(Clearwisdom.net) A while ago, many fellow practitioners suffered from ruthless persecution in our region. Once, more than sixty practitioners were illegally arrested and over forty were sent to forced labor camps. As a result, everyone felt insecure; fellow practitioners mistrusted one another. Distributing truth-clarifying materials was often interrupted for over a year due to the thoughts of many senior practitioners. It wasn't just limited to a small region; instead, it was widespread in many areas. If we are not able to change our thoughts, it will cause irreparable losses and hamper improvement for Dafa practitioners and in saving sentient beings.

In 2000, many of us who had stepped out to clarify the truth thought that we needed to use the environment created by the old forces to cultivate ourselves. Practitioners also thought that by entering the most evil places like prisons or forced labor camps, they would be able to establish mighty virtue. Practitioners who didn't step forward had the same thought that it was extraordinary to do so. Those thoughts were actually tacitly accepting the persecution of Dafa practitioners and the arrangements made by the old forces.

Those practitioners who walked into adverse environments didn't realize that their thoughts of using the evil environments to cultivate themselves were actually the very reason they were being persecuted. Even when they were being persecuted repeatedly, they still didn't realize it. They even wished those practitioners who hadn't stepped forward would not miss the opportunity. Whenever they heard that a fellow practitioner was being sent to a forced labor camp, they rejoiced at the outcome, instead of helping to prevent and disintegrate the old force arrangements.

This problem was very obvious in our area. Whenever the area coordinator (who had been "illegally arrested" in the past) met a new practitioner or gave material to a practitioner coming from another region, he would ask the person whether he or she had served a term in a forced labor camp. If this person had not, the coordinator's first reaction was that the person would not be trustworthy and so he wouldn't give out the material. We actually didn't realize deep down in our minds that we were identifying with the persecution arranged by the old forces, regardless of our continuous statement of wanting to negate the arrangements made by the old forces. Each time we heard that the home of a practitioner was searched and had property confiscated, many practitioners would ask whether any Dafa material was found. If they were told that some materials were confiscated, their first reaction was, "It's not good. That practitioner will be sentenced to prison for several years." This kind of thought was actually walking on the path arranged by the old forces.

Where did those thoughts come from when we heard a fellow practitioner was arrested or persecuted? Did they appear due to the high pressure of Dafa practitioners being persecuted by the evil? The evil has made many rules in many areas. For example, the number of years that a Dafa practitioner is imprisoned depends on the number of materials being confiscated from his or her home. Every time practitioners gathered together, they would be implicated and imprisoned. Many practitioners thought that as long as you clarify the truth and validate the Fa, sooner or later, you would meet with mishap. How did those accumulated thoughts produced over time by the old forces become such unchangeable truths for several Dafa practitioners? Doesn't this kind of concept strengthen the old forces' interference?

Why did we hear the news of fellow practitioners being persecuted? We didn't look inward according to the Fa and think carefully about the attachments and notions we hadn’t let go. Every cultivator's thoughts can create a great impact. The old forces wouldn’t dare to persecute a practitioner if they didn't have our approval. When the time comes to try the old forces, they will say that they had the approval of many practitioners.

It is obvious by now that this type of concept strengthens the old forces' interference. It may be just a minor problem if only a few practitioners think this way, but many practitioners in many regions have the same such thoughts and seem unwilling to change them. These thoughts are the product of the old forces and eventually become many practitioners’ rationale, which they are not able to get rid of.

Let's look at it from an opposite angle. Whenever we hear that a practitioner was arrested and persecuted, if the very first thought that comes to our minds is that our practitioners were doing the most sacred thing, then no one could persecute them. If anyone persecuted them, they may be guilty in the evil's eyes, yet they would be freed unconditionally. All the while, we send forth righteous thoughts to eliminate all evil elements. If every practitioner has such thoughts, the results would be quite different.

When many practitioners clarified the truth, they were so nervous that they looked like thieves without righteous thoughts. Would people believe them upon hearing what they said? People might even think the practitioners have bad intentions and would report them. People give us chances for them to correctly understand Dafa, but many practitioners haven't firmly established a proper place for Dafa deep in their minds.

When we realized the problem in our area, we shared these thoughts with more senior practitioners. As we shared one on one, many practitioners were surprised and thus changed their unrighteous thoughts. In the meantime, we formulated a concrete time for sending forth righteous thoughts. We decided to begin sending forth righteous thoughts at 9:00 in the evening, and we told every practitioner that came into contact with us. After rectifying those unrighteous thoughts that were formed under a long period of terror and high pressure, the situation in our region changed tremendously.

Because most practitioners in our region changed their thoughts and took sending forth righteous thoughts seriously to eliminate the evil elements in our region, we have not had a large scale of persecution in our area for more than two years. However, we do not become complacent; we will continue to do well in every area that a Dafa practitioner should do.