Being Persecuted Is Like Being Defeated

By Yu Zheng, a practitioner in China

(Clearwisdom.net)

Over the last eight years I have been constantly persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The most serious persecution I suffered was being jailed for more than five years. In the past I never thought that being persecuted was shameful. On the contrary, I felt some kind of a glory deep in my heart. It had been my opinion that I did not suffer any losses from being persecuted and I felt it was worth it. I had always thought that this mentality was in line with that of a Falun Dafa practitioner.

Recently in my Fa study, I suddenly realized that a practitioner being persecuted by the evil is actually a shameful matter. I realized that the old forces were not worthy of testing Dafa and everything they do must be totally negated. Practitioners would not be persecuted if their righteous thoughts were strong. In the eyes of gods, being persecuted as a practitioner is shameful, not glorious.

In everyday people's language, being persecuted is like being defeated on the battlefield. Of course, as practitioners we validate the Fa, not fight a battle; it is only a metaphor. But isn't being defeated shameful? The more severe the persecution is, the bigger the defeat and the greater the humiliation. Therefore, being persecuted is not a heroic situation but instead is the result of not doing well. It is a stain on our path of cultivation and should not be thought of with pride.

I realized that we have the highest, most honorable title of honor, "Fa-rectification period Dafa disciple," which means that we are truly the greatest lives in the universe. What Teacher has given us is far beyond the old forces or any other lives. Therefore, no one is worthy of persecuting us. As a matter of fact, no one is able to persecute us. Though we still have karma and still need to walk on the path of cultivation, we are looked after by our Teacher, and only our Teacher is worthy of arranging our path of cultivation. Wasn't it my serious unrighteousness that lead to the persecution? Like a general in a battlefield, Teacher has given us enough power and abilities. However, we failed to grasp and use them well, and as a result we became the captives of the evil. Isn't that humiliating?

I am writing this down today with the hope that my fellow practitioners, especially those who are still being severely persecuted, can escape the psychological trap of being persecuted and have a clearer understanding of the issue. Actually, as Fa-rectification period practitioners, our personal cultivation is over. Now it's the period of validating the Fa and saving sentient beings. Though we still have some karma, enduring hardships is not a very important factor in upgrading ourselves. Even if we need to endure suffering to upgrade ourselves, we must do it on the path arranged by Teacher, not the old forces. To bear the hardships or sufferings on the path arranged by the old forces would limit our advancement, and our achievements could only accomplish what the old forces wanted, which Teacher and the righteous Fa would not acknowledge. Do we really want that? Certainly not. In other words, reaching Consummation in our cultivation doesn't require being persecuted.

The experience of being severely persecuted for over five years became fainter and fainter in my memory. Gradually it seemed that it had never happened. This was because I thought it should not have happened. On the other hand, since it was the path arranged by the old forces, it did not bring any real benefits to my cultivation during the Fa-rectification period. When recalling the experience in that period of time, it was like a dream that passed in a blink of an eye.

However, we must not let the evil that has committed crimes during the persecution escape unpunished. Therefore, we must expose them. That period of time was almost blank as far as my cultivation was concerned, but the crimes committed by the evil were real.

In order to be defeated less, suffer less persecution, reduce the time we are prisoners of the old forces, and have fewer stains in the history of our cultivation, we must improve ourselves. One way to achieve this is to study the Fa more diligently and have more righteous thoughts so that we can really grow.

As Fa-rectification period Falun Dafa practitioners in whom Teacher placed great hope and taught such profound Fa, I think it's a shame that after eight years we still cannot turn the persecution situation around. At least we failed to bring into full play the power of the Fa and abilities we learned from Teacher, and we failed to do well the things that we should have done well long ago. Though Teacher has repeatedly encouraged us and praised us for doing well as one body, don't we have a guilty conscience about it?

We must eliminate from our minds all the reasons for the existence of the evil forces, immediately end the vicious situation of persecution, and complete the path arranged by Teacher. This is my recent experience.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2008/1/30/171350.html

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