Thoroughly Protecting Sentient Beings is one Aspect of Saving Them

Today, after purchasing some hardware for my computer and discussing computers with the Chinese owner of the store, I presented him with a truth-clarifying VCD and flyer. With surprise, he wondered where I had got them and said that he was definitely going to watch the VCD.

I had hesitated the last time I had been there, over a week before, due to some attachments of fear that were taken advantage of by the old forces' interference, and failed to give out the materials. In the time since, studying Fa, reading fellow practitioners' righteous experiences on Clearwisdom, and sharing my own understandings, I realized that this had been a very serious omission, and one that had often occurred in the past.

Teacher said "If in the future you are a Great Enlightened Being who's reached Consummation, it can't be that there are no beings in your dimension and in the domain of your own paradise. That's why during your cultivation you need to demonstrate your compassion in saving sentient beings, and make your own paradise rich and full." (Lecture on the Fa at the Washington, D.C. International Conference)

If I have allowed the interference to take advantage of my attachments, and out of fear held back when I had the righteous thought to give someone a flyer or to join some Dafa activities, perhaps some beings who should have been saved would not have been, or would have greater difficulty obtaining the Fa in the future. This is not only accepting the evil's arrangements, but also complicating the Fa-rectification rather than simplifying it. Out of Teacher's boundless compassion, we may have more chances as "the time of conclusion has been repeatedly postponed" (Towards Consummation); however, we should not ever think that we will always have more time and endless chances. In Zhuan Falun, Teacher said "Cultivation practice takes time, but you should not slack off. You may say: "Teacher has said that cultivation practice takes time--let's do it slowly." That will not do! You must be strict with yourself. In cultivation of the Buddha Fa, you should strive forward vigorously."

In a recent experience, a practitioner had seen that evil beings that look like noble gods often interfered with us, and one manifestation was their returning to the places that we had gone to clarify the truth and re-poisoning people''s minds with the evil lies. I asked myself, "How could we allow that?"

Teacher said, "Real Buddhas are guardians of the cosmos and are responsible for all righteous elements in the cosmos." (Speech by Master Li Hongzhi at the Western US Cultivation Experience Sharing Conference of Falun Dafa). I had allowed beings to be re-poisoned because I had often treated truth clarification as a task, and, for example, once the materials were handed out I would feel - with degenerated notions, zealotry and laziness - that I had simply "accomplished" the task and that being would be saved, obtain the Fa in the future etc. I had not been truly responsible for Dafa and all that is righteous.

Today, before I went out, I studied the Fa to put right my mind, sent forth righteous thoughts to clear my path for Fa-rectification, and went out with a determined heart. After I delivered the materials, I had the righteous thought that "Those beings which I have clarified the truth to are under my protection, and no evils are allowed to re-poison them. Any being attempting to do so will be the first eliminated when I send forth righteous thoughts". The thought spontaneously arose and shook my entire being.

To be responsible for all righteous elements, I realize that we must continuously keep a righteous mind, discard attachments as quickly as possible, and not allow the interference to cause us to drop in levels. If we stumble, this may create a gap through which not only would our own minds weaken, but leave those beings we are responsible for open to "re-poisoning" by the evil. This includes the countless beings we are to be responsible for in the future.

This is only a small portion of my current understanding that I wish to share with fellow practitioners. Please feel free to fill in any omissions.

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