By a practitioner from Utah, U.S.A.

(Clearwisdom.net) Dafa practitioners have been following and assisting Master in Fa rectification for eight years and during this process have become more mature. A cultivation story that really touched me was about a Dafa practitioner who was a farmer in a village where there were no other practitioners. He did not meet any other practitioners until 2005.Consequently he never had the chance to read any of Master's new articles and only studied "Zhuan Falun". Even though he was on his own, his firm belief in Dafa and Master caused him to handle all situations righteously. When the evil slandered Dafa, he used his righteous thoughts to stop them and to chase away villains when they came to harass him. He clarified the truth to all the people in his village and spontaneously did the three things well, even though he had no group cultivation environment. The practitioners he finally met were deeply impressed and admired his righteous thoughts and actions, and they could see the distance in understandings between him and them. It made them deeply question how firm their faith was in Master and Dafa.

"When a wise person hears the Tao, this person will practice it diligently. When an average person hears it, this person will practice it on and off.." (Laozi, quoted in Zhuan Falun) Since Master first started to spread Dafa through to the present time, many Dafa practitioners have cherished the precious chance to practice cultivation and have elevated from average people to wise practitioners. The closer we are to the end of cultivation, the higher the standard that practitioners must meet and we have to be even more righteous in our actions. Recently, a fellow practitioner wrote an article on lust called: "My understanding on Letting Go of the Attachment to Lust in Current Period (http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2007/4/4/84196.html)". I notice that with the progression of Fa Rectification, fellow practitioners' understanding of Fa requirements, have become increasingly clear regarding the purity of their realms. Because Dafa practitioners as a group are more mature and because the requirements have been elevated, many loopholes of the past can no longer be overlooked.

The attachment of dependency has become almost undetectable in many practitioners and has even become second-nature. Master told us to study the Fa and to exercise as a group; that this will not only help new practitioners, but will also help elevate us through experience sharing. During the vicious persecution some practitioners became dependent on the practitioners around them, relying on those who they thought had cultivated well. Whenever they had questions, or were going through xinxing tests, they always hoped that fellow practitioners would "point out" their problems for them. Maybe this is an unavoidable stage, during the Fa Rectification, but now that Dafa practitioners are more mature, we should expose this attachment and get rid of it. Dependency will hinder cultivators' elevation. If you push all your problems onto other practitioners, then you are not cultivating, you are not rectifying the Fa, and you are giving all your virtue to fellow practitioners. When it comes to fundamental cultivation problems, Master will not answer your questions; this is a manifestation of Master's compassion. If you truly want to help a practitioner with certain fundamental problems, encourage him to study the Fa more.

"And the Dafa disciples who have improved quickly are always those who have made Fa-study a priority. That is because the Fa is the foundation; it is what's fundamental for Dafa disciples; it is what ensures everything". ("To the Australia Fa Conference")

I think only when you truly understand the Fa at your level can you truly improve. Nobody can cultivate for you. No matter how well your fellow practitioner cultivates, what he understands is only what the Fa has reflected at his level. It is not the final universal law and he also does not want to limit you; this is his compassion. It is ok to discuss and coordinate as a group when we rectify the Fa, but when it comes to individual tests, you have to enlighten on your own. Treat the Fa as your teacher, as only the Fa can truly guide you as you cultivate towards high levels.

Since we have cultivated for so long we have become mature, so when we encounter a problem we should not rely on other practitioners to act first.. When a problem arises maybe it is something for us to solve. Whenever a problem surfaces we should all look inward. Sometimes practitioners still cannot find the root of the problem and so blame other practitioners for not looking inside or looking inside with the condition of " I have attachments, and so do you." When others point out their attachments, they constantly look for excuses for their attachments, thereby subconsciously protecting their own selfishness. They might try to help other practitioners improve but they themselves are still at the same level or are elevating very slowly. Let us study the Fa more deeply and truly look inward ourselves. To survive in ordinary human society, people develop strong self-protection techniques, and after awhile it becomes second-nature to them. We all understand the Fa, yet sometimes when we are in a tribulation we still find it very difficult to let go of human attachments. When you are able to let go of your human heart, you are a divine being; otherwise you are human.

This is my understanding on my level, please compassionately point out shortcomings.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2007/3/21/151185.html