(Clearwisdom.net)

Master's new article "In Fa-Rectification Your Thoughts Have to be Righteous, Not Human," shows Master's great benevolence. It is a further warning and reminder from Master to disciples, especially those in China, at this crucial moment when Fa-rectification is coming to the human world.

Over the past few days, I read and recited this new article again and again, reflecting on my cultivation practice over the past ten years. Reviewing my overall cultivation experience and lessons, my heart was heavy. In this article Master once again addressed a fundamental issue that must be solved in Fa-rectification: "Your thoughts have to be righteous, not human." How to realize and solve this issue rationally instead of emotionally is the key for Dafa disciples to do well the three things Master has asked us to do (1) and truly reach consummation.

"To be righteous, not human" is the genuine meaning of cultivation and learning the Fa (2) for Dafa disciples in Fa-Rectification. It is the criterion by which to measure a disciple's thoughts and behavior in validating the Fa. At the same time, it is the premise, the foundation and the goal for a Dafa disciple to complete cultivation and reach consummation.

I would like to share my thoughts and understanding of Teacher's article with fellow practitioners.

1. Righteous thoughts are divine thoughts, the thoughts of God. They manifest in an unshakable belief in Dafa and a conscientious safeguarding of Dafa. Human thoughts are human mentality. They embody attachments to life in the human world, mainly to reputation, personal interest and sentimentality.

Zhuan Falun (3) is a heavenly book, written with the mentality of a divine being. It talks about the principles of heaven and higher dimensions, principles that enlightened beings should know. If human thoughts are not removed and righteous thoughts are not established, even if you are very well educated, you will not be able to understand the Fa. Even worse, you might carry resistance or objection to the Fa.

Master said long ago that if Dafa disciples all reached consummation, the Fa he taught would be taught to divine beings. That is to say, the book is written for gods, not humans. Therefore, Dafa disciples' cultivation process is to constantly remove and replace human mentality with righteous thoughts, i.e. the thoughts of a divine being, and eventually get rid of human thoughts. As Master said in Zhuan Falun, "the whole process of cultivation is a process of constantly getting rid of human attachments." (2003 translation edition)

In a person, this process often manifests as constant and furious conflicts of thoughts, endless consideration of loss and gain, and entanglement in sentimentality that is hard to relinquish. When you are experiencing tribulations and are in the miserable process of getting rid of karma, it is reflected in whether you can view things from the perspective of the Fa and whether you can conscientiously give up your human mentality and not be influenced by human society. If your righteous thoughts are not strong enough, it is hard to follow the movement of Fa Rectification. You could stop moving forward in cultivation practice, or, more seriously, you could drop to the bottom level and risk all that you have gained. In validating the Fa, inadequate righteous thoughts may not only prevent you from obtaining further understanding of the Fa, but also affect your power to send forth righteous thoughts and your effect on truth-clarification. In particular, you may have fear and not step forward, or you may lack wisdom or have strong attachments to showing off, resulting in security problems and leading to further persecution of Dafa disciples.

Of course, "to be righteous, not human" manifests in the whole process of cultivation practice. Establishing righteous thoughts and eliminating human mentality is a process whereby, as righteous thoughts increase, human thoughts are reduced. Once righteous thoughts conquer the human mentality, once a Dafa disciple truly keeps the Fa in his heart and his heart is in the Fa, and he has become a pure particle in the Fa, he has genuinely reached consummation with righteous thoughts and righteous enlightenment.

2. Righteous thoughts mean completely opposing everything arranged by the old forces with a clear and conscientious attitude. In contrast, human thoughts reflect the conscious or subconscious acknowledgment of, and obedience to, the old forces' arrangements.

Master's Fa-rectification and the arrangements by the old forces occur simultaneously. While Master is taking care of every disciple, so are the old forces. This makes it hard to distinguish many things in the human world. Cultivators will be able to make the right choice, catch up with the pace of Master's Fa-rectification, and get rid of the arrangements controlled by the old forces only when they establish firm righteous thoughts.

Sentient beings, especially in the human world, who have not yet obtained the Fa or know its goodness, are still living with interference arranged by the old forces. They do not know that such arrangements are the abyss of suffering. Dafa disciples validate the Fa and clarify the truth to rescue people from the edge of the abyss and the hands of the old forces so that people can avoid being eliminated.

