(Clearwisdom.net) Long ago in history it was established that practitioners would begin practicing Falun Dafa at the present time. This was what Master wanted. At the same time, the old forces arranged meticulous details, regarding both large and small matters, for practitioners when they would descend to this mortal world and begin practicing Falun Dafa. Master doesn't acknowledge any of their arrangements. We have reincarnated generation after generation, during which we have accumulated past kindnesses and old scores, predestined relationships, and chance meetings. Today we have numerous relatives, including our spouses, children, parents, siblings, and so on. This is a strong and huge web of relationships. Feelings of gratitude, enmity, affection, and revenge continue endlessly. When we break through the layer after layer of obstacles, our lives become what Master has arranged for us and changed for us after taking the path of cultivation—something that the old forces have no say over. The most crucial thing during cultivation is how we follow the path that Master has arranged and completely negate the old forces.
Our ultimate purpose in coming to this world was to help Master during Fa-rectification and to save all sentient beings; this, of course, includes our relatives, as well. We have the strongest predestined connection with our relatives, whether it be a favorable one or one based on settling old scores. Some practitioners are always stuck in family tribulations and can't extricate themselves. Some practitioners simply escape without resolving these issues, while others passively endure them. When placed under so much pressure, some practitioners have no way of cultivating themselves well. I think one of the crucial issues is that they have not handled well the relationship between the responsibilities of Fa-rectification cultivation and individual cultivation. They also haven't completely negated the old forces' arrangements.
In the evil environment that we are facing in China, our families bear a great deal of pressure when we practice Falun Dafa. They suffer and expend a lot of effort on our behalf. We should always keep this in mind, but this is not a reason for us to suffer in endless family tribulations. This would not be acting responsibly towards them and would give encouragement to the evil. The most crucial factors in determining a person's future are the actions he takes during Fa-rectification and his attitude towards Falun Dafa and Falun Dafa practitioners. If he endures more or expends more effort, then this is a choice he is making for himself and establishing his glorious future. We should view our relatives from the perspective of Fa-rectification and see how fortunate they are to have this predestined relationship with us, and not from the perspective of human emotion and view them with gratitude or guilt. When we have such attachments, the evil will use them to cause endless trouble as we cultivate and validate the Fa. They will push our family members step by step into the abyss, even as they interfere with us. This is all caused by our attachments. If we give in to our family members' unreasonable demands on account of the sacrifices that they have made for us, then the evil will exploit this and escalate its interference. We practice according to the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. At the same time, the Fa all-encompassing, and it is both merciful and solemn. I remember that there was a practitioner in detention that endured police torture and did not utter a sound. They often hit him for no apparent reason. Another practitioner was the complete opposite. When the police were about to hit him, he yelled, "The police are hitting people!" The result was that they didn't hit him.
That is to say, when we have tribulations, if we view them from the perspective of personal cultivation and endure, then we facilitate the evil achieving its ultimate goal of destroying all sentient beings. But when we stop their interference with dignity, isn't this the greatest compassion towards sentient beings? That is conforming with the Fa's compassionate and solemn nature.
Speaking from another perspective, all sentient beings have come for the Fa. It is just that we have had the great fortune to have obtained this sacred predestined relationship first. Master has created for us an infinitely wonderful future. Likewise, we should help sentient beings establish blessings and virtue for themselves and enable them to enter the future and have the opportunity to practice Falun Dafa. The foremost requirement for us in our family lives is how to save our family members with every thought, idea, word, and deed.
For example, I offer incense to Master every day. If we do not have incense or fruit to offer, I will ask my mother to ask my father for money to buy some. I wanted to reserve this blessing and virtue for my father, because he hadn't begun practicing Falun Dafa yet. When I first had this thought about my father, who previously wasn't supportive of Falun Dafa, he generously gave money and told us to buy expensive incense. This was good for him. Originally he didn't want us to burn incense and was afraid of the black smoke that would fill the room. Of course, I did tell him that his support would bring him blessings. When I bought a bookbinding machine to make wall calendars, I debated whether to tell my father about it. Even though by this time my father had started practicing Falun Dafa, he had once been frightened when my mother was persecuted. I struggled with whether to tell him or not. He had already tacitly consented to the paper-cutter and the block cutting machine that we had already bought. I only told him that practitioners had come over to help me prepare the materials and cut the paper. I hadn't told him about the bookbinder or printer yet. I needed to tell him according to his ability to accept it. Could he accept paying for this bookbinding machine? I thought I should let him know. This was another opportunity for him to accumulate virtue and I shouldn't deprive him of it. As a result, my father was curious to see the bookbinding machine. I enthusiastically told him how I had bought it. My father seemed to really like it. Afterwards he stood by me and watched me bind the calendars. He kept reminding me that I should take good care of them. Sometimes he helped me wrap the calendars.
In other words, when doing something, our first impulse should be to consider the degree to which our family members can accept something, rather than to hide it from them, which is rooted in selfishness. This way they can gradually accumulate blessings and virtue and position themselves well. When you completely take your family members into consideration, they will sense and accept your pure-hearted goodness. What we are trying to do will naturally progress in the direction that we wish, because all sentient beings are longing to be saved. As time goes on, our family members will know more and be able to accept more. Imperceptibly and without pursuit, the family environment will naturally become more relaxed. But if we hide everything, whether it is something small or large and don't give our family members these choices, then we have kept them from entering our righteous field and the new universe. Their knowing side will sense this and perhaps hate us, and will create endless tribulations for us. Aren't we right in the midst of the evil then? Aren't they unknowingly helping the evil achieve its goal by interfering with us? When the Fa-rectification ends, what will their futures be? Where will they go?
Our wishes are to completely eliminate the old forces' arrangements, to treat with compassion those we have predestined relationships with, and to save all sentient beings. If we don't do well, we will cause sentient beings to lose this precious predestined opportunity that they have waited for for tens of thousands of years, and we will never be able to remedy it.
