March 29, 2003
(Clearwisdom.net)
A local practitioner was arrested last October. When other practitioners talked about this practitioner, one person said, "He was doing pretty well, but the evil here is too strong. It was quite good for him to do this much." I expressed my difference in opinion right away. Master said, "If you are a true practitioner, our Falun will safeguard you. I am rooted in the universe. If anyone can harm you, he or she would be able to harm me. Put simply, that person would be able to harm this universe." (Zhuan Falun, Lecture One) My personal opinion is, if a practitioner is truly constantly in the Fa, doing very well, yet was arrested, doesn't it mean that Dafa can be harmed by evil? How can this be allowed?
Later that person also said, "I believe even if I were caught, I would be able to break through it with my righteous thoughts." I was surprised to hear that. Why don't we completely reject the old forces' arrangement instead of leaving a root? I should have discussed this with him further to dig out the deeply hidden root in his mind that does not conform to Dafa, but I didn't. Now when I look back, I realize I was blocked by human sentimentality. He did a lot of Fa-rectification work in the past few years, so I found it embarrassing to tell him; meanwhile, I was afraid that my understanding might not be correct. As a result, I was very polite in appearance without any criticism or blame, but in fact I wasn't really being responsible to a fellow practitioner.
Dafa is solid like diamond and immutable; Dafa is always first and foremost. I hold this firmly in my mind. The old forces consider their arrangements as the most right and didn't listen to Master's warnings during the Fa-rectification, and thus committed such huge sins towards Dafa, and they are thus fated for elimination. When one always emphasizes how oneself is such and such, isn't this the manifestation of the old forces? Master has established in my life a set of the most righteous standards, and all things can only be judged by Dafa. If I did something well, the fundamental reason is not that I was right, it only shows that on this matter I was coming from the Fa's standpoint and walked down the path Master arranged. If the evil took advantage of my loophole on one thing, then it must be that I was not careful at that time and deviated from Dafa. "It's all because you haven't done well enough that all these Gods are being restrained by the old cosmos's Fa-principles and can't do anything, despite their really wanting to help." (Touring North America to Teach the Fa) "But the old forces will latch on to that idea of not giving ground and constantly strengthen it--'You're right, you're right, what you're doing is exactly right!'" (Explaining the Fa During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference) In this way we got trapped in the strong self without being able to get out, and unconsciously walked down the path arranged by the old forces, so much so that even if being persecuted, we still think that we did well and it is just that the evil is too strong. The standpoint of this understanding has deviated from Dafa; we ought to be clearheaded.
A while ago I exchanged experiences with two practitioners. Practitioner A said that he was puzzled by the arrest of practitioner B, who seemed to cultivate very well and had a good understanding of the Fa. I suggested finding our omission; otherwise, the worst possibility would be that we all have this problem. Practitioner A recalled that before being arrested practitioner B talked to him and others about the possibility of losing contact (implying something would go wrong), who would continue to take care of Dafa work, etc. I thought that this is where the problem lies. Practitioner B didn't oppose the persecution arranged by the evil, instead, he made follow-up arrangements under their arrangement, and walked down the path arranged by the old forces. Master said, "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) If we discuss together to truly understand things based on the Fa principles, and do not even acknowledge the old forces themselves, we can definitely reject the old forces' arrangements.
In our discussion, practitioner C said that we should not think about how things may go wrong, it is asking for it and so it will come. In my opinion that is not good enough, it will come even if we don't ask for it. "And to make sure that nothing would go wrong with what they arranged they did a practice run with the previous earth. Think about it--how could they not be attached to it? Could they possibly let go of what they wanted to do?" "What's hard is that the old forces won't let you go that easily, they'll try to take advantage of your gaps, and when you're just a little bit off they'll seize the opportunity. So when your righteous thoughts are very strong they can't take advantage of you, and this is because in Fa-rectification Dafa doesn't acknowledge the old forces' arrangements, and I, as your Master, don't acknowledge them either. Of course, each one of our Dafa disciples says that we don't recognize the old forces' arrangements, but that's not something you just say--you have to follow the requirements of Dafa and the Fa-rectification. 'I absolutely will not acknowledge any of those things you arranged in the past, old forces. I don't even acknowledge you.' When your righteous thoughts are very strong you can purge it and you can reject their arrangements. (Applause) And that's because we absolutely cannot acknowledge them." (Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Philadelphia, U.S.A.)
Master said, "To do well is to not walk down the path arranged by the old forces; the goal is to not allow the old forces to take advantage of your gaps." (Teaching the Fa at the Washington, D.C. Fa Conference) I'd like to remind fellow practitioners to correctly understand the relationship among Master, Dafa disciples, and the old forces, to always put Dafa in the first and foremost position, to not be misled by surface phenomena or moved by human sentimentality, to find omissions afterwards in a timely manner, and to become mature in the Fa.
The above is my personal understanding, please kindly point out anything inappropriate.
