(Clearwisdom.net) Recently, many practitioners, especially coordinators, have suffered serious interference or persecution. Some of the interference took the form of serious illness or serious injuries. They involved being hit by a car or falling, thought karma, and/ or friends and family suffering serious illnesses. The consequences were serious and involved great suffering. One coordinator suffered a stroke and had brain surgery while still in a coma. Some practitioners were arrested again or sent back to labor camps after just being released from one. Some practitioners had slits cut in their throats for forced feeding because they were on hunger strikes. In June 2004, a coordinator, who was taking his computer and printer out of town to establish a new truth-clarification materials production site, was arrested when he changed to a different bus. He has not been heard from since. These incidents have affected the quality of doing the three things well because of the tremendous interference they have brought about.
We simply thought the phenomenon was due to omissions of practitioners or frenzied persecution by the evil. At the time, we emphasized sending forth righteous thoughts to help rescue our fellow practitioners. When similar problems continued to occur later to practitioners from different areas, we worked together in gathering all the information on the serious cases. What happened to the coordinators, people in charge and practitioners working at the materials production sites? We all sensed the seriousness and urgency of the situation. We felt strongly that some of the losses could have been avoided and that there were grave lessons that needed to be shared with fellow practitioners in both Mainland China and overseas. Here we want to discuss the omissions of fellow practitioners that allowed these types of tribulations to take place, and to expose the tactics employed by the evil. This is a lesson for all of us to learn from. We must be more clear-headed and walk an upright cultivation path.
I. Studying the Fa Without a Calm Mind or Treating it as a Routine
1. Many practitioners in Mainland China listen to the Fa lectures and do the exercises from MP3 recordings. It is so convenient that many coordinators do it this way. The coordinators were very busy and didn't have much time to study the Fa, especially if they had been gone for a day or several days. They relaxed as soon as they got home. They would usually sleep or help do the housework. They listened to MP3 recordings of Teacher's lectures or recordings of the voices of fellow practitioners reading lectures instead of reading the lectures directly. Our understanding is that this can't be used as a substitute for Fa study. The dark minions can interfere with our thoughts when we relax and neglect studying the Fa.
2. Even when studying the Fa, we sometimes just go through the motions in a poor mental state. We often doze off or are very tired when studying the Fa. We often stay on the same page or the same several paragraphs, unable to negate or expel the sleepiness with a strong main consciousness. Then we might think that since our condition wasn't very good, why not take a nap! We thus went to sleep right away. We then missed the time for sending righteous thoughts, thinking that we would make it up when we woke up. When we woke up in the middle of the night but still felt sleepy, we would either think of going back to sleep or doing the exercises. We would again think that the Fa study could wait until later.
Teacher has taught us that when we do work, we need to evaluate the urgency and importance of things rationally with a clear head. Obviously, the dark minions and the evil in other dimensions are observing us closely with the same degree of urgency and importance. In the meantime, if we recognize the importance of studying the Fa and truly study well, then we'll be able to do the exercises, send forth righteous thoughts and clarify the truth smoothly. Otherwise, Fa study will be severely interfered with and we will find there isn't enough time to do things. We might attend to one thing and lose sight of the other.
II. Problems Sending Forth Righteous Thoughts
Many practitioners, especially the veteran coordinators, have encountered different degrees of interference when sending forth righteous thoughts, feeling particularly drowsy during the midnight and 6 a.m. time slots. Some practitioners found an excuse for changing the time for sending righteous thoughts. They might not be able to get up in the morning if they did it at midnight, so they decided not to. Practitioners who often did business in the car, in public places or restaurants at noon, sent forth righteous thoughts in unstable situations. Therefore, how well can we ensure the quality of the righteous thoughts we sent? Were they sent with a clear head and righteous mind? To put it more seriously, did we send forth righteous thoughts at all?
I'll give two examples here: I was in contact with coordinators from several regions and we had sent forth righteous thoughts together in several experience sharing conferences, especially at midnight and 6 a.m. I noticed that their palms had dropped to their feet unconsciously and their lotus palms became fists. Some even started snoring. Since I didn't know them very well or I had just met them for the first time, I only coughed lightly or whispered to remind them. Later, I found this situation unchanged and I also noticed that older practitioners and coordinators from many regions were having the same problem. I tried to remind them when it happened, without success.
