I used to be the kind of practitioner who "cultivated Falun Dafa firmly at home." Since I obtained the Fa (the laws and principles of the universe), I did not like to participate in group practice nor did I enjoy group study of Fa or sharing of experiences with others because of my particular character and habits. I have always felt that my heart was firm on Dafa (great law of the universe) and nothing could shake my determination. I have also felt that I had a good understanding of the law and principles, and I could deal with people and things from the perspective of Fa. I therefore thought it would suffice as long as I remained diligent and dedicated to Fa.
I watched the "4.25 event" pass as an onlooker. I did not step forward for the "7.20 event", either, except for feeling indignant at what the government had done to Falun Gong. In the days following those events, I persisted in speaking positively about Falun Dafa in the circumstances or places that I regarded to be appropriate to speak. I get access to the Internet and have been paying close attention to the progress of Dafa by visiting the Minghui (Clearwisdom) web site. I read the touching stories of practitioners in various parts of Mainland China. I tried to keep on top of the situation of promoting Falun Dafa by practitioners all over the world. I have also read the new articles by the Teacher, as well as about the persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners in China. Gradually, I have come to realize that I had some problems with myself.
The Teacher said, "Every opportunity missed is going to be hard to come by again." Therefore, after an opportunity is missed, we should make a greater effort to grab firmly the next opportunity. Every practitioner surely wishes to reach consummation and return to the place he belongs. However, studying the Fa and doing the exercises are only part of the cultivation. They are not the entirety of it. How could you remain indifferent when people around you slander Dafa? How could you pretend that you have seen nothing when people around you persecute Dafa? Now that the people who slander and sabotage Dafa are standing right in front of us, isn't it very clear that all of this is a test for us to see what we are enlightened to and how we react? This is nothing but a test for us! In the past, I did not regard what happened, vividly, in front of my eyes as a test, so I was not prepared to pass it. Instead, I insisted on "doing cultivation firmly at home". Now I have found that I actually did not truly understand Fa from the perspective of Fa. Instead, I simply held on to my own attachments in front of such a serious issue of distinguishing between right and wrong and confined myself inside the shell of myself.
In cultivation, a person actually regresses if he does not endeavor to make progress. In the process of Fa rectification, if we can not get to the right understanding on a serious issue like distinguishing between right and wrong, it is then as good as having chosen not to be a particle of Dafa. If we do not treat ourselves as a particle of Dafa and step forward to validate and defend the righteousness of Dafa, then how can we catch up with the progress of Fa rectification, no matter how diligently we study Fa and practice the exercises? How could we become a pure element in the new universe? The standard of consummation prescribed for Dafa cultivators is not up to practitioners themselves to judge or decide. If we could truly put life or death behind us and treat Dafa more preciously than our life, we would not be so indifferent to the tribulations and tests for the past year. We would have been more compassionate towards the practitioners who stepped forward to safeguard Fa and the situations they were in. Trying to cover up the attachments in disguise would eventually cause irreversible losses.
The pace of the Teacher's Fa rectification process is fast and pressing, so is the action of his disciples in assisting the Teacher in the human world. I can no longer linger in the state of being left behind and feel that I have been cultivating well enough. Let's relinquish our last attachments and bravely step forward to follow the Teacher's Fa rectification process, making up our deficiency in cultivation and catching up to the frontline practitioners forthwith.
A Practitioner in Beijing September 26, 2000
