Great Britain: Practitioners vs. Disciples

In the past, when I wrote reports of Hong-Fa activities in Great Britain, I frequently submitted the articles in the name of “Dafa practitioner in Great Britain”. It is because I felt that whether we have fulfilled the requirements of Dafa disciples or not should be judged by Master, not proclaimed by ourselves. As a practitioner, being modest should be correct. Furthermore, it is just a matter of a title, not a big deal. Not until many incidents recently occurred around me did I start to realise the inherent distinction between being a practitioner and being a disciple.

For instance, some Dafa disciples who used to strive forward vigorously in cultivation are not able to recover from the setback after they encounter frustrations or when the environment is changed. They may even drop out of cultivation. When they recall the process of their depravity, they notice that something was not right very early on. Every time they see Master’s portrait, they will shed tears. However, they simply cannot pick up Dafa books to read, and do not have strong intention to do Dafa work. They feel that there have been so many things that they failed to do well, and that they are getting farther and farther away from the standards of Dafa disciples— they do not see a hope for themselves. The evil will take advantage of this thought and apply higher pressure on them. They become even more degraded.
The situation keeps going on and on until one day they suddenly realise that Master has already said that as long as we cultivate genuinely, he would treat and guide us as disciples, and that it is simply unacceptable to not treat us as disciples. No matter what mistakes we have made in the past, Master will watch over us as long as we still want to cultivate. If we don’t have determination to succeed in cultivation practice or to become Master’s qualified disciples, nobody can help us since cultivation is our own business. It comes down to our own decision, as cultivation depends on one’s own efforts. For example, when the test of life and death comes, we cannot demand of ourselves that we behave like Dafa disciples, and we even have doubt in our heart that there is any god watching over us. When confronted with tribulations, we forget Master and the basic point of being a Dafa disciple. Once the mainstream of life is lost, how can we resist the power of karmic retribution with human strength? We may even lose our life because we are everyday people at that moment, not practitioners.

Therefore, the issue behind the title is not a matter of being modest or not. Instead, it is an issue whether our righteous thoughts are strong or weak. It is an issue related to the standards with which we measure ourselves. After I understood this principle, I felt regretful for obstinately sticking to error in the past. I hope fellow practitioners can learn a lesson from my experience and let righteous thoughts fill every inch of their minds at all time.