Genuine Cultivation Versus Gaining Merit

These days I have been thinking a lot about Master's words from "Greetings", (May 20, 2009),
"Walk the last steps of your path well and with determination, study the Fa well, and, with a foundation laid by your having cultivated well, your righteous thoughts will naturally grow stronger and you will surely do well with what Dafa disciples are supposed to do."

Master has emphasized the very important relationship between cause and effect which affects a practitioner. Because human beings live in a maze and are limited by everyday people's ignorance, we are unaware of this relationship, or forget about this relationship. As a result, what we think to be a good thing may be bad, and what we think to be bad may in fact be good in the higher realms.

From the beginning of my cultivation, I have been involved in Dafa projects. When I look back at the path my cultivation has taken, what stands out and what I remember are the projects I have participated in. I did this project during the first two years, then I did that project during the next two years. I was so busy, it felt like I was fighting a war every day. I felt really diligent. Subconsciously I thought, "I have done so much for so long. And I have been persistent when doing things, surely Master will let me reach Consummation." Then when Master said, "If you fail to improve and achieve Consummation, where will the sentient beings that you save go?"("Fa Teaching at the 2008 New York Conference"), I started to realize that there was something wrong.
I didn't understand the relationship of cause and effect and how things are inverted between heaven and earth. I did not grasp the fundamentals of cultivation, nor study the Fa well, nor cultivate myself well. I just did the work, without improving myself. I was not walking a path towards the Consummation. If I did not study the Fa well or cultivate myself well, it did not matter how many projects I was involved with, or how well I did them, or the length of the project. I really was no different than an ordinary person doing Fa work. I thought, "If I continue walking down my path this way, what will I gain? All I will obtain is a huge blessing!" While I was thinking about this, a cold sweat came all over my body. I told myself, "You are not cultivating, but earning. You are trying to earn the fruit status which is something that cannot be earned. The fruit status is obtained through cultivation and a blessing is something that is earned. Would Master allow you reach Consummation by doing a lot of work?" Thinking this over, I concluded that this would be treating cultivation as a human attachment.

Master has indeed told us, "Dafa disciples' personal cultivation and improvement are no longer an issue, nor is Dafa disciples' achieving Consummation."("Fa Teaching at the 2007 New York Fa Conference") However, we must cultivate ourselves with the requirements for practitioners and we must also cultivate well. Master also had said that he can protect disciples. But if you are not acting like a practitioner, he would not protect you. That is the same principle.

"My fashen will protect you until you are able to protect yourself. At that time, you will practice cultivation in Beyond-Triple-World-Fa, and you will have already achieved the Tao. But you must treat yourself as a true practitioner, and then you can make it." (Zhuan Falun)

Cultivation is a serious matter. I heard myself say, "You should not misunderstand the Fa on this very important issue nor should you treat cultivation, Consummation and this precious opportunity with human attachment because this is the only chance for you to achieve your goal." The human world is a maze. One difference in your thinking could turn heaven and earth upside down. De, a type of virtue, can be transformed into gong, but de can also be transformed into karma. This transformation all depends on our minds.
Master said,

"The Tao School teaches a lot of disciples, but only one disciple receives the genuine teachings. The Buddha School believes in salvation of all beings, so whoever can practice cultivation may do it."(Zhuan Falun)

I think it is very unfortunate that a person who wants to cultivate may fail to obtain the genuine teaching. A genuine teaching is never a problem for those who wish to study. Everyone is treated the same. Whoever can practice cultivation may do it. But for a practitioner, there is the problem of whether you can obtain the genuine teaching.
Master told us in "Fa Teaching at the 2007 New York Fa Conference",
"I have said that Master has compressed everything into the Fa, but as of today not that many of you have yet grasped the weight of those words. I'll talk to you about it again in the future."

I asked myself, where is the genuine teaching? I answered that it is "all in Master's Fa and in Master's books." Every day that Master teaches us the truth, the obstacles to enlightenment no longer exist.

I have asked myself, "If a very good ordinary person were asked to do the things I have done, what would that mean?" Except for studying the Fa and cultivating xinxing, that person would be able to do everything I have done. If he studies the Fa and cultivates xinxing, he is no longer an ordinary person. I have looked further within to question my understanding of the fundamentals of cultivation.

This is my personal understanding and realization. Please point out anything inappropriate