Some Thoughts on Most Dafa Disciples’ Cultivation State

(Minghui.org) Master said in his recent article “Wake Up” that “Most of our Dafa disciples will join me as the Fa rectifies the human world.” I was a bit confused when I read this line the first time, but when I read it a bit more in depth, I realized that most Dafa disciples must have had problems in our cultivation that would render us unable to reach consummation by the time the Fa-rectification period ends. But I was still not clear what the problems were and how serious they were.

As I struggled to make progress in solid cultivation in the last three months, I have begun to understand some connotations in what Master was saying and feel deeply about the seriousness of cultivation and Master’s immense compassion. 

Should I point the common problems out when I realized what they are? It’d be a no-brainer to kindly point out a specific issue that an individual practitioner had, but the problems I realized are common among practitioners as one body. Well, since Master has guided me to enlighten to the issues, I feel that I should share my understanding with fellow practitioners. 

Everything I share below is my understanding at my limited level and I welcome fellow practitioners to kindly point out anything that doesn’t meet the standard of the Fa. 

1. Are We Truly Attaining the Righteous Enlightenment Required in the New Universe through Cultivation?

Master said,

“If this thing really ends one day, the first thing that will be done is to have Fa-rectification Dafa disciples be Consummated and returned to their positions.” (“Fa Teaching Given at the 2002 Conference in Boston, U.S.A.,” Collected Teachings Given Around the World Volume II)

Dafa disciples who have achieved Consummation in cultivation may levitate in broad daylight in the full gaze of sentient beings. For those who have failed to do so, they would go wherever they have cultivated to, and everything above that level may be destroyed because they have failed to reach Consummation in cultivation. But based on my understanding, Master has changed this arrangement. 

I felt extremely sad after I became clearer about this over the last few months.

Master said, 

“Looking at the overall situation, there is no longer a question of whether Dafa disciples can achieve Consummation during the maturation process. The biggest thing that needs to be done at present is to figure out how to save even more of the world’s people! Save all beings! This has become a monumental effort for Dafa disciples.” (“Fa Teaching at the 2007 New York Fa Conference,” Collected Teachings Given Around the World Volume VIII)

Master has mentioned on many occasions that we Dafa disciples have become more mature, encouraging us to do better in cultivation, and that we must save more people. But the current situation is, after over two decades, we have not saved half of the world’s people, and in many places in China, the persecution is still very severe. 

In a city next to where I live, many fellow practitioners have signed statements to renounce Dafa a number of times while in police custody, and each time after they were released, they made a solemn declaration on Minghui to void their statements. But can such conduct be considered cultivation? 

The situation in my local area is similar. Last year, most fellow practitioners who were arrested were made to sign the renouncing statements, and afterwards, we saw heaps of “solemn declarations” on Minghui.

Besides, quite a number of practitioners who never stepped forward to clarify the truth to people in China have found ways to go abroad to pursue a happy life without persecution. There are also practitioners who feel it justifiable to seek personal interests in an environment in which everyone is looking out for themselves, not others.

Master has never said anything negative about Dafa disciples but always encouraged us. However, have most Dafa disciples become mature as Master has expected? 

If we have all cultivated well, when the Fa-rectification comes to an end, we Dafa disciples should have achieved Great Consummation and returned to our divine positions. But from what Master said in “Wake Up,” all this has been changed, indicating that we Dafa disciples have failed to achieve what Master had expected of us in our cultivation.

I have come to the understanding at my current level: When Master said in his Fa teachings that Dafa disciples have become more and more mature, Master was encouraging us and guiding us to do better. But most of us didn’t quite understand what Master meant and failed to catch up.

In fact, Master has already told us what to do and we only needed to follow Master’s instructions. However, many of us simply couldn’t understand Master’s teachings no matter how many times we read the Fa. When it came to a key issue, we simply could not understand the gist of it, and our understanding remained on the surface meaning of the words.

I have now gradually understood that most of us Dafa disciples have failed to reach the standard Master had set for us. I understand that Master was very worried, but after all, cultivation depends on how each of us changes ourselves from within, and we cannot rely on any external factors. Master has told us all the Fa principles, and now it all depends on how we cultivate ourselves. If Master spells out the specific guidance for our cultivation, then it won’t be counted as our cultivation, and how can we possibly assist Master in Fa-rectification in the way we should? 

Master is saving us Dafa disciples with immense compassion. He has allowed most of us Dafa disciples (who have failed Master’s expectations) to join Him as the Fa rectifies the human world so that we can continue to cultivate ourselves.

