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Understandings After Reading Teacher's New Lectures - Suddenly Awakened by a Heavy Blow

October 18, 2004 |   By a Falun Dafa practitioner in Jilin Province

(Clearwisdom.net) After studying Teacher's new articles, I felt the urgency and realized that Fa-rectification has reached a critical point. While reading Teacher's two recent articles, I have found some shortcomings of my own as well as problems in the local area during Fa-rectification in the past several years. I now write them down, hoping we can improve as one-body and do the three things well during the last steps of Fa-rectification.

1. Fa-study

I have attended many experience-sharing conferences, during which few practitioners mentioned their understanding of Fa-study. Most of the time, practitioners talked about detailed work in validating the Fa and some gave typical examples during Fa-rectification. Sometimes they were even following models or had pursuits. Many did not pay attention to Fa-study, and did not realize its critical importance. During sharing, many practitioners placed emphasis on the format rather than the Fa. As a result, the attachments of showing-off, zealotry, vanity, and pursuit of fame appeared. As this continued, the omission gave evil beings an excuse for persecution, thus causing unnecessary interference and losses for Fa-rectification and truth-clarification.

For quite a long time, many fellow practitioners did not pay attention to Fa-study. Without sufficient Fa-study and without a calm mind, they just "looked" at several pages and put the book down. Sometimes, various thoughts surfaced about this or that, and the effect of Fa-study was thus very poor. During Fa-rectification, some practitioners are not clear about the Fa, and have not understood it. They just follow other people's actions, thinking they have contributed by being involved in validating the Fa. With such thoughts, are they being responsible to themselves? Can they save sentient beings? In order to remove the stubborn selfishness, one must pay attention to Fa-study. As practitioners who cultivate in Dafa, the only thing that can ensure our improvement is Fa-study. Everything comes from the Fa, and everything can be improved by the Fa. Therefore, Fa-study should be our highest priority. Only by doing well in Fa-study, can we do things well in validating the Fa. Therefore, diligent practitioners are all able to study the Fa well. When sharing with fellow practitioners, we should emphasize more about understandings and experience about Fa-study. In this way, we will have a pure and righteous environment that emphasizes Fa-study. We can subsequently do better in truth-clarification, and human attachments will be eliminated sooner.

2. Human notions in Fa-rectification

During Fa-rectification, the most difficult thing is to remove human notions, as well as one's fundamental attachments. For Fa-rectification, such an important thing, some practitioners even understand and consider it while using human notions. Many have spent valuable time watching TV, listening to the radio, and reading newspapers. Some use changes in the everyday society, changes in top leaders, or human rights conferences to predict the situation of Fa-rectification. Severely interfered with by messages from the outside, they cannot listen to others, and sometimes they even share their chaotic ideas and interfere with others.

As Fa-rectification period Dafa disciples, during Fa-rectification, we need to regard the Fa as Teacher, and regard the Fa as most important. With the mission to save sentient beings, how can we base the hope and ending of Fa-rectification on issues and changes in today's degenerated human society? With those chaotic thoughts in mind, can we study the Fa well? Can we do well in validating the Fa? By letting go of these bad habits, we can calm down and study the Fa more effectively. In fact, Teacher told us quite a long time ago in his lectures about things that are happening now. It is just that we may not enlighten to it when reading the Fa with human notions. When doing the three things, we need both the human body and strong righteous thoughts. Saving sentient beings is our starting point.

3. Going to extremes

When sharing with local practitioners, upon seeing one practitioner doing one thing well in truth-clarification, others praise the practitioner continually, as if a single action comprehensively represents the practitioner's entire life. Such over-exaggeration is very similar to flattering, and can bring some impure elements to both that practitioner and others. Then, with the attachment of showing off and zealotry, the practitioner may say something that confuses the listener. Moreover, in some areas, practitioners blindly follow models and compete for fame, with some human notions unwittingly developed in fellow practitioners. Saying this practitioner is cultivating well and another one not cultivating well, we are stirring up unnecessary potential conflicts, as well as fellow practitioners' attachments to fame and showing off. The evil beings utilize these opportunities to interfere with truth-clarification.

For some practitioners, doing well in Fa-rectification is a manifestation of being diligent in studying the Fa. We should never fall into the trap of external formats, as in only seeing or talking about other people's doing well. It is only through our letting go of human attachments and doing better according to the Fa that we can assimilate to the Fa and improve together as one body. Only Dafa can assure the improvement of each and every practitioner. The behavior of one Dafa disciple in Fa-rectification is only a Fa particle's manifestation on a certain level. Dafa is boundlessly profound, and only the Fa can give us whatever is needed in the Fa-rectification period of cultivation. During cultivation, we cannot go to extremes when looking at the behavior of certain practitioners.

4. Truly stepping forward out of humanness to validate the Fa

During the past five years of Fa-rectification period cultivation, many Dafa practitioners have stepped forward from being human to validate Dafa and safeguard Dafa. Their righteous thoughts and righteous actions have become grand and glorious chapters of Dafa disciples' assisting Teacher with Fa-rectification during the Fa-rectification period.

There are also some fellow practitioners who have not let go of their fundamental attachments. Holding the attachments of fear and selfishness, they have been waiting, relying on others, or requesting help during Fa-rectification. In the past several years, they have not been diligent, and instead of taking the initiative to participate in validating the Fa, they passively wait and see, and seeing what others have done, they will do the same. In terms of truth-clarification, they simply pass out several flyers, or post a few materials, as if doing so has fulfilled their responsibility, and they dare not clarify the facts face to face. They are not clear on the Fa regarding the importance of Teacher's asking us to clarify the truth and save sentient beings. They considered it a task, and by superficial involvement, they cover up their attachments and fears, and use human notions to clarify the truth. Teacher has told us to let go of human notions to save the world's people. Therefore, we should be clear on the Fa. Considering the two recent articles from Teacher, we should correct the shortcomings, and do things solidly according to Teacher's Fa. We need to catch up as soon as possible during the last steps of Fa-rectification.

For the persecution against Dafa practitioners in China, it is not a persecution of one person by another. Instead, it is a persecution targeting Dafa. It is persecution, by the old forces, of Dafa disciples who validate the Fa and safeguard the Fa during the Fa-rectification period. It is damaging Teacher's Fa-rectification, and it has interfered with saving sentient beings. As Dafa disciples assist Teacher with Fa-rectification, how can we allow the old forces to persecute us? If we do not expose it, it is as if we are agreeing to the persecution. We cannot just copy other people's righteous thoughts and righteous actions when opposing the old forces. From them, we need to find the places where we did poorly and really improve in the Fa. We can start to write our experiences of being persecuted, so that the world's people will come to know of the Jiang regime's brutality and the vicious persecution and killing directed against innocent people who follow the principles of "Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance." In this way, we can awaken the conscience of the world's people. After learning the truth, they can be saved by the Fa. Those primary murderers will be brought to justice after their crimes have been exposed. This will also be frightening to those vicious people, including police officers that are involved, and stop them from continuing to do bad deeds. If we do not expose it, it is as if we are nurturing them. We need to walk well and catch up in every step of Fa-rectification period cultivation. We cannot just follow the crowds and let things pass by. Everything in the Fa-rectification process, such as going to Beijing to validate the Fa and clarifying the truth, exposing the persecution in the local areas, and seeking legal help to sue the primary murderer, is continually testing if a Dafa practitioner can step forward from being human to validate the Fa. In all things we can find our shortcomings and human notions, so that we can let them go. Finally, we can reach the stage where we have a pure heart and a righteous mind, which is letting go of human notions and doing the three things Teacher asked us to do. By doing the three things well, we can save sentient beings.