(Clearwisdom.net) While cultivating in the Fa-rectification period, it is easy for complicated situations to come up, especially when Fa-study is not solid or treated as fundamental.

Even though we practitioners overseas have a more relaxed environment than the practitioners in mainland China, there are several shortcomings that we have to overcome. I would like to point out an issue that I have seen working in truth-clarification projects in a big city with a lot of practitioners. Of course, I also suffer from several of these issues myself.

In the city, it seems to me that we lack sufficient group Fa-study. Although practitioners often work together on projects at the same place, the focus is more on work and there is very little group Fa-study, exercises or sharing among practitioners.

As a result, problems come up from time to time:

• Sometimes we lose sight of the fact that we should be validating the Fa in every instance, and end up validating ourselves and losing sight of the bigger picture.
• We often work together out of "friendship" or "affection" instead of what is best for Dafa and using righteous thoughts. Since the basis of our cooperation is not the best, when problems arise, we tend to then have a hard time looking inside, and instead end up avoiding each other or working on other projects. This phenomenon arises out of an impure beginning to the working relationship.
• After being involved with a project for a long time, we develop mentalities of jealousy or competitiveness that did not exist in the beginning. We begin to feel an "ownership" of our projects, and rather than working together on improving as a group and saving sentient beings, the focus becomes "who has done more work" and "who has been more effective."

All this has impacted our working together as one body to save sentient beings. Even though we are busy doing a lot of work, does this mean that we are truly saving sentient beings?

Teacher said in "Be Clearheaded" (a comment on a student's article "Strictly Take the Fa as Teacher, of Our Own Initiative Destroy VCD's Not Published by Master"):

"If you, as a student [of Dafa], do not follow Master's requirements, it is definitely no simple thing. The old forces have arranged for all Dafa disciples a set of their things, so if a Dafa disciple doesn't follow Master's requirements, he must be following the old forces' arrangements"

Teacher also said,

"So for the beings of the old cosmos, and this includes all the elements of beings, when it comes to the Fa-rectification and what I choose, all beings' harmonizing and completing things according to my choices and contributing their best ideas and approaches--not to change what I want, but to harmonize and complete things according to what I've said--is the best thought a being in the cosmos could have."

("Fa-Lecture During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference")

I believe that some unnecessary problems come about because we are doing things the way we like, based on sentimentality or qing, rather than by truly harmonizing Master's requirements. For instance, some practitioners do a lot of work, but they like to study by themselves or practice by themselves "according to their own schedules and preferences."' Lack of support for group Fa-study and practice sometimes leads to a collapse of the cultivation environment and problems with the project. The practitioners who say they can study by themselves or send forth righteous thoughts by themselves perhaps don't do so as often as they could, and are interfered with or bring problems for the group.

Teacher said,

"Since they didn't cultivate well, everything will have turned bad and been weeded out, and it can only be re-created. That's why I say that in your personal cultivation it's extremely important that you keep persevering with Fa-study. If you don't study the Fa well, when you do Dafa work there will be a lot of things that are hard for you to handle correctly or do well. But if you do study the Fa well, you'll find many things a lot easier to do, and at the same time, problems will be less apt to occur. That's why I've said that no matter how busy you are, you must study the Fa."

("Touring North America to Teach the Fa")

Yes, it is true that we practitioners in the United States are very busy with work, and the sacrifices made by some of the practitioners bring tears to my eyes. But is just being busy with Dafa work the whole day sufficient? Will that alone enable us to improve and reach Consummation?

Teacher said in "Explaining the Fa During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference"

"Of the three things to validate the Fa, one is to study the Fa well, one is to clarify the facts, and another is to take sending righteous thoughts seriously. Put together, these things all validate the Fa and all save sentient beings, and they are all what Dafa disciples should do."

Teacher also said in "Teaching the Fa at the Meeting with Asia-Pacific Students",

"Group Fa-study is an environment I created for you and a form that I've left for you. I think you should still participate. That's because it has stood the test of experience, and cultivating that way allows our students to improve the fastest. When you cultivate on your own, you miss out on factors that help you improve. And haven't you, as Dafa disciples, said that you would do as your Master says? Haven't you said that you should walk straight on the path that a Dafa disciple should take?"

If we just do a lot of work by ourselves without cultivating as one body, are we truly following Teacher's requirements? Are we truly meeting the standard for Fa-rectification period Dafa disciples?

''Of course, I also suffer from several of these problems that I have just pointed out. I will try to study the Fa more and improve myself to overcome the shortcomings, and try to support group Fa-studies so that we can improve as a whole.

These are only the understandings at my level. I hope that other practitioners can point out any mistakes in my understandings.