Using Righteous Thoughts to Correct Our Omissions

By a practitioner from China

(Clearwisdom.net)

I'm a Falun Dafa practitioner. I found from July 20, 1999, that everything and everybody has been trying to get even with me. It has various kinds of manifestations. For example, my family, my colleagues and things that I bumped into all required me to listen to them and act upon their wills. Since the time when I obtained the Fa, I've been trying to improve myself. But I'm still a practitioner in cultivation. Therefore, I did things that a true practitioner shouldn't have done. I still have many attachments to give up. I didn't pass every tribulation very well. My impure words and deeds had a bad influence on some people. I wasn't being responsible all the time. I caused pain to others when I wasn't willing to help them. I must have also hurt some people that I didn't realize, even until now. However, since the start of the persecution, all these things and people required me to make up for my mistakes. Here, I'd like to share my experiences with my fellow practitioners. Please correct me if I impart anything inappropriate.

Currently, there are two kinds of practitioners that don't suffer much from the persecution. First, there are those practitioners that have righteous thoughts and righteous deeds. Second, there are those whose thoughts and acts unintentionally follow the arrangements of the old forces. In this article, I only want to talk about the second kind of practitioners. The manifestation that those practitioners suffered little from the persecution is actually a false illusion. It seems that they had no illness karma or they could successfully achieve anything that they pursued, which made them feel that "I must have been walking a righteous path, doing very well in my cultivation and have a good understanding of the Fa, since nobody's persecuting me." Therefore, they were lost in the "peaceful environment" created by the old forces. They became more and more stuck in their own understanding. Eventually, they would get "enlightened" to some wrong things. They were satisfied with what they did. They didn't do all the three things that Teacher asked us to do. They were not willing to improve themselves any more.

Those practitioners also tended to "leak out information," since they had unintentionally surrendered themselves to the old forces. They often intentionally or unintentionally talked about what they did or what their fellow practitioners did when they talked to other practitioners on the phone or under some other circumstances. (They weren't afraid or brainwashed. They didn't willingly sell out themselves or other fellow practitioners.) This is a very serous matter, since in essence, they sold out other practitioners, even though they did it unintentionally or they didn't realize it themselves. They would do this again and again until one day, suddenly they themselves realized or some body else made them see what they had done. They would feel they had accumulated a huge amount of karma. They didn't want to face fellow practitioners. They would separate themselves from other practitioners. Meanwhile, the old forces would make the other practitioners dislike those practitioners. All of this happened to prepare for the old forces to start the persecution of those practitioners. They might have done truth-clarification work too, e.g. burning truth-clarification CDs or distributing truth-clarification fliers. Some of their families or friends knew about these. When they chatted with other people on the phone, they tended to "unintentionally" mention what those practitioners had done, even though those practitioners had asked them to keep it a secret, while the telephones were monitored. All of this would provide information to those malicious operatives. These things happened, because those practitioners didn't hold strong righteous thoughts or when they were in an everyday person's state.

When they tried to find a job, they were afraid to let the employers know that they were Falun Dafa practitioners, because they thought it would make it difficult to find a job or it would make them suffer from the persecution. They were afraid to let others know that they were sent to forced labor camps, since they thought it would ruin their reputation. They worried that they couldn't make a living if others were to know that they were practitioners. Because of this, they put their personal safety above everything else. They didn't dare to clarify the truth to people who were close to them. Or, they reduced their efforts or time in doing truth-clarification. All of these were in harmony with the arrangements of the old forces. They actually somehow helped the evil to cover up the persecution, since they tried not to let people know that Falun Dafa practitioners were being inhumanely tortured. The evil would continue to intensify the persecution. Eventually, those practitioners either got transformed or stuck in the state of trying to live their lives as before and to pursue comforts. Without knowing it, they tended to be "good people." They lost the heart to strive forward under the temptations of various kinds of benefits. They would be fundamentally ruined, since they forgot to diligently cultivate themselves and to clarify the truth to people as a Falun Dafa practitioner.

When they didn't feel well or look good, the old forces would make them doubt themselves, that they didn't do a good job as a Fa-rectification period Dafa disciple. They thought that practicing Dafa would make them healthy and look good. Actually, it is an attachment to hold an expectation that practicing Dafa should make people look healthy and feel comfortable. They would then try to do a better job in Dafa, however, they wouldn't see much difference in their looks. Meanwhile, other people would point out that they didn't look good. They became anxious. They went to have a physical checkup. The results showed that indeed their health wasn't so good, which confirmed their doubts. Later, they really became ill or were persecuted. They lost their righteous belief in the Fa.

