My Understanding on the Pursuit of Comfort with Practitioners in Beijing

As I have friends and relatives in Beijing, I am able to keep in touch with some practitioners there and we share our cultivation experiences. I would like to relay my understanding, as shared with Beijing practitioners, on stepping out of the attachment to comfort.

First, let me share some cultivation experiences. The first relates to a veteran practitioner who has been working in Beijing for eight years since leaving college. During the first few years, he was very diligent and was able to help other practitioners 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. Gradually his salary went up to more than ten thousand yuan a month and he could easily afford to live a comfortable lifestyle. He began to pursue this lifestyle by starting his own company and also buying a house. However, this meant that he had less and less time to do the three things. Eventually, this attachment created loopholes in his cultivation and he was illegally arrested for practising Falun Gong and taken to a forced labour camp. After his release, though his heart was still with Dafa, he was no longer as diligent as before. His attention began to focus on making money and in buying a car. He rarely paid attention to doing the three things.

Another veteran practitioner was also attached to making money after being released from a forced labour camp. He also started a business, bought a car, and got married. One time when we were studying the Fa together, he kept answering phone calls. I could no longer see the person that used to be very diligent.

I also met several other practitioners in Beijing whose cultivation state were not good either. They have strong attachments to fear, and it is very hard for them to step out to do the three things. They just want to live a life of comfort.

Beijing is the home of the CCP (Chinese communist party) and therefore there are many strong evil influences there. The illegal monitoring and persecution of Dafa disciples is most severe there, and Dafa disciples, especially those in Beijing, face great challenges in validating the Fa and saving sentient beings. But in such an environment, there are still many practitioners stepping out and clarifying the truth about the persecution. I know a practitioner who came to live in Beijing after the persecution started. His family of three have to live off an income of two thousand yuan a month. Out of that money he was also able to produce truth-clarification materials and distribute them by himself. I lived in his home for a few days, and every night he studied the Fa till midnight. He sent forth righteous thoughts every hour and got up at 3:50 a.m. to do the exercises. He told me, "In this evil environment of Beijing, only when you do well the three things and get rid of the attachment to comfort, can you remain diligent and rise above the challenges."
I had many Fa study sessions and experience-sharing with practitioners in Beijing, and we all realized that the main cause for not being diligent was the pursuit of comfort. When comfort got a hold of practitioners, they became afraid of hardship from the persecution. Wrapped up in the materialistic comforts of the human world, facing the pressure of survival and personal interest, if we ever become less diligent, we will fall from our cultivation level. Then it will be very hard for us to rise higher in cultivation. One practitioner said, "Beijing is like a big trap full of self-interest and desires. It is very hard for someone to climb out if you fall into it." The above examples are proof of this.
Actually Teacher has already told us in "Fa-Rectification Period Dafa Disciples"

(Essentials for Further Advancement II) about the pursuit of comfort:
"If you are still unclear about what a Fa-rectification disciple is, you won't be able to step forward in the current tribulation, and you will be led by the human world's pursuit of comfort to "enlighten" along an evil path. Master's heart has always been pained by those who have fallen, and the majority were ruined by that pursuit."

Eight years later, when we re-read this Fa, there have been many, many painful lessons because we didn't get rid of this attachment.

In fact, there is a bigger attachment behind the pursuit of comfort, and that is selfishness. It's the nature of every life in the old universe, including Dafa disciples. What are we cultivating for? Isn't it to get rid of the nature of the old universe -- selfishness, and to become selfless lives of the new universe? A person's cultivation process is a transformation process from human thoughts to divine thoughts. When our old selfish notions are replaced by our new selflessness notions, aren't we changed fundamentally?
Stepping out of comfort is the key that allows us to do the three things well. I think Beijing practitioners have an unmatched advantage over practitioners from other cities in validating the Fa, saving sentient beings, and eliminating the evil. For example, being in the political, economic and cultural centre of China, Beijing practitioners are quite knowledgeable in this regard. Also being the closest practitioners to the evil's lair, it is the best place to send forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the evil.

A Beijing practitioner once said to me, "Beijing needs Dafa disciples. When you walk on the street, sit on the bus, or visit parks, restaurants, or shopping centers, sending forth righteous thoughts will be very effective." Our local practitioners have been sending forth righteous thoughts to Beijing for several years. The practitioners in Beijing should do it even better. If all Beijing practitioners can send forth righteous thoughts more, what a big righteous field it would be! Will the evil still be so rampant then? Also, there are other things that practitioners can do besides face-to-face truth clarification. For example, writing letters to clarify the truth and letters to encourage kindness in the CCP's Central Committee and government ministries in Beijing, sending emails or cell phone messages, or making phone calls to clarify the truth. Many practitioners are currently working or have previously worked in the CCP's organizations, so it can be much easier to get the information to people within those organizations. If the practitioners in Beijing can re-establish a group Fa-study environment, they can coordinate as a whole to do the three things well.

Teacher understands our Beijing practitioners' environment and the challenges they face. That is to say Teacher has benevolence and care for us. Whether in Beijing or other places, we practitioners should not pursue comfort with everyday people's perspectives, wait for other practitioners to rectify the environment, or for Teacher to end the Fa-rectification. Otherwise, where's our mighty virtue? Will we have a satisfactory answer for Teacher for our actions? I hope fellow practitioners who have the attachment to pursue comfort, and who are not very diligent, can quickly rise up to complete our great historic mission of validating the Fa and saving sentient beings. In the past, our Beijing practitioners had great achievements in assisting Teacher to rectify the Fa and saving sentient beings. I believe that they can do it even better during the final period.
This article is not intended to blame Beijing practitioners. Please kindly point out anything incorrect.