Even Dafa disciples who are suffering from severe persecution are still trying to rescue people from the gate of Hell, often at the risk of their own lives, so that these people can return to the light and enjoy a new life. Isn't this great compassion? On the contrary, if Dafa disciples have strong human thoughts and attach too much importance to their personal safety, fear and worries keep them from stepping forward, and they become insensitive to other people's tragedy. Where has their compassion gone? Isn't this in fact acknowledging and conforming to the arrangements of the old forces? Our great Master came from the highest place of the colossal firmaments and exhausted all his energies in order to rescue all sentient beings in the universe. Haven't we, Dafa disciples, been "scooped up" by Master from the boundless and hopeless bitter sea of death? We have been saved. How could we idly stand by without trying to rescue sentient beings in danger of being eliminated? How can we easily give up our historical mission as Dafa disciples in the Fa-rectification to offer salvation to all sentient beings? If we do, will we still live up to the name of Dafa disciples in the Fa-rectification?

In dealing with tribulations, similar problems exist. Among veteran practitioners, some have strong sickness karma, and some are suffering from persecution by the evil. Those who have strong righteous thoughts, however, can defeat the demons of sickness in a short time and recover quickly. They can eliminate the evil forces and walk away from those arrangements with righteous thoughts. Those who do not have adequate righteous thoughts endure tribulations passively, always have the attachment of fear, and cannot get rid of sickness karma. They actually enable the persecution to be intensified. Some are even "transformed" or "enlighten along an evil path." Facing tribulations and persecution, a single thought of a Dafa disciple can bring two different results. Master said, after the persecution began on July 20, 1999, that he has never arranged any "test" for his disciples. Except for those who have just started cultivation practice, all serious persecution or sickness karma are in fact persecution arranged by the old forces under the guise of "testing" Dafa disciples. Why do the old forces dare to do so? They have taken advantage of loopholes, namely, Dafa disciples' human thoughts. If Dafa disciples have strong righteous thoughts, view things from the perspective of Fa-rectification, and oppose the arrangements of the old forces with powerful righteous thoughts, they will quickly eliminate the evil and bring an end to the tribulations or persecution. There is a cause and effect relationship between Dafa disciples' thoughts and the persecution by the vicious people in the human world. The current situation of persecution can be attributed to Dafa disciples' human thoughts. If Dafa disciples as a whole were very righteous, the persecution should have ended long ago.

3. Righteous thoughts require Dafa disciples to understand the Fa from the perspective of the Fa and strive forward in cultivation practice, while human thoughts manifest in understanding the Fa from the human perspective and in pursuing the satisfaction in bringing the benefits and goodness of Dafa to the human world.

It is true that some disciples are saying that Dafa is good, and they are promoting the Fa, and they are even doing the three things as well. Yet they are speaking from a human understanding rather than from the Fa. We should certainly consider the capacity for acceptance of those to whom we explain the truth. We should do it with rationality and with wisdom. But our standpoint directly influences the effect of our truth-clarification. With righteous thoughts, and for the purpose of saving people with compassion, we can effectively deal with any kind of person. The sincerity displayed in our compassion will easily move the listener. If Dafa disciples truly display the goodness of Dafa with their compassionate words and behavior, the world's people will soon feel the power of Dafa and know the truth.

Dafa disciples' compassion, tone of speaking, and behavior in validating the Fa are displayed only when they deeply understand the Fa from the perspective of the Fa. "Showing off" does not work at all. If we clarify the truth by inciting hatred towards vicious people in the world or with the attachment of sentimentality towards relatives and friends, we may not be successful, because human thoughts cannot be changed with human sentimentality. Only with genuine compassion and righteous thoughts can human hearts be touched. Genuine Dafa disciples know that human society is controlled by beings in other dimensions. When our righteous thoughts are sent forth, the evil beings in other dimensions will dissipate. When a human being is free from the control of evil beings, the compassionate side of him will be willing to accept Dafa disciples' help. Those who have predestined relationships will start cultivation practice. In truth-clarification, regardless of the level or the manner of speaking, as long as righteous thoughts are strong, enormous energies will be generated. Such righteous thoughts are formed in the process of elevating through learning the Fa and validating the Fa. To have unshakable righteous thoughts one must study the Fa carefully.

