(Clearwisdom.net)
Dafa disciples in the Fa-rectification period, especially those in China, live in an environment of constant, frenzied persecution by the evil forces. It is a serious matter to be able to validate Dafa, clarify the truth and expose the evil amidst Fa-rectification cultivation and avoid the evil's persecution, while at the same time making sure that there won't be losses to Dafa due to individual Dafa particles being persecuted. "Safety" then becomes an important topic for Dafa disciples during the Fa-rectification period. Some fellow practitioners say, "Safety comes from studying the Fa more. When we have a clear understanding of the Fa, we will know what to do when encountering any problem." Some practitioners say, "Safety comes from completely denying the old forces' arrangements and firmly proceeding along the path that Master Li arranges for us." There are still other practitioners who say, "Safety comes from sending forth righteous thoughts more frequently and cleaning out the dimensions that we are responsible for." Some practitioners say, "Safety comes from looking within and filling up loopholes, leaving no room to be taken advantage of by the evil and no excuse for the old forces to persecute us." Other practitioners say, "Safety comes from maintaining strong righteous thoughts at all times." I personally feel that all the above understandings are correct on some level because they are what practitioners enlightened to over the course of studying the Fa deeply, doing Fa-rectification work, clarifying the truth and sharing understandings with other practitioners. Some of them are the result of harsh lessons learned during Fa-rectification. However, if we merely listen to others and feel their words to be reasonable, but do not genuinely have a clear understanding ourselves based on Fa principles, or just understand a little bit yet cannot gain a thorough understanding through comprehensive Fa study, there would be hidden danger for such "safety."
Recently, the officials in our district began a frenzied, large-scale campaign to arrest Dafa disciples. Nearly 200 practitioners were arrested in a period of twenty-plus days. Among the arrested were some practitioners who told other practitioners to study the Fa more and who would read through Zhuan Falun every two days. Some practitioners who believed that as long as we denied the old forces' arrangements we wouldn't be persecuted were kidnapped also. Some practitioners who felt that they didn't have any loopholes and had righteous thoughts were also detained. Other practitioners, who had been held in detention centers and labor camps and then released several times, and who had thought they had escaped further detention through cultivation, were detained again. For some period of time, some fellow practitioners felt confused. After studying the Fa with a calm mind for several days, reading Clearwisdom articles and discussing with other practitioners, I have an improved understanding of these issues based on the Fa-principles.
After Changchun Dafa disciples made use of local cable TV to broadcast a video clarifying the truth of Falun Gong, Master Li published the article "Look at Things with Righteous Thoughts." Master Li also said in "Also in a Few Words": "Indestructible righteous faith in the cosmos's Truth forms benevolent Dafa disciples' rock-solid, Diamond-Like Bodies, it frightens all evil, and the light of Truth it emanates makes the unrighteous elements in all beings' thoughts disintegrate. However strong the righteous thoughts are, that's how great the power is." If we maintain righteous thoughts at all times, we will be safe all the time. Of course, such righteous thoughts should be present at all times and in every specific matter. For example, we need to have righteous thoughts when studying the Fa, as this is the pre-requisite and foundation for us to do everything well. It is very crucial to understand why we study the Fa and what state of mind we should have when studying the Fa. If we just treat Fa-study as finishing an assignment or a means to find excuses for our own understandings in the Fa, we are studying the Fa with pursuit and at the very least, being disrespectful to the Fa. No matter what, we cannot say practitioners who study the Fa this way have righteous thoughts. Another example is sending forth righteous thoughts. If we use it specifically to protect ourselves or to vent to our personal hatred of others, how can it be considered to be righteous thoughts? No matter how much we send forth righteous thoughts this way, we cannot protect ourselves because we limit our Buddha Fa supernormal capability with our human attachments. In fact, we are providing an excuse for the old forces to persecute us.
The thing that we need to pay more attention to is that we cannot treat our human mentality and attachments as righteous thoughts. During this crazed campaign of arrest and detention, many of my human attachments were exposed. At first, other practitioners suggested that I find a new place to live, but I didn't listen. I thought I didn't have the attachment of fear and had righteous thoughts. Later, I found that my "fearlessness" was based on the thought that I had just been released from the forced labor camp on bail after a hunger strike, and it was not possible for them to arrest me once again so soon. I was relying on luck, not righteous thoughts. When other practitioners who had also been released on bail recently from labor camp were arrested again, I once again had the thought that I was fearless. I thought if I were arrested again, I could still let go of life and death. I kept imagining how I would act if I were arrested. After I studied the Fa in more depth, it became clear that the old forces also arranged these thoughts. We should not be persecuted, and there are still many more sentient beings waiting for me to save them. At that time, I started to think carefully about moving to a new place, and not until then did I find that I had an attachment to comfort and was afraid of being homeless. When my wife (also a Dafa disciple), my daughter and I became homeless and went from place to place, those evil people broke into my home and also searched the homes of all my relatives who might have sympathized with me.
Later I also learned that some practitioners thought that they were safe because they were still nursing their babies, some thought that they were safe because they didn't have Dafa materials at home, some felt safe because they had relatives who were officials in the police department, and others felt safe because they had righteous thoughts. In the end, all of these fellow practitioners were arrested and some of them were even illegally sentenced to forced labor camp.
After studying the Fa deeply, I realized that even if we knew that the evil was already beyond rationality, if we were to stand in the middle of the street, it would still be necessary to avoid the cars. If we feel that we have righteous thoughts and therefore don't need to avoid the evil persecution, isn't that similar to holding Master Li's book and walking in the street, not afraid of being hit? Such a thought itself is a loophole. Such safety is based on human attachments and not righteous thoughts.
The pre-requisite is to study the Fa with a peaceful mind because "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." ("Drive Out Interference") If we can look at every issue with righteous thoughts from the perspective of Dafa, handle everything with our cultivated divine side, and maintain clear-headedness at all times, we can rationally handle everything happening to us with wisdom. Isn't this the most righteous thought and the best way to ensure safety?
