Improvement in Self-Cultivation Is Critical for Coordination Work

Recently, some practitioners, including a local contact person, were arrested. Their homes were ransacked and a few brainwashing sessions were re-opened. This indicates that the CCP (Chinese communist party) is not willing to admit the failure of their 10-year persecution against Falun Gong. On the other hand, it also suggests that we still have a lot of shortcomings in our cultivation and the evil forces have used them as an excuse to persecute us. With the progress of Fa-rectification, the requirements for every Dafa disciple become higher and stricter, especially for the practitioners performing coordination work.

Master said,
"The biggest problem we have now is the one I just talked about. That is, when you fail to cultivate yourself and look within." ("Fa Teaching at the 2008 New York Conference")

Recently, the local practitioners in charge of coordination work had a detailed discussion on how to do 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) well and at the same time search inward and cultivate ourselves in order to catch up with the progress of Master's Fa-rectification. They also discussed how to cooperate with local practitioners to improve as one body. The discussion outcome was recorded as follows:

1. Slacking off

With the rapid progress of Fa-rectification, since the end of last year, most local practitioners felt that the environment had become better. Fewer and fewer people were willing to listen to the evil party (CCP). Therefore, attachments of self-absorption and comfort surfaced, and the steadfast mentality gradually loosened. As a result, the necessary safety concerns were ignored and the evil forces used the excuse of testing Dafa disciples to continue the persecution.

Behaviours caused by slacking off include:

A. We are not steadfast in studying the Fa and do not study the Fa with our whole hearts. Often, we treat Fa-study as a mission to complete. Therefore, Fa-study and self-cultivation are disconnected. Whenever a conflict arises, we seldom search inward based on the Fa. We do not really achieve

"Study Fa, obtain Fa,
Compare in studying, compare in cultivating,
Examine each and every deed,
Accomplishing is cultivating."
("Solid Cultivation", Hongyin)

B. We don't persistently send forth righteous thoughts at four set times during the day. When we send forth righteous thoughts, we often fall asleep, distort our hand gestures, let our minds wander, and it becomes just a formality. Therefore, the power of our righteous thoughts is not fully unleashed.

C. We do not pay enough attention to safety in our communication or material delivery, since we don't want to be bothered. In addition, we don't make strict requirements for ourselves and a lot of our fundamental attachments have not been eliminated for a long time. As a result, our tribulations are getting larger and lager. Sometimes, we have to fall down to realize them.

2. Attachment to doing things
Many of us are passionate about and actively involved in coordination and material work. We are busy with such business-like work every day. As a result, we don't spend time studying the Fa, practicing the exercises or sending forth righteous thoughts. Since Fa study and the fundamentals are not solid enough, whenever tribulations occur, we don't understand them or search within based on the Fa. Therefore, our cultivation level does not improve for a long time. Cultivation during the Fa-rectification period is to cultivate ourselves as well as do Fa-rectification work. As coordinators, we have to cultivate ourselves while doing the coordination work. For the practitioners in charge of material sites, they have to cultivate themselves while doing the work of material sites. Otherwise, Dafa work will be done with the mindset of ordinary people, instead of that of cultivators. Only when we focus on cultivating ourselves, will our minds be clear so we can do well with the coordination work, and have less chance of making a mistake.

3. Self-inflated mentality

Generally speaking, the skills of the practitioners in charge of coordination work are better than those of other practitioners. Gradually, the mindset of being above other practitioners surfaces. Sometimes, we think we are leaders in ordinary society and order other people to do things. Sometimes, because of vanity or the fear of losing face, we are stubborn and won't accept other opinions. We make mistakes but cannot admit them frankly. Therefore, we often have arguments with fellow practitioners. In our local area, several practitioners were arrested after arguing with other practitioners. Some of them were even persecuted to death.

In our local area, the practitioners who had serious tribulations or died have the same characteristics: They could neither accept other practitioners' suggestions, nor effectively search inward. Not because they did not have the chance to search inward, but because they didn't know how to do it well. Why couldn't they accept other practitioners' opinions or find their own attachments? The root cause was because their Fa-study was not solid. They did not clearly understand the Fa, evaluate everything with the Fa, or cultivate every thought and idea based on the Fa.

4. Relying on others
Master has told us that there are no role models in cultivation. In the process of exposing the evil and clarifying the truth, other than the things that we need to do together, everyone should walk their own path. Instead of learning from the Fa, some practitioners only look at others. They don't know how to take the Fa as the teacher and use the Fa to evaluate things. Therefore, they wait for commands from the coordinators, no matter how small the task is. This behaviour greatly increases the pressure on coordinators. The evil forces could use this loophole to make coordinators deviate from the Fa. Also, instead of improving themselves, these practitioner give other people their chance to obtain mighty virtue.

In conclusion, the responsibility of every practitioner in the Fa-rectification period is very important. We should be more diligent as it gets closer to the end. Only when we abandon all attachments without omission, can we save more sentient beings and reach the standard for final consummation.