By Xiaohui

(Clearwisdom.net) Master has already taught us the relationship between individual and Fa rectification cultivation. A Dafa practitioner's real mission is to save sentient beings, rather than to disentangle himself and achieve individual consummation. To achieve the standard of individual cultivation is merely a process in our cultivation and the objective is to lay a good foundation for saving sentient beings. The old forces cannot place themelves properly in balancing this relationship. They "test" practitioners with the excuse that practitioners have attachments or omissions, or they persecute practitioners with the excuse that some practitioners have signed a contract in history. This has caused practitioners to suffer great tribulations to their flesh bodies and some have even lost their bodies. The role that the old forces are playing has actually created obstacles in the Fa rectification and thus has failed to harmonize with what Master wants.

Dafa practitioners can save many sentient beings in the human world if they do not have to suffer this evil persecution or be deprived of their lives. Regardless of how well they have cultivated, or whether they can achieve consummation, the practitioners can still do things in the human world for saving sentient beings. This is a matter of the highest priority in the universe. However, the old forces disregard this. They are simply attached to what they want to do.

How do we Dafa practitioners regard this issue? Should we acknowledge such an arrangement of the old forces?

It seems that some practitioners are accepting the excuses that the old forces use for persecuting practitioners. "Her attachments were so strong..." Even if practitioners have attachments, should they suffer such persecution? We are beings practicing cultivation. Before consummation, maybe everyone has attachments. This cannot become the excuse that the old forces use for such persecution. We should thoroughly deny them and their arrangements. Master has told us that without this persecution, without the old forces' arrangements, Dafa practitioners could have still achieved consummation by walking the path arranged by Master. It is true that the attachments should be let go of, but how can the old forces, these lives in the old cosmos who themselves need to be saved by Dafa, be qualified to arrange the cultivation paths of Dafa practitioners? As for the issue of signing a contract in history, isn't that also the arrangement of the old forces? It is the same and we do not acknowledge it. Master has explained the Fa, which holds true in both the old cosmos and the new one. In "Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Philadelphia, U.S.A.," Master said, "A being's choice is up to him, even if he made some kind of vow in history. At critical moments it's still up to him what he wants to do."

Therefore, some practitioners will say, "Her choice is up to her. No matter how hard her fellow practitioners try, it is of no use. If she thinks in a human way, then she is walking on a human's path; if she reaches the standard of the gods, her situation will be totally different." My personal understanding is that if our fellow practitioners' righteous thoughts are very strong, they will be able to pass this tribulation on their own. Practitioners under tremendous tribulations whose righteous thoughts are not that strong need our support. Besides, even if our fellow practitioners under tribulation did not have righteous thoughts strong enough to deny such an arrangement and quit the practice at the time of the Fa rectification, this is not a choice they would make today. Master has offered more chances for those practitioners who wrote guarantee statements against their will due to the pressure in the forced labor camps to cultivate again. My understanding is that even for those practitioners who did not do well at the critical moment, because it was not their will to enlighten along an evil path, Master will still give them another chance.

Then why do such things keep happening? It is because the old forces have arranged so-called "tests" for our one body, since many of us (practitioners) do not deny such evil arrangements with the proper understanding from the Fa's perspective. We have acknowledged it, and walked the path that the old forces have arranged, without realizing that this is because our one body has omissions, and our understandings should be improved from the Fa's perspective. As we have been indirectly acknowledging such persecution, the evil keeps weakening our power this way.

Further, as the practitioners who have suffered serious persecution on their bodies have already endured a lot, we should also care for them on the surface level. We must not blame them and say that they themselves did not do well. Only when we genuinely achieve the benevolence and pure compassion required by Dafa, can our energy field bring them righteous thoughts and hope and help them to gain more confidence to walk out of the tribulation.

The above is my limited understanding at this moment; please kindly point out anything improper.

Posting date: 5/22/2005
Original article date: 5/22/2005
Category: Practitioners' Insights
Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2005/5/10/101466.html

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