It is a crucial issue whether we truly understand the Fa with rationality and establish our righteous thoughts to understand the Fa from the perspective of the Fa, or whether we maintain the perspective of humans. When our fundamental attachments are not stirred, the difference is difficult to perceive. But when those deeply hidden attachments surface, it is quite obvious. Righteous thoughts and human mentality are two completely different states of mind, with different criteria and different moral standards. For instance, regarding the appeal by ten thousand practitioners at Zhongnanhai on April 25, 1999, the peaceful appeals by practitioners at Tiananmen Square, and the broadcasting of truth-clarification videos via satellite or wireless TV, practitioners with righteous thoughts and understanding the Fa from the perspective of the Fa view them as great and compassionate behavior in order to clarify the truth and save people in the world. Those with a human mentality, however, may feel such behavior is "influencing social stability" and "against certain policies or regulations." When some practitioners were persecuted to death for doing these things, those with human mentality considered the situation too dangerous and started to hide at home and no longer stepped forward, instead "reading the book and studying the Fa" and doing the exercises in secret, even avoiding discussion with relatives. Practitioners with righteous thoughts, however, did not slow down validating the Fa just because some disciples had been brutally persecuted. Instead, they sped up the pace of validating the Fa by actively printing and distributing truth-clarifying materials and by exposing the crimes of the persecution to people in the world on the Minghui website [the Chinese version of Clearwisdom].

When the test of life and death comes, disciples with strong human mentality reveal their fatal weakness and cultivate for the purpose of enjoying human life: having good health, a harmonious family life, and being happy in a stable society. Even though they speak highly of Dafa and tell others that Dafa is good, they regard Dafa as a means of attaining a happy life and a guarantee for a happy life. In other words, they cultivate not for the Fa, not for sentient beings, but for themselves. They want to use the Fa to serve human needs. This is absolutely against Master's purpose of spreading the Fa. Could a person who uses the Fa for selfish reasons enter into the Fa and become a particle of the Fa? Impossible! It is not only making use of the Fa but also damaging and insulting the Fa! Most of those who were "transformed" due to the brutal persecution of the evil forces were defeated because they did not understand the Fa from the perspective of the Fa and because they did not have righteous thoughts. In contrast, many disciples who study the Fa very well and have strong righteous thoughts take the detention center or prison as a place to validate the Fa after they are abducted. Policemen, guards and criminal detainees all presented opportunities to clarify the truth. These practitioners not only shook the evil, but also changed the attitude of these people. Some even started to practice Falun Gong in prison, and the disciples were able to leave with righteous thoughts. Once these disciples returned home, they were not afraid of being persecuted again and they did not slow down the pace of Fa-rectification. On the contrary, they became more active, more careful, and more effective.

How we view the issue life and death is the criterion for distinguishing righteous thoughts from human mentality. Teacher said in Lectures in the United States that, "If you can let go of life and death, you're a God; if you can't let go of life and death, you're a human." Viewed from the Fa, life and death in human society is not a being's genuine life and death. It is just that a human's genuine life (Main Consciousness) changes from one dimension to another. The flesh body is seen as a piece of clothing, made up of the coarsest substance in the most superficial dimension, the human physical dimension. A human life begins when one's Consciousness has put on the clothes. At "death," the Consciousness has merely removed the clothes. When we let go of the attachment to life and death, there is no issue of attachments. When we let go of attachments, there is no issue of life and death. Of course, to let go the attachment to life and death does not mean to allow casual death or to leave one's life in the hands of the persecutors. In order to validate Dafa and fulfill the mission of saving sentient beings, a Dafa disciple actually should cherish his life all the more, for the purpose of doing better in validating Dafa and saving more sentient beings, rather than simply for maintaining and prolonging human life. Practitioners who do not withdraw passively after walking out of the evils' den with righteous thoughts are doing the three things Master has requested us to do, and saving the world's people more firmly, rationally and wisely. Cherishing life is for the purpose of validating Dafa, for the purpose of extending life in the Fa, and for the purpose of cultivating in the Fa and achieving one's mighty virtue in the Fa. This is treating life with righteous thoughts. It shines with the light of the universal principles.

4. Pure and firm righteous thoughts require a Dafa disciple to regard the elimination of the evil and the end of the persecution as his divine mission and responsibility, to be fulfilled in validating the Fa. Human mentality causes a practitioner to count on everyday people to end the persecution, which results in anxiety, expectation and dependence.

