(Clearwisdom.net) Master has published three new articles since December 2011. This means that there are still severe issues in our cultivation.
Master said:
“... whenever students do something that they shouldn’t, the evil will exploit those gaps and have those students who were involved get arrested and persecuted.” (“On the Issue of Collecting Funds”)
A local incident in September 2010 was such a case. It was a big loss for practitioners in our area and had a negative impact on saving sentient beings. At the end of September, two local practitioners were arrested while they were distributing truth-clarification materials, and another practitioner was arrested later. The police confiscated a large amount of truth-clarification materials. The eldest of the three practitioners spent 10,000 yuan on bail. After a week, this practitioner was taken to a brainwashing center and was eventually forced to renounce her belief.
The other two practitioners were detained for a month. Meanwhile, practitioners outside of China called the relevant government departments to clarify the facts every day, making the authorities very afraid.
Whenever practitioners do something that they shouldn’t do, the old forces will exploit those gaps and have the practitioners involved get arrested and persecuted. For example, several practitioners collected 10,000 yuan to pay for bail to release the two practitioners. One of the practitioners involved in collecting the funds then told the three practitioners to make statements on the Minghui website that they would resume cultivation practice.
In April 2011, the two practitioners who were bailed out were arrested again and taken to a brainwashing center. Both of them have now stopped practicing. The third practitioner was sentenced to three years in prison and has also stopped practicing. In September, four practitioners involved in collecting funds were monitored by the authorities and their homes were ransacked. They haven't been able to step forward to validate the Fa and save sentient beings since then.
Once we fail to pass a test, the next test will be even more difficult. We cannot handle our issues in the same way as ordinary people. Master has taught us not to collect funds. Even collecting funds for New Tang Dynasty Television or the Epoch Times will create loopholes. How can the old forces not persecute us when we collect money to give to those who persecute us?
Fearing the persecution of fellow practitioners is an attachment. It is also discarding our belief in Master and the Fa! We should clarify the facts and send forth righteous thoughts as one body to eliminate the old forces. Instead, we collected money and gave it to those who persecute us. Where have our attachments taken us? Isn't this fostering fellow practitioners' attachment to comfort and creating additional tribulations for them? Cultivation improvement is an individual issue. No one can cultivate on another person's behalf in any way. The persecution is a test of Dafa practitioners. The old forces lurk everywhere and are always ready to interfere with us when practitioners fall short of the requirements in cultivation. Every form of interference aims to drag us back into ordinary people and destroy our cultivation.
The raising or lowering of cultivation level lies with our understanding of the Fa. Only when we truly study the Fa well and adhere to Dafa's requirements with each and every thought, can we eliminate the loopholes that the old forces use to take advantage of us.
