(Clearwisdom.net) Among my fellow practitioners from earlier days, some have not stepped forward yet, some have given up practicing Falun Dafa, and some have even turned against Dafa. I think the fundamental reason for this is that such people have too many attachments and human notions. They each have their own specific attachments, which act like locks. Helping others to open their "locks" is the responsibility of all Dafa practitioners. What follows are some of my experiences and the understandings gained through talking to some fellow practitioners who have not yet awoken to the truth. Hopefully, my insights can help those practitioners. Please point out anything wrong or inappropriate in my understanding.
I. Is it possible to go back to being an everyday person?
Many practitioners have thought about giving up cultivation and just being everyday people. To me, there are three main types of people that think like that.
A. Practitioners who don't clearly understand the essence of the persecution.
I think Master stated the essence of the persecution when he wrote,
"Master wants to save all sentient beings. But the evil forces are truly committing sins against Dafa by using all sentient beings, with the ultimate purpose of destroying them." ("Dafa is Indestructible" from Essentials for Further Advancement II).
The old forces of different levels arranged the destruction of sentient beings. The most prominent reflection of the plan in the human world is the attempt to destroy human beings' true belief in gods. People who don't believe in gods dare to do many bad things. As a result, human society is on the verge of destruction. Large numbers of nuclear and biochemical weapons, capable of quickly destroying the world, have been produced. Plans to clone human beings, and to have robots build robots are in the experimental stages. All kinds of pollution, natural and man-made disasters, and strange diseases occur frequently. Uncontrolled consumption and waste of natural resources, and the rapid deterioration of the ecology are manifesting in the human world during this last stage of the cosmos, which follows the old cosmos' principle of formation-stasis-degeneration-destruction. Many wise people have also realized the danger to humankind from singular perspectives. Many people cry "Save the earth!" and "Save humankind!" Many have thought about ways to improve and change the environment and experimented on a small scale--without success. Why? It's because the fundamental reason for the deterioration is the degeneration of the human mind. Without changing and improving human thinking, fundamental changes can't occur. Just when all sentient beings were numb and feeling hopeless, our Teacher came to the human world showing the greatest mercy. The spreading of Dafa has fundamentally changed human thinking closer to goodness. People realize that Falun Gong provides a truly clean place in this world, and that it is stopping the moral deterioration of humankind. Currently, the Jiang regime's persecution of Falun Gong is trying to destroy man's fundamental human conscience and morality, without which gods won't allow human beings to exist, and humankind will ultimately destroy itself. No one who lives in this world now can avoid choosing between good and evil. Either go with the current trend of deterioration and end up in imminent self-destruction, or assimilate Dafa and enter the new cosmos. There are no other options.
B. Practitioners who are unclear about our role in this persecution.
Before Dafa practitioners obtained the Fa (Law and Principles), we were also part of the old cosmos; so we are also responsible for the degeneration of the cosmos. The old cosmos' principles of formation-stasis-degeneration-destruction determined its fate, whether we are aware of it or not, and whether we are willing to admit it or not. Practitioners today came from three different sources, and we all chose to assimilate to Dafa when we were clear-headed, before entering this world of delusion. After we came here, we were fortunate to obtain Dafa. Teacher said, "Some of the people who have obtained the Fa and, at this human surface, come to know the meaning of the Fa, have had their lives extended through the Fa; some of them have received all kinds of benefits, such as good health, harmony in the family, indirect benefits to their relatives and friends, a reduction of their karma, and even Master's bearing things for them. In other dimensions, their physical bodies are being transformed into God-bodies." ("A Suggestion" from Essentials for Further Advancement II). If we don't do well even under the greatest mercy of Teacher, that is, if we cannot step forward, or if we even go against Dafa, we will self-destruct. We have seen many examples of practitioners who did not do well lose their lives in natural disasters and man-made calamities. In fact, for some of us, we exist only because we cultivate in Dafa. Otherwise, our lives would have ended a long time ago. I am not talking nonsense here. Before obtaining Dafa, some of us had incurable diseases. Physicians had determined that such people would not live much longer, and because modern medicine could not save these people, they were sent home to wait for death. By cultivating Dafa, these practitioners live healthy lives. Yet, after the persecution started, some stopped cultivating, and as a result, died from relapses of their previous diseases. There are many examples of this.
After receiving everything Teacher and Dafa gave, benefits that can't ever be repaid, some practitioners cannot step forward to speak a word of truth and justice while Dafa and Dafa practitioners are persecuted by the evil. Some even assist the evil to persecute. These people are not considered good people even when judged by ordinary people's moral standards. As a cultivator whose standards are higher than those those of human beings, one should never behave like this. Will a life like this have a place in the new cosmos? My fellow practitioners who have not done well, think about this issue carefully.
C. Practitioners who don't understand that "resisting the persecution is truly saving oneself."
In the old Fa and principles, when a life deteriorated, it was pushed further down to accelerate its destruction, and was not saved. High-level beings destroyed the beings below them and started over, and thereby saved themselves. In fact, this method does not work. Yet these beings insisted on doing this. They have used this method to the extreme in the persecution of Dafa practitioners today. Regarding the past few years, Teacher said,
"...students' own karma, inadequate understanding of the Fa, inability to let go of attachments amidst tribulations, inability to deal with things using righteous thoughts amidst painful trials, and so on, are the main reasons behind the evil's escalation of the persecution, and are the true fundamental excuses that the evil has used to damage the Fa." ("Eliminate Your Last Attachment(s)" from Essentials for Further Advancement II).
The old evil forces respect Teacher very much, knowing that Dafa is extremely high-level and a righteous teaching. So why do they still want to persecute Dafa? I think it's because they are very selfish and very jealous. With this mentality, they use all their powers to emphasize and enlarge the practitioners' attachments, and destroy them spiritually. Practitioners know that in this special historical period, if a practitioner gives up his beliefs and even turns against those beliefs, the practitioner is relinquishing his life, because the practitioner's life was made by Dafa. So, I think mental persecution is more harmful than physical persecution. Many practitioners could remain firm when they were tortured physically, yet they made mistakes when brainwashed. They did not realize the seriousness of spiritual persecution, which could destroy a practitioner without his being aware of it. The consequences of this form of persecution also manifest in this dimension, such as practitioners dying after giving up their beliefs. In other dimensions, the manifestation is more terrifying. Numerous sentient beings were deconstructed because the main body gave up its beliefs. So, resisting the persecution and remaining firm in one's belief in Dafa under any circumstance is truly saving oneself.
The principles of the old cosmos are self-serving, and are in the process of being destroyed. Dafa is selfless and is not attached to self. The new cosmos has been formed with great perfection. The old cosmos and principles only exist in human society, along with those parts of Dafa practitioners' cosmos' that have not yet been rectified by the Fa. Even those parts will soon be eliminated by the Fa-rectification process. Whether to remain attached to the old principles and destroy oneself, or to assimilate to Dafa and enter the new cosmos, is one's own choice. Existing as an everyday person for a long time is not an option, even in the old Fa. The old forces want to destroy you, so they prevent you from stepping forward, drag you down, and even push you to oppose Dafa principles. Teacher wants to save you; so he waits for you and provides you with opportunities again and again because of his great mercy. As long as you can awaken to the truth, you can resist the persecution as a Dafa practitioner. In doing so, you are saving sentient beings and also saving yourself. Please, my fellow practitioners, don't miss the opportunity!
(To be continued)
06/21/2004
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