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On the Attachment to Time

March 8, 2021 |   By a Chinese Falun Gong practitioner outside of China

(Minghui.org) When I read about the prediction of the end time for the Fa-rectification in the sharing article “Thoughts on the End Time for Fa Rectification and Prophecies,” I realized that I did have an attachment to the end time. After the 2020 US election, I thought that I had uncovered this attachment and removed it, but when I saw the article, my heart still moved, and I knew that I had not done so completely.

I left China in 2019 and have a temporary residency in the country where I now live. I’ve applied for long-term residency, but it’s going to take several years to get approved. The immigration office is asking for a document from the Chinese government. Because I’ve been persecuted for practicing Falun Gong before, I was very nervous about getting the required document.

I know that the path of cultivation is arranged by Master Li and that one should not think about things with human notions. But from time to time, I am still concerned about how to get the documentation necessary to resolve my legal status. This is the main reason for the attachment to time: if the Fa-rectification ends early, there is no need to face the issue of my legal status.

When the 2020 US election was held, I hoped for a Trump win because I felt that he was strongly anti-communist and his sanctions against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) were getting tougher and tougher. If he were reelected, it would help the Chinese people see how the Western countries despised CCP’s authoritarian rule and it would help us in clarifying the facts. With the people in China seeing that the CCP was doomed and with Dafa disciples inside and outside of China sending forth righteous thoughts to remove the evil communist specter in other dimensions, it would become much easier to save people. When we save enough people, it would help the Fa-rectification to end sooner.

Now I’ve realized that such thinking is a reflection of my attachment to time, albeit hidden behind the grand mission to save people.

When the dust of the US election settled, I found my attachment to time. But when I dug deeper, I found that I no longer wanted to suffer or endure and that I just wanted to get rid of my “selfish heart” for my own sake as soon as possible.

When I read the article “Thoughts on the End Time for Fa Rectification and Prophecies,” my heart was tempered again. Besides the attachment to time, I still have an attachment to ordinary life. I do not want to face life’s difficulties and hardships. I just want to cultivate in a state that is acceptable to me. I still have a hard time letting go of “being human.”

We all know from the Fa that the actual situation of the Fa-rectification is unknown to any being in the universe except Master. Practitioners’ predictions about the timing of the CCP's demise are speculations based on prophecies from the past and current conditions.

After Master began to rectify the Fa of the universe, past predictions were no longer accurate. The current time is extended and pushed faster by Master. I understand that the timing and actual situation is arranged by Master Li according to the needs of the Fa-rectification, so no one knows the real situation except Master. Then what is there for us to be obsessed about?

The attachment to time is really not a trivial matter. Because of that attachment, we are unconsciously rushing forward and always seem to be in a hurry and impatient. Without peace and calm, how can we settle down to do the three things well? Even when we are doing the three things, it seems to be more about the fear of being left behind and not being able to reach consummation, instead of cherishing the time that the Master has extended with great suffering, seizing the moment to rectify ourselves to save more sentient beings!

If we have 100% faith in Master and the Fa, believe that Master is in control of everything, and that all of Master's arrangements—be they for each disciple, for all sentient beings, or for the future new universe—are the best and most perfect, then what difference does it make whether the Fa-rectification ends now or later? Being attached to time is, in itself, cultivating conditionally.

[Editor's note: Views expressed in this article represent the author's own opinions, for which the author is solely responsible. Readers should evaluate the article's merits on their own.]