(Minghui.org)
Cultivating Speech Among Practitioners
Falun Dafa practitioners may, at times, forget to cultivate their speech. Last year after the publication of a sharing article on Minghui.org about natural phenomena present and past, as soon as I arrived at a practitioner's home for Fa study, she said, “Did you read that article on natural phenomena? The end is getting near!”
Also, I recall an incident when there was a performance in the 2015 Shen Yun show about how Jiang Zemin, former head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), was destroyed by gods in Tiananmen Square. At the time, a practitioner said to me, “Perhaps the Fa-rectification will end this year.”
When we don't pay attention to our speech, we may create unnecessary problems among practitioners or make a problem worse. Cultivators should strive to recognize any inappropriate thoughts and words and rectify them immediately.
In 2011, a practitioner declared earnestly, “Jiang Zemin is dead, dead!” His whole family believed him. When a news report later showed a picture of Jiang alive and well, his family said, “You are just talking nonsense!” They didn't believe him anymore, nor would they read any Falun Dafa information. Now whenever anyone mentions Falun Dafa, his family exclaim, “Come on! They talk nonsense! Nothing Falun Dafa practitioners say is real!”
When Dafa disciples talk in extremes and what they say ultimately proves to be untrue, this can have a negative impact. When we clarify the facts, my understanding is that, through the comparison of good and evil, we inspire people's righteous thoughts. When we go to extremes, when we are attached to prophecies, natural phenomena, or foretelling something, we cannot inspire people's good sides, and neither can we save people, because that is not effective.
As a cultivator, when we are eager to do something or say something, we need to step back and look at ourselves to see if we are attached to it. If we find that we are, we need to get rid of it!
Attachments to Natural Phenomena and Prophecies
Last year the Epoch Times posted an article about natural phenomena and mentioned the year 2018. Some practitioners failed to understand this from the perspective of the Fa and thus became zealous and/or complacent. Quite a number of practitioners were affected.
Some practitioners admired the author's opinions and gradually the admiration became a blind adoration. They yearned to see updated comments and treated such foretelling as “prophecies,” analyzing the article as if it were the Fa to guide them. They were not clear-headed at all.
An author said that the CCP would be doomed in the year 2017, and some practitioners became very attached to this. So why didn't it actually happen? Isn't it because we are too attached to it and it has become a test for us?
Neglecting to Read the Minghui Website
Some practitioners read the news frequently and follow what is happening in the CCP and the international community on the Epoch Times and NTD websites. They are hoping to gather hints and find clues about the progress and conclusion of Fa-rectification. Such practitioners put reading the Minghui website in second place.
Teacher said,
“About the situation in society, or to learn about the situation in society, there's no problem watching NTD. For Dafa disciples’ sharing, I think, it's good to read articles more on those Dafa disciples' cultivation-sharing websites.” (“Fa Teaching at the 2016 New York Fa Conference”)
Websites for everyday people are for people to understand the situations in society. The Minghui website offers Dafa disciples understandings concerning cultivation. When we read practitioners' experience sharing articles, we can get a better understanding of Fa-rectification and our cultivation. How can we look outward and find something on everyday people's websites? If there is a major change, Teacher will surely let everyone know through the Minghui website. If Teacher doesn't say anything, it means nothing has changed.
Teacher told us,
“If tomorrow is Consummation, today you still won't know it, ...” (“Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Vancouver, Canada, in 2003”)
“Even if it's going to end tomorrow, today that evil will still do evil just the same.” (“Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Philadelphia, U.S.A.”)
We need to let go of the attachment of looking at what is going on in the world today. We can't waste a great deal of time on everyday people's websites.
Waiting for the Fa-rectification to End
When practitioners were in the midst of tribulations, they often thought, “Why isn't the Fa-rectification over yet?” “When will it be?” This was because they didn't want to suffer, because they felt they have had to wait too long. In fact, it is the opposite: our way of cultivation is the fastest and takes the shortest time to complete. In the past, one had to repay what he owed the moment he stepped into cultivation. He would have to endure long periods of suffering to repay his karma.
