With Practitioners Who Have Yet to Come Forth

Today I met a fellow practitioner who told me about a dream she had heard from another practitioner in her study group. In the dream, the practitioner was riding a tricycle and arrived home but could not enter the door, no matter what. In her sharing, she said, "I probably can't do it, I can't cultivate." She felt it was hopeless and wanted to give up cultivation. I asked how she was doing on the Three Things (study the Fa [the teachings of Falun Dafa], send forth righteous thoughts and clarify the truth about Falun Dafa and about the persecution to the world's people) , and she told me that she used to do pretty well, but recently, due to strong attachments of fear, she has not been able to step forward.

To me, I think that, if she knows that Master is trying to enlighten her, she must be able to see her own flaws. Master's hints are definitely not to have to us give up cultivation. Instead, they are to help us catch up. Master does not wish to give up on any disciple. If we remain attached to this fear and even give up cultivation, the consequences will be truly horrifying.

In China, the evil Party has launched campaign after campaign. Many elderly people who have suffered through these campaigns have become truly afraid as a result. However, we are Fa-Rectification Dafa disciples on the path of divinity. We have Master's protection. Just think about how many practitioners have overcome their fear to become true Dafa disciples. The only difference is the different paths that each of them takes to overcome it. As I remember, at the beginning of the persecution, a practitioner once asked himself, "If I were to lose my life in the persecution, would I give up cultivation?" The answer is, "Every life comes to an end. Even if I give up Dafa, I will not be able to overcome life and death, much less be a cultivator." As Master said, "Having heard the Dao in the morning, one can die in the evening." ("Melt Into the Fa" in Essentials for Further Advancement) Even if that day comes, what is there to fear? In the persecution, the police keep saying that Falun Gong is false to try to get practitioners to give up cultivation. Some practitioners have said in reply, "Even if it is false I will still learn it, because there is nothing wrong with teaching someone to be good." When a practitioner is attached to fear and is persecuted, when faith in the Buddha Law wavers, as long as one can uphold this thought, he or she will be able to overcome the tribulation.

Some practitioners also remember that Master said, "Even when an ordinary person shouts out 'Falun Dafa is good' today, Master will protect him." ("Teaching and Explaining the Fa at the Metropolitan New York Fa Conference") Then they think, "I've already done many good things to save people, far surpassing an ordinary person who simply says, 'Falun Dafa is good.' I must be able to return to my home." This is a very strong attachment to selfishness that will be an obstruction to the path of a cultivator's consummation. Doing many things for one's own consummation due to an attachment to consummation is different from an ordinary person shouting "Falun Dafa is good," because in ordinary society, he has not gained anything from Dafa, nor does he want to get anything from Dafa. In the evil environment, "Falun Dafa is good" is said purely on the basis of truth and righteousness. We all know that the old universe's law of formation, stasis, and degeneration is due to selfishness. The new universe is able to be harmonizing, all-encompassing, and have a no-destruction mechanism because it is built on others. Let's think for a moment: How can a selfish being achieve consummation and return to his own universe? If possible, what difference would the old and new universe have? What's the point of Fa-Rectification, then?

Let us revisit Master's lecture from "Teaching the Fa at the 2004 International Fa Conference in New York:"

"I'm thinking that those people are not too far away from having a wicked understanding, and they are lucky if they haven't begun to stray. Over the past few years, Dafa disciples have been validating the Fa amidst the persecution and saving beings through clarifying the truth. Those people won't improve at all, no matter how much they may read the book at home. If you don't do the things that Dafa disciples should do, not only won't you improve, but you will only slide downwards. 'Dafa disciple'... 'Dafa disciple,' what does being a 'Fa-Rectification Period Dafa Disciple' mean? It is the foremost title and the most magnificent being in the cosmos. If you only care about your own salvation, will that do? How could that be called being a 'Dafa disciple'? What is a 'Fa-Rectification Period Dafa Disciple'? Have you validated the Fa? You came when Dafa benefited you, yet you hid out and didn't dare to speak up for Dafa when it faced danger. You have shown yourself to be less worthy than an ordinary person, so what's the point of 'studying the Fa at home'? All beings are being poisoned in the persecution, so how could you feel at ease being in hiding? Why are Dafa disciples clarifying the truth and saving beings? Because that is Dafa disciples' duty. That is the kind of being that I, Li Hongzhi, want, and a Dafa disciple is that kind of cultivator."

I truly hope for practitioners who've yet to come forth to do so as soon as possible. Time does not wait. Master is waiting for us, and so are sentient beings.