(Clearwisdom.net) The old forces have made a series of arrangements for every Dafa practitioner. If we cannot completely negate them on the basis of the Fa, we will then struggle amidst the huge tribulations arranged by the evil forces' destructive “tests” of practitioners, rather than establish our mighty virtue by negating and breaking through the old forces' arrangements, saving people ,and validating the Fa.
During the past several years, some practitioners who have been illegally detained and persecuted managed to return home without succumbing to the demands of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) by renouncing their belief. Mr. Zhang Zhong was one such person. However, he was arrested again and persecuted to death because he didn't truly negate the old forces' arrangements.
In order to help keep other practitioners from going through the same thing, I'm going to share Mr. Zhang's experience for the simple purpose of cherishing our paths, negating the old forces' arrangements ,and walking our paths well collectively.
Mr. Zhang from Daqing City was arrested in April 2002 and sentenced to 12 years in Daqing Prison in Heilongjiang Province. He was tortured severely. On July 23, 2004, with the help of Master and practitioners inside and outside of China, he managed to get released and was able to return home. He was able to leave the prison, but he entered another dangerous arrangement of the old forces.
Through practicing Falun Gong, Mr. Zhang was able to recover rapidly from being persecuted, and he returned to working on Dafa projects. However, some practitioners' attachments were stirred up, and he was invited to attend Fa conferences throughout the province. Mr. Zhang later went to work at his friend's company in Southern China, but driven by his pursuit of reputation in the community of practitioners, he returned to Daqing after a short period of time. He was able to resist the physical torture he endured in prison with his strong willpower, but amidst practitioners, his willpower wasn't strong enough to resist the tests of fame and reputation.
Mr. Zhang's words were all about validating his own firm belief of the Fa, resisting the persecution while acknowledging it. His sharing was delivered in a way that was irrelevant to saving people and doing the three things well. Many practitioners admired him. The old forces also reinforced his zealotry and show-off mentality.
After Master's comment on a student's article “Shed the Human Mindset” was published, Mr. Zhang and some other practitioners did not understand Master's words and continued to tour different places giving talks. In 2006, Mr. Zhang was arrested in Harbin City and died as a result of torture.
The old forces have been executing their so-called arrangements and tests for practitioners since July 1999. They intend to persecute practitioners financially and physically, as well as ruin their reputations.
Over the past 12 years, practitioners in Mainland China have realized more and more that prisons are not a place for cultivation. We have realized the significance of walking a righteous path and negating the old forces. Individual consummation is not the objective. Saving people, fulfilling our prehistoric vows, and forging our consummation are the true meaning of our presence here.
Practitioners focus on saving people and validating the Fa. There's no need for us to prove our own firm belief in the Fa, and we don't need to be heroes in the ordinary sense.
Master said in “Explaining the Fa During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference:”
“Situations like Jesus being crucified will absolutely never be allowed to happen again. So how we walk the path of cultivation well in this place of ordinary people has become of utmost importance.”
Practitioners who have come to assist Master rectify the Fa do not need to be “tested” by the old forces. When practitioners are in prison, detention centers, or forced labor camps, notions beyond one's own recognition, historical arrangements, and other elements are still in play.
If fellow practitioners who have managed to return home cannot negate the old forces' arrangements with the power of the Fa, even if they have obtained physical freedom, they are still subject to the intangible prison of the old forces in their own minds. If at the same time, some practitioners admire them, they are acknowledging such tests. The old forces will then magnify their show-off mentality and zealotry. This is very dangerous.
The door of Falun Dafa has been opened in ordinary society. It is an intangible and grand path. The Fa requires us to be a solid part of ordinary society; handle well the relationships of life, work, and cultivation; and offer salvation to sentient beings. Therefore, fellow practitioners who have made their way out of detention should rectify their cultivation paths immediately, and live, work and save people according to the Fa's principles.
Master said in “Explaining the Fa During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference:”
“In the future, the future that you're forging, you'll have left behind in this place the path for humans to become Gods! Everything you're doing today is the actual practice that will be used as examples in the future, [including the aspect] of being able to cultivate while doing ordinary people's work. If you go to extremes you'll wreck this path, so you cannot go to extremes. You should just openly and nobly do well in what you should do in society, and then cultivate. Then you'll definitely be able to meet the standard that cultivators should meet, the standard for Consummation, because this is the path that the people of the future will take.”
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