Boddhidarma sat before a wall for nine years, and many monks sat for decades. Christians were persecuted for more than 300 years. There were also those who suffered by staying in the mountains for centuries, even a thousand years. In the end, they had grown only a little bit of gong. But none of them complained that the time they had to wait was too long.
Teacher pushed the time forward and made it go faster. The length of a year is now the same as a minute or a second in the past. Regardless of how much suffering Dafa disciples have endured, when we look back one day in the future, we will notice that it has only been an instant. It is really nothing once we complete cultivation and return to our highest position; the eternal glory that will be ours will really be out of proportion to what we endured.
Sitting Back to Wait for the Persecution to End
Some practitioners in China have felt that, since they have done many things to clarify the truth, they are “safe” and nothing will happen to them. Because the environment has become lax, they sit back and wait for the end to come. They no longer actively clarify the facts to save sentient beings.
Currently, many Dafa disciples in mainland China are suffering, Teacher is being slandered and attacked by rumors, and sentient beings are being persecuted. Their negligent attitude shows they are being irresponsible when it comes to Dafa and sentient beings.
Remember what Teacher said:
“The intensity of our clarifying the truth should grow only greater and greater, so you mustn’t let up—you absolutely must not. If humankind really experienced something like what the prophecies have described, it would be too late for regret. You mustn’t let the sentient beings down, nor fail to honor the vow that you made before the dawn of history.” (“Fa Teaching Given in Manhattan”)
Assuming the End of Fa-rectification
Some people were puzzled when the Fa-rectification didn't end ten years ago, because Teacher had said that the end was near. Some even doubted the truth of what Teacher said. This thinking was caused by thinking about the situation from a human perspective.
When the persecution began, there was a practitioner who read Teacher's new scripture and felt very encouraged. He assumed that the persecution would conclude on May 13, 2001. But time passed and nothing changed. He was so disappointed that he decided to walk an evil path.
There was another practitioner who began cultivating before 1999. When he saw that the CCP did not collapse in 2012, he was totally confused by Teacher's words in “Touring North America to Teach the Fa” that “there won't be another ten years.” He finally came to an incorrect understanding about something and claimed that the Fa lectures were all fake. He lost himself in the fake scriptures, spoke nonsense, and didn't do any of the three things anymore.
Cultivation is like the tides sifting the sand for gold. Facing the persecution arranged by the old forces, people stopped cultivating for all kinds of reasons. Some could not stand waiting for so long, and others became depressed and were led astray down another path. Only those that can stay firmly on the correct path to the end are real “gold.”
Teacher never made any statement about when the Fa-rectification would conclude. It is practitioners that cannot let go of that idea and hold on to their personal notions. They don't comprehend the Fa using Fa principles. The immense content of Dafa cannot be understood by the human mind. In all circumstances, we should have righteous understandings and firmly believe in Dafa and Teacher.
Conclusion
Practitioners’ attachments to the conclusion of Fa-rectification can be attributed to one of two things:
a. The attachment of pursuit; in other words, he is selfish. With the limited time we have now, the person should consider how to fulfill his vow and think of sentient beings who need to be saved. Think from Teacher's perspective instead of ours.
b. The inability to understand the Fa from the Fa. Moreover, he doesn't learn from past mistakes and is immature. He should cherish the rare opportunity to live in this epoch.
Why be attached to what's going to happen next step? That is a waste of time and, in the future, we will regret it. As veteran practitioners, if we don't make up for what we haven't done well before the Fa-rectification is over, we will not consummate. When the truth is revealed, crying won't help. At that moment, will all those who yearn for consummation have reached it? Can they recite Zhuan Falun? Can they remember all the main points in over 40 Dafa books? Are their human hearts clean? Are they selfless? Has their xinxing been solidly cultivated? Is your mighty virtue grand enough to be a lord of gods?
Please do not use your human mind to think about the conclusion of Fa-rectification. Whoever hears rumors should stop passing them around. Whatever will happen in 2018 will happen. Don't be dragged along by prophecies. We need to be calm. Just do it firmly, one step forward at a time, and fulfill our vows.
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Category: Improving Oneself
