(Minghui.org) From Master's teachings, we know that Fa-rectification was extended so we could cultivate and save sentient beings. However, some practitioners are not clear on this and have not paid attention to using our time or money appropriately.
Many practitioners have now retired and receive a pension. They have ample free time and a stable income so it should be easy for them to save sentient beings and validate the Fa. However, their children are now ready to get married and the daunting wedding expenses—usually ranging from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands yuan—pose a major financial burden for them.
Because of the persecution, some practitioners' salaries and pensions were reduced, so it's difficult for them to afford these high wedding expenses. They continue working after retiring, doing household services, working for private entities, or starting their own business. While these jobs do help with the money, they also consume large amounts of time that could otherwise be used to save people.
Below are three examples related to this.
Practitioner A does not have a large pension. By working hard for several years after retiring, he made enough money to buy an apartment. Other practitioners reminded him that Master suffered tremendously for us so we could save people. This practitioner agreed and said he would stop working and focus on saving sentient beings after purchasing the apartment.
But things did not go as planned. After A paid for the apartment, his two children both decided to get married. He thus continued working to pay for their weddings.
Recently practitioner A was arrested. Under pressure, he wrote a statement to give up practicing. Although he later published a Solemn Declaration on Minghui to void the statement, it's still a blemish on his cultivation journey.
To make things worse, this practitioner did not learn from this or think about what caused the arrest. Instead he believed that if Fa-rectification had ended earlier, he would have reached consummation and not been arrested or written the statement.
Practitioner B's family was happy and lived in harmony. He planned to spend more time on Fa-study after retirement. However, both his wife and son developed illnesses. Despite his meticulous care, their health did not improve much.
Although B's son could work and support himself, B decided to give him his pension and continue working.
For quite a long time, B could not calm down to study the Fa. The old forces took advantage of this and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials forced him to write a statement giving up his belief. Although he also published a Solemn Declaration later like practitioner A did, it is still a regretful experience.
In the above two examples, practitioners used human notions regarding their finances. Below is a different example.
Because of the persecution, practitioner C was divorced 16 years ago and lived with her daughter. Because officials constantly harassed her, she was not able to make much money. Nonetheless, she always spent a large portion of her income producing materials to save people. Whether she made 600 yuan or 1500 yuan per month, she always put one third of it towards producing materials.
When her daughter became a teenager, practitioner C realized she had no savings. Other practitioners said it was risky, especially for a single-parent family. Practitioner C said she had done her best and she had faith in Master.
After retiring, C started a materials production site in her home and continued to do the Three Things. Because her daughter was about to get married, practitioner C's friends wondered how she would pay for the wedding with little savings.
Unexpectedly, her ex-husband, now a business person, said he would pay for the wedding and he spent about one million yuan on it. The young couple had a grand wedding ceremony this year and both families were very happy.
Practitioner C believes that Master helped to solve her problem. In “The Master-Disciple Bond”, Master wrote,“When disciples have ample righteous thoughtsMaster has the power to turn back the tide”
I hope practitioners will spend their time, money, and other resources appropriately to save more people.