(Clearwisdom.net) There are some older practitioners that do not understand the Fa well and have strong attachments. As a result, they are repeatedly taken advantage of, yet don't ever seem to enlighten to their shortcomings. Some have been ill for a long time. Some could not meet the requirements of the Fa, and have left the human world without fulfilling the vows they made before history to assist Master in Fa-rectification. They leave themselves with everlasting regret, as well as cause many losses in saving sentient beings.
Master said in Zhuan Falun,
"There is a criterion, however, that the life prolonged beyond your predestined time to live is completely reserved for your practice. If your mind goes wrong a little bit, your life will be in danger because your lifetime should have long been over."
In "Fa-Teaching Given to the Australian Practitioners," Master spoke about practitioners who do not study the Fa diligently.
Human beings have a limited lifetime. Especially for older practitioners, someone might be at the end of his/her predestined time to live. Whatever the reasons you make up for your attachment, your cultivation is the most important thing. Master told us to cultivate in accordance with ordinary human society, but it does not mean that we should live as everyday people in every aspect. As practitioners, we should eventually give up all attachments. Being older, we should have a better understanding of this and take responsibility for our cultivation. Our lives are for cultivation practice, not for mundane things. We are living to rectify the Fa and save sentient beings, not to help everyday people lead a happy life.
For the past several years, there have been many articles posted on the Clearwisdom website relating to elderly practitioners' cultivation. However, some still do not pay attention to their cultivation and fail to balance it well with ordinary human society. Some study the Fa every day, but cannot use the Fa to measure every thought when difficulties occur. Instead of putting effort into improving their xinxing, they are attached to familial affection and find tremendous pleasure in it. Some elderly practitioners can't bear loneliness, so they drop in on their families and broadcast gossip. They are lost in loitering for scraps of news and gossip, but do not treasure their cultivation.
Master has told us that each person has his/her own cultivation path. Although we are in different situations, the Fa sets the same requirement for us. We should continually give up attachments, and assimilate to Dafa. Integrating our life into the Fa is the basic assurance for our lives.
I knew one elderly practitioner who was respected in his local area before the persecution. The local practitioners thought he was very good in studying the Fa and doing the exercises. After the persecution started, this practitioner was repeatedly persecuted and felt great psychological pressure. Although he kept on studying the Fa and doing the exercises, he did not pay attention to improving his xinxing, nor did he improve himself based on the Fa. He also had a very strong attachment of fear. In the end, he was unable to do anything relative to rectifying the Fa and saving sentient beings. Later, he passed away. Before he died, he said, "I let Master down!"
His death brought a negative effect to local practitioners, as well as to others. Not long ago, when I clarified the truth to a man from that area, he mentioned the practitioner's death, and had a negative impression about Falun Gong.
One afternoon last summer, I passed by the village where that practitioner lived. It started to rain when I arrived. However, the sky was sunny and cloudless. Why was it raining from a clear sky? After I passed through the village, the rain suddenly stopped. I had come across the practitioner several times while he was living. I realized that the rain might be the practitioner's tears. At that moment, I could feel he repented for not fulfilling his pre-historic vows. I was unable to describe this poignant sorrow with words.
The practitioner is gone. As a Dafa practitioner, what can I do for my fellow practitioners? The only thing that I can do is write this article to awaken myself and my fellow practitioners, especially elderly practitioners. Let's be diligent in cultivation! If we do not treasure our cultivation, it could result in tears of regret.
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