rescue people--while they are still alive. Once we miss out on this period, we will not be able to make it up. Fa rectification is approaching. Each of our Dafa practitioners has come down to save sentient beings. It is still a success even if only one person accepts the truth after we clarify the facts for a whole day. If ten million practitioners step forward every day, then ten million people will be saved.
The process of clarifying the truth is a process of cultivation and a better opportunity for cultivating oneself. When you clarify the truth more, you will have more experience and more topics to talk about to people. You will talk to people more naturally and your righteous thoughts will become stronger. Why? Because when you let go of yourself more, you can better communicate with others, you will consider the other party more, and you will clarify the truth to him according to his mentality and attachments and thus save him. Isn't it a good opportunity to cultivate oneself?
The Minghui (Chinese version of Clearwisdom) website has published many articles about how to arrange our time. I have learned a great deal from them. Many practitioners mentioned that they study the Fa at night so that during the day time they can go out and distribute materials or clarify the truth to people face to face. It is now summer and many people take a walk after dinner. It is a good opportunity for us to clarify the truth.
I will say that I haven't done well in clarifying the truth. I decided to step out to clarify the truth to people I didn't know only last summer after I had persuaded my relatives, colleagues and friends to withdraw from the CCP. At the start I had to encourage myself to talk to strangers. But once I was able to chat with them, I would be happy all day long. Sometimes I could talk to them very well and I felt so elevated. After I learned to talk to strangers, I started to slowly clarify the truth to them. But I still didn't do well due to the fear of "losing face." I tried to study the Fa more to help myself and to get rid of the human notions in my mind that hindered me from clarifying the truth. But I achieved little. Few people withdrew from the CCP after one year of trying. The Sichuan earthquake awakened me completely. My plan was very good: first, I had to study the Fa. After I had cultivated myself well, I then would go out to clarify the truth. But can such a plan be carried out? Will the old forces which want to eliminate sentient beings wait for you? Aren't you paying more attention to protecting and cultivating yourself than saving sentient beings? How you decide this is a distinction between a human being and a God.
After I realized this cultivation point, I made full use of my lunch break and on my way to and from work to go out in public and clarify the truth. I was able to persuade several people to quit the CCP in a day. Strangely enough, after I had realized the high priority of saving sentient beings, I felt at ease clarifying the truth to people I didn't know and asking them to withdraw from the CCP. I felt as if a higher power was helping me. Furthermore, the demon of sleep no longer interfered my Fa study or my doing exercises. I woke up myself at 5 a.m. without an alarm. I then sent forth righteous thoughts for one hour. Of course, compared with many other practitioners, I was not doing as well. But I am now doing my best. During the process I truly experienced the compassion of an enlightened being saving sentient beings.
From my own experience I realized that many practitioners who were not able to get out of tribulations or to clear away interference or persecution of the evil demons were still thinking that their xinxing was not up to standard so they could not do anything. Are they thinking: "My xinxing is so poor that I can't even improve my health, so how can I possibly go out to clarify the truth to people?" But isn't it an attachment when you think: "I can't go out to clarify the truth with my health still poor?" Isn't this an attachment you should let go of? When you really let go of your concern for your health and step out to save sentient beings, the false manifestation of sickness will disappear immediately.
To save sentient beings is first and foremost. "My xinxing is not up to standard" shouldn't hinder you from saving sentient beings. My understanding is that if we can make full use of our time and ability to step out to clarify the truth and save sentient beings, our xinxing is already very high. On the contrary, if you spend a lot of time studying the Fa and practicing the exercises at home, however much you study or do the exercises, you still haven't gotten rid of your selfishness. My fellow practitioners, please step forward. As soon as you do, you will find that any attachment, any sickness karma, any fame, interest ,and qing are all so small and not worth mentioning. Only the lives of sentient beings are most precious and we should treasure them most. After you step out, you will find that nothing can hinder you from saving sentient beings. That is "the reappearance of the mighty Buddha Fa in the human world!" (from "Cautionary Advice" in Essentials for Further Advancement)
