(Clearwisdom.net) At the moment when the police came, all the things that I had not done well played out in front of my eyes, just like a movie: it took me quite a few days to finish reading one lecture of Zhuan Falun; I was not respectful to the Fa because I had listened to the Fa while preparing truth-clarification materials; I would relax my legs after meditating for no more than half an hour; sometimes I missed the time for sending righteous thoughts on the hour without making it up later; at one stage I was too busy worrying about how to make more money; and I had been using preparing truth-clarification materials as an excuse for not being diligent. I knew that I was on the edge of danger and that the old forces would no longer be content to stand by and watch anymore.
When I thought of these things, I felt a cold shiver go through my body. What a dangerous state I was in. But at the same time I remembered straight away that I am a Dafa disciple and the evil has no right to test me. Though I had omissions, everything would be rectified by the great Fa. I admitted my fault to Master in my heart: "Your disciple did wrong, I will truly practice cultivation in the future." I begged Master for help, "I still have many wishes not fulfilled, and there are so many sentient beings waiting to be saved. I can't let the police take me away." Just like that, I escaped right before the police's eyes while sending righteous thoughts.
Recently, there have been many reports on the Minghui/Clearwisdom website about practitioners being arrested. With the Fa-rectification at the present stage, why there are still so many cases of persecution? When an incidence of persecution occurs, what should we do? I personally think we must realize that it is our own omissions that have given the evil an excuse, and, at the same time, we must have the mindset of being against the persecution and denying the old forces' arrangements.
Master said:
"Let me tell you, all those who remain and that can persecute Dafa and Dafa disciples are due to our students themselves." ("Fa-Lecture at the Conference in Florida, U.S.A.")
So we should unconditionally look inwards. When we find our fundamental attachments, the evil will vanish.
But recently, things like this have happened: when a particular practitioner got into trouble and was persecuted and other practitioners pointed out where he didn't do well, he did not listen and became impatient. Some others even said a few sentences in retort. I have also heard: "The persecution is happening every day, and the evil is bound to try to persecute us and put up a last-ditch struggle. What has that got to do with me? Aren't many steadfast practitioners also persecuted?" They find various reasons to avoid looking inwards.
Master has told us:
"Yet when we run into problems, we often look outwards--'Why are you treating me like that?'--and feel that we've been treated unfairly, instead of examining ourselves. That's the greatest and most fatal obstacle for all living beings. In the past, some people said that it was impossible to succeed in cultivation. How could one succeed in cultivation? [They couldn't succeed] because that was the biggest obstacle, and nobody was willing to find faults in himself amidst problems. When a person feels hurt, or when he encounters misfortune, it's really difficult for him to still examine himself and see if he's done something wrong. If a person can do that, then I'd say that on this path, on this path of cultivation, and for the eternity of his existence, nothing can stop him." ("Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Singapore")
Master also said:
"I don't care how long you've cultivated for, and it doesn't matter what reputation you have among Dafa disciples, I can guarantee that's what's going on when you're not paying attention to these things. Let me tell you, no matter how well you've cultivated, as long as you still have everyday people's attachments, those are what demons can use, and when you're not paying attention they can be used at any moment." ("Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Boston")
So, no matter how well we think we have cultivated, and how much we think we have done in validating Dafa, we must look inwards unconditionally. The real improvement is the improvement in understanding the Fa. Only when we improve our xinxing can the gong potency be increased. All the rest is just an excuse to cover oneself. Sometimes we wonder why a certain practitioner still encounters trouble when he has been such a good cultivator, so determined, and had denied the persecution in the past. How come these kinds of practitioners are in trouble now? When we think like that, aren't we looking outwards? There is no model in cultivation. Master wants each of us to walk our own path to righteous enlightenment. These paths are left for future reference.
Looking inwards doesn't mean someone didn't cultivate well, and it is not a matter of losing face. On the contrary, looking inwards is one of the fundamental requirements of purifying and improving oneself. Since we are the protectors of the new cosmos, how can our thoughts not be pure and not meet the Fa's standard?
To put it even more seriously, a cultivator who doesn't let go off his attachment is committing a crime towards Dafa. Every time I recall myself behaving like an everyday person, controlled by the old forces and its elements, and not clear-headed, I feel that I dare not face Master. "Macro- and microcosm, filled with eyes" ("The Great Way's Spreading" in "Hongyin" II) All of our words and actions are recorded in the universe.
