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Discipline Ourselves with Higher Standards at All Times Dafa practitioners in China
(Clearwisdom.net)
Recently, vicious police officers in China deceived or kidnapped some
practitioners into attending Brainwashing Classes. Some practitioners resolutely
refused to attend the classes from the beginning, and they sent forth righteous
thoughts to eliminate the evil elements controlling the police. As a result, the
police had no choice but to give up their evil plans. Some other practitioners,
although already deceived into attending the Brainwashing Classes, never changed
their determined, righteous beliefs in Dafa, so the evil again had no choice but
to give up. There were also some practitioners who, even though had remembered
not to betray Dafa under any circumstances, were constantly pressured by the
evil, and eventually wrote a guarantee statement such as "be a good, lawful
citizen." Being released after this, they may have thought, "I did not
betray Dafa." But soon afterwards, the vicious policemen would come to
arrest them again, claiming that the previous guarantee statement did not meet
the requirements, and that they had to rewrite them.
When facing the vicious persecution, the practitioners mentioned above
applied different standards on themselves, which then led to different
consequences.
Teacher said, "A Dafa disciple completely opposes everything arranged by
the evil old forces." "As a Dafa disciple, everything of yours is
formed by Dafa and is the most righteous, and it can only be that [you] rectify
everything that is not righteous. How could you bow to the evil? How could you
promise something to the evil?" ("Dafa is Indestructible")
Nothing is accidental. Different attitudes and reactions of practitioners at
critical moments are actually based on his everyday cultivation during the
Fa-rectification.
If in the process of clarifying the truth and validating the Fa, a
practitioner can let go of all sorts of attachments while always holding
themselves to the most righteous standard of a Dafa particle and rectify
anything that is not righteous, then all of the arrangements made by the evil
old forces can only be used to eliminate the evil, clarify the truth, and
establish our mighty virtue. For these kinds of practitioners, is there anything
that could possibly interfere with or obstruct them? On the other hand, those
practitioners who passively endure tribulations or who even give in step by step
do so partly because they did not take the initiatives during everyday
cultivation during the Fa-rectification or they had attachments of fear. During
the steady upgrading of a Dafa practitioner in the Fa-rectification, only when
one reaches that level could he assimilate to the Fa at that level and be
transformed by the standard at that level. Now, every Dafa practitioner knows
that he should completely oppose everything arranged by the evil old forces, and
rectify anything that is not righteous. If he still cannot achieve this at
critical moments, it is because he did not really let go of those attachments of
an ordinary person. As a result, they weighed him down, not letting him upgrade
to a higher level. His Xinxing (heart/mind nature; moral quality)
standard was only that high, so he was not able to perform according to the
standard of a higher level.
Teacher said, "any fear is itself a barrier that prevents you from
reaching Consummation, and is also a factor in your being 'reformed' toward the
evil side and in your betrayal." ("Dafa is Indestructible").
Every genuine practitioner has to set for himself a standard of,
"Cultivating until no attachments are left" ("Cultivating in the
Maze," Hong Yin, a collection of Master Li's poems), instead of
comparing themselves with their past or with some practitioners who were not
diligent. The Fa-rectification is proceeding rapidly. Pride and arrogance,
long-standing attachments that we haven't gotten rid of, or failing to
discipline ourselves with higher standards at all times, could make us fall
behind.
"Cherish the present time and make the best use of it--this time is
meant for the disciples." ("Lecture on the Fa at the Washington D.C.
International Conference") We must cherish this precious time that Teacher
has given us to cultivate. Teacher is not only waiting for those who have not
yet stepped forward to step forward, but is also waiting for those who have done
wrong deeds to work hard and make up for it, as well those who have fallen
behind to catch up.
The evil old forces are directly involved in persecuting Dafa and Dafa
practitioners. They keep a close watch on every bit of human attachment still
remaining within practitioners, and look for chances to amplify and feed them so
that they can control practitioners and reach their goals of ruining them. In
breaking through the constraints caused by friendship or affection among family
members, or in dealing with different opinions among practitioners, we have had
a good amount of success in breaking through the vicious interferences, as well
as a good amount of lessons of being controlled by them and making mistakes.
In the most recently published article "Fa-Rectification Period Dafa
Disciples," Teacher said, "If during the evil's persecution a Dafa
disciple doesn't do well or slacks off, it's very possible all his previous
efforts will have been for nothing." We should be clear that we must oppose
any so-called "test" arranged by the old forces. Whether or not we can
oppose it and rectify anything that is not righteous by following the highest
standards and having the most righteous mind is exactly Teacher's true test of
us disciples. To pass the tribulations and tests in such a precious time in
history, we have to discipline ourselves with the highest standards all the
time: the highest standards of studying the Fa, cultivating Xinxing, eliminating
the evil, letting go of attachments and overcoming laziness, and dealing with
different opinions among practitioners. We cannot lower the standard or slack
off for a single moment.
Posting date: 8/27/2001
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