(Clearwisdom.net)
The old forces have arranged everything from top to bottom, including the paths in life for some Dafa practitioners.
Acting in accordance with the degenerated principles of the old universe, the old forces arranged so-called tests for Dafa disciples, targeting practitioners' attachments and omissions and attempting to further persecute them. As Dafa disciples, we must remain clear-headed and realize that the persecution of Dafa and its disciples is completely arranged by the old forces, and it is absolutely not the cultivation path arranged by our Teacher. We must abandon all of our attachments and completely eliminate the evil.
Some of our practitioners may have signed some kind of pact with the old forces, promising to do certain things at certain times. For example, these practitioners may have agreed to turn against Dafa at a certain time, etc. The intention of these arrangements is to test whether or not other practitioners are still determined in Dafa.
It might appear very difficult for us to break though these kinds of arrangements. However, we should be able to oppose them if our righteous thoughts are very strong. Teacher said: "...then we're in line with a law in the cosmos, and this law holds in both the old cosmos and the new one: a being's choice is up to him, even if he made some kind of vow in history. At critical moments it's still up to him what he wants to do." ("Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Philadelphia, U.S.A.")
Maybe some practitioners would say, "I know it is the persecution by the old forces, but I just cannot break through it." I think these practitioners haven't really recognized how to completely deny the old forces' arrangements. For example, some practitioners staged a hunger strike to protest the illegal long-term detention, and they might be force-fed. Afterwards, they dared not go on hunger strikes any more for fear of further persecution. In my mind, these practitioners have failed to look at the issue of the hunger strike from the Fa's perspective. If the sole purpose of staging a hunger strike were to avoid further persecution, then these practitioners would think that hunger strikes do not help at all as soon as they were force-fed. On the contrary, if they go on hunger strikes for the sake of Dafa and sentient beings, trying to reduce damage to Dafa and prevent sentient beings from committing crimes against Dafa, then they would do much better in rejecting the old forces' arrangements. Of course, a "hunger strike" is not the end result, nor is it the only method to oppose the old forces' arrangements. Our purpose in staging hunger strikes is to completely oppose the arrangements of the old forces.
Practitioners who have been tortured to death most likely did not have the aforementioned attachments, but they may have had the following thoughts, "I would rather die than give up practicing cultivation; I will validate Dafa with my life." Their thoughts were taken advantage of by the old forces, which then intensified the persecution and caused practitioners to be tortured to death. Of course, these practitioners were all magnificent, as they had let go of the attachment of life and death. Teacher said: "That's why those Dafa disciples have Consummated all the same (applause), and at extremely high levels." ("Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Philadelphia, U.S.A.")
However, I still feel regret for those practitioners who have lost their lives amidst the persecution, because some of them have failed to break away from the arrangements of the old forces. So I want to say: "The old forces are unworthy of testing us with death. We absolutely cannot allow the evil to touch us, nor should we allow them to manipulate the sentient beings to commit crimes. Persecuting us is persecuting Dafa."
As for those former practitioners who have turned against Dafa, they are indeed taking the path arranged by the old forces. Even so, however, our benevolent Teacher won't give up on them since they had once met the standards of Dafa. How sad it is that they are unable to relinquish their human notions.
In fact, it is not that important whether or not we had signed any kind of pact with the old forces. What matters is whether or not we can break away from humanness and always make Dafa the priority. It is important for us to see through the evil nature of the old forces, reject their arrangements, and treat all sentient beings with compassion.
