Must Diligently Progress Until the End

Fa-rectification has almost reached the end and there are few evil elements left. The environment has become more relaxed. Dafa practitioners should cherish the opportunity to help Teacher rectify the Fa and fulfil our promises to Teacher made during prehistoric times. We need to do the three things (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) more diligently as we progress towards the end. We need to be like we were before 1999, before the persecution against Falun Gong began. We used to study together, look inward during conflicts, examine ourselves strictly from the Fa, and keep a peaceful and compassionate attitude at all times, like real practitioners. We should consider the needs of Fa-rectification as top priority and validate the Fa with a grateful, respectful, and solemn attitude.

Unfortunately, in general, practitioners in Shijiazhuang City seem numb, slacking off and seeking comfort. Everyone does the three things like they are daily routines. There is a lack of respect and lack of sacredness in the way people do things. There is a lack of urgency toward cases of practitioners being persecuted; the rescue process then becomes sloppy, and we are less able to persist in our efforts in helping fellow practitioners. Those who participate in sending righteous thoughts are only going through the motions and no longer have the momentum of utterly eliminating the evil. Everyone has stopped caring about other practitioners; those who have become sick and those who do not have strong righteous thoughts fear that helping others will disturb their routine in doing the three things. Some older practitioners have started to get busy with their grandchildren, while some young people have started their own business in order to make more money. After so many years of turbulence, the situation has finally settled and practitioners have started to shift their focus to family matters.

We all understand that the standard for us gets higher as Fa-rectification nears the end. However, we are becoming too relaxed. We need to do what Teacher and the Fa advise, to rectify ourselves and negate the old forces' arrangement. Whether the environment is harsh or relaxed, our minds and attitudes should not be influenced.

In fact, the evil factors have become fewer and the large scale persecution is hard to sustain, but the persecution on a smaller scale has become more malicious. Because of our lack of diligence, a greater number of practitioners have been recently persecuted, some of them have gotten ill, some arrested, some monitored online and their houses illegally searched, and some were sentenced and put in labour camps and prisons. Since March 29, something bad has happened almost every day. There are three places in Shijiazhuang City where practitioners are tortured: Hebei Province Women's Prison in Tongye Town, Hebei Province Brainwashing Center on Beicheng Street, and Shijiazhuang Forced Labour Camp. Practitioners around Hebei Province continue to be sent to these places and tortured. The intensified monitoring that started before the Olympics is still ongoing. The authorities have not wanted their inhumane measures to be exposed and consequently have denied practitioners consultations with their lawyers. Falun Gong practitioners' lawsuits related to forced labour administration have been denied nationwide.

On March 8, 2009, the Provincial Police Department caught a practitioner chatting online with QQ (computer software) and broke into the practitioner's house. Four other practitioners were at that practitioner's house at the time and were all arrested. The Minghui (Chinese version of Clearwisdom) website had many times reminded practitioners that QQ was a software controlled by the CCP. Practitioners need to stay alert because the evil factors will still be active before they are all eliminated. We should not think that we might get lucky. Recently, Teacher offered me a hint through the words of another practitioner. Teacher tried to tell me that I should look inward unconditionally and I shouldn't hide my attachments behind my Dafa work, such as seeking praise and recognition, pursuing fame and personal gain, zealotry and jealousy. All of these attachments have shown up in the process of rescuing practitioners and I know I must eliminate all of them. We have been ignoring the importance of personal improvement and focused only on strengthening righteous thoughts to rescue practitioners and being cautious of practitioners' safety issues. Teacher has many times talked about the importance of personal improvement, and we need to carefully follow his teaching.
I want to share with practitioners several important attachments I have seen and sensed:

(1) Cannot stand other people's words. May not visibly show anger but silently refuse to listen to suggestions. Think of what others say as interfering with the work of validating the Fa.
(2) Drawn to the human sentiment of romantic love. For example, I have had many dreams of being in love and have not behaved like a practitioner at all in those dreams.
(3) Another commonly shared issue is about marrying ordinary people.
(4) Some practitioners moved in together after they got a marriage certificate, some had been living together before they even got married. Marriage requires gods' acknowledgment and a couple should hold a ceremony to worship heaven and earth before they can live together. Dafa practitioners should do better in this aspect.
(5) Lust.
(6) Like to complain about others without looking inward.
(7) Have a lot of family quarrels and conflicts, etc.

In fact, we have been practicing for so many years and had passed many difficult tests. We are able to guard Dafa with our lives steadfastly. How come we couldn't eliminate what belongs to a human mindset? How come human notions still provide difficulties for us? We have paid too little attention to personal improvement and have not had high enough standard for ourselves.

Some practitioners repeatedly have illnesses, some are frequently harassed or arrested by the police. There are some practitioners who cannot completely negate the old forces' arrangements and are constantly being persecuted. This is probably due to gaps in personal practice. Teacher shouldered so much for us and gave up plenty of opportunities to improve, to enlighten to the Fa, to walk in an upright way. Those who are sick usually take a long time to recover. Some of our rescue attempts are taking us months and even years, and some are still ongoing. Cultivation practice is a solemn issue and no human notion is allowed.

I suggest that practitioners in Shijiazhuang start improving with group Fa study. Every practitioner needs to find time to join, especially those who appear to be sick and without righteous thoughts. We need to help each other to participate in group Fa study so that the practice environment will become like it was before 1999. When a field of strong righteous thoughts is formed, every practitioner can see his or her gaps and correct them.
Another thing is to be serious about sending righteous thoughts. We need to focus on the Hebei Province 610 Office, Provincial Public Security Department, Hebei Brainwashing Center, and the Shijiazhuang Forced Labor Camp when we send righteous thoughts. We need to send righteous thoughts persistently and continuously, to eradicate all the evil elements that persecute practitioners.

Practitioners, if possible, should try to be involved in exposing the local persecution cases and make truth-clarification materials that target specific cases. Everyone needs to clarify the facts of the persecution at every opportunity. The projects to rescue practitioners need to be well-coordinated and we must walk every step in Fa-rectification righteously.