(Clearwisdom.net) From ancient times until around 100 to 200 years ago, people would take a commitment or a promise seriously, no matter if it was a formal pact or just an oral promise. People were careful about what they committed themselves to and once they did, they would stand to it forever, no matter how long it would be or how great a price it would cost. The Chinese idiom "keeping a promise is worth a thousand ounces of gold" is no exaggeration but a most suitable description for how a promise was regarded.
A sentient being decides and chooses his own future. If you have made a commitment to sentient beings, once your commitment is made, the cosmos will arrange your future and the future of those who wait for the fulfillment of your commitment. The other people's future might be changed by your choice. Therefore, making a commitment is equal to owing others a debt. The bigger it is, the heavier the debt. The good ones who fulfilled their commitment would win the praise of all, but those who failed would be held accountable. In today's society, however, people always see the former only without caring about the latter, so they will freely break a promise or disregard a treaty. They don't know how serious the consequences will be if they break a promise.
All today's Falun Dafa disciples came to this human world shouldering the future of all the living beings in their cosmic systems, and some agreed to shoulder the fates of even more beings. We once solemnly promised to offer them salvation today. The greatness of this responsibility is beyond the description of any language. Our fellow practitioners who are still waiting for the end of Fa-rectification at home, all of us are waiting for you now. Only after your sacred commitment has been honored and fulfilled, will everything come to a consummate end.