(Clearwisdom.net) In over five years of the persecution, Dafa disciples have been firmly validating the Fa and clarifying the truth. But, the old forces sometimes take advantage of a certain loophole in Dafa disciples' steadfastness. Dafa practitioners often neglect this fact, or have not realized it. Thus, the old forces have used this as an excuse to persecute practitioners. Under the vicious persecution, many practitioners have been arrested, imprisoned, and even persecuted to death.
A fellow practitioner was arrested for doing Dafa work. She was very steadfast in front of the evil. No matter how brutal the evil persecuted her, she refused to tell them her fellow practitioners' names. The police violently hit her, kicked her, and nailed bamboo twigs into her fingers. She simply did not cooperate with the evil and said: "Even if you beat me to death, I will not tell you anything." In the end, she was brutally tortured to death.
Another practitioner said in front of them: "I will not give up practicing Falun Gong even if I have to stay in prison all my life." He was thus sentenced to 12 years in prison. The very resolute speech was actually allowing the evil to take advantage of this loophole in the practitioner's mind-set. Without intending to do so, the practitioner acknowledged the illegal imprisonment and the vicious persecution.
As Fa-rectification period Dafa practitioners, we completely deny any of the old forces' arrangements and persecution. We must not let the old forces to take advantage of any thought or idea within us. While those fellow practitioners were very steadfast in Dafa, they did not completely repudiate the old forces with a clear understanding of the Fa. When those practitioners said, "Even if you beat me to death, I will not tell you," didn't they actually acknowledge the possibility of being tortured to death? The old forces considered this as a loophole and used it as an excuse to intensify the persecution. This was acknowledging the evil's persecution, even if unintended.
When I had discussions with fellow practitioners, I noticed that some practitioners had a wrong notion, that is, the more severe the persecution one suffers, the better, and the higher level one can achieve in cultivation. This is caused by not clearly understanding Dafa principles.
In "Teaching the Fa at the 2004 Western U.S. Fa Conference," Master said,
"From my perspective, as your master, during the Fa-rectification I absolutely don't accept the using of this evil persecution to test Dafa disciples, and Dafa disciples shouldn't have the wrong idea that they can cultivate higher by enduring persecution. Dafa and its disciples oppose the persecution, that is Dafa disciples' duty. If you don't cultivate yourself based on the Fa, you can't cultivate higher by just enduring persecution, much less reach the standards for a Dafa disciple. Don't acknowledge this so-called 'environment' that the old forces have provided, because during the Fa-rectification I would have had all beings assimilate to Dafa, and it wasn't at all necessary to temper Dafa disciples amidst this kind of evilness."
I used to think the same way as those practitioners mentioned above. For instance, I thought to myself, "No matter where the evil sends me, I will make sure this time I do not cooperate with the evil in any way." Therefore, I was unknowingly acknowledging the evil's persecution. As a matter of fact, no matter whether or not Dafa practitioners still have attachments, the evil is not qualified to test practitioners, nor is it qualified to test Dafa by taking advantage of practitioners' attachments.
