(Clearwisdom.net) Like many other practitioners, after reading several of Master's recent lectures, I was immersed in deep thought. Our cultivation status has not met the Fa's requirements. The number of people who have been saved is still far fewer than Master's expectations. The insufficiencies that we have as a whole body have hindered the progress of Fa-rectification, hence allowing the continuation of the persecution. I feel Master's boundless graciousness, but we must make every effort to succeed.
From "Fa Teaching at the 2009 Washington DC International Fa Conference," we learned that every practitioner had pledged to offer salvation to a certain number of people. Those sentient beings predestined to be saved by a certain practitioner would most likely depend on that practitioner to be saved. Their situation is thus closely related to the cultivation state of this practitioner. If this practitioner does the three things well, then more and more people predestined to this practitioner would come to understand the truth and be saved. If the practitioner is not diligent or if he is trapped in the ordinary society and fails to come forward to speak the truth, then the sentient beings related to him probably will have few chances to be saved. Then my understanding is that only a very small number of sentient beings related to him will understand the truth and be saved. In other words, all the work we are doing is, in fact, for ourselves.
Some fellow practitioners pointed out during our discussions that there are still a certain number of practitioners who are not diligent or who are not clarifying the truth and saving sentient beings. This has put the lives related to these practitioners in a dangerous position. This is also a critical reason why the total number of sentient beings who are to be saved has still not been met. Of course, when telling the truth with an ordinary person's mentality, the effect will not be satisfactory.
In the limited time we have, to save more sentient beings and to meet Master's requirements, I think that for the practitioners who are doing the three things well, they also need to lead and encourage those who are not as diligent or the ones who have not stepped forward to come out to tell the truth in order to save the sentient beings they have a predestined karmic relationship with to fulfill their mission. This is very important.
As a cultivator, following Master's words is a requirement. Those who are not diligent and have not come forward yet are not following Master's words. The main reason is most probably their fear and their attachment of pursuing comfort.
Recently, I listened to a fellow practitioner's sharing about when Sakyamuni asked his disciple to clean the bathtub in Zhuan Falun. Sakyamuni asked his disciple to clean the bathtub, but this disciple did not follow Sakyamuni's words. Instead, he had his own thoughts. After asking Sakyamuni a couple of times, the disciple finally came to understand and he went and cleaned the bathtub. Now, Master asks us to clarify the truth well and to save people. This is our mission, but some practitioners do not follow Master's words. They do not come out to clarify the truth and they have found all kinds of excuses to hide their attachments. This mentality is actually due to the lack of understanding of the Fa's principles. As a Dafa practitioner, if one does not follow Master's words and fails to fulfill his mission, then how will he face the "Final Judgment?"
One day, I was reading in Zhuan Falun:
"In the past, after climbing into a cave with the help of a rope, a practitioner would cut off the rope to practice in the cave. If this person could not succeed in cultivation, he would die inside it." (Lecture Eight, Zhuan Falun, 2000 translation version)
I was shocked! Before, I naturally thought that was talking about the cultivators in the past. This time I suddenly realized (in fact, I was awakened) that this is related to us. In the process of Master's Fa-rectification, if we loose ourselves in the ordinary people's society and fail to fulfill our pledges, we will forever miss the opportunity and will never be able go back. In other words, we will rot in this ordinary people's society. Actually, this is the same for ordinary people. If we fail to wake them up to the truth, those lives that originally came from higher levels will also have no future.
I also came to a deeper understanding when reading Master's recent Fa lecture in New York. We must truly rectify our thoughts, truly have concern about the safety of sentient beings, and consider saving sentient beings of the utmost importance. I also developed further understanding about "my heart is devoted to saving people" that Master mentioned in Zhuan Falun. Since we have obtained the Fa and have become Dafa practitioners in the Dharma-ending period, we must follow Master's words. As ordinary people say, what a master says is for the good of his disciples without any harm. Actually, for the tribulations and illusions that the old forces have created, countless experiences have proven that even under the persecution situation in China, as long as we truly believe in Master and believe in the Fa, and as long as we do the three things well and follow Master's words, we are absolutely safe, because we have the protection of Master and the Fa-guardians all the time.
Dafa practitioners of the Fa-rectification period have great virtue. We also have an enormous responsibility and must meet high standards. This means that cultivation in the Fa-rectification period is very serious. We only have this one opportunity, and if one misses this opportunity, he will be trapped here forever.
This is my personal understanding. Please point out any discrepancies.
August 1, 2009