(Clearwisdom.net) Some practitioners have had doubts about the number of practitioners thought to be detained at Sujiatun. Also, from the perspective of the Fa principles, it seems that such a large scale of horrific persecution should not have happened, especially to steadfast practitioners. I would like to share my own understanding on the issue. Please point out anything improper.
To us cultivators, how we look at the issue is serious, as it concerns a fundamental matter. To put it more seriously, it is a matter of whether one holds firm belief in Master and Dafa. Treating this matter with righteous thoughts is a prerequisite for us doing well in exposing the evil, resisting the persecution, rescuing fellow practitioners and saving more sentient beings. To allow the numbers to guide our thoughts is basing our understanding on perceptual knowledge and the information stored in our brains. It is judging things by what we can see. This way of thinking is in itself rather limited and lacks all-around perspective, because each of us is limited in our vision and in our contact with other people and other situations. Of all the calamities in the world, when the crimes were first exposed, the information was not complete, because the evildoers were trying to cover it up. The great majority of people don't pay attention to such situations, often for several years, at least partly due to the lack of comprehensive information and independent verification.
However, we are Dafa practitioners after all, and we ought not perceive things based on our perceptual knowledge. We should have a righteous understanding of the matter from the perceptive of the Fa. Master told us that all of the sinister and ruthless means developed throughout history have been used to persecute Dafa disciples. Many Dafa disciples have experienced such tribulations before. This time, during Fa-rectification, the old forces have made similar arrangements. I believe that their arrangements were much more miserable and vehement than have actually come to pass. Master reduced them to the current degree which Dafa disciples could endure. However, these things still happened, and we find it hard to endure and difficult to accept. Don't we believe that the evil could be this evil and ruthless?
Some practitioners know that these are old force arrangements but cannot understand why gods have allowed it to happen. They say that such steadfast Dafa disciples should not endure these sufferings. I would like to share my understanding from two perspectives.
One is that whatever problems we cultivators encounter, we should first of all look within ourselves, and check how well we have done. We should not look outwards. Nothing happens by accident.
"You play the leading role in this period of history, and the existence of everything at present, whether it be evil or the upright gods, has to do with you." ("Walk Straight Your Path")
When problems occur we should not retreat from our leading role and make comments as onlookers. From a certain perspective, isn't it true that the reason for what has happened at Sujiatun is because we have failed to be as indestructible as diamond?
The tribulation occurred. We must not acknowledge the arrangements, but how do we do this? It is not something to which we only pay lip service. We Dafa disciples are future gods who are assisting Master in Fa-rectification in the human world. If we conduct ourselves righteously, we should be confident in this world.
Master has given us all capabilities and Dafa offers us everything we need. If we had done well as one body, such tribulations could be avoided. When such persecution happens, it is not merely a matter concerning the 6,000 practitioners, nor is it only a local issue. Instead, it is a matter that concerns us all as one body, and every single one of us is involved. Master once said that if one Dafa disciple is able to be that righteous and that pure when sending forth righteous thoughts, the evil will disintegrate in no time. Have we cultivated to that state?
Every one of us may have done things that are not satisfactory in our various realms, which has made it more difficult for Master's Fa-rectification. The result is that the evil factors are not completely eliminated and the persecution continues, while so many fellow practitioners have perished.
They have suffered so much in the last few years, yet we did not even know. Although what has happened had something to do with their individual factors, we also bear responsibility. These practitioners might have come from anywhere, yet it has happened around us. We may not know any of the 6,000 practitioners, but this is no excuse for not doing well.
We may try to cover up our own shortcomings by finding many objective excuses. We may also discover many of our own individual problems and problems that concern the whole body from this incident. We indeed must no longer care only about ourselves. Our way of cultivation is formless, yet on our journey home, we should take count of our numbers and see who is left behind so that we can lend a helping hand. We should see who has stumbled so that we can help them up. We should let go of our "self" and care about others. We have at heart the sentient beings, and we clarify the truth to them to save them. Among us Dafa disciples we should care even more for each other, help each other and cherish each other. This way we will form one body that is harmonious and indestructible and we will advance diligently together. No matter what has happened in the past, now we should not seek outwardly any longer. We should truly think about this deeply and think about our own problems.