Another typical manifestation of following the arrangements of the old forces is that some practitioners didn't want to clarify the truth. Or they would pick convenient places when doing truth-clarification. We can see that they had the attachment of differentiation. Or they didn't want to clarify the truth to people living in their areas since they were afraid their identity would get exposed. Not listening to Teacher is wrong. Even the old forces of the old cosmos thinks its wrong that a disciple refuses to truly follow his Master. It would give the old forces an excuse to persecute those practitioners. When Teacher told us to do something, the old forces would intensify the persecution if we didn't do it or if we didn't try our best to do it. Besides, those practitioners' motives were based on everyday people's attachments. They tried to protect their own benefits in the human world. They decided to do or not to do Dafa things based on whether their own interests could be harmed or not, instead of being based on the needs of the Fa. We should definitely do what Teacher told us to do. Then we should think about how to do it. The very last thing that we should consider is the issue of security and safety. Those practitioners followed the old forces' arrangements, since just as the old forces, they put things that they wanted above everything else. When they used the excuse of safety to try to stay in their "peaceful" state and protect their own interests, they were just like the old forces that tried to keep and protect what they wanted. Actually, the part of us that hasn't obtained the Fa belonged to the old cosmos. Those practitioners didn't put the needs of the Fa above everything else. They didn't pay attention to the three things that Teacher asked us to do. We can imagine what would happen to them if they subjected themselves to the old forces.

Their attachment of fear grew. The old forces then took advantage of this. The more they were afraid, the worse the old forces would make their environment. They would be even more closely monitored and more obviously tailed. They would get to know more news that made them even more anxious, e.g. how the other fellow practitioners were brutally tortured and how the persecution became more serious. They would then fear that they would lose personal freedom and their possessions. Therefore, they tried to hide. And they would deal with the persecution and protect themselves using everyday people's approaches. When this happened, they were actually not persecuted by the old forces, but simply by malicious people, since the basis of their suffering was on a human level. Therefore, they would take their suffering as harm done by people instead of by the old forces. Teacher said in Zhuan Falun,

"...so if you always think it's a health problem you're actually asking for it--you are asking for that problem, and now it's able to set in." (Zhuan Falun) They asked for persecution. Then they would get persecuted. The old forces might also frighten those practitioners by persecuting the practitioners that they knew or worked with on Dafa projects. For example, a fellow practitioner was sentenced to over ten years' imprisonment. Those practitioners would get a warning, "You did some things with him. You might also be sentenced to a long-term imprisonment. Now we can give you an opportunity if you do this and that for us ..."

Those practitioners might then give up practicing the Fa or even report on other fellow practitioners.

How to make the best use of time in order to do more important things? Currently, we should use all the time that we can spare on the three things that Teacher asked us to do. Many practitioners couldn't see this clearly and therefore are taken advantage of. Now the price index in China is really low. This is actually to provide convenience to Falun Dafa practitioners to do truth-clarification work. We should be satisfied if the money that we make can get us through. We don't need to try so hard to earn more money or to save a penny here and there. Of course, I didn't mean not working hard. For example, some practitioners would go a long way to some remote areas to buy stuff at a lower price or cook themselves in order to save some money. However, they had to spend a lot of time on those trips or in the kitchen. They saved some money, but lost a lot of time. No loss no gain. They would save a lot of time if they could buy commodities in their own areas, even though the price might be a little higher. Currently, Teacher gave us time simply for the purpose of allowing the Dafa practitioners to save sentient beings. How can we spend so much time in exchange for personal interests? How would we look to the cosmos? How can we not have troubles if we keep acting like this? We should take those three things that Teacher asked us to do as the basis for our actions. We can clarify the truth wherever we can and whatever we do. But, we shouldn't make excuses to try to justify our attachments.

Some practitioners don't do a good job in prioritizing things. They wanted to do daily chores first and then concentrate on main tasks. However, they got trapped in various kinds of things unrelated to Dafa and ended up with no time for Dafa work.

Some other practitioners took Dafa work as if it was an everyday person's job. The more they are attached to everyday people's things, the more often their family or friends would ask them to do this or that. They couldn't decline those requests, since they had the attachment of sentimentality. Driven by this attachment, they got too busy and fought for everyday people. They got lost in those things and spent an enormous amount of wasted time. As Falun Dafa practitioners, we shouldn't be attached to everyday people's sentimentality.

