(Minghui.org) I have been talking recently with fellow practitioners in my Fa study group, and I have found that many of them have a desire to see an immediate end to the persecution so they don't have to worry about being persecuted. This is especially the case for those practitioners who have been persecuted before.
Some practitioners said bluntly, “How wonderful it would be if Trump could remain the president of the United States and destroy the Chinese Communist Party!” For them, when they saw the result of the election, they became pessimistic and disappointed and did not know what to do next.
The persecution has been going on for more than twenty-one years, and we have all experienced a lot of suffering, with many fellow practitioners persecuted to death. After all, we Dafa disciples are human beings cultivating. Our attachments often manifest when they are not cultivated away, but we have to learn positive lessons from our past mistakes and not make the same mistakes again.
For all these years, fellow practitioners have been asking: “Why is it not over? When will the persecution end?” Year after year, now more than 21 years have passed, but those practitioners have never gotten rid of the attachment of longing for the end of the persecution.
I believe that as cultivators, we don’t need to consider at all how far our cultivation path is or how many years there will be left. It is Master who arranges such a matter and we should not cling too much to it. But now, there are still many fellow practitioners who are obsessed with this issue. Some of their attachments are so intense, as if they will stop cultivating if the persecution doesn't end.
Looking back, this strong attachment to ending the persecution has brought us disappointments time and again. Because of this attachment that pursues the end of things, we pay attention to the changes in the outside world and we are easily disturbed and interfered with by these changes. For many years, every time the situation changes, it has often disturbed the hearts and minds of Dafa disciples, followed by great losses and painful lessons.
I used to have the same strong attachment as well, and that tormented me for many years. I was so obsessed with the great calamity in 2012 that I made a bet with my husband – if Fa-rectification did not end in 2012, I would listen to whatever conditions he proposed. I did not have a deep understanding of the Fa at that time. And I was also bewildered by the prophecy. I thought that mankind could go through the year 1999 because of the power of Dafa. It was not that easy to go through 2012.
But that year passed smoothly and the Fa-rectification did not end. It was quite a blow to me. It also negatively affected my husband. Thanks to Master's protection, I looked within immediately. I found many attachments, particularly the attachment of pursuing the end of persecution and Fa-rectification. I began to rectify myself. My husband did not request anything overboard and he prevented me from generating much karma because of my attachment.
Since this incident happened, I have been more diligent in my cultivation. It has also made me realize that a cultivator cannot be attached to anything in the world, no matter good or bad. As cultivators, we seek to reach Consummation and go home with Master. As for the intermediate process, we just follow Master's requirement and do the three things well.
On the path of cultivation, every time we are attached to and rely on ordinary people and things, we stumble and fall. For example, from the former Prime Minister of China who supported Dafa, to the current communist regime leader who brought down several perpetrators in the persecution; from the change in the 2008 Olympics in China to the Mayan prophecy of the Earth's catastrophe, each time we hoped that ordinary people would do something for Dafa, we got the opposite results.
In fact, we did not listen to Master's words. Master talked about our relationship with ordinary people; that is, the relationship between saving and being saved. Ordinary people are counting on us to be saved – how can we count on ordinary people to get things done?
I learned my lesson in 2012 and did not count on ordinary people. I now believe that no regular person has the power to end this persecution, no matter how powerful or how capable he is.
In the Fa-rectification, Master can wipe out all of the evil in an instant with a wave of his hand. As soon as the Fa-rectification of the human world arrives, all of the evil’s performance will immediately end, and the persecution will never be allowed to continue tomorrow if it is to end today. We know that the evil Chinese Communist Party is going to be disintegrated – whether we care about it or not, it is going to be disintegrated anyway. But it's not up to ordinary people to disintegrate it, it's in Master's hands.
Master, with his boundless compassion, has not done so because the number of sentient beings saved is still too low and many Dafa disciples have not yet reached their predetermined cultivation state or position. If everything ends now, countless sentient beings would lose their lives and future forever, and Dafa disciples who are not in their position yet will never again reach where they should be.
Master taught us:
“But you know what? Those who have thoughts of Consummation in their minds can’t reach Consummation, not to mention those who want to reach Consummation but can’t let go of attachments to things like emotion and wealth. Pursue nothing and gain naturally! All the things that Dafa disciples are doing today are in fact the responsibilities that have been bestowed upon you by history. Just do what you should do openly and with dignity, and everything will be covered. (Applause) As long as you’re thinking about wanting to Consummate you won’t be able to Consummate…” (Teachings Given on Lantern Festival Day, 2003)
Cultivation is extremely serious. One cannot make it by chance or by accident. If we don't improve on the basis of the Fa, if we don't remove all kinds of attachments and pay solid attention to the actual cultivation of every thought, we will not be able to make it to the end.
Fa-rectification is approaching the end. The evil is stepping up in dragging down those who have leisurely cultivated for a long time, those who have not yet become clear about what is cultivation, and those who are attached to fame, profit and various desires. The old forces wanted to eliminate all those they looked down upon. Isn't this what the “zero-out” harassment campaign going on in China [aimed to force every practitioner on the government's blacklist to give up their faith] is all about?
We must not fail the cultivation opportunities that Master has given us through His tremendous endurance. And we can’t fail the ardent expectations of the sentient beings of our world. We have no choice but to cultivate diligently and get rid of the big attachment of seeking the end. We should just focus on doing the three things well to meet the requirements of Dafa disciples.
This is my understanding, please kindly point out any shortcomings.
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Category: Perspective