We do not acknowledge this persecution, nor do we acknowledge the old forces and their arrangements. Yet, they have done what they did. How do we do what we should do while denying their persecution? Haven't tens of thousands of steadfast Dafa disciples come through amid tribulations? Master said,
"Under the cruellest of persecutions, the Dafa disciples of Mainland China haven't been frightened and have come through it; they have even, in fact, cultivated to the point of maturity. If you take a look back at things, in fact, though the persecution seems to have no order to it, wouldn't you agree that the changes in the situation and the different circumstances that have come about all have a purpose? Whether [something is due to] Master's wishes or the old forces' control, isn't the goal behind it the successful cultivation of Dafa disciples and the disintegration of the evil? Could all of this have happened arbitrarily? " ("Teaching the Fa in San Francisco, 2005")
Master tells us that everything in the human society exists for Dafa, so we should not perceive the issue one-sidedly. The tribulation occurred and the persecution happened. From them Dafa disciples did find out our own problems and improved ourselves. We make use of the persecution to expose the evil and help the people clearly see the brutality and the ugly face of the evil so as to rescue people more widely. We must let everything the evil has done turn into a scandal and a defeat.
Another fundamental issue we need to be very clear about is that we cultivators look at things in opposition to the principles of everyday people. We should look at things and measure things with righteous principles. When tribulations have gone beyond what we can imagine, let us take a look at our own states of mind. Everything that has happened may touch those notions that do not belong to us. Should we then say that we won't have it, we won't tolerate it, and then look outward and have doubts? What do we doubt? We see that our fellow practitioners have suffered huge tribulations, yet have we thought that Master has suffered tribulations many more times larger than these?
For a person who might suffer a stroke, as in the example Master gave in Zhuan Falun, Master would have to drink a bowl of poison to reduce his karma and only let him endure that bit of brain dysfunction. Yet this person believed that he had the problem because of practicing Dafa. Isn't the case that our doubts today also reflect the same mentality? We can understand the tribulation of a stroke because it is within our range of tolerance. But when 6,000 practitioners have suffered such large-scale miserable tribulation, it has gone beyond the bounds of our imagination and our capacity for tolerance. Our hearts weep because we are one body and the tribulations our fellow practitioners suffer feel like we are suffering as well. However, we must also think about how much suffering Master will bear. It is enormous.
Some practitioners think that their state of mind is different from that of everyday people in society. They are validating the Fa and saving sentient beings, and when they come across tribulations they are still very firm. Then why is it that they still cannot break through the tribulations and still suffer persecution? There is an element of the old forces' arrangements, and there are also many other complex factors involved. However, as long as we keep righteous thoughts and righteous actions, and meet the Fa standards required at various levels and improve ourselves, we will be able to break away from the arrangements made by the old forces and the constraints of the old universe will not have much effect on us.
The Fa has standards that we must meet at different levels. For example, if you should ascend to level "6," and yet you still keep doing things according to the standards at level "3" for a long time, you will not be able to improve and will have difficulty breaking through the tribulations accumulated. Each tribulation that occurs is for our improvement. We cannot mark time at one level with repeated tribulations. There is no time for that. If we cannot rise up to higher levels during the tribulations, then gods at higher levels will view us as everyday people, and the old forces' substances will take effect and this will cause more difficulties for Maser's Fa-rectification.
The persecution of the 6,000 practitioners is also directed at us as a whole body and at each one of us. The evils that should have been eliminated still have not been eliminated. The sentient beings that we should rescue still do not know the truth. There are still separations between practitioners and we have not formed as one body. We have for so long failed to remember those detained practitioners, let alone care for them and help them. All these have allowed the evil to be so rampant. We must deny the persecution and completely deny all old force arrangements. We must firmly believe in Master and strengthen our righteous thoughts in breaking with obstruction in validating the Fa and saving sentient beings. We must keep righteous thoughts and righteous actions, destroy the mechanisms arranged by the old forces so that they will not have any effect on us, and walk the path Master has arranged for us.
March 24, 2006