(Clearwisdom.net) I just read that lawyer Gao Zhisheng, who disappeared nearly a year ago, is being severely tortured but still has a very strong will. Certain practitioners express admiration for Gao Zhisheng when they hear this, and feel that he is outstanding, a hero; they revere and admire him for what he has been through.

Gao's situation saddens me, because as someone who supports Dafa he should enjoy good fortune, but instead he endures persecution. This is not in accord with Dafa's requirements. Such a situation might lead others who fear the evil Party to dare not speak out in support of Dafa, for fear of being persecuted.

Then why is this happening? We Dafa disciples should all look within ourselves. We all know from the Fa that even non-practitioners will be protected by Master if they shout, "Falun Dafa is good," yet Mr. Gao suffers persecution to such an extent. This is fundamentally the old forces doing evil things, and some practitioners may not even realize that it is our own faults that cause this. For example, when the persecution first started we placed our hopes in the then-premier and as a result the old forces turned him into a bad person. The old forces don't care about human beings, and only want to do things according to their arrangements.

There are still quite a number of Dafa practitioners who are attached to Mr. Gao, and excitedly talk about what kind of a person he is. Some also sing high praise for him on the Qingxin forum on the Internet. Mr. Gao also mentioned that some Dafa practitioners called him and tearfully asked for help with their legal matters, and tearfully expressed their gratitude.

It is quite reasonable for common people to express their gratitude to a lawyer who stands up for justice. However, practitioners like the ones I have seen at the Qingxin forum who are keen on this issue--to the extent that they lay their hopes on lawyer Gao--idolize him and shed grateful tears, and have failed to meet the requirements of the Fa. Wouldn't this let the old forces find the biggest reason to test us? I think Mr. Gao's persecution is largely aimed at Dafa practitioners' attachments. Should we allow such things to happen again and again?

We must not continue to deal with such things with human mentalities and must not let sentient beings suffer any longer because of our attachments.

This is my understanding. Please kindly point out anything improper.

August 7, 2008