Everything in the universe, from higher dimensions to the human dimension, is created by Dafa. Everything in human society is under the control of higher-level beings. Therefore, nothing that occurs in human society is a coincidence. The persecution launched by the head of evil in human society, Jiang Zemin, is controlled by the old forces. They are making use of vicious beings to manipulate the bad people in human society. The reason that the evil forces dared to instigate such a brutal persecution is that they are utilizing the principle of mutual-generation and mutual-inhibition from the old universe. This arrangement was made with the excuse that Dafa disciples have karma and need to be tested. They are able to continue the persecution by seizing the loopholes created by Dafa disciples' human mentality. Understanding that Master has eliminated the old forces in the universe, the key to ending the persecution as soon as possible depends on Dafa disciples strengthening righteous thoughts, giving up human mentality, and speeding up doing the three things Master has requested of us in validating Dafa and clarifying the truth in order to save the world's people. The fact that Master regards truth-clarification and saving sentient beings as the significant and divine historical mission of Dafa disciples, as the special way of cultivation for Dafa disciples in Fa-rectification, is to help Dafa disciples establish more mighty virtue and achieve a higher cultivation status. It is a matchless honor for Dafa disciples. But, whether this honor can be obtained depends on whether Dafa disciples have firm and powerful righteous thoughts in validating Dafa.

The persecution of Dafa disciples by the evil beings in human society could be restrained by Dafa disciples' righteous thoughts. The more righteous thoughts Dafa disciples have, the better and purer the three things will be done, and the sooner the persecution will end. Master said, "Dafa disciples are now sentient beings' only, sole hope for salvation." ("Righteous Thoughts," 2002) If Dafa disciples do not have strong righteous thoughts, they will not fundamentally understand the persecution and won't realize their great mission and historic responsibility. They might think of the brutal suppression as a persecution among human beings and therefore expect everyday people who hold power in society to end the persecution or hope a few "enlightened people" would "restore the reputation" for Dafa and Dafa disciples. This standpoint does not view the persecution from the perspective of the Fa but regards it as a political struggle among human beings. It opposes the righteous thoughts Master asked us to maintain. It is the same as everyday people's thoughts. The stronger our "human mentality" is, the more severe the persecution will be and the longer it will last, because the persecution by the evil forces in higher dimensions targets the human mentality of Dafa disciples.

During the seven years before July 20, 1999, Dafa disciples were in individual cultivation. At that time, the difference between righteous thoughts and human mentality was mainly displayed in the understanding of the Fa and the attitude towards tribulations in cultivation practice. On July 20, 1999, the "Terror" came from the sky, and the test regarding righteous thoughts and human mentality suddenly advanced to a new level. The issue of maintaining righteous thoughts or a human mentality became a crucial test for every Dafa disciple. During the past five years of persecution, Dafa disciples have passed one test after another. Many have passed this test, but a small number have not. Instead, they dropped in levels. Some even went to the opposite side and became a tool of the evil forces. Regardless of the situation, regardless of their form of manifestation, the tribulations over the past five years were all to determine whether disciples held righteous thoughts or human mentality and whether disciples could step forward. In the articles Master published after July 20, 1999, he addressed this issue again and again, explaining the fundamental significance for Dafa disciples to walk righteously, walk well and walk to the end along the path of Fa-rectification.

5. Whether we want righteous thoughts or human mentality determines whether we want to be gods or human.

Righteous thoughts come from the universal principles in Dafa disciples' hearts. The human brain is like a container. It is whatever it contains. The more it contains the Fa, the faster a person will change and the more righteous thoughts the person will have. The deeper a person understands the Fa, the firmer, purer and stronger his righteous thoughts will be.

When a human brain is filled with the universal law, no human mentality will exist. On the contrary, without the Fa in your brain and in your heart, what's the point of talking about righteous thoughts? If you do not learn the Fa and do not understand the Fa with rationality, where will your righteous thoughts come from?

Thus, the fundamental reason for not having sufficient righteous thoughts and maintaining a strong human mentality is the lack of Fa study. In Master's lectures in the past years, he has repeatedly asked Dafa disciples to study the Fa, study the Fa, study the Fa, read the book, read more, and read more. It is the first requirement of the three things Master asked us to do well. This is because studying the Fa well is the premise and foundation for reaching consummation and validating Dafa in our cultivation practice. Without this premise, there is nothing but idle talk.

If we do not study the Fa, study the Fa well, or understand the Fa, we can only validate ourselves and our human mentality. Human mentality cannot change a human, human mentality cannot eliminate evil, and human mentality cannot end the persecution.

