(Clearwisdom.net) I felt very ashamed after reviewing my past 10 years of cultivation practice. Especially during the Fa-rectification period, I have been persecuted several times by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), suffered long-term sickness tribulations and was in very painful, critical condition a few times. Teacher saved me again and again. From the perspective of the Fa, there are many reasons why practitioners are persecuted, including: signing agreements with the old forces in previous history; having huge amounts of karma; not walking the right path; holding on to fundamental attachments for a long period of time, etc. All these reasons provide excuses for the old forces to persecute practitioners. Of course, I understood that we should not accept the old forces' arrangements, including the persecution. Although I constantly looked inward to find my attachments and remove them, and tried to conduct myself according to the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, I was still unable to break through the tribulations.
I shared my thoughts with a fellow practitioner, who pointed out that there were two main excuses used by the old forces to persecute practitioners. One was lust and desire, and the other was disrespect for Teacher and the Fa. Fellow practitioners have often discussed the issue of lust and desire, which I'd also heard about quite often, but I thought that it had nothing to do with me since I didn't have this problem. Recently, I read the article “Distinguish Between Man and Woman”, and other articles related to the issue of lust and desire on the Minghui website - then, I suddenly woke up. When I first began cultivation practice, I had a very good impression of a fellow practitioner of the opposite sex, and liked being in contact with him. Although my behavior appeared proper on the surface and I behaved decently, I liked to be close to him very much, from deep in my heart. I wanted to be with him; studying the Fa didn't matter; nor sharing cultivation experiences and validating the Fa. While cooperating with him during activities, I liked to sit next to him. I dressed very properly with the intention of showing him my high quality, but strong lust and desire was driving all my behavior. With or without actual wrongdoing, this behavior does not even meet the standards of human behavior in ancient times, not to mention the standard of Dafa.
There is an old saying: “Men and women should maintain a proper distance from each other” which was also the requirement and standard for relationships between men and women in ancient times, and was the moral standard as well. There were conventions and requirements between a man and a woman while in proximity to each other, such as: Limiting the frequency of contact, not handing anything directly to the opposite sex, keeping a certain distance, not meeting at certain times and locations, and other factors. These conventions and requirements were actually set by gods for men and women. If a man and a woman's behavior deviated from those conventions and requirements, then it meant that they didn't meet certain ethical standards, or may have even committed sins. These are human standards.
As practitioners, there are even higher standards beyond those of non-practitioners.
Teacher said,
“What do the old forces and the old cosmos see as the gravest thing? Lust, [in the form of] sexual activity outside of marriage. That's what they see as the most serious of things.” (“Teaching the Fa in the City of Los Angeles”)
Therefore, we must be strict with ourselves on the issue of relationships between men and women, and pay attention to our behavior. We can not follow the standards of non-practitioners. We should also pay attention to our language. The old forces use lust and desire to destroy us and sentient beings.
Master said,
“...then it would seem that back then the old forces should have arranged to put them behind prison walls in Mainland China, as only under those circumstances would they correct the problem, right?” (“Teaching the Fa at the 2004 Western U.S. Fa Conference”)
I was previously sentenced to forced labor, detained many times and suffered long-term sickness tribulations, but I never thought about the issue of lust and desire. I just found this attachment, and suggest that all practitioners who have been persecuted in forced labor camps and prisons look inward to determine whether or not you have the attachment of lust and desire.
I had considered that the improper relationships between men and women are due to lust and desire -- or may even be crimes. However, I'd never realized that wanting to make a good impression and liking to approach the opposite sex are also lust and desire, which are equally dangerous if one mishandles oneself. Why have I just now realized this issue? Because my heart was blocked and wrapped by layers of distorted notions, and isolated from the characteristic of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.
Cultivation is very serious and Fa-rectification period Dafa practitioners will receive the glories of lords and kings of heavenly paradises given by Teacher. Therefore, the requirements for practitioners are also extremely high. We must clean out all of our improper thoughts, assimilate to the Fa and do the three things with pure hearts.
