Re-Examining the Old Forces

(Clearwisdom.net) In "Explaining the Fa During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference," Master revealed the following while talking about the origin of the old forces:

"We can say that an extremely microscopic, enormous being in the cosmos, one that no Gods can know, ... Because that one thought came from an extremely high level, the cosmos's sentient beings all thought it was the will of Heaven, and that there was no question they'd meet with success, rescuing this grand firmament and cosmic body from destruction."

In the same lecture, Master also said,

"What the students can see or know at present is limited by their levels. The old forces are Gods, and right now it seems to you that their forms change in an incredible number of ways."

Relating this to my experience in Fa-rectification cultivation, I realize that there's still a significant gap between quite a number of Dafa disciples' understanding of the old forces and their true existence in the cosmos.

For instance, even to date, whether it is day-to-day speech or experience-sharing articles, some practitioners display confrontational or resentful sentiments toward the old forces. Some practitioners believe that no matter how high the old forces are, they are not as high as Dafa disciples. Others believe that so long as we act as one body, it won't be a problem to overcome the old forces. I think that all these mentalities contain some human competitiveness, as well as the attachments of self-validation and sentimentality. Only by studying the Fa, can we understand these issues with purity and righteousness.

Dafa disciples come from very high levels. However, where one's level is in the universe is relative. Compared with the highest beings of the old forces that Master mentioned during "Explaining the Fa During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference," it's probable that the origin of some Dafa disciples is not as high as them. In order to eliminate interference from the old forces, we should, as a collective entity, not rely on how high of a level we came from or how many of us there are. Instead, we should be diligent in studying the Fa and focus on cultivating, strengthening, and purifying our righteous thoughts so that the power of Dafa can come into play. This is a question of Fa principles, not a question of levels. Master also requires us to negate the old forces as well as their arrangements. I think there also exists a question of the relationship between a being, the Fa principles, and the Fa-rectification.

So why deny the old forces' arrangements? I gradually realized that this is a requirement of Fa-rectification, and it is driven by what is required by the solemnity of the Fa principles of the cosmos. If our thoughts and actions do not meet the requirements of the Fa, and if we cannot walk our own paths righteously, the old forces will surely test us and interfere with us. They are using the old universe' Fa principles to judge us and guide their own behavior. In other words, they are also following a set of principles, and the principles they follow are much higher and more righteous than those of people today. However, since the principle they follow comes from the old universe, it is not acknowledged by Master and must, therefore, be denied.

If we resent and oppose the old forces simply because they made us endure hardships, and because they created hindrances for us, then we are still in the realm of selfishness. This will make it very difficult to eradicate the old forces' arrangements. As a matter of fact, we are restraining ourselves because of our insufficient understanding of the Fa.

Without Master's Fa-rectification, which is unprecedented in the universe, the old forces would be making reasonable demands when they insist upon imposing the old universe's principles on cultivators. This is because cultivators' speech and conduct must reach the corresponding standard of the Fa at that level of the universe. During the Fa-rectification, and because all beings in the universe are to be saved by Master, and because Dafa disciples are the beings that Master is saving by allowing us to assimilate to the Dafa through cultivation and allowing us to do things to save the beings in Fa-rectification, the old forces are not permitted to interfere and must therefore be thoroughly denied.

That is to say, whether it is us or the old forces, there still exists a fundamental question of how to look at the Fa-rectification and Dafa.

Therefore, in the whole universe, to all beings (including Dafa disciples), the Fa principle is the most critical and the most fundamental standard. Denying the old forces is a requirement of the Fa principles. Even in the Fa-rectification, when it happens that the old forces create interference for us by taking advantage of our loopholes, we should send forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the interference and reduce any losses. But still the best way to eradicate the old forces' arrangements is to promptly and unconditionally look into ourselves, to find out our attachments and shortcomings, and to get rid of them. We need to make our own thoughts and behavior conform to the Fa principles, as well as let the old forces and beings of the universe be sincerely convinced, so that the old forces will withdraw their arrangements on their own. Otherwise, if they will not be reasonable, then neither Master nor the Fa guardians will let them get away with this, since Dafa is both sacred and solemn.

The above is my personal understanding, just for fellow practitioners' reference.

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