After this experience, I understand I must look inwards without relying on practitioners' reminders and Master's hints or the old forces' malicious tests to help me. Otherwise, I would be just like the patient whose Main Spirit becomes alert out of fear when a doctor at a psychiatric hospital picks up an electric-shock club in his hand. Though the attachment is temporarily withdrawn due to fear, and it seems to no longer exist, it will return when the environment improves, because the attachment hasn't been dug out at the root.
Looking inwards doesn't mean that we give in to the evil and admit we are wrong and thus we should be persecuted. We must be clear in our minds that Dafa disciples are against the persecution. Because the Fa-rectification is happening in the universe, all beings--from the extreme micro to the extreme macro--are repositioning themselves. How can a being facing elimination be allowed to arrange the cultivation way for others? What Master wants is to return the universe to its purest innate status, and also to improve various congenital deficiencies of the old universe, so those beings could be purer and better than their original innate states. This is not something that the old forces or any being in the universe could ever accomplish. Thus, Dafa disciples must fundamentally deny the old forces' arrangements. Master is only making use of the old forces' arrangements to place sentient beings at different levels in the positions they belong. Dafa disciples are establishing their mighty virtue through the process of working against this persecution and saving sentient beings. What we achieve in the end is what Master wants.
I often hear practitioners making similar comments on a practitioner who is being persecuted: "He must have had omissions" and blaming him for not paying attention to safety issues or not studying the Fa well. They say things like, "He's got xinxing problems, he's not that good," and they look down on these persecuted practitioners. This is going to the nother extreme when compared with the mentality of admiring those practitioners that were persecuted when the persecution first started. Some others think that, since the persecution is happening every day, it is a "natural" phenomenon now, and so they have developed a passive and pessimistic attitude toward it. Some send righteous thought or try to find a way to rescue these practitioners. But when they can't see any results after some time, they think whatever it is that they are dong is not useful and give up. All these mentalities are, to varying degrees, actually accepting the old forces persecution after having humanly fostered the evil demons.
The old forces have no right to interfere with the cultivation of Dafa disciples, regardless of whether we have done well or not, or how our xinxing is. Their sole purpose is to eliminate and destroy sentient beings; they do not have the ability to save any sentient being or to help Dafa disciples to reach consummation at different realms of the new universe. They themselves have deviated from the Fa and are among those to be eliminated. Where right do they have to test others?
Some practitioners have become numb and have started to slack off to differing degrees as the Fa-rectification is continuing. Some hope the persecution will end soon, while others decide to take it easy, and walk each step steadily, because the persecution has gone on for quite a a few years already and may continue even longer. Actually, we have already seen the attitude of the world's people and the situation in today's world undergo a great change since the beginning of the persecution. This is the result of Dafa disciples' continuous efforts to clarify the facts. It is our own lack of diligence in cultivation that is slowing down the pace of Fa-rectification. The old forces are continuing their persecution with the excuse of hammering practitioners into shape. Behind this "natural" outcome, is there anything that we need to improve? Isn't it the case that if all the Dafa disciples around the world could send righteous thoughts at the same time, in five minutes the evil would be totally eliminated? More importantly, it is our great Master's compassion to save many more sentient beings. Many everyday people in this world are from high levels and are related to the enormous universes behind them. Master doesn't want to see so many beings from high levels destroyed when the Fa-rectification occurs and wants to offer them the chance to be saved. We are cultivating to be selfless, enlightened beings: isn't working against the persecution and saving sentient beings the expression of our original nature? It is totally opposite from the old forces' goal of "self-protection" and destroying sentient beings.
Therefore, Dafa disciple's journey of working against this persecution is remarkable, compassionate, and great. It is also the manifestation of Master's compassion (by achieving what Dafa disciples should accomplish). We must treasure this rare opportunity and truly become particles of the Fa-rectification. Any attachment to this world or relying on everyday people's help is a failing in Master's hopes for changing us into new lives, and is letting all sentient beings in the universes down.
That is why I think the proper attitude that a Fa-rectification period Dafa disciple should have is not only to be against the persecution but also to look inwards. It is not something we can ignore, because it is the means by which we can totally eliminate the evil and enter into the new universe.