I want to use this opportunity to remind fellow practitioners that this phenomenon should be changed, in order to avoid leaving loopholes for the evil to exploit. We should pay attention to this matter. If we notice that we are not very alert, we should splash our faces with cold water before sending forth righteous thoughts. I also want to remind young practitioners to get ready a little earlier before sending forth righteous thoughts at midnight.
III. Not Doing the Exercises
A few days earlier, a coordinator in charge of a provincial materials production site said, "Practitioners doing a lot of work (making truth-clarifying materials) here do not do the exercises." His words seemed to indicate that it was a normal situation and not much could be done about it. Actually, it was due to not arranging things well or our own lethargy and seeking relaxation and comfort. If a fellow practitioner is busy all day and does not have time to study the Fa, send forth righteous thoughts, and do the exercises; then which is the most important of the three things Teacher requires all of us to do? Some time ago, several coordinators in our area didn't take doing the exercises seriously. They often used Teacher's words as an excuse to comfort themselves or thought they would make it up the next day. So, they didn't do the exercises that day. They used being busy doing Dafa projects to justify their not doing the exercises. Even when they had the time, they didn't do the exercises or make them up. Sometimes they only did a few exercises in a week. They were startled when they remembered they hadn't done a whole set of exercises once in the last several months. They were really anxious and realized that it was something to do with the evil. They decided to eradicate it. One day they did the whole set of exercises to break through the interference. This gave them great confidence in going forward.
Let us study together how Teacher has taught us:
"You claim that you're too busy and don't have the time. Actually, you are afraid that you don't get enough rest. Have you ever thought of the fact that practicing cultivation is the best form of rest? You can obtain the kind of rest that can't be obtained through sleeping. Nobody would say: 'The exercises are making me so tired that I can't do anything today.' One would only say: 'The exercises are making my whole body relaxed and at ease. I don't feel sleepy after a sleepless night. I feel full of energy. It doesn't seem to bother me at all after a day's work.' Isn't this the case?" (Lecture at the first Conference in North America)
"Question: Nowadays we're doing a lot of Dafa work and our time is very tight. I find it hard to guarantee two hours of exercise each day. I wonder if it's alright to exercise less?
Teacher: Dafa disciples, Master has said that you've been working hard--you have truly been working hard. I don't have the heart to specifically tell you anymore to do something. I know that many people are taking the initiative to shoulder a lot of things, are even sleeping little every day, and they also have to go to work--it really is hard. But no matter how hard it is, I think you should still find time to study the Fa and do the exercises. I think that a cultivator can't go without doing the exercises. Although doing the exercises is only supplemental to your improvement, it, too, is part of the Fa, and it's connected to all the changes in your body. Of course, if you have too many things to do and you're too busy, and you exercise less, or you don't exercise at all for a few days, it's alright to make it up later on. If you're truly very busy and you truly have very little time to do the exercises, Master has ways to do that for you, too. But I would think that your being a little busy and your enduring a little hardship is your Dafa disciple's mighty virtue. In the future when you look back, you'll find it remarkable!" (Touring North America to Teach the Fa)
IV. Lacking a Strong Main Consciousness and Not Maintaining a Pure Heart While Doing Things
This situation occurs because a person can't take charge of himself or distinguish between thoughts that are interference by the evil and their own thoughts. Of course, these thoughts are often disguised. For example: when you want to study the Fa, suddenly you think of reading a truth-clarifying pamphlet or Minghui Weekly; or while you are sending forth righteous thoughts, you think of other things or the items, plans and ideas for doing the three things; when you are trying to write an article to expose the evil, you'll think of doing this and that; your brain generates some thoughts related to doing the three things, but it is actually a trap set up by evil factors. In short, the evil tries to confuse us about what is important and what is not. We end up busy doing trivial things and lose our concentration and confidence. Our mind becomes unsteady and we become ineffective.
