(Clearwisdom.net) I have seen two main scenarios regarding Dafa practitioners' attachments to time. One is that some practitioners are hoping the Fa-rectification will end soon. These practitioners feel that although we are able to help save more sentient beings, they are feeling tired as time drags on. Their cultivation situations have become worse because they have relaxed and begun to slack off. Thus, they wish for Fa-rectification to quickly end so that they can guarantee their cultivation levels remain as-is. Ultimately, they have contributed and sacrificed much for Dafa. On the other hand, some practitioners think the opposite. They hope that Fa-rectification will not end so quickly because they are living good and beautiful lives. They take their time to cultivate because they know that Master will not abandon a single practitioner. They rationalize in their hearts, "There are still many people who still haven't been saved, so how could it end so quickly?"

For a period of time, I was also very perplexed. I felt that the two situations above were not in alignment with Dafa. But how should we have a righteous understanding with regards to time? I could not express it clearly at first. After a long period of Fa study and solid cultivation, I now have a new understanding of the issue of time. I would like to share it with everyone.

Looking at Time from the Perspective of Cultivation

From the principles of the Fa, we know that different dimensions correspond with different times. However on earth, there seems to be only a single dimension. Everyone appears to be facing the same time space and dimension. However, as the cultivation levels of practitioners continually improve, and breakthroughs are made, the different meanings of time have already manifested themselves. In other words, as the pace of Fa-rectification progresses, time has already changed.

Those diligent practitioners who have assimilated to the requirements of the Fa have stabilized and are no longer affected by the length of time. Whether the time is long or short, to them it is a righteous force to aid them. If they act according to the Fa, the longer the time, the greater their mighty virtue and the higher their cultivation levels reach.

As time lengthens, some practitioners who used to be diligent have slacked off, and time has become a huge test for them. The thinking, “I hope that it will all end so I can keep my cultivation results” is basically a manifestation of the human heart, and the fear that one's human attachments would be exposed with time. Time has thus become a double-edged sword. It could push some cultivators to really take the path to godhood, and at the same time it could push other cultivators back to the level of everyday people.

As to those practitioners enjoying life, they would like to smoothly arrange the way they cultivate. On the face of it, time to them seems very relaxed, without pressure. On the surface it is indeed like this. This is because the time on earth is arranged for everyday people and thus is suited to the situations of everyday people. They can thus enjoy the time in this dimension. Regardless of how long the enjoyment is, how fulfilling or how good their time management is, from the cultivation point of view, this life just becomes more and more like “everyday people.” Time thus becomes a constant negative force. The longer the time, the more damage one incurs and the lower the hope of return.

I am only giving some examples. The real situation could be more complex. To a cultivator, time will not be like the start of cultivation where everyone is the same. Time now corresponds to the cultivation level of each and every practitioner.

Looking at Time from the Viewpoint of Our Mission

Fa-rectification time and the mission of Fa-rectification are closely related. Master said,

“Don't forget that since the start of Fa-rectification, everything has had to be determined by what the future needs, including what process the Fa-rectification itself goes through.” (“Teaching the Fa in San Francisco, 2005”)

We are aware that Master’s requirements and the needs of the new cosmos are most important. We need to meet the requirements of the new cosmos. There is no room for negotiation. If a Dafa practitioner did not meet the requirements, the amount of people saved did not meet the required numbers, the promotion of Shen Yun did not meet the requirements, and other various areas did not meet the requirements of Fa-rectification, then it inevitably needs to exchange time for extra space. This is Master’s compassion towards sentient beings. To find the root, it was because Dafa practitioners themselves did not cultivate diligently. There is nothing we can say to defend ourselves.

Master said in Touring North America to Teach the Fa (March 2002),

“Let me ask you, if it would take another ten years to save all sentient beings, would you still do it? (The students reply together, "Yes!")”

