Break Through Old Forces' Arrangement; Overseas Chinese Practitioners Should Pay Attention to Eliminating "Attachments and Obstacles in Different Forms" By Shan Guo
January 26, 2003 (Clearwisdom.net) Recently, some overseas Dafa practitioners have
experienced various forms of severe interference. The majority of practitioners
realize that although each incident represents complex and differing
circumstances, the underlying reason for these things occurring is clear -- the
old forces are interfering with and persecuting Fa-rectification disciples. As
for how to better break through the old forces' arrangements, practitioners in
some areas feel that there is not much they can realistically do. I would like
to share my opinions as a reference for fellow practitioners. Don't Treat It As One Specific Practitioner's Problem First, we should calmly find out the root cause of the interference based on
the Fa. I have seen and experienced some examples, and know that there are
usually three parts to this type of issue. First is the evil forces'
persecution; second are long-term and accumulated problems with the practitioner
in both Fa-study and looking inward to get rid of attachments; third are
long-term and accumulated problems with practitioners who are part of the
practitioner's environment During our cultivation, the affected practitioner and those who are around
him need to unconditionally get rid of the first part of the problem. Whosoever
sees and hears about it must resolutely send forth righteous thoughts. Usually
we do this well. The second and third parts of the problem often require us to
calm down, solidly study the Fa, look inward and improve as a whole. Since the
persecution already exists, the tribulation will not disappear if you simply
say, "I don't acknowledge the arrangements made by the old forces." We must
genuinely cultivate to strengthen our righteous thoughts. Judging from existing
cases, for those practitioners who eventually broke through the old forces'
arrangements and improved as a whole amidst the tribulation instead of walking
the path arranged by the old forces, most of them treated the three issues
mentioned above seriously and worked hard on resolving them. Some Easy-to-make Mistakes There are two common mistakes that I have seen so far. The first is looking
outward and the second is unconsciously accepting the old forces' arrangement. Amidst the tribulation, righteous thoughts and actions by the practitioner
are the most important, which directly determine whether or not the tribulation
would be eliminated. Looking outward means that other practitioners all treat it as the affected
practitioner's issue only. They recall from the Teacher's words, "The next
person's things are your things, and your things are his things." ("Teaching the
Fa at the Washington, D.C. Fa Conference") However, they interpret this as,
"I'll try to help you do your things like my own," which is a common person's
attitude. In fact, when the old forces are able to interfere, the localized
environment in that particular area must have omissions. The other practitioners
are also parts of the localized environment. When everyone looks inward, when we
all improve ourselves while we base decisions on the Fa and rectify ourselves
with the Fa, we will be able to better help the practitioner in trouble and
effectively rectify the localized environment as a whole. It will also be of some help to send forth righteous thoughts and remind the
practitioner in trouble to get rid of his attachments. If we treat it as
everyday people's trouble and do not cultivate ourselves, and do not immediately
look inward and improve ourselves, we will usually waste all our efforts and the
result is still not so good. Looking inward during the things I went through
when I dealt with fellow practitioners, especially the practitioner in trouble,
my heart was not pure enough according to the Fa's requirements. There were some
human mentalities and emotions. I didn't treat fellow practitioners with
kindness, nor did I consider our cultivation and improvement together, as Master
has told us to do. In the meantime, when I had attachments or my understanding was not deep
enough on certain Fa principles, the encouragement and support I could give
fellow practitioners were very limited. On the other hand, when my righteous
thoughts were powerful and I could do well in every single one of my thoughts, I
worked together with the troubled practitioner. Our fields of righteousness
fused with each other and our righteous thoughts showed their mighty power. When
this happened, the evil was indeed nothing. Unconsciously accepting the old forces' arrangement refers to when
practitioners close to us see the practitioner in trouble being unable to
eliminate obvious, fundamental attachments, and they would acknowledge the old
forces' arrangements and persecution. This is not right. Master has arranged our
Fa-rectification and cultivation. Even if the practitioner in trouble has some
remaining attachments, it is not permitted for the old force to persecute and
interfere with the practitioner. We must have a strong main consciousness and
let our cultivated side guide our mind. Let us keep a clear understanding from
the perspective of the Fa! We must firmly eliminate the persecution with
righteous thoughts, and maintain righteous belief and righteous actions at all
times. We Can No Longer Tolerate "Attachments and Obstacles in Different Manners,"
As Pointed Out by Master I remember in March 1997, when Master affirmed that Chinese Dafa
practitioners in the U.S. have good inborn quality and deep and fast
understanding of the Fa, he clearly pointed out, "But don't become complacent, as you also have attachments and obstacles
in different forms that need to be overcome, and only then can you improve
even faster." (Lectures in the United States) As a practitioner living in the U.S, I only gradually understood the
"attachments and obstacles" Master pointed out when the Fa-rectification began.