I'd like to give an example. A female practitioner has never given up Dafa cultivation or compromised, despite being subjected to various lies and cruel tortures in a labor camp for two years. She relied on Teacher's Fa to generate strong righteous thoughts and a strong mindset to escape the evil den. She is one of the few practitioners who came out of the most notorious labor camp in the province. After she came out of the camp, she encountered some unexpected interference. During the 1994 National Holiday, Dafa practitioners from various areas went to Beijing to send forth righteous thoughts and clarify the truth. She also went. She stayed in Beijing for more than ten days and went to Tiananmen Square every day. She described coming in and out with palm raised. She let others take pictures of her sending forth righteous thoughts. Police and special agents didn't seem to see her. As she talked up to this point, she was visibly pleased and satisfied with her righteous thoughts and actions. Practitioners were happy and admired her actions generated by her righteous thoughts. What followed was very shocking and seemed abnormal to everyone. One day she went to Tiananmen Square to send forth righteous thoughts again. She saw that the middle passageway of Jinshui Bridge was blocked by a chain link fence. Only the passages on both sides were allowed to go through. She thought that the middle is the main passageway and out of impulse wanted to jump over the fence to do the exercises in the middle passageway. Just as she was about to cross over it, she heard a conversation between two visitors and stopped to listen. A visitor asked, "What time is it?" Another answered, "Not yet the time." Hearing this helped to settle her down and think about the situation rationally. Although she didn't do what she intended to do, other practitioners were worried for her when they heard her story.
At this point, I asked her, "Your idea shocks me and is hard for me to comprehend. I'm quite worried about your condition. Dafa gave us a mighty mission at this juncture to save sentient beings. To say it more seriously, it was a trap set by the evil old forces. Its purpose was intended to destroy the righteous path arranged by Teacher and to send you to prison. Your idea was neither rational nor wise."
V. Problems with Coordinators and People in Charge of Each Area
1. The coordinators from each region are also responsible for technical issues for the truth clarification materials production sites. Under such difficult situations, their personal cultivation is often overlooked. They thus unconsciously developed the mindsets of acquiring new things for their own sake and providing leadership like ordinary people. Some of them even developed an attitude in the way they spoke and acted. Although they don't seem to get angry at criticism on the surface, their minds were not calm. They continued to behave in the same old ways. Some older practitioners overlook security, particularly in countering wire-tapping and other tactics used by the authorities.
2. Some practitioners were severely interfered with by sexual desire and sentimentality for their loved ones.
3. Some practitioners made declarations for their friends and relatives without their consent. Later, they felt it wasn't right and thought of returning home to explain to them in person. This situation has caused some degree of interference in both personal affairs and work at materials production sites. Teacher has taught us:
"Your path is, and I think you've all seen this now, actually very narrow. If you deviate just a little bit you won't measure up to the standard of a Dafa disciple. There's only one very righteous path we can walk on, and we can't deviate even just a little bit, because this is required by history, and required by the lives of sentient beings in the future cosmos. The cosmos in the future can't have any deviation or errors due to your having omissions during the Fa-rectification, so it's important for you to walk each and every step well during your own validating the Fa." ("Teaching and Explaining the Fa at the Metropolitan New York Fa Conference," April 2003)
The evil is watching intensively everything we do and will exploit any loophole created by our own unrighteous thoughts and actions. Their goal is to destroy and interfere with our saving sentient beings. The coordinators and practitioners working at the materials production sites can unconsciously develop the mindsets of doing things, being eager for quick success, elation, a show-off mentality, and restlessness. These mindsets can cause irretrievable, grave losses.
We have learned many painful lessons. Practitioners not being careful about phone security allowed the evil to monitor us for several months. This caused more than a dozen materials production sites to be destroyed, and several dozen practitioners to be arrested and sentenced to hard labor. Practitioners who were in charge of materials sites from several areas were arrested while distributing truth-clarifying materials on the street, causing many more materials production sites be destroyed and other practitioners arrested. Some practitioners, just released from labor camps and prisons, didn't consider the need for studying the Fa and doing the exercises to make up for the time lost. They were too eager to help out and to distribute truth-clarifying material. Once again they were arrested, sentenced and sent to labor camp within a short time.
The above examples are meticulous plots by the evil. During the Chinese Lunar New Year and Teacher's birthday, many practitioners wrote the following greeting: "We will walk well the path of Fa-rectification cultivation arranged by Teacher, with righteous thoughts and actions to let Teacher be happy and worry less." I think these words surprised many fellow practitioners. It is because we didn't do well that the thought of wanting to do well surprises us.
Teacher has said that we are all coordinators and the person in charge. Not only do we need to cultivate well ourselves, but also have the responsibility and mission of saving sentient beings. We are not writing this article to point the finger at any one person or to criticize someone. Instead, we feel grief for the losses, and very anxious about some of the warning signs that we are seeing. We point them out to share with fellow practitioners at home and overseas, to encourage each other and jointly move forward as required by Teacher to fulfill our great missions and our historic vows.
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