(Clearwisdom.net) In the past, I did not cultivate diligently. One day, while I was half asleep, Teacher showed me the following vision of a conferring ceremony:

In my vision, I was chatting with three fellow practitioners. An older non-practitioner stood nearby, looking quite friendly and easy-going. I did not feel anything special about him. Soon, something happened that stunned me. This older person suddenly walked to the opposite wall, and pressed his hands on it. Every hand imprint had the status of a Buddha. As he pressed his hands on the wall around the room, each hand imprint emitted an unusual light which shone on each one of us respectively.

We were astonished. We all developed a profound reverence for him. We held our hands in heshi as we watched him. Then we received a hint that this older person was actually Teacher who was performing a receiving and delivering ceremony (in What is Enlightenment? Teacher says, "As each person reaches Consummation, I will receive and deliver each." When a student reaches Consummation a Buddha or Teacher holds such a ceremony. The "hand imprint," is, in effect, a certificate of his Consummation.) Then I saw an even more spectacular scene. Boundless Buddha statues appeared, manifestations of level after level of Buddha images. These manifestations of Buddhas status and images were the manifestations of many different levels of a practitioner who, among us, was returning to his place. They were all of him, himself, all manifestations of different levels of his being. What was sad was that, of all the boundless levels, and realms of his own, he only returned to the third level, and he settled there. He could no longer go beyond that, back to those boundless levels of his own, all of which were wasted.

Even though none of us spoke, sounds came to my mind, enabling me to know that this fellow practitioner had not been cultivating diligently, for he chose to end his cultivation. Of all the boundless levels, with each one more magnificent than the next, he chose the third level. All the rest were wasted. Even though it was only the third level, for an everyday person it would be too high to reach. For him, however, it was not something worth cheering about. Instead of a great Consummation, it was something worthy of enormous regret.

While having this vision, I had two feelings:

1) I regretted that I hadn't whole-heartedly revered this older person (Teacher) who lived with us. I hadn't shown him respect.

2) I saw others' situations more clearly, and felt enormous pity for them. I also understood that I must handle my future path well. At that moment, I vividly felt the taste of bitter regret while still in the state of illusion being dispelled. In that state, looking back on the suffering endured while in the maze, I realized that it was actually nothing. The concept in that dimension of no illusion is not that of this dimension of illusion. No matter how you try to describe that dimension (of no illusion) with the thinking of this deluded, so-called realistic dimension, you cannot truly express it clearly. The dimension of illusion is actually nothing but an unreal moment. Yet, humans living in illusion consider it to be so real, so solid; consequently, they are strongly attached to it. While in this dimension of illusion, even if the utmost suffering is endured or one's life is sacrificed, it is nothing. Hardships and sacrifices that are endured in this dimension, however, are not wasted, since there is a corresponding breakthrough in one's position, improvement, and elevation to a higher level in that dimension. Human suffering on this side is not worth mentioning compared to the true reality of everything on that side.

This image made me understand clearly that I have to strive forward even more diligently from now on, and not wait until I am bitterly regretful because it is too late.

I realized that today's cultivators, everyday people, and even evil people, do not yet know the true manifestation of the Lord of the colossal firmament; consequently, they dare to treat Teacher based on their attachments, human mentalities, or even evil thoughts. When Teacher truly manifested his awesome dignity, and when we faced such a great, magnificent, and spectacular scene, we understood that we had not shown him enough respect. Those people who persecute Teacher and Dafa are too recklessly arrogant. Teacher has repeatedly shown great compassion for those committing evil actions. It is not that Teacher isn't capable. If Teacher displayed even a little of his mighty power, it would overpower everything beyond description. It is precisely because the Lord of the colossal firmament has such solemn dignity and mighty power, that he will not exercise even a little of his power casually on sentient beings. Instead, he continually gives beings opportunities, and extends his merciful compassion to all beings.

Although I have wanted to write this down for a long while, it was not until I read Teacher's "Do not say that our mercy is somehow lacking," from "The Heavens Become Clear Again," that I felt compelled to write this down and share what I have seen with everyone.

I hope fellow practitioners can truly understand the compassion of the incredibly mighty, dignified Lord of the colossal firmament for tiny specks of dust like us. I also hope that we will all have more respect for our great Teacher.