My understanding might not be all correct. I want to write it down and share my
current understanding for our improvement. First, I think we have some long-term, common problems in Fa-study, which
result in our superficially studying Fa like a theory, affecting our better
understanding and assimilating to Dafa principles during our individual
cultivation. Following that, individual cultivation problems bring some
corresponding problems to fulfilling our Fa-rectification practitioners'
missions. Because many of us are highly educated in human society and because
some Chinese practitioners unconsciously mixed the study of theory and the
pursuit of knowledge in the ordinary sense into Fa-study, we just "study" the Fa,
but do not put the Fa into our hearts. These phenomena are commonplace, but not
always present. We might think of the Dafa principles that we become aware of as
our own enlightenment. As a result, we are not able to conduct ourselves
according to Dafa when facing tribulations and tests. We comply with some
remaining human notions and attachments for a long time, and therefore we lack
righteousness as a whole, which does not meet the requirements of Fa-rectification.
Why have some areas experienced interference and persecution mentioned above,
from the perspective of a small regional group? Because they accumulated certain
problems, had omissions as a whole and for a long time did not make progress in
certain areas. The remarkable thing is that practitioners in some areas broke
through the gaps among them when they joined their power to eliminate the evil,
and they formed an environment of group Fa-study and Fa-rectification. The
practitioners in these areas also became diligent and used righteous thoughts
and actions during Fa rectification cultivation. In sharing experiences, some
practitioners said that for a long time it was hard for them to study the Fa,
because it was as if they were finishing an assignment, but now they can be
strict with themselves according to high xinxing (character, heart/mind
nature) standards, and they are strict with themselves according to Master's
requirement for Fa study. Some also began to recite the Fa, and they found out
truly how profound Dafa is and how many levels of meaning Dafa has! We are used to action and not used to looking inward. We have strong
abilities in society and can do things well. In addition to living in a free and
democratic society, we often have a strong sense of the individual and a certain
habit of doing things. Because of our limitations in Fa-study, it's hard for us
to realize our problems and we are not willing to be strict with ourselves, so
the effects of validating Dafa in family, society and among Dafa practitioners
as a whole are not so good. In the words of some practitioners, we didn't work
well as "glue." Many practitioners have a lot of mental hang-ups. For example,
we think we cultivate well (or we think we don't cultivate well, but there is a
good excuse); we understand all the Fa principles already, or we have our own
opinion and don't like to listen to different voices. Additionally, amid
conflicts, we were always looking externally. Because of the interference from
human mentalities, the notion of hierarchy, respect for authority and
anti-authority were brought into Dafa work to different degrees. Master mentioned repeatedly in recent articles that Dafa practitioners "have
matured through the tempering." ("Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in
Philadelphia, U.S.A.") I think it's really time for us to look at Master's Fa
lectures and requirements seriously. Every one of us should be strict with
him/herself and not ignore or cover up any attachments. Let us look inward with
the Fa whenever our attachment is touched. No matter what the attachment is, we
should eliminate it right after we find it. At the same time, we should remind
each other and spur each other on in Fa study and cultivation. We should truly
mature in our xinxing from the Fa during Dafa work in this last stage of
Fa-rectification. In this way, the old forces can do nothing to persecute us.
More importantly, we can become solid and indestructible Dafa particles, then
form small, indestructible groups, and then large indestructible groups. Let us
completely deny the old forces' arrangement and play well the main role of
helping Master in the Fa-rectification. Posting date: 1/30/2003 |