By Lan Yin

(Clearwisdom.net) For the past few days, through studying the Fa and thinking about the issue of "validating the Fa" I further understood the difference between individual cultivation and Fa-rectification cultivation. Dafa practitioners must regard Dafa as the top priority, instead of using meeting the requirement of ridding ourselves of individual attachments as the standard. Oftentimes when we encounter problems and look inward, we think we have already given up the attachment, yet we still couldn't do this well. At this time, we must consider whether we had only paid attention to individual cultivation and did not place the proper importance on Dafa. If this is the case, then we are likely to be undermining our own efforts or opening ourselves up to be taken advantage of by the evil.

After becoming clear on this, another point that had confused me was solved as well.

A while ago, two veteran practitioners, who were always considered determined without a doubt, accepted brainwashing. They had their own "systematic" principles. Among those, they emphasized that they had already given up "fundamental attachments to matters of humans;" moreover, they stated that this was not because they were afraid of torture.

I have been thinking about why their "system" not only tightly restrained them but also affected other practitioners. I even formed plans on how to advise them to correct their ways and how to refute their twisted logic one by one after they come back, but this time I felt especially upset, uneasy and anxious. Previously I had thought they did this out of fear or in an attempt to cover up their fear and attachments. From the perspective of a human being's feelings, I felt what they did betrayed Master and Dafa. These realizations did not settle me down, however. I also knew that if I argued with them with such understandings, the result would be short of my expectations.

I experienced a vague, painful feeling. I could not understand why they willingly accepted such evil understandings, not because of torture or when they were not thinking clearly. Now I understand the reason I felt like I was in pain was because I still had my own confusion to deal with, confusion that for a Dafa practitioner comes from not truly understanding the Fa from the Fa!

These two practitioners placed the importance of discarding personal attachments above upholding and validating Dafa. In fact, deep down they did not truly give up their attachments, either. At the very least, they still had the attachment to Consummation. I think if Dafa disciples do not clearly realize our mission of "validating the Fa" and "assisting Master to rectify the Fa," no matter how well you give up attachments on the surface, there would be no essential difference between you and past cultivators. You would still be trapped within selfishness. Simply put, you would have to give up human attachments even if you are trying to cultivate into demons. Those who wrote the "Three Statements" and slandered Master and Dafa even claimed they had given up human attachments. If even your mouth were half-willingly used by the evil, how would you be able to validate the righteousness of Dafa to the world's people? You stepped forward only because you could not reach Consummation without doing so. When you felt that it seems like if you do the opposite, your attachments would still be eliminated, you forgot about the true meaning of a Dafa disciple's existence! Even non-practitioners know that poor behavior will not produce good results. How can a practitioner be reformed by the twisted words of those clowns?

Cherishing Dafa is cherishing ourselves. Let us truly place Dafa as the top priority and let go of all attachments to selfishness in different, disguised forms.

After writing this article I felt my heart had become clear, because I had realized a principle. Although my understanding is shallow, the process of our writing articles is a process of exposing the evil's interferences and confusion. Whether shallow or deep, my heart reached that point through enlightening to certain principles. An article with righteous thoughts itself is able to eliminate the evil, and at the same time it eliminates the remaining confusion within our hearts. Every step we take forward as a whole will thus shock the evil.

Fellow practitioners, please benevolently point out anything inappropriate.

August 11, 2002

Posting date: 8/23/2002
Original article date: 8/22/2002
Category: Practitioners' Insights
Translated on 8/17/2002
Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2002/8/14/34789.html

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