(Minghui.org) Continue from Part 1
2. Understanding on the Old Forces
Having cultivated for many years, most practitioners are aware that the old forces always seek to exploit our flaws in cultivation. It's almost a fact that we take for granted, and many of us feel an invisible, overwhelming and obstructive pressure that seems like it won't go away.
However, if we think carefully, Master said, in the “Fa Teaching Given at the 2015 New York Fa Conference”,
“But the old forces won’t turn a blind eye to those things. They will hold you to the standards for a cultivator; they will hold you to the standards for the lives of the future.”
So, shouldn't cultivators always conduct ourselves according to the standards of a cultivator? Isn't this the ideal that we strive for? If so, why don't we regulate ourselves? Why do we have to wait for others to keep us in check?
I've come to realize the fact that there are no more external factors controlling the human world. I've enlightened to this after a scene that Master showed me a few years ago.
In this scene, a group of practitioners were arrested; the policemen had separated them and planned to persecute them alone. And at that moment, in other dimensions, the divine beings watching over those practitioners were suddenly frozen, as if they had lost their divine powers.
Looking above this scene, it turns out that the source of this issue was the king of an earthly ethnic group. From his position high above the Three Realms, he was controlling the evil forces and directing them to attack the practitioners and the divine beings protecting them.
The Fa-Rectification had not reached his level yet, and so the king thought he wouldn't be punished. However, the king's body soon began to rot away, like a human body in the terminal stages of cancer. This was how he finally perished.
There have been many cases like this across the universe, where high-level evildoers who participated in the persecution met with retribution. This caught the attention of divine beings at many levels of the universe. They knew that only an even higher power could punish divine beings at this level.
Many of these divine beings began reading Master's lectures about the structure of the universe and found that Master was right. Some of the contents of Master's lectures was beyond what they knew.
From that point on, those beings realized that everything Master had said was true and that Master was the real Great Buddha. They began studying the Fa conscientiously and assimilating themselves to the principles of the Fa. This created huge changes in the Fa-Rectification at high levels.
Today, Fa-rectification is complete at higher levels. The beings that had joined with the old forces now know the criteria to become beings of the new universe and are following Master's requirements. They have stopped controlling humans and have allowed people to act according to their own free will.
Humans are now declaring their own positions without influence from outside factors. So we should do our best and cooperate with each other in prosecuting Jiang Zemin, and helping Master in the Fa-rectification should be an unconditional thing. This is something that we have to get right.
Currently, we run into issues in our cultivation because we don't study the Fa attentively or cultivate solidly. Other people have also lowered the xinxing standards that they have set for themselves.
Many practitioners have saved many sentient beings, but have neglected their personal cultivation and the improvement of their xinxing. And by the time many of them realize this fact, it is already too late – a huge tribulation has already come their way. Some of them despair and say that they “don't know how to cultivate anymore.”
But we really can't blame anybody else for this. We were the ones that didn't do well. We were the ones that didn't study the Fa thoroughly. The old forces and interference aside, if a cultivator falls to their attachments and generates karma, won't the universe hold that against them? Won't it try to get the cultivator to eliminate this excess karma? It definitely will.
Some practitioners took advantage of their coworkers at work, and soon had to face tribulations of sickness karma. Cultivation is a truly serious matter. We need to pay back everything that we owe. There is no way that anyone could advance towards godhood if they did not study the Fa thoroughly and meet the standards of a cultivator at a high level. We really need to be strict with ourselves.
Also, we should remember to send forth righteous thoughts to eliminate interference and sickness karma, if they should appear. However, we must remember to look within and find our shortcomings as well. Otherwise, we won't know why we got stuck in the first place.
Some practitioners let go of everything and study the Fa when they come across sickness karma, and they fend it off. But soon, the sickness karma would reappear after a period of time because they never realized that there were some Fa principles that they hadn't thoroughly understood. They never truly improved, and so the same problem kept popping back up.
3. Understandings on Prosecuting Jiang
Many veteran practitioners have a solid foundation in personal cultivation. But a sizable portion of them have been hiding and unwilling to step forward to clarify the truth. Some of them have yet to relinquish their human notions or their attachment to fear.
As practitioners, we really shouldn't be afraid of anything. We should listen to our divine sides and act righteously. This is a serious matter – a practitioner will not be able to reach consummation if they do not clarify the truth.
We must hold ourselves to the standards of a Fa-Rectification Dafa disciple. That is our eternal glory. Master is waiting for us, the veteran practitioners, to catch up on the Fa-Rectification progress, save sentient beings and fulfill our vows.
The Fa-rectification will soon draw to a close. If a period of great judgment comes, we don't get any more chances beyond that. People will all understand the persecution, and many will be saved. If we do not step forward now, what will happen to us in the future? Our life and future are not things that we can take for granted.
With the Fa-rectification at this stage, it is very easy to clarify the truth. As long as we have a compassionate heart and are patient about people's misunderstandings, it is easy to clarify the truth because of our solid foundations in our personal cultivation. The knowing side of people will feel our kindness.
We have been through sixteen years of persecution, and now China is prosecuting Jiang. Isn't this a sign that the next phase will arrive soon? Whether or not we have fulfilled our vows should be our paramount concern.
Many of the evildoers have already received their due punishment, and the old forces who did not acknowledge Dafa have been eliminated. There are very few evil beings left in other dimensions.
The only thing that has yet to change is the situation in society. Some people do not understand practitioners and are not friendly toward us. But we should not be moved by these people, as we are the ones advancing towards godhood.
Closing Remarks
Writing this article was not a happy task for me. I am honestly afraid for those practitioners who are still lost in the human world, who have forgotten their original purpose for coming here.
There are many practitioners who do not pay attention to studying the Fa. Because they couldn't concentrate, they weren't able to find some of their flaws.
As cultivators, we need to step out of our human notions and mindsets, and elevate ourselves to the gods' state of being. Only by doing so can we truly advance toward godhood.
The standards of consummation are reflected in every aspect of Fa-Rectification cultivation. When we don't realize this and grow lax with ourselves, interference will appear. So we must never forget that we are cultivators. In actuality, if we thoroughly understand the Fa principles, there is nothing that can move our hearts.
I also hope that we could all watch out for each other and be diligent together. Do not criticize each other just to criticize each other, for that is a human attachment. Every practitioner should play their role well and excel at the project of prosecuting Jiang – for our own success.
This article is comprised of my personal understandings. If there is anything inappropriate, please kindly point it out.