We Must Be Diligent in Our Final Steps of Cultivation

In the Mid-Autumn Festival greetings to all Falun Dafa practitioners around the world, Master said,

"Disciples of Fa, be diligent, with a will that ebbs not. The countless years of hardship were all for this time." ("A Will That Ebbs Not")

This statement contains so much mercy and the ardent expectations of Master. Master has seen that some disciples have slackened off and are not as diligent. They are stranded by ordinary sentimentality and trifles. Master worries about us!

With the progress of the Fa-rectification and a large amount of the evil being eliminated, a lot of changes have taken place in the environments of China and overseas. Under the relatively less harsh environment, some attachments and human thoughts that have not been completely eliminated in our cultivation start to germinate. Some practitioners have started to live everyday people's lives unconsciously. They put personal interests above the Fa (Law or Principles in the Buddha School, in this case the teachings taught in Falun Gong) and participate in activities to let more people learn the truth about the practise and the persecution. Some young practitioners spend much of their time and effort on dating. They immerse themselves in emotion and are unable to extricate themselves. They put behind their other Falun Dafa related activities. In some aspects, they have violated the basic principles of cultivation and behaved even worse than ordinary people. Some practitioners have indulged in lust and desire for a long time after marriage, and some even give up cultivation under their spouse's pressure and obstruction.

Some elderly practitioners are very attached to affection for family. They put most of their attention on their grandchildren, and worry about their health and comfort. With such a strong attachment, their grandchildren "happen" to have accidents all the time (actually it is the evil interference). As a result, those elderly practitioners are so busy taking care of their grandchildren that they have no time for Fa-study and no mood for truth-clarification. Some of the young practitioners indulge in watching TV and playing games. They neglect cultivation as well as their studies at school.

Some practitioners think that they have "sacrificed too much for Falun Dafa" in previous years and now it is time to "compensate" themselves. They have started to spend large amounts of time and money on business and everyday work. Their minds are filled with thoughts of how to make more and more money, and they barely think of cultivation and letting more people know the truth. They do business in an ordinary way instead of complying with cultivation standards. Since they cannot persist in cultivation and truth-clarification, their character level drops down, they start to smoke, drink alcohol, and do something even worse. There are many profound lessons.

Fellow practitioners, let's strive forward diligently! "This instant is precious beyond measure." We must not surrender ourselves to our attachments. Seeing us this way, the old forces would aggravate our attachments and make us stumble. Remember

"...even a Buddha can stumble, not to mention a practitioner like you among everyday people!" ( Zhuan Falun, 2000 translation version)

No matter how well a practitioner did in cultivation, that only represents the past, not the present or future. The unprecedented future is up to us, for us to establish with our constant righteous thoughts and righteous acts. We cannot just rest on our laurels and wait for consummation.

There is a saying in everyday society, "ninety miles is only half of a hundred-mile journey" -- one must sustain one's effort when a task is nearing completion. Even if there is only one step remaining, one must firmly make that step to completely reach the final goal. Regarding Fa-rectification cultivation, which is unprecedented and unsurpassable, doesn't it have stricter requirements?