(Clearwisdom.net)
1. Establishing Mighty Virtue
Through studying the Fa, I recently understood the principle that Dafa disciples' mighty virtue is not established through suffering the persecution arranged by the old forces, but rather through denying and breaking away from this persecution.
We often read articles on Clearwisdom about how practitioners are able to walk out of detention centers or brainwashing classes with dignity by having strong righteous thoughts, but this is usually only after experiencing and enduring all sorts of tribulations and tortures. There is no doubt that these practitioners are worthy of our profound respect. However, we need to be clear that the Fa principles still penetrate upwards continuously beyond this realm. Since this persecution is being imposed on Dafa by the old forces, it should not exist. If we feel that we are establishing a Dafa disciple's mighty virtue through suffering in this persecution, wouldn't we have acknowledged and accepted the legitimacy of the old forces' evil arrangements? If we measure ourselves with higher principles, how can the evil be possibly be worthy of persecuting Dafa and Dafa disciples? If the future Lords and mighty Gods of the universe allowed themselves to be subjected to harm by a bunch of petty evil beings, wouldn't that amount to insulting themselves and all other higher beings? Wouldn't that be showing disrespect to Dafa? (This is only my personal understanding, and I am not trying to judge who is right and who is wrong. I am only attempting to explore this principle so we can further understand the Fa principles together.)
In fact, the amount of true mighty virtue established by a Dafa disciple is not determined by how much pain they have borne in the human world, but rather by one's heart for saving sentient beings during this crisis so as to enable them to escape the fate of destruction. When we are able to still think about the well being of others first and are able to save others while facing great pressure and adversity, that is where our true Mighty Virtue lies.
2. Looking at the Persecution With Righteous Thoughts
How can we alleviate or totally eliminate the old forces' evil persecution? Let me use an analogy: this human body is like a layer of crust, and this crust also acts like a mirror. However many attachments and unrighteous thoughts there are on the inside of this crust, there will be that many evil factors on the outside of the crust, just like the reflection of a mirror. The two are directly related, and they increase and decrease together. When we gradually eliminate the attachments within ourselves and rectify our thoughts, the evil in the space external to us but related to us will be eliminated correspondingly. It is just like Master said: "If you are not afraid, the factor that would make you afraid will cease to exist." ("Eliminate Your Last Attachment(s)") I also think that this is another manifestation of the Fa principle taught in "Pacify the External by Cultivating the Internal." Therefore, the fundamental cause for our encountering persecution is not related to how much Dafa work we have done, but rather due to our own shortcomings and inability to elevate our xinxing to the level required by the progress of Fa-rectification. This thus allows the evil old forces to find excuses to persecute and "improve" us. If a Dafa disciple can truly do the three things Master requires of us in this current period well, there will be no grounds for the evil old forces to persecute him.
Some practitioners who did not do well during certain stages in their individual cultivation paths are likely to want to do things in Fa-rectification to try and wash those "dirty spots" clean. This should not be done too forcefully or with pursuit. Such a heart can easily lead to another attachment that will then be exploited by the evil. During Fa-rectification, we as individuals still need to take Dafa's overall needs into consideration. We need to think from the perspective of our overall mission in trying to save as many sentient beings as possible and act strictly according to Master's requirements. By doing the three things we should do well, we will naturally eliminate the old force's arrangements in the process.
3. Dafa Disciples Are the Main Body to Assist Master in Fa-rectification in the Human World
If on April 25th, 1999, it had been millions of Dafa disciples outside Zhongnanhai (the government compound in Beijing) rather than ten thousand, and on July 20th, 1999 it had been a hundred million Dafa disciples who stood up against Jiang's illegal actions rather than tens of millions, then wouldn't it have been impossible for the evil to gather enough momentum in the human realm to do damage to Dafa? Wouldn't it have been like Master wanted: all of us could have been steadily and calmly studying the Fa and peacefully awaiting the arrival of the day when the Fa rectifies the human realm? If so, Dafa disciples as one body would truly have been the main factor enabling Fa-rectification to progress steadily and peacefully in the human realm. This is such an infinite glory that Master bestowed Dafa disciples, so how can we still quietly stay outside of this as if observing from afar and not take the opportunity? Again, this is only my personal understanding.
Master said:
"...the reason many things in Fa-rectification haven't turned out as well as we'd like is that both the low levels and high levels of the old forces have been doing that together, and they've been using their massive density to obstruct things. ... Of course, in this Fa-rectification when our students act righteously, then those problems won't exist. When the gong and energy that I left at this place in the cosmos, in the Three Realms, do things, if our students don't act righteously, then the old forces resist, and a state of obstruction appears." ("Fa-Lecture During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference")
I have realized the importance of each and every one of us acting righteously at all times and trying to walk our paths well, because this can in fact have major impacts on the overall state of Fa-rectification and its progress in this human realm. Only when we melt ourselves into the Fa as one body can we succeed in the aim of our cultivation - to reach the realm of altruism and pure unselfishness. It is a realm impossible to reach in any form of individual cultivation because it requires such a special environment of Fa-rectification as this one today. However high a realm one individual can reach, though, he becomes nothing when away from the whole, just like how a drop of water dries up quickly when removed from the ocean. No matter how high or how low one's individual level is, as long as he can melt into Dafa, as a particle of Dafa, he can be unshakable like Dafa.
