(Clearwisdom.net) Master's article "Be Vigilant" (August 4, 2009), has greatly touched the practitioners in our region. Through discussion and sharing our views, we have realized that it is because of our human mentalities in recent years that the evil factors could find the niches for its existence in our region and cause the bad situation in our region. That is, many practitioners have been sentenced, sent to forced labor camps, or had money extorted from them. Their families have been harassed, and several practitioners even passed away. This is just as Master has pointed out, "...it was a demon who came knocking at your door, thanks to your human attachments?" ("Be Vigilant")
Some practitioners may ask, "Having learnt Dafa for so many years, how come we still have the attachments that we had when we started to learn Dafa?" Of course, as Master pushes forward the Fa-rectification, we have eliminated our human attachments in large numbers. But because we are still amidst the human society, if we do not become alert, we can be polluted again at any time. There are indeed some practitioners who, for so many years, have not learned how to cultivate themselves; they have not even solved the issues that they should have solved at the beginning of their cultivation. Failing to realize these issues, one would have a hard time eliminating these attachments, and one would falter without making progress; one can even miss this rare opportunity that comes once in a million years. Therefore, we should dig out these human notions, become aware of them, and eliminate them. I believe that the human mentalities that have stood out in our region include the following several aspects:
1. Trying One's Luck
While resisting the persecution, clarifying the facts, and offering sentient beings salvation, some practitioners always forget that they need to take the Fa as the teacher and cultivate with righteous thoughts and actions. However, they unconsciously always wish that they have good "luck," which means that they have a strong mentality of trying their luck. There was one practitioner who did not pay attention to safety when using his cell phone. He always had the mentality of trying his luck. During group Fa study and sharing our understandings, fellow practitioners often reminded us that we should try not to use cell phones to make calls and we should not store fellow practitioners' phone numbers and other information on our cell phones. This practitioner understood this point, but he always had the mentality of trying his luck, believing that this would not be a problem for him. One day he was arrested. The authorities found many practitioners' contact information on his cell phone, which led to the arrest and persecution of not only him but also of many others.
There was one woman practitioner who was arrested by the police while distributing truth-clarification materials. The police tried to force her to take them to search her home, where many truth-clarification materials and some related equipment were kept. She initially did not cooperate with the police. However, several days later, her mentality of trying her luck surfaced; she believed that her husband would handle the things in her home well. So when the police tried again to force her to do so, she followed suit and led the police to her home. But unfortunately her husband also had same mentality of trying his luck, believing that his wife would not reveal her identity, so he did not relocate the equipment and truth-clarification materials at all. As a result, the police took away all the truth-clarification materials and equipment. Her husband was also arrested. This has caused a huge loss.
There was another practitioner who also had the mentality of trying one's luck. After she was arrested, she thought that the police would release her if she told the police what they wanted to know. As a result, the police did not release her; instead, they gave her a severe sentence. Furthermore, this also resulted in the persecution of many other practitioners, as well as a loss of many truth-clarification materials and related supplies. There are also practitioners who would become unsettled once they see the slightest hints of trouble or when the so-called sensitive periods come. They either stop doing truth-clarification work, or they go to other areas to find the "safe havens." As result, a big gap among Dafa practitioners in the region has resulted, which has been exploited by the evil.
2. The Mentality of Seeking Things They Like
Some practitioners like to hear others say good things about them or to compliment them. They do not like to listen to the words that do not please their ears. They become angry once they hear some criticical words. Some practitioners like prophecies, and they are attached to them; they use the prophecies to replace truth-clarification materials. They have made a large number of copies of the prophecies and distributed them widely without considering the consequence. Some practitioners like unusual or interesting things; they spread them without considering whether these things are beneficial to the salvation of sentient beings. For example, right before the 2008 Olympic Games, some websites carried the prophecy that the CCP's Bird's Nest (the National Stadium) and the big theater (that is, the National Grand Theater) would collapse and there would be a big earthquake in southern China; even the timing and locations were spelled out clearly. Some practitioners made a large number of copies of these prophecies for dissemination. When some practitioners pointed out that these were not suited for the truth-clarification and should not be distributed, these practitioners just did not listen. When they could not make all the copies by themselves, they took them to print shops to make more copies. After these materials were disseminated, it caused a bad impression.