Ten years have almost passed, and we are now facing more sentient beings that urgently need to be saved, as well as many important missions in various areas. Then looking at my own cultivation situation, I now understand that as true Dafa practitioners, we are not qualified to decide whether we should continue with saving sentient beings or not.

Our own human attachments have not been eliminated due to our poor cultivation states. Complex situations are formed. Master has endured much to give us more time, so that we can fulfill our shortcomings. Regardless of whether Fa-rectification lasts ten years, twenty years, even one hundred years, one thousand years, or ten thousand years, Dafa practitioners should not have a single complaint. We should just be diligent in repaying Master for his compassion. We should unconditionally follow Master until we fulfill the requirements of the new cosmos.

In fact, regardless of how time in the human world tests one's endurance, it is nothing in the face of the price paid by the whole cosmos during this Fa-rectification. The cosmos has gone through many different changes and many gods came down for this epoch here on earth. Everything outside of the Three Realms has been rectified by Dafa. It is only the Three Realms that has been sealed off. As Falun Dafa practitioners, we should only think more about our mission and dedicate our efforts to assist Master in Fa-rectification. The time given for Fa-rectification is closely related to our mission.

Jump Out of Time in Order to Look at Time

To look at the issue of time from the perspective of the Fa, we need to jump out of time to see it clearly. It is similar to a cultivator being slightly above the level of everyday people. He can clearly see the happenings of society.

Master said in “Teaching the Fa at the 2004 Western U.S. Fa Conference,”

“No matter how long the period of time [you spend] in the human world lasts, even if it's tens of thousands of years, when Unlocking of Gong takes place this will all in fact feel like a dream to you. It will be so vague that it was like a dream, and gradually it will feel like you've forgotten it. You will no longer have the human thought structure or think about mankind with human thoughts, you won't have thoughts like that, and your thought structure will be that of a divine being.”

In the lecture “Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Boston,” Master said,

“If this thing really ends one day, the first thing that will be done is to have Fa-rectification Dafa disciples be Consummated and returned to their positions. At that time, when you look back at the path you've traveled, everything will be clear to you. Of course, a Buddha, Dao, or God who's fully Consummated at his position won't think about things like whether he did well or not --it will just be like a dream is over, and he won't even think about it.”

When I read these passages, I gain a deeper understanding. I realize that the reason we are attached to time is because we are within it. But the final assessment of time in this dimension should be from the viewpoint of our eternal positions. Thus if we calm down and think about it, the time in this human dimension, even if it was ten thousand years, doesn't matter once we reach the moment of consummation, as it will be over just like a dream. At that time we would not think anymore, because the thinking of gods does not have the sense of time as that existing in lower-level dimensions.

If we jump out of time, we can see that it is meaningless to be attached to it. For the sake of time, we should no longer think about it in the future. If we can't let our attachment go, isn’t this a very big obstacle? In fact, building mighty virtue and improving cultivation is the true future wealth of a cultivator.

In the ninth lecture of Zhuan Falun, Master said,

“Everyone may have heard that Zen Buddhism also speaks of the differences between sudden enlightenment and gradual enlightenment. Huineng, the sixth patriarch in Zen Buddhism, taught sudden enlightenment while Shenxiu from the Northern School of Zen Buddhism taught gradual enlightenment. The dispute between the two on Buddhist studies has lasted a very long time in history. I call it meaningless. Why? It is because what they referred to was only the understanding of a principle in the process of cultivation practice. As to this principle, some may understand it all at once, while others may enlighten to it and understand it gradually. Does it matter how one enlightens? It is better if one can understand it all at once, but it is also fine if one gradually enlightens to it. Aren’t both cases enlightenment? Both are enlightenment, so neither is wrong.”

In my personal understanding, the time when Fa-rectification ends is not important, and should not be the focal point of discussion and contention between Dafa practitioners. The most important thing is that we have to enlighten to the Fa. This to a Dafa practitioner is real cultivation and improvement.