When seeing desirable things, some practitioners wanted to get them, since they had the attachment of possession and desire. They tended to look outside to get something to help themselves do Dafa work. They tried to find excuses from the Fa, even when it actually was their own attachment. When they learned there were books, food or clothing that they wanted somewhere else, they would travel there to pursue those things. They ended up wasting a lot of time, because of this heart.

When they missed some opportunity, because of one thought, they regretted it very much. They tried to get it back or finish the thing that wasn't done or that they couldn't get done. They couldn't let it go and would try to do it again and again. They couldn't get enlightened to it, even when they tried and failed several times already. They spent a lot of time on it. Meanwhile, they couldn't keep a calm mind to do other things.

Some practitioners had a financial difficulty, which made them have the attachment to money. They felt making money was even more important than doing those three things that Teacher asked us to do. This would give the old forces ample excuse to persecute those practitioners, since they didn't follow Teacher. Meanwhile, they were busy at work because they pursued a successful career. They got stuck in everyday people's work and spent tons of time on those things. Eventually, they paid less and less attention to cultivation. This would lay a foundation for the old forces to start the persecution of those practitioners.

The old forces would take advantage of your hobbies and things that you were interested in by intensifying your attachments to those things. They might find another person that shared their hobbies or interests. They would spend a lot of time with that person on the things that they were interested in.

Some practitioners considered the issue of money, when making truth-clarification materials. They would make fewer copies or even stop making copies to save money. Or they would ask for money from other fellow practitioners, when their fellow practitioners weren't any richer than they were. They put themselves ahead of others and tried to protect their own interests, which gave the old forces another excuse to launch the persecution of those practitioners, since they weren't qualified to do sacred Fa-rectification work with this kind of mentality. Some practitioners even asked for money from practitioners living abroad. They fell into the trap the old forces made, since malicious people would claim that those practitioners "accepted money from overseas anti-China organizations and worked for those organizations" and "joined and organized a cult to collect money" and then sentenced them to long-term imprisonment.

They would try to get back illegally confiscated possessions or money by asking help from inside relationships or friends. Or, they used corporate credit cards to buy things for Dafa. These are not righteous acts that Falun Dafa practitioners should leave for people in the future to follow. Dafa practitioners shouldn't actively ask people to do this, thinking that it's OK if the everyday people were willing to do this themselves for the practitioners.

Some practitioners got attached to time, place, the feeling of tiredness or other sensations. If we were attached to time, we would question why the persecution hadn't ended after so long, which would make us doubt the Fa and not be sure about our belief in the Fa. If we were attached to a place, we would feel insecure in some places, which would prompt us to move often, until we moved to a really dangerous place and were arrested. If we were afraid of getting tired, we would become sleepy. When we didn't have enough sleep, we would think that it wasn't healthy to sleep less. Actually, these are the thoughts of everyday people.

Many practitioners realized that they had some attachments. They became anxious and tried to find a way or do something to make up for it. This is an omission, since they were actually looking outside. They would want to do something when they had that attachment, while as practitioners, we should not be driven by attachments. They might follow that attachment to commit some wrongdoings. They might think of some things and get annoyed by some things, because of the attachment. Or they might want to find a way to get rid of the attachment, since they became afraid of that attachment. In a word, that attachment would drive them to do various kinds of things. When Falun Dafa practitioners uncover an attachment, we should be determined in getting rid of it. Then we should let it go as soon as possible. This is cultivation. Otherwise, it would be the same as if we were holding on to it, because we think about it all the time.

Some practitioners were attached to the superficial meaning of words and phrases in the Fa. Because of this, they felt that what happened contradicted what Teacher said. They started to have questions and doubted the Fa and not be determined in their belief in the Fa. For example, Teacher said, "Their skin becomes delicate and fair, it glows with health ..." (Zhuan Falun, The First Talk) But those practitioners were thin and had dark skin. They should have looked inside to dig out the root cause to this. Instead, they thought, "I've been practicing for so long. This Fa is not good, since I didn't see any improvement with my health." Teacher also said, "...you can't get divorced just because you practice." (Zhuan Falun, The Sixth Talk) During the persecution, the old forces made some practitioners get divorced, thereby leaving people with the impression that practitioners got divorced because they practiced Falun Gong. They did this to test practitioners. Actually, the persecution Jiang personally launched is the root cause of this.

As a matter of fact, it is easy to detect things that are based on everyday people's notions. They are the things that make you pay more attention to the benefits in everyday people's society, that make you not believe or doubt anything that surpasses everyday people's abilities. These are the places where the evil will try to take advantage of us.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2004/2/16/67475.html

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