(Clearwisdom.net) In "Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Vancouver, Canada, in 2003," Master said:
"For example, right now in a few regions of Mainland China there are still people spreading fake [Dafa] scriptures, and some people are so attached that they're even memorizing them, and they don't just memorize them, they even go around promoting them among students. What's driving them to do that? They're doing that because the fake scriptures contain things they're attached to and things that fit with their human attachments. I don't think they're intentionally trying to damage the Fa. It's because they have attachments and have human thoughts that they're doing this, they've done things that the evil wants to see done, and they've interfered with Dafa disciples' validating the Fa."
This paragraph of the Fa made me think of my experience of determining whether a new article was genuine or fake. Here I'd like to share with practitioners for their reference. Please kindly point out anything inappropriate.
In 2000 all the newly-published teachings practitioners got were provided by other practitioners. Some of them were typed out and others were handwritten. During that time we were quite hesitant as to whether we should go to Tiananmen Square to validate the Fa. A Minghui/Clearwisdom editorial entitled "Advance Towards Consummation Through Cultivation Within Fa Rectification" touched me deeply, and I felt that I should go to Beijing to validate the Fa. But I still didn't make any decision, thinking that Master had not talked about this explicitly. As a matter of fact, I had fear and was selfish. Under such a mindset, one practitioner gave me a hand-copied article and said it was Master's new article. She asked me whether I thought it was a genuine Fa teaching by Master or a fake one. I read it through and to be cautious I didn't express my opinion. I told her that I needed to think about it. But in my heart I had already reckoned that it must be a true Fa teaching.
After the practitioner left, I read the article several more times, and then I asked myself why I took it as Master's article. I cannot remember the detailed content of this article but my rough recollection was that it said that we should not go around everywhere, and that we should stay at home studying the Fa and practicing the exercises, and that this is the way practitioners should be. These words just fit my intentions and I readily accepted it. But I asked myself again: "Why do I not intend to go to Beijing to validate the Fa and use Master's article as an excuse?" Suddenly I realized my fear. I had thought that I didn't have fear. Practitioners around me all thought that I didn't have any fear. But actually I did have fear and it was hidden down deep inside me. After I realized all these things, I immediately knew that the article in my hand was not written by Master. So I decided right away that I would go to Tiananmen Square to validate the Fa on October 1. As soon as the decision was made, my body felt light. On the second or the third day afterwards, I saw the article "Serious Teachings" on Minghui/Clearwisdom. After that I made a rule for myself. I would only accept the new articles with the Chinese characters "Minghui"clearly displayed on it.
In February 2002, someone gave me a hand-copied article. I read it several times and put it aside. It disappeared later on. In May or June, a practitioner called me and asked me to go to his home. After I arrived, he said he had gotten a new article which came from a reliable source. I asked him if it was downloaded from the Minghui/Clearwisdom website. He said it was not. He handed it to me, and I read it. It was the one I saw in February. Some other practitioners were discussing whether it was true or fake. I asked one of them, "Why do you think it was written by Master?" He replied, "What it said was very similar with what I thought." His words awakened me. I immediately told him that it was fake. Then I told him the story of how I distinguished the fake article in 2000. He fell deep into thought after he listened to my words. He was no longer certain that it was written by Master. But neither was he sure that it was not written by Master. Later it was verified that it was not Master's article.
My personal understanding is that our attachments, our human hearts and inability to dig out the roots and search inward is the fertile soil for fake articles. I have just been released from an illegal prison term and don't know whether there are fake articles or if there is a market for fake articles among practitioners. When I was studying the Fa, I came across this memory and I hope it can be a useful reminder to practitioners.
Only when we search inward and continuosly dig out the root of our attachments can we uncover our human notions and eliminate them. Then we will not be taken advantage of the by evil, rotten demons and meddling deities that attempt to damage the Fa.
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