(Minghui.org) Ancient Chinese people attached great importance to fulfilling their commitments. There is an old saying, “A commitment is good as gold.” There are stories of people, who throughout history have fulfilled their commitments even if it cost them their lives. But in current Chinese society impacted by the poisoning effects of Chinese Communist Party “culture,” people frequently lie and say superficial things. Nowadays, Chinese people are accustomed to flip-flopping after making a decision, and they don't take keeping their promises seriously.
Dafa disciples strictly cultivate their hearts, with particular emphasis on improving morality. Compared to ancient people we should strive to do even better, so there should not even be a question of a practitioner keeping promises. But I have encountered cases where fellow practitioners have failed to honor their promises.
There are a number of reasons for these instances, mainly due our still evaluating things with a human mindset, and habits formed before we became practitioners, as well as going along with society's degenerated moral standards.
Failure to keep promises can affect other people's views, resulting in lowered trust, which can become an obstacle in coordinating projects. It could also become a problem in cultivation and affect our Consummation. It can even form an omission and be taken advantage of by the evil, in the form of persecution. Therefore, we should not take this matter lightly.
In fact, it may not be difficult to solve this problem, because this is an issue of how to meet the basic standards of being a human being. For example, we must first understand the importance of a promise. We should not casually make a promise and then not take the commitment seriously. When we later find that we can't keep a promise, we should let people know in a timely manner, in consideration of others. If we ignore it, on the surface it may seem like a good strategy, as it may fade away with the passage of time. But in other dimensions, it may form unsolvable knots. You might not have to face it now, but you may have to face it some day in the future.
Having said that, as with anything we should not go to extremes. Follow-up communication, negotiation, and adjustments may be needed among practitioners with respect to keeping our commitments, because our environment is constantly changing and our thinking is also constantly being adjusted. Cultivation is a process of constant sublimation and self-correction. What we did or thought about in the beginning may not be absolutely correct. We have to correct and make adjustments when we make mistakes. It is critical not to use the old cosmos's corrupt methods and standards to handle things. Instead, we should handle everything in an unselfish, rational, and mature way, based on the Fa.