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.
