(Clearwisdom.net) Since 2005, twenty-six Falun Dafa practitioners have been arrested and persecuted by personnel from the Shengli Oilfield 610 Office and from the Binhai Police Department. Amid the persecution, some of the arrested practitioners did not comply with any of the evils' requests, and walked away from detention using the power of their righteous thoughts and actions. Other practitioners did not have strong righteous thoughts and failed to completely negate the old cosmic forces' arrangements. They went wherever the police told them to go and revealed to the police whatever was requested. As a result, these practitioners are still being persecuted in brainwashing centers, and some were even given forced labor sentences. There are still others who have failed to view things from the perspective of the Fa. Their minds are severely affected. When learning that some fellow practitioners met with persecution, they failed to search within themselves and failed to find the loopholes they have and the attachments they should let go of. These practitioners instead used their human mentalities to view the persecution. They hid all the Dafa materials in their homes, and did not dare to even go home. They went anywhere to hide themselves and completely forgot the three things Master has told us to do. They ignored the fact that they are Dafa practitioners. They have failed to improve themselves in their understandings of the Fa, thus resulting in an unstable cultivation environment in the region and a false, superficial manifestation of the evils' frenzied nature.
Faced with these tribulations, through guidance from the Fa, we saw some of the practitioners' shortcomings:
1. Failing to Study the Fa
This is caused by a lack of righteous thoughts and perseverance in regularly sending forth righteous thoughts. The evil thus takes advantage of and persecutes these practitioners.
Some practitioners do not reliably send forth the righteous thoughts on the four global pre-set times. Some other practitioners cannot even finish reading Zhuan Falun once in six months. There are still some practitioners who, for two weeks, cannot calm themselves to study the Fa. So, with a mindset of depending on their luck, they went out to clarify the truth and consequently were arrested and persecuted.
In "Teaching the Fa in the City of Chicago" (2005), Master said,
"So that problems won't arise for you, Dafa disciples, I have often told you to study the Fa a lot and keep up your righteous thoughts. When you do these things, it is then possible for you to walk correctly on your own path and to do well at what a Dafa disciple is supposed to do. No matter how busy you get, you need to study the Fa, no matter what."
In "Teaching the Fa at the Western U.S. International Fa Conference" (2005), Master told us,
"In this situation where you can't see completely, as gods do, the real changes in yourself during your cultivation, you have instead been relying--amidst interference and the trials in which you painfully sever your attachments--on righteous thoughts that come from your constant study of Dafa, and you have been forging ahead."
In "Drive Out Interference" (Essentials for Further Advancement II), Master lectured,
"When I taught the Fa I told you before about all the problems that might occur during this malicious and destructive examination. It is indeed difficult for those who haven't truly done cultivation to come through this. Now you can see why I've often told you to read the book more, right? The Fa can break all attachments, the Fa can destroy all evil, the Fa can shatter all lies, and the Fa can strengthen righteous thoughts."
We believe that some practitioners encountered the persecution because they do not have strong righteous thoughts and fail to understand the Fa from the perspective of the Fa. They view the persecution using human mentalities. In "Expounding on the Fa" (Essentials for Further Advancement), Master said,
"Whenever a tribulation comes, you do not see it with the side of your original nature but view it completely with your human side. Evil demons then capitalize on this point and inflict endless interference and damage, leaving students in long-term tribulations. As a matter of fact, this results from an inadequate understanding of the Fa by your human side. You have humanly restrained your divine side; in other words, you have restrained the parts that have been successfully cultivated and have prevented them from doing Fa-rectification. ...When a tribulation arrives, if you, a disciple, can truly maintain an unshakable calm or be determined to meet different requirements at different levels, this should be sufficient for you to pass the test."
2. Selfishness
Upon hearing that some practitioners encountered persecution, some practitioners in the region failed to view the issue according to the Fa. Their first thoughts were of themselves and their own protection. In the article "Non-Omission in Buddha-Nature" (Essentials for Further Advancement), Master said,
"I also want to tell you that 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."
These practitioners base their reasoning on warped notions of the evil Party's culture and education. They always put themselves in the positions of being persecuted and are worried about the consequences of implication (due to the mentality of fear).
In Zhuan Falun ("Cultivation Insanity" in "Lecture Six"), Master lectured,
"If you ask for an illness, it will come inside your body."
Because they view these tribulations with their human notions they have been persecuted by the evil. They have failed to assimilate themselves well into the one body. They have not used the many methods available to rescue the arrested practitioners, such as sending forth righteous thoughts, exposing the evil persecution, clarifying the truth to persons involved in this persecution or improving the practitioners as one body through sharing understandings among practitioners and searching within ourselves.
