(Clearwisdom.net) There have been quite a few articles talking about the importance of respecting Teacher and respecting Dafa. Indeed, as a Falun Dafa practitioner, I must regard respecting Teacher and respecting Dafa as a high priority.
To prevent the cosmos from degeneration and annihilation and to save the sentient beings, Teacher is rectifying the Law of the cosmos. Such an enormous compassion has far exceeded that of any practice for its own disciples. It is the rectification of the cosmos. It is the salvation of the cosmos. Very different from the respect of the disciples in other practices for their Masters, Falun Dafa practitioners' respect for Dafa and for their Teacher can hardly be described with any human words in terms of its significance and its profound contents.
In this historically pivotal era of the cosmos, Falun Dafa practitioners are holding the tremendous responsibility of validating the Fa. As a result, practitioners' respect for Teacher and respect for Dafa is actually part of validating the Fa, in addition to being the required "course" of our practice. Fundamentally speaking, the respect for the Fa-Rectifier by Dafa disciples is actually what the Rectifier with Buddha's infinite grace grants us in the course of rectifying the cosmos. Additionally, it is the infinite gratitude to the saver by the beings that are saved.
In Zhuan Falun, Teacher taught us,
"Matter's motion follows a pattern, so every object that's in a special dimension has its own state of being in a slew of other dimensions. I'll give you an example. When a person's body moves, all the cells in his body move along with it, and all the molecules, protons, electrons, and the smallest elements--all the elements in the microcosm--they move along with it. But they have their independent forms of being, too. And the forms of the body that exist in other dimensions also change."
Since in other dimensions Dafa practitioners correspond to various celestial bodies and to numerous beings, the elements in the microcosm within practitioners' bodies will also respect Teacher and respect Dafa as do the practitioners themselves. As a result, the beings in the celestial bodies that practitioners correspond to will be saved as well because of their correct attitudes towards Fa-rectification.
Practitioners' thoughts also determine the elimination or retention of the sentient beings and the beings in other dimensions. In this dimension, it is apparent that the Fa-rectification is usually to take place rather well in the countries and regions where practitioners show great respect for Teacher and for Dafa. On the hand, there are various interferences in countries and regions where such respect is not sufficient. As we all know, it is Teacher who is doing the Fa-rectification. As I understand, had Teacher not spread Dafa, not given us everything we have today or not rectified the Fa in other dimensions, we would not have the job of clarifying the truth. While carrying out a specific Falun Dafa job, once one's heart is with Teacher and is steadfast and holds strong belief in Dafa, one's righteous thoughts will be strengthened by Teacher and one's chances of success and the effectiveness will be greater in clarifying the truth because of the power of Dafa. In contrast, when a practitioner does something like an ordinary person and relies merely on herself, what she does becomes less sacred and less effective. As Teacher taught us, "The cultivation is up to you, gong is up to the master." Everything we do today has far-exceeded our personal practice. The responsibility we take is also the expectation of Teacher and Dafa.
In the course of practitioners' Fa-validation, we must follow Teacher's requirements to lay a foundation for the righteous culture for the people of the future. In today's degenerated human culture, people no longer know what it means to respect a Master and respect the Law. As Falun Dafa disciples, however, we must meet Teacher's requirements under Teacher's painstaking care and serve as role models for the beings of the future. We must humbly and respectfully follow Teacher's teachings, genuinely be Teacher's practitioners, whole-heartedly respect Teacher and respect Dafa, live up to the high expectations of the cosmos, and lay a solid foundation for the human culture bestowed by Fa-rectification.
With regard to respecting Teacher and respecting the Fa, some practitioners hold that as long as one shows respect in one's heart, Teacher will be able to see. There is nothing wrong in this argument. The question is whether practitioners truly show respect for Teacher in their hearts. In this regard, Teacher taught us in the "Fa-Lecture During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference:"
"Everything I've been doing during the Fa-rectification and everything I want, to spell it out, are the choice of the future cosmos and the needs of the future cosmos. (Applause) So for the beings of the old cosmos, and this includes all the elements of beings, when it comes to the Fa-rectification and what I choose, all beings' harmonizing and completing things according to my choices and contributing their best ideas and approaches--not to change what I want, but to harmonize and complete things according to what I've said--is the best thought a being in the cosmos could have.
"In fact, today's human race would have been destroyed a long time ago if it weren't for the Fa-rectification. The standard of the human race's thinking is already at a level lower than hell. It's because of the Fa-rectification that I atoned for the sins of all sentient beings in the Three Realms. (Applause) So think about it, as far as our students are concerned, it was as if I scooped you out of hell back then. (Applause) I have truly borne for you the sins you committed over hundreds and thousands of years. And it doesn't stop at just that. Because of this, I will also save you and turn you into Gods. I have spared no effort for you in this process. Along with this, since you'll become Gods at levels that high, I have to give you the honors of Gods at levels that high and all the blessings that you need to have at levels that high. (Applause) Never, from the beginning of time, has any God dared to do this. Something like this has never happened before."
As Dafa disciples, if we don't have a clear and correct understanding of respect for Teacher and respect for Dafa, how can we unconditionally accept what Teacher grants us and the beings in the cosmos in Fa-rectification?
Finally let us revisit Teacher's poem "Master-Disciple Grace" from Hong Yin:
"Master-Disciple Grace
Violent evil has raged four years
With a steady helm, bearings are not lost
Fa disciples experience evil's trials
Heavy pressure does not change their will
Master and disciples have no use for sentiment
Buddha's grace transforms heaven and earth
Disciples' righteous thoughts are strong"