(Minghui.org) I still see practitioners in China overlooking obvious security failures, and I would like to share some of my views about this.
I knew little about phone surveillance years ago, just enough to understand that I should disconnect the landline before talking about Dafa-related information next to the phone. But I mistakenly believed that once I turned off my cellphone, it could not be used to monitor my conversations.
I visited a practitioner one day whom I had not seen for years. He asked if I had a cellphone with me, and I told him yes, but that the power was off. He asked me to remove the battery, which I did, but I felt a bit resentful. It was a lot of trouble to remove the battery, and I believed that our conversation would be safe if I just turned the phone off. My misunderstanding made me feel that the practitioner’s request was unnecessary, and I was reluctant to comply because I was holding on to my understanding, thinking that the phone was secure.
As I gradually learned more about security issues, a police officer told me how easy it was to monitor people. I witnessed how the authorities remotely controlled my phone, and I thus became more conscious of the issue. I studied Master Li’s lectures about cellphone security and took the issue seriously.
Many practitioners have been arrested because they failed to pay attention to security, but became aware of it after they were released. After a while, police attention started to quiet down, and some people began to talk freely when their phones were nearby.
Some practitioners didn’t mind talking about Dafa-related subjects over the phone, believing that the authorities would not understand the code words they used. Some practitioners, when exchanging Dafa materials outside of their homes, which they were not supposed to do, acted in a way that they thought no one would notice, not knowing that even ordinary citizens noticed they were acting strangely, let alone the police. Behind these actions was the notion of “if I think it’s safe to do, then it’s safe.”
Based on the Fa, there are two main reasons for ignoring obvious security risks. The first is emotion and the attachments related to it. These practitioners were acting based on their emotions and attachments instead of on the Fa teachings. Some practitioners said their families wouldn’t understand why they wouldn’t bring a cellphone with them when they left home. The various worries and excuses stemmed from human notions and principles.
Another reason was that practitioners refuse to base their thinking on reasoning. They act based on what they think they know. For instance, when they did not know or believe that cellphones and some apps could be easily hacked, they dared to use them to communicate with other practitioners. They also thought that the police wouldn’t understand the words they substituted when talking about Dafa-related topics on the phone, or notice their weird moves when exchanging Dafa materials—they believed they were safe.
These practitioners defend themselves saying, “I’ll be safe because I have strong righteous thoughts, which will protect me from evils.” Righteous thoughts come from Dafa, but actions that go against the Fa teachings do not come from righteous thinking. This reminds me of the folktale, “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” in which the king thought he was wearing luxurious new clothing, while everyone else saw that he was wearing nothing but his underwear. The practitioners who failed to pay attention to safety issues thought they were brave and had righteous thoughts. In contrast, other practitioners saw how they were irrational, and deviating from the Fa.
Believing something is safe to do does not necessarily mean it is safe to do. The righteous thoughts from self-righteous actions have no impact on the evil. Only by treating the issue rationally can the safety of practitioners be assured.
Paying attention to safety issues is, in fact, part of our cultivation. It is easier to ignore things, hold on to one’s attachment to comfort, and think only superficially. In our cultivation, we should act based on reason and Master’s teachings, not on our emotions.
Articles in which cultivators share their understandings typically reflect an individual's perception at a point in time based on their cultivation state, and they are offered in the spirit of enabling mutual elevation.
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Category: Cultivation Insights