(Minghui.org) Master published two articles on August 31 and September 1, 2023. I was shocked to read both of them. I would like to share my understanding after reading these articles.
It has become quite noticeable that some Dafa practitioners have become discontented and developed resentment about certain things due to various attachments. The notice published by the Minghui Editorial Board on August 17, 2023 mentioned such incidents. I believe that the old forces have long noticed those practitioners’ attachments and their potential supporters, so they arranged practitioners with resentment to stir up the cultivation environment.
Those who identify with these so-called practitioners (who have resentment) should realize that, even though they (the supporters) may still wish to cultivate, their various human attachments that are displayed through these incidents will be used by the old forces to weed them out, as they haven’t truly cultivated themselves and don’t know how to cultivate, even after spending such a long time among Dafa practitioners.
The titles for Master’s two articles are “Stay Far Away From Peril” and “Cultivation in Dafa Is Serious.” I can see that some practitioners are in a very dangerous situation. Whether they can come through it this time and whether they can look at the situation based on the Fa is extremely critical right now.
Twenty years isn’t a very long time. How can some practitioners forget the heart they once had when they first started cultivating? How can they forget why they came here to cultivate? Led astray by their attachments, they don’t fulfill their responsibilities of saving people, but instead complain about Master and Dafa. Their walking towards the edge of a cliff will not only ruin themselves, but will also put their own universe and countless beings that they represent in an extremely dangerous situation.
My understanding is that the fundamental reason for this behavior is their pursuits in the human world that they can’t overcome. This includes whether they receive visible rewards when they work hard for something, whether they are recognized and acknowledged, or whether they enjoy happiness among humans after enduring hardship.
The purpose of cultivation is to transcend the human world, and our hearts shouldn’t be concerned about mundane human affairs. The most basic action in cultivation is to remove our human hearts. Those visible benefits and rewards aren’t things we should be interested in as cultivators. Even if we live a destitute life, or are ridiculed after we did something good, we should still know that we are the most special beings, we have the highest hope and we are looked after by the Creator. Even if we suffer hardship that ordinary people can’t endure, we should still know that it comes from our own karma and we need to repay it in this lifetime.
Master said in “Falun Dafa,” Hong Yin:
“Gong cultivation has a way, the heart is the pathDafa has no bounds, hardship serves as the ferry”
My personal understanding is that hardship is our closest companion in Dafa cultivation and we won’t be able to succeed without suffering hardship. The hardships and tribulations in our lives are part of our cultivation path. Maybe hardship will appear in ways we don’t expect, but we can’t decide for ourselves based on our feelings what kind of hardship we can endure or what kind of tribulations should appear in our cultivation. Tempering ourselves through hardship and tribulation will help us cultivate away our attachments and assimilate to the Fa, while saving countless beings in our span of existence.
As beings from the old universe who are given a way to enter the new universe, we can’t imagine what Master has done for us and all lives in the universe. We also have to be clear that we have no ability to achieve major changes by ourselves. We need to be grateful and know how to take responsibility for the vows we made to Master. Facing the boundless saving grace from Master and with such responsibility on our shoulders, we should be able to enlighten and figure out what we need to do.
If we truly understand what Dafa is, and that Master is here to save sentient beings and ourselves, we should understand the seriousness of rationally guarding our actions and thoughts. We should stop caring for loss and gain in the human world. None of the fame, social status, or material prosperity can be taken with us when we leave this world. Everything we do is to cultivate ourselves, assist Master in saving people, consummate our own worlds and save the beings who put their hope in us.
The beings in our own respective universes chose to be represented by Dafa disciples and how well we do determines whether those beings will be kept or eliminated. What a huge responsibility we have! Eons ago, we made vows with our own divine lives and signed an agreement with Master to come down to the Three Realms, suffer hardship lifetime after lifetime and wait for the final salvation, so that the beings in our heavenly abode can be saved. We should absolutely not get lost in worldly affairs and human attachments and violate our vows in the final moment of this last lifetime.
Master published two articles in a row, which indicates how urgent and critical this is. Even if we can’t see the future with our own eyes, these two articles should be enough to wake us up and catch up in cultivation. Cultivation is like sailing a boat against the current: if you stop moving forward, you will go backward. Let’s all seize this moment and cultivate diligently!