There are also practitioners who like the well-known persons and government officials in ordinary society; they have put their hopes in these people. When one of such persons spoke out about the truth of Falun Gong and exposed the evilness of the Party, these practitioners would put that person's words and letters on the truth-clarification material and then distribute it widely. From the perspective of Fa principles, no matter whether they are famous individuals or well-know officials or common citizens, they are not Dafa cultivators. No matter how much they sympathize with and support Falun Gong, their behaviors reflect their trying to correctly position themselves after they have learned the facts of the persecution. Dafa disciples are the main players. Everything is arranged for Dafa. How could we depend on others to solve our problems?
3. Pursuit of Comfort
All Dafa cultivators know that cultivation involves hardship, while cultivation under persecution involves even more hardship, especially after the cultivators are put in prisons or forced labor camps. Some practitioners unknowingly develop the attachment to comfort, which is reflected in their fear. There was one woman practitioner who had initially cultivated very well. Under the persecution, communist officials took away her family property that was worth over a hundred thousand yuan. She was also jailed for many years. After she came out of prison, she got scared that she would be persecuted again; so she gave up practicing Falun Gong and went to a remote region. There was a man who was detained for a period of time at a detention center. After he came out of the detention, because he was afraid that his employment and his comfortable family life would be disrupted, he stopped interacting with other practitioners and then completely resumed his ordinary life. He often goes to the karaoke bars or dancing halls, and he has become addicted to playing cards. There was also a woman practitioner who was afraid that she would be sentenced after she was arrested. Whenever her family members went to see her, she asked her family to bail her out for whatever the heavy costs were. As result, she was not bailed out and was instead given a heavy sentence.
There are also other practitioners who, after being arrested and out of fear, asked their family members to use their special or private relations or bribe the related officials by giving them gifts or inviting them to parties in order to bail them out. Although they were finally bailed out, they have since often been threatened and harassed by the regime agents and cannot get any peace in their lives. Practitioners believe that prisons are not the place where a Dafa disciple should stay. However, as different practitioners have different cultivation states and have accumulated different amounts of karma in their many lifetimes, some practitioners may need to directly face the karma. However, directly facing the karma does not mean that they need to give in to the arrangements of the old forces. It actually means that they should cultivate themselves diligently. This is because only righteous thoughts (cultivated from the Fa) can negate the evil arrangements.
4. Attachments of Lust and Desire
All Dafa practitioners understand the Fa principle of "Cultivating the heart, severing desires, discarding attachments" ("Who Dares Give Up the Heart of Ordinary People" in Hong Yin, English Translation Version B). However, some practitioners just understand this on a superficial level. There is a practitioner who had always pursued the happiness of married life. The old forces then took advantage of this gap and tormented him for a long time by making him have illnesses; he almost lost his life. Fortunately he woke up early, and he exposed his attachment of lust and desire. Only after he finally eliminated this attachment with the help of fellow practitioners, did he regain his health. There was a woman practitioner who, after her divorce, lived with a man for a long time without completing all the necessary legal marriage procedures; because of this, the old forces took away her life. While the Fa rectification has reached the end, there are still practitioners who are so attached to their human sentimentality and sexual desire. They cannot even meet the basic requirements of a Dafa cultivator.
5. Attachment to Reaching Consummation
A cultivator's goal is to reach consummation, which is not wrong. However, always thinking about reaching consummation is an attachment. For example, some practitioners long for the early demise of the communist regime as well as the early arrival of the Fa's rectifying the human world. In the period of over one year during which Master had not given new lectures, some practitioners often asked if Master had published new articles or not. When fellow practitioners met, what was discussed most was when the Fa rectification would end. When seeing that the regime "succeeded" in holding the Olympic Games, some practitioners developed a feeling of disappointment and started to slack off; they even generated doubts about reaching consummation. What was even worse was the phenomenon that some practitioners started to disbelieve in Master and Dafa. These practitioners have failed to realize that it is because of their failure to be diligent and to catch up with Fa rectification that they have lagged behind in their cultivation and delayed the progress of saving sentient beings. Some practitioners have mentioned on private occasions, "I wonder how many in our region can reach consummation?" Some practitioners do not make best use of their time to save people, and they instead spend most of their time making money. There was also a practitioner who only partially believed in consummation. Under the encouragement of her family members, she went everywhere to try to find several tens of thousands of yuan and bought life insurance. Consequently, within a month after she finished this transaction, she one day suddenly developed the symptoms of a stroke and passed away.
Fa rectification has reached the final stage. We have cultivated for so many years and still have so many attachments that we have not cultivated away. With such heavy burdens, how could we return to the heavenly paradises of our own? It is time for us to wake up and remain alert. Only by studying the Fa well, looking inward, and letting go of our attachments, can we eliminate the final obstacles that are on our path of cultivation and finish our historic missions.