3. The Attachment of Fear
Some practitioners became afraid after learning that fellow practitioners suffered persecution. They could not study the Fa calmly, and some even went into hiding. Isn't the attachment of fear an attachment that we need to eliminate in cultivation?
Master said in "Teaching the Fa at the 2004 International Fa Conference in New York" that,
"For a god or a cultivator, fear is considered a major attachment, and it truly won't do if it's not removed."
In Essentials for Further Advancement II, "Dafa is Indestructible" Master said,
"Even if a Dafa cultivator truly casts off his human skin during the persecution, what awaits him is still Consummation. At the same time, no attachment or fear could possibly enable you to reach Consummation. And any attachment of fear is itself a barrier that prevents you from reaching Consummation, and is also a factor in your being "reformed" toward the evil side and in your betrayal."
Master told us in "Touring North America to Teach the Fa,"
"There are two circumstances in which they can't touch a Dafa disciple. One is that he is rock-solid. They don't dare touch him"... "My only concern is that Dafa disciples themselves won't be firm inside; when there's some kind of attachment, some kind of fear, or what not, then the old forces see it and take advantage of the omissions and persecute them."
In Essentials for Further Advancement II, "Dafa Disciples' Righteous Thoughts are Powerful" Master told us,
"The more fearful they are inside, the more the evil specifically goes after such students."
Some practitioners did not cultivate according to the Fa, but rather treated the persecution with ordinary peoples' notions, thinking it was safe as long as they were hiding. As a matter of fact, it was the evil forces in other dimensions that controlled evildoing people to persecute us. These evil forces in other dimensions can clearly see where a person hides. Our unrighteous thoughts and attachments to fear caused the persecutions we suffered! Unless we let go of the attachment of fear, hiding in human society cannot protect us from persecution. On the contrary, such an unrighteous notion could cause more severe persecution. Why are we afraid? We are great gods, forged by Dafa. We should correct all unrighteous factors. How could human notions and evildoers' persecution control us? As cultivators if we can let go of the attachment of fear and truly improve ourselves in the Fa, then nothing can touch our hearts and we will do well what we must do, righteously.
Master said in "Teaching the Fa at the 2004 International Fa Conference in New York,"
"Whether you are abroad or are in an environment where you are directly persecuted by the evil, you should display Dafa disciples' righteous thoughts and righteous actions, as that strikes fear into the evil. The evil is raucous on the surface, but inside it is afraid. You are Dafa disciples, and you can't have fear inside. If a cultivator can truly let go of [the fear of] death, then that death will forever be far removed from you."
As a matter of fact, our attachment of fear is the cause of the persecution. If we let go of this attachment there is nothing in this world that can make us afraid.
The reason these above-mentioned issues existed among local area practitioners is because we did not spend enough time studying the Fa and sharing experiences to improve as a whole body. When facing persecution, we did not achieve the mindset of righteous thoughts and righteous deeds. We faced persecution with human notions. I hereby suggest that all fellow practitioners study the Fa more with calm hearts, strengthen sending forth righteous thoughts to purify our own fields, disintegrate all the evil forces and the CCP evil specters that interfere with Dafa practitioners, and do the three things well.
In conclusion I would like to share Master's wisdom in "Teaching the Fa at the Western U.S. International Fa Conference" with fellow practitioners,
"To walk this path well and progress to its end--nothing is more extraordinary. I say that because during the journey you will have hardships, tests of every sort, unforeseen ordeals, and you will have unexpected interference from all kinds of attachments and emotion. The interference will come from family, society, good friends, and even fellow cultivators. And along with this there is interference from changes in the state of human society and from human notions that were formed in society. All of those things can drag you back to being like an ordinary person. But if you can break through all of it, you can advance towards godhood. So as a cultivator, what is truly remarkable is when you can be steadfast and have righteous thoughts so firm that nothing can sway you. Be solid and firm like diamond, or granite, and then nothing can affect you--evil will be afraid at the mere sight of you. If upon encountering trying circumstances your thinking can be truly righteous, then, when faced with the evil's persecution and when faced with interference, just one sentence of yours fortified with steadfast righteous thoughts can instantly make the evil disintegrate (applause), and it will make those who are being used by the evil turn and flee, it will make the evil's persecution of you dissolve, and it will make the evil's interfering with you disappear without a trace. One thought born of righteous faith is all it takes. And whoever can hold firm that righteous thought and go the distance will become a magnificent god forged by Dafa."
July 19, 2005
