(Clearwisdom.net) Recently I heard practitioners mentioning Master's words in “Touring North America to Teach the Fa”, about the issue of Fa-rectification lasting ten years from that date. I cannot help but recall my thoughts at that time. This used to be an issue that I was constantly thinking about and attached to. Let's first look at Master's words.
Master said in Touring North America to Teach the Fa:
“Don't worry that it will take a long time. I can tell you that Christianity rose after three hundred years of persecution. Is a Dafa disciple, with his important mission, not as good as an ordinary cultivator? What's crucial is how we understand things. Let me ask you, if it would take another ten years to save all sentient beings, would you still do it? (The students reply together, "Yes!") (Applause) That's how a Dafa disciple should be. (Applause) Of course, there won't be another ten years. It's not allowed to take that long, and they don't have that much time left in their lives.”
Every time I read this paragraph, I felt that 2012 would be an important year. The 2011 Shen Yun performance's ending program, “The Opening of Heaven's Gates”, coupled with the Mayan astronomical prophecy, kept me thinking this way. Actually, I was entertaining hope and my attachment to the external environment. I felt we were dependent on the cosmic changes of the large environment. Although this attachment has been weakening, it still exists and has not been removed fundamentally.
In the lecture “Teaching the Fa in San Francisco, 2005”, Master taught the following Fa when answering questions on whether our media should highlight ancient prophecies:
“As for the reputation of our media being damaged, well, there's not much to say about that. But [I do want to say that] media is just media, these things aren't some sort of Ultimate Truth, and Dafa disciples shouldn't get too attached to them. Some people are always attached to what prophecies have said and why it didn't happen that way. They've begun to take these as the Fa. Don't forget that since the start of Fa-rectification, everything has had to be determined by what the future needs, including what process the Fa-rectification itself goes through. Prophecies can be used only when they are conducive to saving sentient beings. There are also people who say, "Something Master said seems to mean such and such, but why didn't it happen when the time came?" [People who feel that way are] actually all just speculating. Isn't an attachment to time an attachment? Only when you cultivate without any omissions or gaps is it the best cultivation..”
“Don't forget that since the start of Fa-rectification, everything has had to be determined by what the future needs, including what process the Fa-rectification itself goes through.” This sentence really pointed out my attachment. Our personal cultivation is the foundation, while saving sentient beings and saving the colossal firmament is our true goal in assisting Master. We must focus on the salvation of sentient beings and the future colossal firmament. Everything is done for Fa-rectification and saving sentient beings. During this process we are cultivating while striving to assist Master. We need to succeed in cultivation, sentient beings need to be saved, the Fa-rectification needs to succeed, and the colossal firmament needs to be renewed. All these aspects are interrelated and restrain each other, and they are based on our personal cultivation.
We know that our cultivation in Dafa is a great way without form. We must cultivate to the point of having no omissions. Every attachment is being exposed and may become a loophole. I remember a theory about a bucket, which says that the water level in a bucket is determined by the shortest stave. We are improving ourselves constantly through cultivation, but every loophole we have not eliminated will be taken advantage of by the old forces. The old forces will make trouble and interfere with the salvation of sentient beings. We have had many lessons in this respect. Finally, we must remove our attachment of relying on others. We will be the lords of different levels in the future. How can we rely on the external environment when managing our sentient beings?
Whether it's prophecies or what is taking place in the world during the process of Fa-rectification, everything exists for Fa-rectification, not for creating attachments for Dafa practitioners. Whether these prophecies come to pass or not, they cannot move practitioners because our goal is to assist Master in Fa-rectification and fulfill our vows. We should cultivate to the point of no omission.