(Minghui.org) During the persecution of Falun Dafa, the police often threatened to detain or jail practitioners, or tried to force them to renounce Dafa by threatening to deprive their children of education or employment opportunities. Some fellow practitioners were intimidated by the police and signed statements renouncing their faith against their will.
A while ago, I attended a few psychology classes and learned that there is a famous saying, “No one can hurt you without your consent.”
I was very inspired by what the instructor said, “If I give you a gift and you reject it, then I still own the gift. In the same vein, if someone berates me and I do not accept it, then the hateful words belong to that person and have nothing to do with me.”
We learned from the Fa teachings that everything has a material existence, but when we hear something, we often forget that the seemingly invisible words are matter too.
Master told us:
“When people say things, or when someone explains something to you, or tries to convince you of something, “yap, yap, yap”—a steady stream [of things] pours into your head. Real substances are actually being hurled toward you. When some people get really upset and keep raising objections, they are in fact repelling all those things. Of course, what Dafa disciples do is good for people, and our speech stems from righteous thoughts, so what comes forth from our mouths when we speak are lotus flowers. By contrast, none of what forms inside ordinary people amidst society at large is very good, and upon entering one’s body those things will in fact dominate a person.” (“Fa Teaching Given at the 2010 New York Fa Conference,” Collected Teachings Given Around the World Volume XI)
Master also said:
“By going there to listen, weren’t you seeking something? If you did not listen with your ears, how could it get into your body?” (Lecture Six, Zhuan Falun)
I understand that when we accept something, this substance will come into our minds and have an effect on us; but when we reject it, there is no place for this substance to stay in our minds to affect us.
When the evil threatens us, if we acknowledge it or fail to negate it, it’s the same as asking for it. Then that substance will enter our bodies and the evil will be successful in persecuting us. But in actuality, it is us that have allowed the persecution to happen. If we reject it immediately, the evil’s words would not have any effect on us.
And if we turn around to persuade the perpetrators: “Dafa brings blessings to my children and grandchildren. If you participate in the persecution, you will not only bring disasters to yourself, but also to your children and grandchildren.” At this time, it will be them who are afraid!
From another perspective, the words of practitioners have powerful energy, while the words of ordinary people do not. Dafa disciples play the main role, and we have the final say on what we want. We can influence ordinary people to do things righteously and kindly, but we cannot let them influence us negatively.
Cultivation requires us to be selfless. If we do things with selfish intentions, we don’t only destroy ourselves, but also the sentient beings who are used by the evil to commit crimes against Dafa.
When every cell of ours is full of righteous thoughts and rejects all substances imposed by the evil, the evil will have no chance to take advantage of it. Completely negating the persecution allows us to firmly say to the evil: “What you say doesn’t count, and only my Master has the final say!”
This is my understanding at my level, so please kindly point out anything inappropriate.
Editor’s note: This article only represents the author’s understanding in their current cultivation state meant for sharing among practitioners so that we can “Compare in studying, compare in cultivating.” (“Solid Cultivation,” Hong Yin)