2. What Is the Cause of Most Dafa Disciples Failing to Meet the Standard?

Since we Dafa disciples have problems in our cultivation, then what has caused this situation? 

While most practitioners have taken Fa study and doing the exercises very seriously, when it comes to looking within, treating oneself as a cultivator when facing conflicts, and stepping out to clarify the truth to save people, many practitioners have put in much less effort in comparison. We have not saved even half of the world’s people, and only 400 million Chinese have quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated organizations after so many years. 

Even though most of us keep sending forth righteous thoughts at the four designated times every day, over 20 years have passed, and yet we still fail to do what Master expected “... with five minutes of sending forth righteous thoughts together, the evil in the Three Realms will never exist again...” (“Fa Teaching Given at the Conference in Florida, U.S.A.,” Collected Teachings Given Around the World Volume II) In many places, the persecution is still very severe and the evil is still rampant. They not only persecute Dafa disciples, but also harm sentient beings, putting many of them beyond salvation.

One reason is that many Dafa disciples have failed to step forward to clarify the truth to people to save them due to attachment to fear; another reason is that the evil beings that have not been destroyed are still restraining people from being saved. But fundamentally, we Dafa disciples have failed to fulfill our responsibilities in sending forth righteous thoughts to clean out our own dimensions and to completely eliminate the evil. 

For fellow practitioners who have failed to do well in this respect, we can read earlier sharing articles on Minghui and learn from practitioners who did well in sending forth righteous thoughts.

If most Dafa disciples had understood the importance of sending forth righteous thoughts instead of still being muddle-headed now and habitually finding excuses for behaving like everyday people, perhaps the Fa-rectification would have already ended by now, with most sentient beings saved. 

3. Why Is the Persecution in Many Places in Mainland China Still Rather Rampant?

I always feel very upset when reading reports on Minghui.org about fellow practitioners being persecuted, either by the evil or sickness karma. The old forces are at work behind all this, and they must be completely negated and eliminated. 

I think that part of the reason for the persecution to remain rampant is because we didn’t do well in sending forth righteous thoughts or cultivating ourselves well.

Take myself for example. In the past few years, the persecution in our local area was still pervasive, especially last year. I also had a big fear of being persecuted. I worried that the police might come to my home, harass my family members or cause some negative impact. I was also fearful of financial loss or being arrested again. My mind was bothered with fearful thoughts every day, and I could not calm down even when sending forth righteous thoughts. 

When the dog next door barked, I would be overwhelmed with fear, wondering if the police had come for me. I was also scared when I heard the siren of a police car in the distance, worrying what I should do if the police came for me and how to deal with them. When I saw fellow practitioners around me being forced to fingerprint the guarantee statements, I felt even more apprehensive in my heart. Even though I knew these thoughts were unrighteous, I could not push them away.

Then, I realized that I was actually asking for “persecution.” How could Master help me if I myself was behaving this way? Some fellow practitioners who suffered persecution acted in a similar way by unwittingly “seeking persecution.” 

I realized that if we couldn’t let go of various attachments to fear, this would also become an excuse for the evil to persecute us. Then why can’t we let go of our attachments and treat our cultivation more seriously? 

I once read a sharing article on Minghui.org, which talked about a senior fellow practitioner who did very well in cultivation. The persecution in her area was very severe and a number of practitioners had fallen victim to the persecution. 

When some practitioners told her that so and so had “betrayed her,” she just responded, “It has nothing to do with me” and carried on doing what she should do as usual. There was no recognition of the persecution in her mind, and as a result, no harm ever came to her while some other practitioners around her suffered persecution. 

Epilogue

There is indeed very limited time left before the Fa-rectification comes to an end. In order to accomplish our responsibilities in such an extremely limited time frame, we must put much more effort into what we do. 

My understanding of the current situation may be explained by an analogy of a construction project. If we signed a contract promising to finish the construction project by a certain date but failed to deliver by the deadline because of our lack of efforts, the only way to make up for the loss may be to postpone the deadline and work extra hard to complete the project by the extended due date. Similarly, we must let go of our human attachments and double our efforts to make up for we have missed. After all, our mission coming to this world is to assist Master in the Fa-rectification.

The above is just some of my current understanding to share with fellow practitioners. Please kindly point out anything inappropriate in the sharing. 

Editor’s note: This article only represents the author’s understanding in their current cultivation state meant for sharing among practitioners so that we can “Compare in studying, compare in cultivating.” (“Solid Cultivation,” Hong Yin)