(Clearwisdom.net) During the past several years, many Falun Dafa practitioners in mainland China have been severely persecuted, and many have experienced enormous losses. Some lost money through extortion, some were deprived of work, some were forced to leave home, and some were discriminated against at their workplace and were unable to receive the benefits that they deserved. For these things, some practitioners passively forbear, and some think practitioners should not be attached to money and property, thus letting it be. We should look at this issue from the perspective of Fa-rectification. This is part of the persecution arranged by the old forces. Dafa disciples should oppose it, and maintain a basic human living environment.
In "Fa-Rectification and Cultivation" (Essentials for Further Advancement II), Teacher said,
"During the Fa-rectification, Dafa disciples have a different situation from when personal cultivation was done in the past. In the face of the groundless harming, in the face of the persecution of Dafa, and in the face of the injustice forced upon us, we cannot handle things or categorically accept things as before in personal cultivation, because Dafa disciples are now in the Fa-rectification period. If a problem isn't caused by our own attachments or mistakes, then it must be that the evil is interfering or doing bad things."
Having a normal job and life in the everyday society while cultivating, is a way left by Teacher for cultivators. Practitioners should follow this path. After the persecution started, many practitioners' regular work and life were affected, and some even lost their jobs. For a practitioner as an individual, this is interference to personal cultivation and validation of the Fa. If many practitioners have this problem, it is an attack targeting Falun Dafa as a whole and the Fa-rectification. If a practitioner is unable to have a normal job or life, or experiences enormous financial loss, it can be hard for an everyday person to understand it, which might lead to family conflicts. This is an issue of failing to harmonize well in the level of everyday society. Moreover, the Fa-rectification period is different from ordinary cultivation. If more practitioners were unable to have a normal work or life, not only are they unable to harmonize at the level of ordinary society, but it also affects their validating the Fa and saving sentient beings. If we are unable to meet basic life requirements and have to exhaust ourselves every day to make a living, how could we have more energy and more time to validate the Fa? Right now, preparing truth-clarification materials and saving sentient beings requires some financial input. If all practitioners were forced into financial difficulty, or deprived of their basic human living environment, they would have no spare money to do things to validate the Fa. The fact that Jiang's regime has a policy of "bankrupting [practitioners] financially" indicates this. Furthermore, the persecution is sustained monetarily. After extorting money from practitioners, the police use it as bonus money for their persecution work, or to further the persecution. Zhangshi Labor Camp in Shenyang City, Liaoning Province extorted money from practitioners in the name of "tuition" for the Zhangshi Brainwashing Center. Part of the money was used to purchase high-voltage electric batons to torture practitioners with. Therefore, sometimes when we do not safeguard our basic human living conditions, we may actually help those responsible for the persecution, and foster their bad deeds.
When practitioners' human living conditions are damaged, it also presents a negative image to everyday people. Thus it could negatively affect truth-clarification and saving sentient beings. Most people nowadays are pursuing material interests, and many do not know the true wonderfulness of Falun Dafa and the benefits it offers in body and mind. Instead, they only see that practicing Falun Dafa results in persecution, suppression, being arrested and detained, financial loss, or deprivation of job. In this way, even if they could come to know that the persecution is wrong, they could still have a negative impression of Falun Dafa or stay away--since they believe that practicing Falun Dafa often leads to "trouble."
Teacher has said that cultivation directly targets the human heart; we do not lose anything materially. Teacher also repeatedly told us to maximally conform to the everyday society. Of course, under the current situation, it is not unusual for some practitioners to experience certain financial losses or lose their jobs. When this occurs to more practitioners, however, it means there is something wrong with us. Practicing Falun Dafa will bring wonderfulness; how come there is loss? Why are we experiencing unfair treatment? Could it be that we condone evil and agree with the persecution? Therefore, Dafa practitioners need to safeguard the human living condition, and completely oppose the old forces' persecution.
The old forces' persecution of Dafa practitioners can be explicitly seen in terms of work. Many practitioners are unable to have a regular life, or have been removed from their original posts. This is especially the case for some practitioners who have been to Beijing, detained and sent to labor camps, and who are discriminated against in terms of their salary. Practitioners should request a reasonable job and salary. This also creates opportunities to clarify the truth to more government officers.
Practitioners should maintain their legitimate financial rights. However, we cannot be attached to material gain or money, nor could we strongly pursue the result. A practitioner may also have financial debts, and some things that were lost may not have belonged to us in the first place. In fact, after experiencing such an enormous tribulation, we should not be too attached to money. There is no difference between financial gain and loss, since everything was given by the Fa. The maintaining of legitimate rights is not to satisfy our personal desire, but to oppose the persecution and validate the Fa. While part of the Dafa disciples' income should be used to meet daily needs, more of it should be used to validate the Fa.
October 25, 2004