(Minghui.org) A Falun Dafa practitioner was arrested recently in a city in southern China. Even though he is from northern China and has been traveling around the country, he thought that there was no way the local police could have known that he was a practitioner.

But the explanation the police gave his family was this: “He participated in online study sessions with other practitioners. And he is the organizer.”

I've heard that there are at least several hundred practitioners in mainland China currently studying the Fa together online. In our area alone, four practitioners have been doing it for two years, against the recommendation of many local practitioners.

My understanding is that we should avoid online Fa study in China. It not only poses a great safety risk but also violates Dafa's principles.

Master said the following regarding the way to study Dafa:

“Fa-study groups, practice sites, and experience-sharing conferences—these are what I have given to you” (“Fa Teaching Given at the Fa Conference Marking the Tenth Anniversary of Minghui’s Founding,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. X)

In his Fa lecture to overseas practitioners, Master also clearly answered the question of whether we should use electronic software for Fa study and sharing:

“Indeed that's not right. Except for little disciples, you shouldn't do that. But that's not to rule out using it occasionally when you're very busy, just don't make a habit of it. That isn't something I want to pass down. There's no problem with you studying the Fa in person as a group, and studying the Fa and exchanging thoughts in person. You can take advantage of [such software] when you're busy, but you can't all do that, and you can't do it frequently.” (“Teaching the Fa at the 2004 Western U.S. Fa Conference,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. V)

Master has already made things quite easy for overseas practitioners:

“I've made many things easy for Dafa disciples as they validate the Fa. There are a lot of things that actually can't be done in cultivation but I have allowed you to do them under special circumstances.” (“Teaching the Fa at the 2003 Atlanta Fa Conference,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. IV)

But even so, he still mentioned that online Fa study is not appropriate for them. It is even less suitable for practitioners in mainland China. We need to be rational about this.

The most popular online Fa study software in China is Raidcall, developed by Beijing Kunlun Tech Col., Ltd. It poses a huge safety risk. Several articles on the Minghui website have discussed this.

Furthermore, the Internet is not clean. Master told us the danger of the Internet in his lecture “Fa Teaching at the 2016 New York Fa Conference,” Team Blue Translation:

“[O]n the Internet all bad things are stirred in, just like demons, circulating. Whatever goes in is stirred in there or mixed in there, disrupting society, the human mind, and morality, and changing people's living state—the good and the bad are all jumbled together.”

“As for the computer, it will not exist in the future society, nor did it exist in the past society. It appeared in recent times, appeared at this time. It won’t exist in the future, as it has destroyed human behavior and thought—all has changed.”

Shouldn't we practitioners listen to Master's teaching?

Master also told us that “on important matters, practitioners must pay attention to the attitude of Minghui Net.” (“Notice: A Second Authentic New Article of Master Li Since July 22, 1999 Will Be Published in a Few Days” on the Minghui website).

Minghui has published several articles advising against online Fa study but none on participating in it. Shouldn't we as practitioners listen?

The Internet is like a demon; it wants to destroy humanity. If some practitioners won't look at this matter rationally, maybe it's because there are some bad factors behind them. Then, shouldn't they get rid of these bad factors? I cannot see into other dimensions, but I have observed that some practitioners, after participating in online Fa study, have become paranoid, irritable, and impulsive. They don't like to look within or listen to advice.

As to the practitioners who organize online Fa study sessions: How can you ever make amends if a practitioner falls because of you?

Master said:

“That is because once someone has done grave harm to practitioners, and caused some practitioners to fall—or even to be placed among the ranks of those who will be eliminated—how is such a massive karmic debt to be paid off? And since that person whom he or she ruined was a Dafa practitioner, no less, is there any difference in effect between this and persecution during Fa-rectification? The sin is the same as that of the evil.” (“Sifting of the Sand,” The Essentials of Diligent Progress, Vol. III)

I hope all practitioners in China have a clear understanding of online Fa study and do not participate in it; those have participated in it, for the sake of your own cultivation, please stop immediately. Let's not create tribulations for ourselves or others.

[Minghui Editor: When studying the Fa, please try to use Dafa books in print instead of mobile phones or electronic devices; this also helps to reduce the interference and pollution from the Internet and electronic world in the Fa study process and for Fa study participants.]