(Minghui.org) After Master Li, Falun Dafa’s founder, published “The Ordeals Our Spiritual Discipline Faces” in June 2024, some unusual incidents occurred, but many practitioners did not actively address them.
I feel that some practitioners may think: Master is looking after everything; Master will tell us if something improper happens. Since Master hasn’t specifically pointed anything out, they assume things are going well. I’d like to share my thoughts on this.
In late 2024, Master published, “Why This World Is a Realm of Unknowing.” I read the article several times but didn’t understand how what Master said was related to the situation at that time. I noticed many practitioners were waiting for Master to explain the unfolding situations and provide answers. I felt Master already told us through this article that society is a realm of unknowing, so we should try to understand the issues ourselves instead of waiting.
Master wrote,
“All of this is to say that people’s state of unknowing was made this way for their salvation, and to save the greater universe and vast numbers of universes. Since there are such incredibly significant reasons behind this state, the spell of delusion absolutely cannot be broken to suit human wishes.” (“Why This World Is a Realm of Unknowing”)
I think we should try to improve ourselves and mature before Fa-rectification ends, instead of just waiting. We should focus on validating Dafa and saving people.
If we examine our various reactions, we may find that we have attachments behind the mentality of waiting for Master to give instructions. For example, out of selfishness, one may want to take a shortcut instead of making the effort to find a solution. With that mindset, practitioners may feel that they are doing well in their Dafa projects while leaving the bulk of the work to other practitioners or Master.
I think the wish to resolve things quickly isn’t wrong. But we are now in a critical stage while Dafa is facing ordeals. How and why these incidents emerged and developed are closely related to each of us. If none of us practitioners does anything and just assumes it’s business as usual, it may not work out. We need to figure out what’s going on and how to correct things. We can’t just wait and do nothing because we have an attachment to comfort.
For example, after the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) arrested Falun Dafa practitioners in Tianjin in April 1999, about 10,000 practitioners spontaneously went to Beijing to appeal for Dafa. No one told them to do this—they just wanted to stand up for Dafa. More than 20 years have passed, but we should know what to do.
Cultivation practice means constantly improving ourselves and enlightening. If something doesn’t seem right, we should think it through and do something.
Master wrote,
“Many of you have never thought about it further. What’s really going on? You only find it odd and feel quite disappointed about being unable to practice qigong. This “oddness” will stop your practice. It is a demon interfering with you, as it manipulates people to disturb you.” (Lecture Six, Zhuan Falun)
We should evaluate the situation based on Dafa’s teachings instead of human notions. If we consider issues from the perspective of the Fa, our wish to help save people, and the wish to establish and environment for people to know Dafa, we will have a better understanding.
Some practitioners refuse to do anything, and say they’ve been looking inward and sending righteous thoughts. That’s good, but we can probably do better. Instead of just studying the Fa, doing the exercises, and sending forth as we did in the past, we should do them really well so that we can move to the next level.
After reading Master’s most recent article, “Critical Times Reveal One’s Spiritual State” my understanding is that upholding Dafa is important and meeting the standard of being selfless is also very important.
Master wrote,
“Has it not occurred to you that this serves as a way to reveal, in the final hour, those who haven’t really practiced, who have been faking it, or who haven’t actually put their hearts into working on themselves?” (“Critical Times Reveal One’s Spiritual State”)
Master talked about three types of people, “those who haven’t really practiced, who have been faking it, or who haven’t actually put their hearts into working on themselves”. This shows us the importance of solid cultivation. For example, I noticed some practitioners who consider themselves special and often find opportunities to show off; they even form online chat groups with dozens or sometimes hundreds of members to validate themselves.
In summary, I think cultivation practice means one needs to constantly improve ourselves and sometimes it involves stepping out of our comfort zone. Like a person going from kindergarten to elementary school, from secondary school to college, from a Ph.D. student to a trustworthy, productive team member in the workplace, we should always strive to improve and reach the next level and achieve the best outcome. I feel this is the standard for a genuine Dafa disciple.