(Minghui.org) When many practitioners shared articles about the persecution of Falun Dafa or serious physical interference they said, “Even If I have loopholes, I will be corrected in Master’s Fa, and interference and persecution will never be allowed.” Of course, it is good to sincerely rectify oneself in the Fa, but it seems those practitioners are putting emphasis on negating the old forces' arrangements and interference instead of looking within to find shortcomings. Master has taught us that the old forces have no power over us when we correct our behavior.

The following are three instances of Master answering disciples’ questions about this matter.

Disciple: Some Dafa disciples believe that if we first look within when we go through an ordeal, we are following the old forces, and we should first send righteous thoughts instead.

Master: Sigh… what I usually say is that you should first look within anytime you meet with trouble, and see whether there is a problem on your part, and if so, correct it immediately. Sending righteous thoughts is what you should do when you know for sure some evil force is involved or meddling. You need to be sure that that’s what it is before sending righteous thoughts. And sending righteous thoughts isn’t something to do for each and every thing you meet with. If you did something wrong and then you sent righteous thoughts, they would be targeting you, yourself, if they were to really take effect right then. (“2018 Fa Teaching Given in Washington, D.C.”)

Question: Sometimes when I meet with ordeals I don't know if it's a result of my own karma or the old forces' arrangements.

Teacher: Regardless of whether it's the old forces' arrangements or karma, we should first of all examine ourselves. I ask you to cleanse yourselves first even when you send righteous thoughts. Look at yourself first, and if you discover that you have a problem, take care of it. With that the old forces won't be able to do anything; when they can't find anything to hold against you they will back off. Of course, at the current time even if the old forces want to back off that doesn't cut it--clear them away entirely. After you cleanse yourself when you sit to send righteous thoughts, clear them away.” (“Teaching the Fa at the Meeting with Asia-Pacific Students” in Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. VI)

Question: I have two questions to ask. One is that the family and friends of some Dafa disciples outside of China used to practice, but after the persecution began they gradually gave it up. They want to know what they should do now. Another question is that some disciples who are very diligent sometimes still experience what appears to be fairly serious sickness karma. They'd like to know whether it's their own karma or the evil doing damage. How should they handle this?

Teacher: As for the first question, what they want to do is up to them--it really depends on them. As for the second question, when you encounter something look at yourself first--this is the greatest trait that sets Dafa disciples apart from everyday people. If we truly don't have any problems on our part, then it must be the evil's persecution of Dafa disciples. During this Fa-rectification period, in particular, Dafa disciples' karma is no longer an issue. You must consciously and clearly recognize the evil beings' persecution. They're truly doing bad things. It's best that Dafa disciples walk their own paths righteously and not allow the evil to seize any excuse to persecute you.(Touring North America to Teach the Fa)

My understanding is that the reason one experiences persecution or interference is that one hasn't walked his/her own cultivation path correctly. Therefore, I think we must first walk our path righteously for there to be no persecution, rather than saying that even if we haven't walked righteously, as long as we negate, we can eradicate tribulations.

Although Master talked about negating the old forces' arrangements, I personally understand that it is necessary for us to improve our understanding of the Fa and correct ourselves as soon as possible, so that the old forces’ factors no longer have any excuses to interfere, and thus their interference will be eliminated.

If we rely too much on “no interference allowed even with loopholes,” we tend to focus on only sending righteous thoughts to negate interference when encountering ordeals, and neglect to look inward and find the real cause of the interference and correcting it.

Some encourage practitioners going through severe physical tribulations by saying: “Who doesn't have loopholes? No one. They can’t interfere even if we have loopholes.” This actually makes it difficult for fellow practitioners to look inward to find their shortcomings. It's even harder to find the real cause of the interference if not genuinely looking at ourselves; so this saying actually isn't helpful.

I learned that some practitioners experiencing problems had not been diligent in studying the Fa or practicing the exercises for several years. With such big omissions, if they haven’t realized their problems and only send righteous thoughts, will the interference be negated? No. In fact, after seeing many situations like this, it is obvious that the interference has not been removed.

It is indeed difficult and painful to look inward amid tribulations, and sometimes even hard to identify one's problems. If sending righteous thoughts and negating the interference were enough, people would use them as an easy shortcut.

Cultivation is very serious and has high demands on Dafa disciples. Only through solid cultivation can we truly improve and negate the persecution and interference. If we use sending righteous thoughts and denying interference as a shortcut, we are likely to delay our journey on the cultivation path.