(Clearwisdom.net) For quite some time, I've found that fellow practitioners around me have an attachment to “2012,” and whenever this topic is mentioned they get very excited as if everything will come to an end in 2012 and they will reach consummation. They firmly believe that 2012 is the year that all this will happen. Master has asked us to let go of all attachments, including the attachment to consummation. If we are in such a state of mind, don’t we already have a big attachment? If things indeed come to an end in 2012 and it’s time for us to reach consummation, how could you possibly reach consummation with such a strong attachment? Are you going to watch others reaching consummation and be left behind in the human world? Shouldn’t you ask yourself in your heart if you are qualified, if you have fulfilled the vow you made and if you have saved those sentient beings you should save?
I feel that those practitioners who are attached to this, should really cultivate themselves well and let go of the attachment to 2012. Only by truly and solidly doing the three things well, can things go smoothly and can we walk righteously on our cultivation path, which is very narrow.
I’m writing this article to mention some frequent incidents lately in which practitioners in various places were arrested. I wonder if such cases have something to do with this attachment regarding 2012, and if the attachment has given the evil a loophole to persecute practitioners?
Why do I think this way? Because the issue of 2012 and the recent cases of arrests reminded me of what happened in 2002. Around that year, many practitioners held onto an attachment, thinking the Party’s 16th Congress would redress Falun Gong and that there wasn’t much time left, so they hurried up to “do things.” Many human notions were exposed and the attachments were very strong. As a result, during that period of time, many practitioners were arrested, causing many losses. I myself also did not cultivate solidly at that time and hurried to “do things” to save people, so that I could accumulate more mighty virtue. When I had a strong attachment to the 16th Congress, I was arrested. It was a big tumble for me and even now when I look back, I still feel the pain.
Master said in “Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Philadelphia, U.S.A.”,
“With a Dafa like this, how could so many magnificent future Gods, magnificent Dafa disciples, who've been forged through Dafa cultivation put their hope in some ordinary person? Aren't we insulting ourselves? Could human beings control Gods? But a lot of our Dafa disciples were thinking that way. It's not a big deal if one person thinks that way, and it's not a big deal if two people think that way--that's just their personal cultivation issue. But if everybody thinks that way, then what kind of situation will there be among the larger group of Dafa disciples? It'll be a major disruption, a strong attachment, and that can't be allowed. I saw it, and the old forces saw it, too. The old forces thought, "Wait a minute, what's this?" So they made the outcome of the CCP's 16th Congress worse.”
We must not put our hope in ordinary people, nor should we place our hope in any prophecy. Master said in Zhuan Falun,
“That is the principle. No matter how one uses Zhouyi to predict, some of it is already no longer true anyway. Predicting one way or another with some of it being true and some of it being false, this fortune-telling is allowed to exist in ordinary human society. Since you are someone with genuine gong, I would say that a true practitioner should follow a higher standard.”
The prophecies in ordinary people’s society are no longer accurate, so let us not be attached to them. If we hold such a strong attachment to 2012, wouldn’t it be a very similar situation in 2002 when we were attached to the 16th Congress? Who can guarantee that such an attachment would not cause problems? I can’t say for certain that practitioners were arrested because of their attachment to 2012, but I sincerely hope that all practitioners do not become attached to it and are not moved by it. If we read prophecies every day and pay attention to where a disaster has taken place, or where the elimination has started and which date in 2012 is "the day," and if we think about these things every day we won’t be able to do anything else, and we will not be able to do the three things. I was like this in the past, and was always guessing which day would be the end and which day I would reach consummation. As a result, after a series of disappointments, I started to wait again and again. Each time, it took me a long time to let go of the feeling of disappointment and this seriously affected my cultivation. Later, I realized that even when the moment has truly come for consummation, could you reach consummation with such a strong attachment? You will still drop down, won’t you? Some practitioners said, “I will wait for Master to explode away all my human attachments at the last moment.” How can we solely rely on Master? Master has already endured so much for sentient beings. We should solidly cultivate ourselves and truly reach the required standards, and we must not rely on external solutions.
Also, behind this attachment, are there more deeply hidden attachments? What do we want to be free from? When we do not let go of our attachments, we cannot pass tests, which in turn may cause us a lot of trouble and interference among ordinary people. We will then feel heavily burdened. I think we should really search within carefully, dig out our attachments and get rid of them. In my case, I felt I suffered a lot when I was moved by such attachments. So, I warned myself to not be attached to such things any more, and gradually I relinquished the attachment. I hope fellow practitioners will stop being attached to 2012 or some “consummation date” or “ending date.” Just cultivate solidly and do well the three things Master has asked us to do, save more people, and fulfill our mission.
I have written this article to share with practitioners. Please kindly point out anything inappropriate.