(Clearwisdom.net) Since July 20, 1999, when the persecution began, it has been very evident that the old forces' interfere with and persecute practitioners in many different ways, thus negatively affecting practitioners' efforts to validate Dafa and save sentient beings. Certain forms of interference have also negatively impacted how non-practitioners see us. These issues deserve our serious attention.
Since I was a child, I lived on medication. Before July 20, during personal cultivation, I constantly had symptoms of sickness-karma elimination, such as having no appetite and vomiting. After July 20, the symptoms did not lessen. My understanding was that perhaps my illness karma was so strong that I still needed to "eliminate karma." Because of this thinking of mine, the old forces were able to persecute me for several more years. Later, through Fa study, I came to understand that Fa-rectification cultivation and personal cultivation are different, and I realized that my thinking on this issue was very wrong.
Teacher has said very clearly in "Expounding on the Fa,"
"For a long period of time the sentient beings in Dafa, especially the disciples, have had a misunderstanding of the Fa at various levels regarding xinxing improvement. Whenever a tribulation comes, you do not see it with the side of your original nature but view it completely with your human side. Evil demons then capitalize on this point and inflict endless interference and damage, leaving students in long-term tribulations. As a matter of fact, this results from an inadequate understanding of the Fa by your human side. You have humanly restrained your divine side; in other words, you have restrained the parts that have been successfully cultivated and have prevented them from doing Fa-rectification." (Essentials for Further Advancement)
I understand that our perspectives, whether we are looking at things from the stance of personal cultivation or from Fa-rectification cultivation, should be different. For personal cultivation, we look at things from a cultivator's point of view. When we face tribulations, we have to take the challenges with a cultivator's mindset, which is to pay back karma with the goal of reaching consummation. On the other hand, Fa-rectification cultivation requires examination from the point of view of a god who has already obtained the Fa. Teacher said,
"By July 20th of 1999 I had already pushed all of the pre-July 20 students to their positions--I pushed you to your highest positions." ("Touring North America to Teach the Fa").
Since I obtained the Fa before July 1999, my "sickness karma" had to be interference. We are bestowed with unprecedented glory for what we do. When anything major happens, we should validate the Fa with the state of mind of a Fa-rectification disciple to rectify the situation, instead of just enduring it like a personal cultivator.
Due to my misunderstanding of the Fa principles, I lingered in personal cultivation. I believed that my symptoms were just a matter of eliminating karma. I saw the persecution launched by the evil Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as a test of cultivators to see whether they could let go of their attachments to life and death, and whether they could consummate. As a result, when I studied Teacher's articles published after July 20, 1999, I had problems understanding the articles and maintaining the righteous thoughts of a Fa-rectification disciple. Therefore the gods supporting me could not manifest themselves. Although I also did the three things to meet Teacher's requirements, I was doing so because of a selfish fear of not being able to consummate. I had such an attachment to fear that I could not eradicate the evil. This loophole was taken advantage of by the old forces. They also treat Fa-rectification as one of the previous cultivation ways, due to their incorrect understanding. This is one of the reasons they believe they have to test practitioners. This also was the source of my illness karma. When I realized this, my illness karma disappeared within a second.
This experience makes me realize that in cultivation, getting rid of attachments is the most important. Teacher said,
"Your ordeals are all part of your cultivation, and the old forces' interference targets the cultivation of only a small number of you. I'm saying that I don't acknowledge the old forces' interfering with Dafa disciples, because the Dafa disciples are my disciples, and nobody else is worthy of handling them. And even less could we let them succeed in their plot to use Dafa disciples and impose things on the Dafa disciples to achieve their goals, ruining my disciples. The reason they've been able to interfere is, they have seized on your attachments and shortcomings, and then there's your karma left over from your past. The persecution also stems from these factors." ("Teaching the Fa at the Meeting with Asia-Pacific Students")
I remember some stories by a practitioner whose third eye is open. A deviated god justified a police officer killing a practitioner because the officer and the practitioner had some karmic relationships in their previous lives. Another practitioner saw the karmic relationship between herself and her boyfriend and believed that she owed him, so the old forces persecuted her even more severely around the issue of sentimentality. As a result, she was exhausted both physically and mentally.
In fact, the missions Teacher bestowed on us are to rectify ourselves and save sentient beings. This is far beyond personal cultivation, which focuses on paying back karma and achieving consummation. Due to the fact that the wisdom of the old forces is limited to personal cultivation, they hold on to karmic relationships developed in history. So long as we do not understand what Fa-rectification is and how great its disciples are, we will not be able to eliminate the interference and persecution by the old forces. As a result, we acknowledge what they do and fail to walk our paths properly. Teacher said in Zhuan Falun,
"Some people may think, "I wasn't asking for it specifically!" You did not ask for it, but you sought supernormal abilities. Will a great enlightened person from a righteous cultivation practice give them to you? Pursuit is an attachment of everyday people, and this attachment must be given up. So who gives them to you? Only demons from other dimensions and different animals can give them to you. Isn't it the same as your asking for spirit or animal possession? They will come, then."
As a result, we are trapped in the delusions made by the old forces, such as police persecution, illness karma, family problems and other forms of persecution for a long time, making it difficult to to catch up with Fa-rectification.
With a clearer understanding of the Fa principles, I am more diligent and spend more time on the three things, especially in studying the Fa and sending forth righteous thoughts. I was a bit lax before, as I did not pay close attention to all of my thoughts and to clearing out the deviated thoughts. Now I am experiencing the benefits of diligence. My mind is calmer and more clear-headed, and I feel that I am improving rapidly. Although the old forces still interfere with me every now and then, I know clearly that it is interference. I rectify myself as I continue to study the Fa and eradicate all elements that interfere with my validating the Fa.
Those who are trapped in tribulations tend to have strong attachments to fear and do not do much truth clarification. This is exactly the path arranged for us by the old forces to persecute us. Whether one can step forward or not is the standard as to whether a Fa-rectification disciple can consummate. I realized that the reason I can step forward now is because I was always able to study the Fa calmly. Although I was not diligent, no matter how much interference I had, I was able to study the Fa calmly. Although I was in fear, I still tried to clarify the truth. Perhaps Teacher saw my determination to improve, and eliminated many bad things from me so that I could become more clear-headed and rational. I feel the power of the boundless Fa and understand the inner meaning of Teachers words,
"Cultivation is up to you, gong is up to the master" (Zhuan Falun)
The above is just my personal understanding. Due to my limited level, please kindly point out anything inappropriate.
August 13, 2005
