One’s Vow Is Still Valid Even if You No Longer Cultivate in Dafa

(Minghui.org) After Master Li (Falun Dafa’s founder) published the two articles, “Stay Far Away From Peril” and “Cultivation in Dafa Is Serious,” many practitioners discussed the seriousness of fulfilling one’s vow.

Practitioners cultivating diligently are inspired to be more diligent after reading Master’s articles. Some, who didn’t do well, became scared of the serious consequences of failing in Dafa cultivation. Some couldn’t understand why they still have to fulfill the vow they once made with Master even when they no longer cultivate. I want to share my thoughts about this.　

Why Should One Fulfill One’s Vow Even When No Longer Cultivating?

When someone stops cultivating, it is a unilateral termination of the contract, which is unreasonable and invalid. Those who signed the contract with Master must honor it; unilateral termination is not permitted in this circumstance, and those who violate this rule must bear the consequences.

It’s a joke if a human unilaterally denies a vow made with the Divine, which must be honored all the more. If one doesn’t fulfill one’s vow and stops cultivating or fulfilling one’s mission, one will have to bear the responsibility of breaching the covenant. It’s not about whether Master has compassion for the person. If one made the vow with one’s life, that’s what is written in the vow.

What About Those Who Practiced as Children but Stopped When They Grew Up?

We have to be clear that it’s our true self, our true body, and our true soul that signed the contract with Master. It has nothing to do with our human side, whether we are a child or an adult.

Even for a child, his knowing side is not young or ignorant. His knowing side has what it takes to make the choice. In other dimensions, parents are not allowed to sign the contract for their children either—such a significant choice of whether to practice Dafa or not has to be made by oneself.

As discussed above, one cannot unilaterally dissolve the vow and must fulfill it once it’s made. Many practitioners’ families fail to bring up their youngest practitioners well, and these little disciples stop practicing when they grow up. These practitioners are indebted to their children and should feel sorry for letting Master down. They should hurry up and show the former young disciples Master’s two new articles, and it’s best if they can return to Dafa cultivation and assist Master in saving people.

Fear of Being Weeded Out for Not Fulfilling the Vow

Some practitioners felt it was unfair that they would be weeded out if they couldn’t succeed in cultivation after so many years of efforts, an outcome making them inferior to those non-practitioners who acknowledged Dafa is good and quit the CCP.

Those who have such thoughts are confused. They should ask themselves when they gained benefits from Dafa; they didn’t complain, but when it’s time for them to carry out their mission, they want to run away from the responsibility. Isn’t their xinxing not on par with a non-practitioner? The purpose of our lives is to cultivate ourselves. Our cultivation isn’t just for our own salvation.

Those who don’t cultivate in Dafa have their own standards of salvation and places where they will go. Dafa disciples have our standards and fruition status when we consummate. What we achieve is much higher, and the hardship we must overcome is also much greater.

We all know how difficult it is to cultivate and stay diligent. But the hardships we suffer and endure are not in vain. Everything we do is done for ourselves, not for Master or Dafa. The lives we save will ultimately be beings in our own world. Do we suffer any losses from suffering? It’s we who can never repay what Master gives us.

Master told us He bears the karmic debts of all beings in the universe. Yet He does not seek any return from his disciples or sentient beings.

In this dharma-ending period, if Master does not rectify the Fa, the entire cosmos and every being inside it, no matter how high their divine rank is, will become dust! Master bestowed us Dafa and the opportunity to cultivate, and we are still concerned about our individual gains and losses. Isn’t our enlightenment quality pitifully low?

Some might claim, “I do not expect to achieve such a lofty fruition status; I just want to survive the final elimination.” But we must remember that we all made the vow before coming down to the earth, and we absolutely cannot violate it. If one’s survival is at stake, it’s because of attachments and poor enlightenment quality. Only by making up for one’s mistakes and diligently cultivating oneself can one minimize the losses.

Master has already explained to us clearly in the Fa: We are the ones who made the vow, and we also breached the vow. Whoever fails to fulfill the vow must face the consequences. It is a principle of the cosmos. If one regrets not cultivating oneself well, then one is enlightened along the right path. But if one regrets taking up Dafa cultivation, one is not thinking clearly.

Be More Diligent in Cultivation

While we’ve all realized the seriousness of not fulfilling our vow, it doesn’t help if one is consumed with fear. It’s another attachment and can lead one to do wrong things. The fundamental issue if a person can’t truly cultivate themselves or fails to complete their mission is that they probably didn’t have true faith in Master and the Fa.

Master has repeatedly extended the ending time for those who lag behind so they can catch up. He continues giving us chances. We have to do well to save ourselves. The only way to save ourselves is to fulfill our vow and assist Master in rectifying the Fa. There is no other option.

Imagine if there is one person we should have saved but didn’t; then he and the countless beings he represents will be completely destroyed. What if we fail to save more than one person? The consequences could be astronomical! How scary is that?

We must try our best to let former practitioners read Master’s new articles; some have already done that, and the results are promising. If one didn’t do well or even made big mistakes, make up for it by taking up the practice again and practicing diligently.

No matter how poorly we have fared, Master Li still teaches us the Fa and gives us opportunities to improve. Master is so compassionate. Just be grateful and practice anew for your own sake and the sake of others!

Saving sentient beings is saving oneself. Cultivate in a dignified and upright manner. If we can cultivate like we did when we first obtained the Fa, we will surely reach consummation.

Editor's note: This article only represents the author’s understanding in their current cultivation state meant for sharing among practitioners so that we can “Compare in studying, compare in cultivating.” (“Solid Cultivation,” Hong Yin)