(Clearwisdom.net) It has been ten years since the Chinese government began the brutal persecution of Falun Gong. In some areas, the evil is still running rampant. Through ten years of Fa-rectification cultivation, most Dafa disciples have become more and more mature, rational, and clearheaded on what to do. In disciples' efforts to assist Master in the Fa-rectification, a large amount of evil factors have been eliminated. The evil factors that remain are quite limited. Dafa disciples' righteous thoughts have to search all over and hunt for the evil factors. Dafa disciples completely negate all arrangements by the old forces, so why is the persecution continuing? I think there are three main reasons: we still have selfish thoughts and cannot let go of life and death, we are controlled by notions, and we lack faith in Master and the Fa.
1. Being attached to self and unable to let go of life and death
Attachment to oneself is a characteristic of the old universe. Dafa disciples are also lives created in the old universe. Inevitably, they carry the characteristics of the old universe. Fortunately, we were selected by Master to become Fa-rectification period Dafa disciples. We have been cultivating Dafa and continue to eliminate the attachment to self while harmonizing with the characteristic of selflessness. During this process of harmonizing, the propensity to be selfish will certainly emerge and the evil will try its best to prevent Dafa disciples from harmonizing with the new universe. This is because these two characteristics are opposites. Once a practitioner has harmonized with the new universe, the characteristics of the old universe will disappear. So, of course, the old universe' characteristics will try to interfere. This is why Dafa disciples will encounter all kinds of conflicts and tribulations in their cultivation.
In order to help us cultivate the upright understanding of selflessness, Master taught us the great "Fa" of the universe and gave us the sacred book Zhuan Falun. We were given the tools to search inward when conflicts arise. In addition, based on our different cultivation states during different time periods, Master has tirelessly given Fa lectures. We should quickly eliminate our human attachments and harmonize with the new universe. However, due to our attachments to self, although Master has been very clear in his lectures, when facing a conflict, our first thought is still about how we can avoid being hurt and how to protect our interests. Selfishness has become a serious obstacle, hindering Dafa disciples' improvement. This attachment has also caused gaps and conflicts among practitioners. We cannot let go of our attachments to self-interest, fame, money, emotions, or fear. Fundamentally, we cannot let go of life and death. Letting go of life and death doesn't mean that we have to die. This test can manifest differently for each person. For some people, it may be a test of their emotions, for some it's money or fame, and for some it is illnesses. For some, it may actually be life and death issue. Regardless of the form of the test, Dafa disciples have to pass it in order to become a god. Anyone who cannot let go of life and death will be unable to harmonize with the new universe and be unable to reach consummation. If we cannot reach consummation, we cannot save sentient beings. That's why Dafa disciples must pass this test. There is no doubt about it.
To an ordinary person, letting go of life and death is more difficult than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. But as a Dafa disciple, we should already know what life is about. Master has explained everything clearly. We already know what Dafa disciples will become in the future. What can't we let go of?
"Did you know that in order to save you the Buddha once begged for food among everyday people? Today, I once again make the door wide open, and teach this Dafa[1] to save you. I have never felt bitter for the numerous hardships I have suffered. Then what do you have that still can't be abandoned?" ("True Cultivation", Essentials for Further Advancement)
Although we are cultivating in delusion, we cannot be deluded ourselves. We have made a vow to follow Master to this world, assist in the Fa-rectification, and save sentient beings. We must not forget this.
Why is the persecution still continuing? It is because Dafa disciples still have attachments and the evil is able to take advantage of our gaps. If we truly follow Master's teachings, study the Fa, cultivate ourselves, let go of life and death, and fill our thoughts with the Fa, would the evil dare to persecute? Would it dare to put Dafa disciples in brainwashing centers, labor camps, or prisons to be "reformed"? Isn't the continuation of the persecution a result of Dafa disciples' attachments? Fellow practitioners, we must not think that selfishness is merely an issue of personal cultivation. That's not true. It is a matter that concerns the whole of Fa-rectification. If one practitioner thinks it is OK to hold on to his attachments, maybe it won't have much of an impact. However, if a large number of practitioners think this way, what a huge omission that would be! Won't the evil take advantage of this? The evil's goal is to destroy Dafa disciples. Won't it persecute those who have the attachment to self? We already know what we will become in the future. Why can't we just take one step forward towards letting go of life and death? If all Dafa disciples could do that today, the evil would be completely eliminated today, and the persecution would end right now. If Dafa disciples cannot let go of selfishness, they cannot even protect themselves, let alone save sentient beings. The disciples who are going through tribulations should immediately make a decision to let go of this attachment.
2. Controlled by notions and walking the path arranged by old forces
Dafa disciples are lives created in the old universe. During past reincarnations, many notions have become deep-seated. In addition, due to decades of brainwashing and brutal suppression under Chinese Communist Party rule, people in China are accustomed to looking at issues from the CCP's perspective. They can no longer think independently. In Mainland China, many people have the notion that the CCP must be right. Prior to cultivation, Dafa disciples were taught the same way, brainwashed like automatons. After they began cultivation, they were able to gradually break away from the CCP's thought control. However, some practitioners are unable to focus when they study the Fa. They are not very diligent in their cultivation. As a result, they continue to be confused by the CCP's words and cannot evaluate things from the Fa's standpoint. Instead, they use human notions to judge things. Unwittingly, they have walked the path arranged by the old forces. For example, when the CCP said it was against the law to practice Falun Gong, they gave up the practice. When the CCP said it was against the law to print Falun Gong materials, they dared not make materials. When the CCP said it was political to encourage people to withdraw from the CCP, they indeed gave up and stopped publicizing the facts. When the CCP said Falun Dafa materials could be used as "evidence" in court to have Dafa practitioners sentenced to prisons or forced labor camps, they thought about how not to be persecuted when they were making truth-clarifying materials.
