(Clearwisdom.net)
4) Unable use righteous thoughts to deal with problems
For a period of time, I felt that my state was not pure enough and lacking in compassion. However, I couldn't find the reasons for this. When I saw other practitioners' attachments that were not gotten rid of promptly, I became very upset. I felt passive, helpless, and even had feelings of complaint or worry. When some of those practitioners were arrested, I still thought that they must have some omissions; otherwise the evil wouldn't persecute them. This exposed many of my own problems, but I found that many other practitioners shared my opinion. I found that this was a reflection of "self" and a manifestation of jealousy. However, I was still unable to fundamentally correct these types of mentalities.
One day, I read an article published on Clearwisdom. The author said that it is a fundamental issue of whether practitioners can handle tribulations for the sake of safeguarding the Fa and other practitioners. It greatly shook my heart! I finally found my problem.
When the evil persecuted the other practitioners, I didn't clear-headedly safeguard the practitioners and deny the evil according to the Fa. Instead, I unintentionally acknowledged the evil's persecution. I even found excuses for the evil. What a serious deviation from the Fa this was! It was the root cause and a manifestation of a fundamental deviation. With this sort of deviation, we aren't able to make judgements without using human notions, nor would we be able to correctly position ourselves when faced with severe problems. We might even be unable to promptly recognize the internal disruption of the Fa.
In the article "Non-Omission in Buddha-Nature," Teacher said, "... your nature in the past was actually based on egotism and selfishness. From now on, whatever you do, you should consider others first, so as to attain the righteous Enlightenment of selflessness and altruism." We won't be able to get rid of demon-nature if we don't fundamentally change our standpoint, as small omissions will expand into more serious problems.
Some practitioners thought nothing of it when they heard about the practitioners who were brainwashed by the persecution. However, once they were arrested, they made the same mistakes. Some practitioners who published their Solemn Declaration (a public statement on the Chinese Falun Dafa website stating that any betrayal of Dafa was committed under extreme physical and mental duress and is therefore null and void) "enlightened" along an evil path for a second time. I think that all these happened because they didn't eradicate their fundamental degenerated notion(s) and they didn't get rid of their fundamental attachment(s). We can't imagine how deep their regret would be in the future.
I think now is the time to fundamentally correct our starting point and to completely get rid of the fundamentally degenerated notions in our hearts. We are one indestructible body built on the basis of the Fa. We can't let true practitioners be brainwashed. Let us send forth the most powerful righteous thoughts to destroy the evil factors that those malicious people depend on, so that the practitioners inside and outside the prisons can become one body. Let us together break apart and eliminate the persecution arranged by the old forces. Let us maintain righteous thoughts at all times to deal with problems. Following the Fa, we will be able to achieve perfect harmony, wisdom, and compassion through genuine cultivation.
5) Failing to uncover human attachments while doing Fa-rectification work.
a. Overemphasizing a sense of self and showing off ones own contributions
Some practitioners, especially those who are doing some specific types of Dafa work, tend to think of themselves as important. They placed a very high priority on the work that they thought of as far-reaching. They took the Fa-rectification work as some kind of job and even considered themselves above other practitioners. This is a very dangerous tendency.
b. Pursuing superficial success
Some practitioners like to imitate others' actions. They tried to judge the progress of Fa-rectification based on whether their Fa-rectification efforts succeeded or not in this human world. They ignored fundamentally improving their xinxing. They were thus inclined to have zealotry when their Fa-rectification efforts succeeded. They also have a mentality of getting lucky within their righteous thoughts, not taking enough precautions against the evil. Some of them also had the attachment to time.
c. Not having a correct understanding of the relationship between individuals and the overall situation
Each one of us is a particle within the Fa and a member of the whole body. No matter what we are doing, we are still one body. So when we do Fa-rectification work, we need to consider matters within the context of the overall situation. We should continuously get rid of our own attachments and follow the needs of the overall Fa-rectification. This is a process of removing selfishness and melting into the Fa. We need to be compassionate, and have exceptional breadth of mind. We need to be able to listen to different opinions and understandings from different people in order to correct our actions and to communicate well with each other on the basis of the Fa. In this way, we will gradually become one indestructible harmonious body that can help and correct each other.
Any persecution directed against any one of us is directed against us as a whole and directed against the Fa. During this process of denying the persecution, our uniting into one body is the most powerful way to suffocate the evil.
d. Not promptly starting cultivation amidst Fa-rectification
Some practitioners are still lingering at the personal cultivation stage instead of promptly and totally melting into Fa-rectification cultivation. They often brought the standards of personal cultivation into Fa-rectification cultivation. They sometimes didn't pay enough attention to the external environment, and acted in extremes and irrationally, whereas some others cared too much about individual safety. That latter is, to a certain degree, due to their inadequacy of righteous belief and righteous thoughts originating from the Fa. Both of these two tendencies also resulted in our being unable to coordinate with each other as a whole. At the same time, it blocks our path to improving our xinxing to a higher level.
III. Understand the Fa from basis of the Fa, establish righteous belief, and completely deny the frenzied persecution by the old forces
During the old forces' final struggle, at the point of letting go of life and death, it is another critical test for us to steadfastly take each step well, to see if we can remain steadfast and mature. Teacher told us in the Fa-lecture at the conference in Florida, "As long as you cultivate and as long as you're able to understand the Fa from the Fa, there's nothing you can't achieve."
Taking advantage of the current circumstances, we should completely get rid of the attachments of selfishness, fear, suspicion, imagination, and other degenerated notions. We should, while studying the Fa with a calm mind, be persistent in sending forth the purest righteous thoughts each and every hour on the hour. When we are able to do this, all the pressure imposed [on us and on Dafa] by the old forces will be turned to nothing. Our righteous belief in existing alongside the Fa is indestructible. When we melt into the Fa, our righteous thoughts can break up any arrangements by the old forces. Of course, no tribulations can stop us from rectifying the Fa. We will use these good opportunities to better clarify the truth to people of the world. With our righteous beliefs and righteous thoughts, we will be able to do a good job with all that we are supposed to do.
In the article "Path," Teacher said, "Every time a person improves, the Attainment Status he has validated and enlightened to rises." Teacher also said, "And whether a person can, while breaking and eliminating the evil, step forward to validate Dafa becomes a testament about [letting go of] life and death, becomes confirmation of whether a Fa-rectification disciple can achieve Consummation, and also becomes what differentiates a God from a human."
We will succeed because Teacher is with us and the Fa is with us. We will succeed because at the critical moment we can let go of any human attachment, including life and death. We are fearless and selfless, because we are Fa-rectification disciples! At this point we should finally have some understanding of Master's hopes for us. So we have the ability to overcome any difficulties that we will encounter and we will continue to move forward.
It is all only Teacher using the arrangements of the degenerated lives to arrange our final way home and to allowing us to establish the mighty virtue of Fa-rectification disciples. We once again thank Teacher for His great benevolence! Let us encourage each other, strive forward together, and welcome the Fa's rectification of the human world with a mature, more determined, and more compassionate heart!
Please kindly correct me if I said anything inappropriate.