Whatever happens in human society is nothing but continuous performances directed by beings from higher-level dimensions. The results of the recent Forth Plenary Session of the Chinese Communist Party are a good example. Viewed from the human perspective, the instigator of the persecution of Falun Dafa has abdicated (certainly a result of the progress of Fa-rectification) but is still puzzling human beings, and his accomplices are still in power. The old forces are still utilizing him and will use him to the end. A human only sees things superficially. If disciples cannot see the truth and are also confused by superficial phenomena, we are still in "human mentality" and have not stepped forward from humanness. This is our shortcoming that extends the persecution.

Of course, Master has the power to end the persecution in a short time. But why hasn't he done that?

In lectures given after July 20, 1999, Master has talked about this issue many times. Master came to spread the Fa in the human world, but what he faces is the whole universe. When the old cosmos was at the stage of dissipating and all its beings were in danger of being eliminated, Master came to spread the fundamental Fa of the universe in order to save all sentient beings in the old cosmos. The two steps of this process include the period of Fa-rectification and the period of Fa-rectification coming to the human world. We are now at the end of the final stage of Fa-rectification. Due to interference and damage from the old forces, the vicious tribulations imposed on Dafa disciples became one big test after another to determine whether Dafa disciples could intensify their righteous thoughts and step forward from humanness. Most disciples have broken through and passed these tests. Yet, over the past five years of persecution, some disciples became impatient with the long-term exposure to the evil and their human mentality gradually began to reappear. They started to have doubts about the future of Fa-rectification and their own abilities. They began to place their hopes for ending the persecution in the hands of everyday people. This created a big gap between the actual speed and effect of validating the Fa and the requirements of Master. A few disciples have not yet stepped forward from their human mentality. Although the evil has deceived people all over the world with lies in order to launch this persecution, through truth-clarification, many people have been saved. But there are many people still being poisoned by the lies. According to the universal principles, people who have thoughts that Dafa is not good will be eliminated when the Fa-rectification is complete. Master said solemnly in "Touring North America to Teach the Fa,"

Similarly, if the persecution ends today, how many Dafa disciples who have strong human mentality and haven't stepped forward from the human mindset will lose this precious chance? In order for many Dafa disciples to catch up quickly and reach consummation, in order for more people who are poisoned by the evil and all the sentient beings in their corresponding cosmic bodies to be saved, Master has extended the time to end Fa-rectification. This is an act of our Master's great compassion. He has infinite cosmic bodies, and all sentient beings are within his body. This can never be understood with human mentality.

This article by Master is like a warning to me, waking me up and encouraging me to strive forward. I systematically organized my thoughts and feel ashamed that I do not live up to Master's compassionate salvation. There are over 13 billion people in China. Based on the calculation of 70 million Dafa disciples in China, we should have finished clarifying the truth in 40 days just by explaining the truth to 20 people, one every two days. Why are so many people still being poisoned by the lies? Of course, it is not everyday people's work to clarify the truth. It is a responsibility of the conscientious and righteous thoughts of Dafa disciples. Master requires us to try our best to save the poisoned people of the world. Master guides and encourages the Minghui website, to penetrate the evil like a long sword rooted in Heaven. Fellow practitioners working for Minghui are also validating Dafa in their own way and clarifying the truth to people all over the world by using the Internet. The anti-torture exhibitions held by practitioners in many countries effectively shake and expose the evil. As a result, many deceived people are awakening. Dafa disciples both inside and outside of China should cooperate closely to form a whole body, surrounding the evil forces from both inside and out. This way, we will completely shake and eliminate the evil. Of course, every disciple has his own particular condition, different understanding of the Fa and is at a different level in cultivation practice, but each should try his best within his ability, clarifying the truth face to face, distributing truth-clarifying VCD's and other materials, writing letters, making phone calls, and filing lawsuits against the vicious people involved in persecuting Falun Dafa. With wisdom, we can do well in a variety of areas, but the premise and guarantee of doing well will always be Dafa disciples' firm and powerful righteous thoughts. For every single thought or word or act, we should be clear and always bear in mind Master's teachings, "Your thoughts have to be righteous, not human."

Finally, let's review the last paragraph in Master's article "In Fa-Rectification Your Thoughts Have to be Righteous, Not Human":

Notes:

(1) Master Li has asked practitioners to study the Fa [Law and principles; the teachings of Falun Dafa] diligently, to send forth righteous thoughts and to clarify the truth of Falun Dafa and the persecution to all people.

(2) Fa: Law and principles; the teachings of Falun Dafa.

(3) Zhuan Falun is the principle text of Falun Dafa.