By a practitioner in China

(Clearwisdom.net) Recently, when I shared with fellow Dafa practitioners how some practitioners suffered tremendous persecution after being arrested and broke out of the evil's den, I discovered that I had a lot of unrighteous thoughts during the conversations, and that I had been virtually following the old forces' arrangements.

For example, my first thought was that one has to endure once he enters the evil's place. I took the persecution for granted. I did not use righteous thoughts to evaluate the issue, and distinguish that this is an abnormal notion. Another example: I felt that if the practitioner can endure the persecution and is able to endure all kinds of persecution while in tribulation, he is really worth admiring. Indeed, those who can break the tribulation with their firm righteous thoughts are great. But have I accepted the evil persecution and its tests on Dafa practitioners in my thoughts?

Our cultivation is connected with Fa-rectification. Our mission is to assist Teacher in Fa-rectification and to save people. Enduring persecution does not manifest our greatness. Let's ask ourselves: when we have so many attachments, how can we do a good job for Dafa? When practitioners around us appear to have symptoms of severe "disease karma," we sometimes only discovered and the superficial reasons why, and did not find the root cause. Why is it necessary for me to see the problem? Isn't there some aspect included in this for me to improve? Isn't it true that the persecution against an individual is the persecution against the whole body, and against Dafa? Am I able to do my best to send forth pure righteous thoughts to help fellow practitioners to break through the tribulation? Aren't such indifference and nonchalance the attachments that I have to get rid of? Where is my compassion? Am I not virtually accepting such persecution?

Sometimes these abnormal notions made me think that going out to validate Dafa is dangerous, and I thought about how to get rid of the danger by using human ideas and degenerate notions to judge how to deal with the tribulation, and how to hide from it. In fact, all of these are degenerate phenomenon, and arranged by the old forces. Our Teacher said,

"As soon as that kind of thought emerges, the evil might conjure a false image for you, and this will then cause interference." (Guiding the Voyage - Teaching the Fa at the Washington, D.C. International Fa Conference)

"As true practitioners, we should look at issues from a very high level instead of from the perspective of everyday people. Should you believe that you are ill, this may really cause you to become ill. This is because once you assume that you are ill, your xinxing level will be as high as that of everyday people. Qigong practice and true cultivation practice will not lead to illness, particularly under this condition. It is known that what actually causes people to become ill is seventy percent psychological and thirty percent physiological. Typically, if one experiences a mental breakdown, the mind cannot handle it, and one suffers a heavy mental burden before the illness' condition drastically worsens. It is usually like this."

[...]

"If you always believe that you are ill, you will probably make yourself sick as a result. Because your xinxing has dropped to the level of everyday people, an average person will, of course, have illnesses."

[...]

"As a practitioner, if you always think that it is an illness, you are actually asking for it. If you ask for an illness, it will come inside your body. As a practitioner, your xinxing level should be high. You should not always worry that it is an illness, for this fear of illness is an attachment and it can bring you trouble just the same."

(Zhuan Falun, Lecture 6)

In fact, many tribulations come from our unrighteous thoughts. If you always think there are dangers, you may encounter danger. Teacher lectured on this issue, writing,

"It is precisely because of one's ill intentions that one brings to oneself bad things."

[...]

"One righteous mind can subdue one hundred evils."

(Zhuan Falun, Lecture 3)

Many tribulations come from our pursuit. Thus, eliminating abnormal notions and purifying each and every thought of ours is crucial.

I also often mention negating the old forces' arrangement, but if I don't correct my thoughts and distinguish which is part of the old forces, it would be very hard to negate the old forces' arrangement. Only with righteous thoughts and righteous actions, studying the Fa more, following Teacher's requirement and purifying and every thoughts of ours at all times can we break the old forces' arrangement and save more people on a larger scale.

Posting date: 3/13/2003
Original article date: 3/12/2003
Category: Practitioners' Insights
Translated on 3/8/2003
Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2003/3/3/45678.html

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