(Clearwisdom.net) Master said,
"If you don't take action to save sentient beings, you will not have fulfilled your responsibility as a Dafa disciple and your cultivation will amount to nothing, for your becoming a Dafa disciple was not for the sake of your own Consummation. This means that you shoulder a monumental mission." ("Fa Teaching at the 2009 Washington DC International Fa Conference")
Master has pointed out clearly that during the Fa rectification period, saving sentient beings is a responsibility that we must shoulder and a mission that we must fulfill. At the same time, it is also a test in the cultivation of each Dafa disciple. To put it straight, if we cannot do well in saving sentient beings, we are not really cultivating. In addition, we are delaying the Fa rectification process.
A few days ago, I read an article on Minghui titled, "Busy Saving People in the World of Ice and Snow". The article describes the story of a practitioner who is over sixty years old. He bicycles around every day to clarify the truth and save sentient beings. In early January, they had the heaviest snow in 40 years in his region. However, he did not stop clarifying the truth and saving people. He convinces more than 10 people to quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliates each day. On January 16, the weather was extremely cold, under 5 degrees Fahrenheit and the wind was strong. His wife reminded him that he could chose a different day to clarify the truth and he did not have to go out then. He said that would not do because "saving people is urgent." Then he put on his clothes and got on his bicycle again. He saved 10 people with predestined relationships that day. Even during the snowstorm, quite a few people agreed to withdraw from the CCP after he talked to them.
After reading that article, I thought a lot. I am also over 60 years old. Although I have also been doing the three things, I don't compare to him in terms of my cultivation state, the number of people I talk to about Falun Gong, or how well I am able to clarify the truth. I was satisfied as long as I could convince several people to withdraw from the CCP. If the weather was bad or circumstances were not good, I would take a break. However, as a Dafa disciple during the Fa rectification period, a cultivator who is walking on the path of divinity, how can I wait for proper circumstances to emerge for my cultivation? How can I consider a break for the holidays or vacation?
What he said is so true: "Saving people is urgent." Although his words were few, they reflect that he has elevated himself through solid cultivation. He has a sense of responsibility and knows his mission. He has the mentality to sacrifice himself in order to save sentient beings. As I see it, he has displayed the state of a god who is saving people and thus, he achieves the effect of a god. As to myself, I lack the strong sense of responsibility, sense of mission, and sense of urgency that he has. Therefore, I always do things in the state of a human. As a human, I pay attention to conditions and circumstances and it is natural that I do not know to be diligent and cannot elevate myself into the state of a God.
"Study Fa, obtain Fa,
Compare in studying, compare in cultivating,
Examine each and every deed,
Accomplishing is cultivating. "
"Solid Cultivation" Hong Yin
Does it count as cultivation if we just step out but are not diligent? Furthermore, if we cannot even step out to clarify the truth and save sentient beings, our cultivation will end up in vain, not to mention to be diligent.
When looking back at the last year, I feel that Master is really worried about us. Master published quite a few articles last year to urge all of us to step forward, to be more and more diligent, and to grasp the time to save sentient beings. We should cultivate ourselves and become mature. Master gives us such an opportunity out of his boundless compassion. We are the only hope for sentient beings to be saved and such an opportunity will only exist once. However, practitioners like me just do not know to cherish this opportunity. The less time that is left, the less diligent we become and some of us even stopped making any improvement. We have cultivated for over 10 years, so why can't we be diligent? Why do we not realize that we should fulfill our mission? Why do we not shoulder our responsibility to save sentient beings?
"A long, long time--ten thousand lifetimes of predestination
Dafa, like a thread, strings them together
Amidst tribulation, the gold body is refined
There is no reason for steps so slow"("The Path to Divinity Is Difficult", Hong Yin II ) (official translation).
We really should think about this seriously and look inward: What kind of fundamental attachment impedes us? I think it is due to the fact that we have not fundamentally changed our conventional thinking. We have all kinds of human mentalities (attachment to family, comfort, fame and self interest, fear, etc.), yet we do not eliminate them. If every Dafa practitioner can cultivate according to Master's Fa, find the attachments deep in our hearts, and eliminate them completely, we then will truly be able to catch up with Master's Fa rectification and we will be able to fulfill our vows.
This is just my personal understanding. Please point out if anything is not on the Fa.