Dafa disciples' publicizing the facts and saving sentient beings are the most upright things one could ever do in the cosmos. It is what Master has asked us to do. We have to follow Master's instructions and do these things with dignity and rationality. We have to save the sentient beings whom we should save. In his lectures, Master has told us that the Three Realms was created for the Fa-rectification. This is a place where Dafa disciples should be saving people, not where the evil should act out without restraint. Master does not recognize any arrangements by the old forces. Dafa disciples must completely negate the old forces' arrangements, strengthen our righteous thoughts, and regard truth-clarification and saving sentient beings as the most sacred tasks of all. If we completely eliminate the notion that clarifying the facts will result in persecution, then we won't be persecuted, because the old forces would dare not to persecute us. If the old forces insist on persecuting us, Master's Law Bodies and righteous gods would eliminate them. If our first thought when doing Fa-rectification projects is whether or not we will be persecuted, then we are actively seeking the persecution. When we are afraid of the persecution, we have placed ourselves below the evil. At that point, our xinxing is at the same level as ordinary people. It is extremely easy for the evil to persecute an ordinary person.
We are Fa-rectification period Dafa disciples and are guided by Dafa. We have Master's protection, and righteous gods are guarding the Fa. As long as we follow Master's requirements, we will be very safe. Why, then, are some practitioners still persecuted? It is because of their deviant (or wicked) notions. Some practitioners are too afraid to put Dafa materials in their homes, thinking that this could be used as evidence. After they read "Minghui Weekly," they leave the magazine in another practitioner's home. Such a strong attachment to fear and selfishness! Master said that there should be material centers all over Mainland China, yet some practitioners who have the ability to operate a material center don't do it because it is "unsafe." They choose safety for themselves and leave the danger to someone else. How can they reach consummation with such ingrained selfishness? Although these practitioners have not been arrested by the police, they have been persecuted by the old forces. The old forces will continue to strengthen their attachments to fear and selfishness, eventually destroying them. Dafa materials can either be viewed as implements for saving sentient beings or "evidence" to be used by the authorities to persecute Dafa disciples. It is all up to the one thought of the Dafa disciple. If you view them as a Fa implement, they can help you save sentient beings. If you view them as evidence that the evil can use them to persecute you: you may indeed be persecuted because of this one thought.
To end the persecution, we must fundamentally change our human notions, study the Fa more, look inward more, and do well the three things Master has asked us to do. Only then can we negate all the arrangements by the old forces and fulfill our sacred mission of saving sentient beings.
3. Lacking faith in Master and the Fa
As we all know, Master's teachings are the Fa. Since Master began teaching in 1992, he has given many lectures to address Dafa disciples' different situations in different time periods. Every genuine Dafa disciple will be able to find answers to his or her questions and pass tests, as long as he or she studies the Fa with concentration. In fact, many genuine Dafa disciples have been able to overcome difficult or dangerous situations thanks to their strong faith in Master and the Fa at critical times. However, some practitioners were persecuted, and some even died of illnesses. Was it because Master treated different disciples differently? Absolutely not. The reason lies in the difference in the strength of their faith.
The old forces dare not oppose our efforts to publicize the facts or save sentient beings. When publicizing the facts, some practitioners were followed by the police or ordinary people who did not know the facts about the persecution. These practitioners had only righteous thoughts. They knew they were doing the most righteous thing in the cosmos, and they did not acknowledge the persecution. In the meantime, they asked Master for help. They were able to evade those following them. Yet, in the same situation, other practitioners were arrested. The reason is that their faith wasn't firm at that very moment. They were not able to have complete faith in Master and the Fa. Instead, they had many other thoughts and forgot to even ask for Master's help. How could the results be the same? Wasn't that a direct effect of the lack of faith in Master and the Fa?
Some practitioners first think about how they can avoid the persecution before they do the three things. Although this seems rational on the surface, they are actually accepting the persecution and even seeking it out. If they don't change this state of mind, they may even cause them to be persecuted. Of the practitioners suffering from illness karma, some have strong faith in Master and the Fa, do not treat the symptoms as illnesses, do well the three things Master asked of practitioners, and are able to pass the tests quickly. Other practitioners are unable to let go of the illness karma in their minds and are attached to their feelings. Even when they are doing the three things, they keep reminding themselves of the illness karma. They think to themselves, "I've done the three things well today. Why am I not feeling better?" Although they don't say they are suffering from illnesses, in actuality they have accepted the illnesses. One practitioner said, "I have given so much to Dafa. Why doesn't Master take care of me?" In my area, several practitioners lost their lives to illnesses. When we shared our understandings with them, most of them were unwilling to truly expose and let go of their attachments.
Why are Dafa disciples in prisons, labor camps, and brainwashing center? It is because Dafa disciples are not able to treat evil people with righteous thoughts at every moment, and they are passively enduring the situation. If Dafa disciples follow Master completely, are full of righteous thoughts, reject the evil's requirements, orders, and demands under all circumstances, and clarify the facts wherever they go, then they will even have the power to change those working in prisons, labor camps, and brainwashing camps. Could these places then still keep Falun Dafa disciples? Would the evil still exist? The evil can only take advantage when Dafa disciples have an attachment to fear.
If Dafa disciples can completely change their human notions, let go of the attachments to self and life and death, and have complete faith in Master and the Fa, then the evil will be completely eliminated, the persecution will be over, and more sentient beings will be saved.
