(Clearwisdom.net) Even now, there are still many news stories about the persecution against Falun Dafa practitioners in China. Besides feeling sorry, I also started to ask myself, "Why are there still many practitioners being persecuted when it's so close to the end of the Fa Rectification period?" We can't just simply blame those practitioners as having xinxing problems. We are a group as a whole. Their problem is our problem.
I reviewed the thoughts of some fellow practitioners, as well as my own, and found that we were being blocked by everyday people's notions. We often unconsciously fall into the trap of everyday people's logic. For example, when something happens to us, we normally react by thinking: "How can we resolve the issue? How can we prevent it from happening again?" But we have not gone beyond the surface to look at it at from the level of the Fa and look for problems in our xinxing.
For example, some firm practitioners have done a lot of truth-clarification work, but they may still have some ordinary people's notions and thoughts. "What if I am arrested? What if the policemen do not follow the law? Now that the government does not follow the law, how can an individual go against the government?" When these notions pop up, most of the time the practitioners can "suppress" them. But, if they do not understand these issues based on the Fa, their human notions may pop up when they are arrested. Then, they may acknowledge the evil persecution unintentionally, which in return will lead to them being persecuted.
Therefore, I would like to share my understanding about this issue. If my understanding is not on the Fa, please kindly point it out to me.
First, can the evil do anything they want and use the human government to persecute us at their will? Of course, the answer is no. Many practitioners feel that there are no "protections" for their safety. Some practitioners think that if they are arrested it is because they did not believe in Teacher and the Fa strongly enough. I don't agree. I think that "believing in Teacher and the Fa" is based on rationality. In other words, it is because we have a clear understanding of the Fa that we "believe in Teacher and the Fa." This belief can't be forced or created by anyone. Nor can it be achieved by irrational actions under human sentiment.
What are the characteristics of the universe? They are "Truthfulness, Benevolence, Forbearance." The law of the universe is spread over every level, including the human world. Wasn't the evil that persecutes Dafa and practitioners also created by Dafa in the beginning? In other words, in addition to being restricted by the evil, practitioners are being restricted by the Fa as well. So it is not simply that if the evil finds a gap in our cultivation, then it can persecute us at its will. Dafa is fair. It restricts you, and it restricts them too. Not only does Dafa have requirements for the righteous and benevolent lives, it also has requirements for the negative and evil lives. If the evil wants to take advantage of Dafa practitioners' gaps, can't practitioners take countermeasures too?
When the evil does something against Heaven's law, we can follow Dafa to solemnly clear and eliminate them. That is because all lives must act according to Dafa. That's the only thing allowed. No life can do anything at their own will. Teacher said, "everything has an origin." (Zhuan Falun, Lecture Nine, "A Calm Mind," 2003 translation). Therefore what happens in the human world is not accidental. The persecution was created by the old forces. But if we did everything absolutely right and had all our understanding totally based on the Fa, this persecution would have never happened.
Teacher said in "A Brief Explanation of Shan"
"If a nationality is to be truly virtuous, it must have little karma; it is certain there will be no wars against it. This is because the principles of Dafa prohibit it, as the nature of the universe governs everything. One doesn't need to worry that a virtuous nation will be invaded. The nature of the universe--Dafa--is present everywhere and encompasses the entire cosmic body, from the macroscopic level to the microscopic level."
What I understand is that if we truly act righteously, Dafa will not allow the persecution to continue. The reason that the persecution exists is because we do not have a clear understanding of the Fa. In addition, our "experiences" based on human knowledge and notions interfere with our righteous thoughts, making us feel that we can't do anything to stop it, hence acknowledging the evil persecution to a certain extent.
Teacher has said, "You're a practitioner, so if you always think it's a health problem you're actually asking for it - you are asking for that problem, and now it's able to set in. To be a practitioner your character has to be high. Don't always be afraid that it's a health problem. Fearing that it's a health problem is an attachment in itself, and it can bring you trouble just the same." (Zhuan Falun, Lecture Six, "Qigong Psychosis," 2003 translation). Fellow practitioners, have you ever thought that our fear and worry is actually a form of "asking for it?" Since you "asked" for the persecution, who can stop it?
Teacher also said, "In our universe there's another law: if it's about something you're seeking or just want, nobody can stop you." (Zhuan Falun, Lecture Three, "Spirit Possession," 2003 translation). Because the universe has this law, if our thoughts are not righteous, especially if we do not have a clear understanding of the Fa, the evil will use that as an excuse to continue the persecution.
However, from another angle, do they really have the "right" to take advantage of our gaps? We are Teacher's disciples. Our cultivation paths are arranged by Teacher. Does our cultivation matter to others?
Of course, we should be strict with ourselves. But, since the evil is not our teacher, does it really have the right to "test" us or pick on our "gaps?" Fundamentally speaking, we cultivate to be responsible to ourselves, not for the evil. So, it should not interfere with us at will.
Moreover, we will for sure still have some attachments during our cultivation. If we had already let go of all of our attachments, we would have already reached Consummation. Actually, it is good enough for us cultivators to meet the Fa requirements at our current level. The evil should not persecute us using the excuse that we still have gaps if those gaps are against the standard of a higher level that we will raise up to later.
I think that the persecution against some practitioners is largely related to their not clearly understanding the Fa. So, I have shared my understanding with everyone. I hope we all understand the Fa clearly, so that the persecution can be reduced and we can walk better and more righteously on our cultivation path until the very end.
