(Clearwisdom.net)
Teacher said in Zhuan Falun,
"Cultivation isn't kid's stuff, and it's not some ordinary people's skill. It's really serious."
Teacher also said in "Teaching the Fa at the 2004 International Fa Conference in New York:"
"If a person can't cultivate in the Fa, then he isn't able to truly understand the Fa. Only when a person has truly grasped the Fa can he walk the path righteously and can his being be assured a good outcome. Otherwise that kind of being remains in the most perilous situation, because the evil can take advantage of his gaps at any time. If he were an ordinary person, no matter how bad he was, the evil wouldn't pay any attention to him. Because he wants to cultivate, though, the evil will try to stop him from cultivating. And when you don't cultivate solidly you become a target for the evil's persecution."
As disciples, we must have come to realize by now how serious cultivation is. Therefore, we need to seriously cultivate ourselves in the Fa in order to walk down the path arranged by Teacher and not let our benevolent Teacher down.
We are not just trying to achieve individual consummation. Personally, I think, as Fa particles, we assume great and serious responsibilities. The requirements for us are high. Therefore, when we work on Dafa projects, we need to act as Dafa disciples instead of everyday people. Thinking about my past ten years of cultivation, I feel I was acting as a Dafa particle. However, although I have been closely following Teacher during the past seven years to do the three things and seemed to be striving forward diligently, there is still a huge gap between what I did and Teacher's requirements for us.
Teacher told us to study the Fa more and study the Fa well to remove attachments and everyday people's notions. However, I still have many attachments yet to get rid of. When I had conflicts with fellow practitioners, I didn't always look inside. Instead, I tried to force my notions onto others without realizing it. I wasn't able to quietly harmonize the things that Teacher asked us to do. Therefore, I caused negative effects in validating the Fa and clarifying the truth. We don't have models to follow in positions of responsibility. Meanwhile, each one of us is supposed to be responsible for the Fa. As a particle during the Fa-rectification period, we must be responsible for the Fa and saving sentient beings.
One fellow practitioner in our local area died of an illness. We know it was the old forces that used the illness as a cover to kill him. How did our practitioners view this matter? Surprisingly, some got confused and wondered why such a good practitioner would die. They then had a question, "Even he, such a good practitioner, died of the persecution. How about us then..." It was such an unrighteous thought. It was a serious lesson and we need to wake up now!
When I calmed down, I came to see many problems in our local area. For example, we haven't been able to coordinate with each other as a whole body and we weren't able to accommodate each other well for a long time. The old forces also took advantage of the conflicts between practitioners to expand our attachments and create invisible separations among us. It was all because we didn't harmonize well in the Fa. Everyday people's attachments are the biggest barriers in our cultivation. Jealousy, zealotry, showing off, and selfishness are all attachments that prevent us from striving forward diligently. How can we reach consummation with all those attachments? We have to remove all our old notions, step out of everyday people's attachments and constantly correct our shortcomings in order to strive forward diligently and walk down the path that Teacher arranged for us.
We need to know the damage that our attachments cause. Everyday people like to be praised and do not like to be criticized. As Dafa practitioners, sometimes when we see issues with a fellow practitioner or something that is not in accord with the Fa, we don't point them out. We just try to be nice like an everyday person. Please think, is this right?
I need to be better. I should be stricter with myself. I need to keep a calm head and heart. I should not develop more attachments. When there are interferences, I need to ask myself why I got interfered with. I need to look inside and dig out the root cause to correct myself in time. I should always keep strong righteous thoughts. I need to be rational and I should not allow the evil to interfere. I must not let the evil take advantage of me and I should always stay in the state of a cultivator.
I read a story published on the Clearwisdom website. It told about a famous court official, Fan Zhongyan, in the North Song Dynasty. Before he went to bed every night, he would think about all the words and things that he said and did that day. He would judge himself and decide whether his words and actions deserved his salary or not. If they did, he would fall asleep. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to sleep and he would make up for it the next day. I learned a lot from this story. Fan was an everyday person. Yet he was able to be so strict with himself. We are Dafa practitioners. Teacher has borne so much for us to save us. Teacher has given us so much. We don't return much at all. Everyday before we go to bed, can we think about how well we did the "three things" that day? Teacher's Fa-rectification has been moving forward so fast. We can't pursue comfort.
