(Clearwisdom.net) I read the article "The Persecution Is Not an Excuse for Holding onto the Attachment of Fear" (see http://www.clearwisdom.net/html/articles/2010/10/1/120361.html) and a particular paragraph in the article touched me deeply and made me really think.

"Whether or not we have fear also reflects the basis of our cultivation. When our basis is an attachment to self, we may consider it a slow, gradual process to let go of such an attachment. Doing that is actually acknowledging it, as well as the accompanying persecution. This gives such an attachment room to exist. If our basis is selflessness, we will think such an attachment should not exist at all. Then, with such strong righteous thoughts, the evil will be scared and the attachment will have no basis to exist. A truly enlightened being is a safeguard for the cosmos, one who would sacrifice everything for sentient beings. Will such an enlightened being hold onto such fears?"

The paragraph generally describes the process of eliminating the attachment of fear that commonly exists amongst practitioners. Many practitioners, including myself, hold onto the attachment of fear to get rid of fear. We intentionally or unintentionally think that it is reasonable to be afraid, thus, giving "fear" room to exist. In fact, we are asking for "fear." So as soon as some of it is removed, more will come out. We feel that "fear" is constantly following us, wherever we go. But that is because we are holding onto it tightly and not letting it go.

When we do not recognize the attachment of fear based on the Fa principles and thoroughly negate it, then we are allowing "fear" to exist and grow. Consequently, we are giving the old forces an excuse to persecute us: "You need to remove your attachment to fear. So how are you going to do it? We will create dangerous environments, make you write guarantee statements, and send you to brainwashing centers and forced labor camps, etc." Aren't we then asking for all of the above? Only when we look at "fear" from the point of Fa-rectification can we thoroughly remove our attachment to fear.

So when we think that "Dafa practitioners are human and not divine beings cultivating ourselves, it is normal to have fear and it can be removed slowly," we are, in fact, acknowledging "fear." Fear is a human notion. For more than ten years, the old forces have been instilling in us the notion of "self protection." But these are notions that practitioners should not harbor, because we are on the path of becoming divine beings. So how can human notions become part of a divine being? When we acknowledge and ask for them, they will restrain and control us.

The reason why our cultivation is difficult and we keep eliminating the same attachments is because deep down, we give human notions and attachments room to exist. We should do as Teacher says, "...humankind must fundamentally change its conventional thinking..." (Lunyu in Zhuan Falun) otherwise we can only be human and not divine beings.

The above are my current understandings. Please kindly point out anything inappropriate.