(Clearwisdom.net)
I think the old forces use the following excuses just to persecute Dafa practitioners. When we expose their excuses, they won't be able to justify their persecution. The following are my understandings at my current level.
Excuse 1: Falun Dafa practitioners made vows to them
Here is why this excuse is invalid. Falun Dafa practitioners came to this world to learn Teacher's Fa. We didn't take anything from the old forces. Which Fa principle(s) could they use to force conditions on Dafa disciples? Besides, Teacher said in Zhuan Falun:
"It's up to you whether you cultivate. Or to put it another way, when you choose your own path, when you decide what you want, or when you're trying to get something--nobody will stop you. They can only try to kindly persuade you."
What Teacher said is Fa. Therefore, as long as we strengthen our righteous thoughts and do not accept the old forces' arrangements, they will have no right to interfere with us.
Excuse 2: Falun Dafa practitioners have attachments
Here are the reasons why this excuse is invalid. During cultivation, practitioners' attachments will surface. If we didn't have any attachments, we would have already reached Consummation. Would the old forces be allowed to torture practitioners to death simply because practitioners had attachments at their level or didn't have the perseverance or ability to bear suffering or didn't reach the so-called higher requirements of the old forces? The old forces have tried to take advantage of practitioners' omissions. However, they haven't realize that Teacher has said no to them. What Teacher said is Fa. Therefore, they have been denied by the Fa. Doesn't it mean that their omissions are even much larger? Besides, Teacher said, "The universe of the future is created by this Fa." ("Fa Teaching at the 2007 New York Fa Conference") Shouldn't all the lives in the cosmos that want to have a future follow Teacher's Fa?
The new cosmos is created by Teacher's Fa. Whoever doesn't care when they see the evil doing bad things or persecuting the Fa, think about your future. From this perspective, I think that when necessary, Falun Dafa practitioners can ask all the lives that recognize the Fa to help eliminate the evil. The cosmos of the future is created by the Fa. Therefore, whoever tries to change the Fa is actually trying to change the future of all lives in the whole cosmos. Whether they can really change anything or not, they are trying to persecute all the lives in the whole cosmos.
The evil has used the excuse of "helping practitioners improve" to force the persecution on practitioners. However, the old forces are also within the cosmos and therefore they have to follow the Fa of the cosmos. I think the Fa of the cosmos has the power to implement its will. Therefore, we can send forth righteous thoughts to command all the positive elements to eliminate the evil. Besides, the evil is not supposed to interfere with our cultivation. We are cultivating Falun Dafa and Teacher is watching us. We haven't followed anything from the old forces, so why would they try to interfere with Falun Dafa?
Excuse 3: The old forces claim that Fa-rectification is related to them and whether Dafa practitioners can cultivate well or not is tied to the future of the cosmos.
This excuse is invalid because the old forces have been denied by the Fa, which means they have been discarded by the future. Since they are to be discarded, what kind of relationship could they have with the future?
Excuse 4: Practitioners owed them lives
Here is why this excuse is invalid. Let's assume practitioners made mistakes in their previous lives; however, which life in this universe dares to claim that it didn't? Who dares to claim they still reach the standards of the original cosmos when it was first created? In fact, during the process of the formation-stasis-degeneration-destruction of the old cosmos' Fa, all lives unintentionally became impure. From the perspective of the Fa at each level, all lives committed crimes. If there were a judgment, the judgment shouldn't have targeted only Dafa practitioners. Our benevolent Teacher said:
"I disregard all the sins beings have committed in the past! (Applause) During this Fa-rectification I only look at beings' attitudes toward the Fa-rectification! (Applause)"
("Fa-Lecture During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference")
What Teacher said is Fa. Even if we have to pay back our karmic debts, Teacher will have ways to balance everything. There is one prerequisite, that is, we must act as true cultivators and we must act righteously, since my understanding is that Teacher will only help true cultivators.
Excuse 5: To help Falun Dafa practitioners establish mighty virtue
Why is this excuse invalid? Let's ask the old forces a question. Is it OK to make sentient beings lose righteous thoughts about the Fa and therefore lose their future simply because this can help practitioners establish mighty virtue? Can they use this as an excuse to persecute sentient beings? Falun Dafa practitioners cultivate compassion to achieve righteous enlightenment of selflessness and altruism. We would definitely not agree to have sentient beings trapped and killed simply in order to establish mighty virtue for ourselves. We would never recognize such an approach. Besides, during Fa-rectification cultivation, the amount of mighty virtue that we receive is not determined by how seriously we are persecuted. In my understanding, to establish mighty virtue, it is essential for us to keep righteous thoughts and righteous acts during tribulations and the evil persecution.
The above are my personal understandings. Please correct me if I have said anything inappropriate. The reason that I wrote this article is to discuss this topic with fellow practitioners from the Fa so we can better understand the Fa from the Fa and end the persecution and expose the evil's ulterior purpose.
