My Understanding After Fa Study: Awakening to Our “Shi Ming” (Mission)

A few days ago when I read the section “Attracting Demons in Qigong” in The Sixth Talk of Zhuan Falun, the following paragraph of the Fa touched me:

“There’s emotion in society, so for ordinary people these things are just normal. Since people have emotion… being angry is emotion, being happy is emotion, love is emotion, and hatred is emotion, enjoying doing something is an emotion, not enjoying doing something is an emotion, your thinking someone is nice or someone isn’t nice, your loving to do something or not loving to do something—everything is emotion, and ordinary people just live for emotion. Then if you’re a practitioner, a higher person, you can’t use this logic to evaluate things, and you need to break out of this stuff.”

I am very familiar with this aspect of the Fa. In order to break out of emotions and view the world with compassion, I have recited and copied this Fa many times. I almost want to carve these words into my bones so that I will be able to remind myself not to lose my way in the human world. However, I was still hindered so often by emotions on my cultivation path. I considered myself very passive in my cultivation, and it is very difficult for me to maintain a compassionate state all of the time. Without eliminating emotions, how can we talk about compassion?

After reading through Master’s, “Fa Teaching at the 2009 Greater New York International Fa Conference”, I suddenly came to a new understanding. As I studied the new lecture twice without stopping, I felt that two words, “Shi Ming” (mission), were as heavy as Tai Mountain. They were so heavy that it felt difficult to breath. I understood that this had occurred because I was so far away from Master’s requirements for a Fa-rectification period Dafa disciple.

What is an ordinary person’s understanding of “mission”? There are some well-known historical stories. For example, Zhang Qian was sent out to Western countries on a diplomatic mission. Another example was Zheng He who travelled by ship down to the Atlantic Ocean to visit several island countries. Their missions were related to the politics and economy of several countries, regions and ethnic groups, and directly impacted many people who lived in those areas. Fortunately, even though they had faced many hardships, they eventually fulfilled their missions.

So what kind of mission do we have as Dafa disciples? Master has told us in his Fa lectures: “For a Fa-rectification period Dafa disciple, personal liberation is not the goal of cultivation: when you came, saving sentient beings was your great aspiration, and that is the responsibility and mission history has bestowed upon you in Fa-rectification” (“Let Go of Human Attachments and Save the World's People”).

So it is clear without further explanation that Dafa disciples’ mission is to save sentient beings. This is what we chose when we descended with our heavenly courage. We have made such a grand wish and obtained Master’s full support in order to fulfil our mission. As time moves closer to the end of this process, our mission becomes even more important and more urgent to accomplish.

Now, every morning my first thought is that, “I am a Dafa disciple with a mission in this Fa-rectification period,” instead of the previous thought, “I am a cultivator.” My whole body is energized by this new thought. Embracing our “mission” and our “divine vow,” my emotions of love or hatred, my likes or dislikes, and my conflicts all disappeared. Among fellow practitioners, no one cares about whose way is better or worse or whose level is higher or lower. Everyone is peaceful and compassionate and cooperates quietly to form a united one body – that is our mission. For our children and relatives, saving them with compassion is our mission. There is no difference as to who is closer to us. Even for strangers who may have just passed us by on the street, our mission is still to save them with compassion. Without a word, we try to connect to one another as we may share a pre-destined relationship. Don’t forget that “Falun Dafa is good” and “Zhen-Shan-Ren is good.” This will provide a good foundation for you to be truly saved in the future. To fulfil my mission, I am busy going to villages, roads, stations, and markets, either by car or walking.

“He comes with the Truth, which gives him full control
And travels the four seas with a free and easy spirit…” (“Tathagata”).

I pledge to fulfil my vows and be a King at different levels in the new universe!