(Clearwisdom.net) In "Serious Teaching", Master said,
"Some people wanted to wait for Master to spell things out and tell everyone what to do and how to protect the Fa. They have waited for Master to spell things out and tell everyone to go to Beijing to validate the Fa, and for Master to tell them clearly that [they should] clarify the truth to people. Once I spell things out for them, however, what they do is no longer self-initiated and out of their own righteous thoughts. Once the answers are provided the test ends, and those afraid to step forward to validate the Fa forever lose their chance."
Master also said in "Suggestions",
"These people who only want to take from Dafa and not give for Dafa are, in the eyes of Gods, the worst beings. Moreover, this Fa is what's fundamental in the cosmos, so those people who are still unable to step forward today will be weeded out after this tribulation is over."
After studying "Serious Teaching" and "Suggestions", I understand that Teacher is actually waiting for the practitioners who stayed at home and never stepped forward. He is still giving them opportunities. To my knowledge, there is an appreciable difference between the number of practitioners who attained the Fa in the previous years and those who step forward to clarify the truth. It also takes time for the practitioners who went astray to come back and make up for the losses. Before the persecution started in 1999, there were 100 million practitioners. However, according to my estimation of our place, there might be a little more than half practitioners who really understand what the Fa-rectification is, who are clear about what a Dafa disciple should do at this critical moment, and who are really committed to the work they should do? If so, the practitioners who stepped forward should really help those lagging behind to improve their understanding of the Fa quickly.
Of course we cannot go out and look for the practitioners who do not step forward. However, we might help those within the circle of our acquaintance. We can think about why we come across practitioners who do not step forward and why we have contact with them. It cannot be accidental. Maybe they have some predestined relationship with us. Maybe they used to be family or friends of us in our previous lives. Or there might be other reasons. It is predestined that we should help them at this human level. At least we are all disciples of Master. When we found ourselves in trouble or difficulties, Master has again and again pulled us up from the ground. Our fellow practitioners also encouraged and helped us. Could there be any reason why we shouldn't encourage and help them? Therefore, we ought to give them a call, or try to communicate with them in other ways to help them improve. If possible, we should study the Fa with them. As long as we do what we can, Master will have many ways to solve their problems, as "cultivation depends on one's own efforts while the development of gong depends on Master." (Zhuan Falun) So we should be more active in helping those practitioners, caring for them and saving them.
In "Clearheadedness", Master said, "I often say that if all a person wants is the well-being of others and if this is without the slightest personal motivation or personal understanding, what he says will move the listener to tears. I have not only taught you Dafa, but have also left you my demeanor. While working, your tone of voice, your kindheartedness, and your reasoning can change a person's heart, whereas commands never could!"
Actually, the process of helping fellow practitioners is also a process of self-cultivation, during which one's own attachments will be revealed. To care for the practitioners' life and try to comfort them is the kindness on the human side, whereas the benevolence of the practitioners is something higher than the human level. Whenever we see the attachment of a fellow practitioner, we should point it out with benevolence as if it were our own attachments. That is the reflection of the kindness of a practitioner. I come to the understanding that when our fellow practitioners are interfered with by the evil and couldn't pass the test, or when they are under the visible or invisible persecution, it is time for us to support him and strengthen their righteous thoughts. We should help them to improve their understanding of the Fa rather than criticize them, leave them alone, use harsh language to hurt them, or talk behind their backs. I think we shouldn't have any thoughts of changing them or persuading them, or impose any bad thoughts or messages onto them either. For example, "Can they step forward?" "Will they listen to us?" We shouldn't have such thoughts before we start to help them. Our words carry energy. If we have bad thoughts, we actually produce barriers for the practitioners. We should encourage them and restore confidence in them.
When the practitioners are in trouble, it is just like what Master said in "Climbing Mountain Tai" in Hongyin, "Stopping in mid air, hard to be saved." If we can give them support and help them step out of the tribulation to clarify the truth and follow closely the process of the Fa-rectification, it is the greatest benevolence. Helping the practitioners might take up some of our time in Fa-study or clarifying the truth, but doing so is unselfish. If everyone can help other practitioners to step out from the restraint of human mentality and join our force together, how powerful that would be? How many sentient beings will be saved? Master said, "Compassion comes from a person's cultivation, and it's not something that's acted out; it comes from deep inside, and it's not something done to show others." (Teaching the Fa at the 2003 Washington DC Fa Conference)
Sometimes I feel that some practitioners have great benevolence when clarifying the truth to everyday people, but are indifferent toward fellow practitioners. Since Master has clearly stated in the Fa that we ought to save the sentient beings and clarify the truth, we are actively doing it. As for helping fellow practitioners, some might think it a waste of time. However, what we are practicing is Truth-Benevolence-Forbearance. Hence, we should have benevolence to all beings. We must form a whole body and make diligent progress together.
I think all we need to do is to help those practitioners realize what is Fa-rectification and what is a disciple during the Fa-rectification period. We cannot attach to the changes in their behavior so as not to produce invisible barriers for them. Rather, we should act as a medium, through which the benevolence of Dafa will manifest and create for them a good environment of understanding the Fa. In this way, we will help our fellow practitioners improve quickly.