The Great Way (Dafa) is here to save people in these latter days, and it guides people to develop themselves spiritually. Some people have not truly worked on themselves spiritually, despite being among Dafa disciples. At key moments they always evaluate things with human attachments, human thinking, or human emotions. Some of them have even said things like, “I’ve done such-and-such for Dafa” or “I’ve sacrificed such-and-such amount for Dafa,” etc. This group of people is the most likely to be used by evil agents of China’s Communist Party (CCP).
The Great Way has always existed. It has manifested in the human world only for humankind’s salvation in these latter days. What could it possibly need humans to do for it!? The Great Way is saving humans! It’s not that human beings are doing things for the Great Way! When you, a human being, suffer from injustice, or persecution by evil, during your spiritual journey, your Teacher is protecting you and bearing karma and sins for you. Your Teacher doesn’t owe you anything! It is solely for your salvation that he subjects himself to the verbal abuses that the wicked CCP heaps upon him. What’s to be done when the creditors whom you have racked up debts with and even those who have suffered from doings that have made you massively indebted, over many lifetimes, insist on your paying them back? The laws of the universe are also evaluating every individual. That’s why you meet with tribulations on your spiritual journey, and have been subjected to persecution. Unfortunately, when you don’t conduct yourself well during the persecution, your tribulations become more fierce. And when you can’t overcome them, some of you begin to resent Dafa, or even me. But all of these things happen because of issues on your part. Your Teacher owes you nothing. While saving you, your Teacher is also bearing sins and karma for you, and is trying everything to offset them. The fact is you owe your Teacher. Don’t mistakenly think that when you have helped to raise awareness about Dafa and the persecution, joined in Dafa activities, or participated in Dafa projects, you have done something for Dafa or for me. That is my providing you with ways to save and help one another, to rescue people together, and at the same time save yourselves; so during these latter days, beings are able to help save one another. You are not doing these things for the Great Way, Dafa. The Great Way has always existed, and no one can affect it. It has come to this world to save people in the end time, and man would otherwise not even know of the Great Way’s existence in the universe.
The purpose of Dafa disciples’ raising awareness is to spiritually perfect themselves while also tempering themselves through tribulations, which leads to reducing their karma. This gives even greater meaning to one’s spiritual practice, and makes it all the more magnificent. This too is not done for Dafa’s sake, but for one’s own. The mistreatment and injustices that you suffer during the persecution are meant to work off your sins; it is not that you are bearing something for Dafa’s sake, much less for your Teacher! Dafa is here to save all lives, including you! How could it owe you anything when it is saving you? You were the one who pledged, before the end-time disintegration, to come to this earth and practice Dafa in order to save the lives that you represent. In other words, you signed with your life to become a follower of Dafa and engage in spiritual practice under Dafa’s guidance. You initially took up the practice after hearing from Dafa disciples that Dafa is here—not because anyone forced you to. A person can always choose not to practice Dafa, even though you made a pledge with your life when you came to this world. But it is your own business if you want to violate that pledge, and no one else’s. Whether you practice or not is your own choice!
Some people say that they are practitioners, but in reality the things they do are not what practitioners of a spiritual discipline should do, and often in fact are a discredit to the title of “Dafa disciple.”
So I want to spell out for those who have not truly worked on themselves spiritually and have grown resentful after failing to pass tests in their spiritual development: spiritual practice is about working on yourself. All that you do, including what you work on to raise awareness, and the persecution that you endure during that process, is part of your spiritual development and is what you must do and undergo. The persecution that the old forces have imposed upon you owes to the karma that you have. None of what you have done is for Dafa, nor for your Teacher. Rather, your karmic debts have given the old forces something to hold against you.
Is it that I, your Teacher, have borne too much for you out of my compassion for all beings, and have done too much for you, in my hope that you succeed in your self-cultivation, and this has led to your taking all of that for granted? And some of you might have even thought that your Teacher is benefiting from you in some way. Your Teacher is bearing things for you, gaining nothing from you, and doing all that he is doing out of pity for all lives! Whether you will succeed in your spiritual journey is up to you. The Fa-rectification of the Cosmos has reached the final stage, and after this period of time there will be a serious process of selection and elimination. So do what’s in your best interest! Divine beings hold in high esteem the Dafa disciples who have gone through this historic period. You too should cherish yourselves, and find a way to make it through this unprecedented and most evil of persecutions. Become a True Enlightened Being! Through these things you will achieve what divine beings consider magnificent!
Your Teacher,
Hongzhi Li
August 31, 2023
(Translation by Team Yellow)