PureInsight | July 15, 2002
Master Li said: "If every Dafa disciple—regardless of which category he belongs to—had been able to do well, this persecution would have ended long ago." ("Touring North America to Teach the Fa")
If we abandon the old Fa when being persecuted by the evil (suffering, eliminating karma, undergoing tests in order to obtain personal Consummation, and so forth), treat evil from the standpoint of Dafa using our righteous thoughts with an attitude of the Fa rectifying enlightened beings, and never allow and recognize the persecution that the evil has imposed on us, the evil will naturally be eliminated.
When we expose the evil and clarify the truth with righteous thoughts, meet Dafa's requirements, rationally recognize the nature of the evil and deny all the arrangements of the evil, it would be eliminated for sure.
Once when I re-read Master's comment regarding the articles 'On the Dignity of Dafa,' 'Also in a Few Words,' and studied Master Li's articles, suddenly I found that I had warped notions about the evil persecution during the process of Fa-rectification. These warped notions have diminished my efforts to deny the arrangements of the old forces from the root, creating many loopholes for evil.
Right after the "7.20" event in 1999, we stood in front of Chinese consulate under the hot July sun. I had just obtained the Fa. For the first time I stood on the street to defend my belief. With tears on my face and determination in my heart, I talked with a fellow practitioner. I told him that the Fa would never be damaged, and it was time to clean out the phony cultivators. But it was beneficial to promote the Fa so the whole world could get to know about Falun Gong. Maybe at that time the Fa's requirement for me was to be steadfast. But, was that recognizing the persecution by seeing 'benefits' at that time? Of course it was. So we cannot separate the two points when looking at warped notions.
After that I started looking for support and help, feeling as if I was at the starting point of everyday people asking for sympathy. Gradually I found that what I did was not based on Fa. Instead I was 'handling affairs' just like everyday people. I realized this and corrected my notions. I began to understand that exposing evil was to save the sentient beings. Though on the surface we could talk to people about concepts that they would be likely to accept, such as human rights, petitions, and the like, we should keep in mind that this is the great benevolence of Dafa and it is a great opportunity to let people position themselves. At this time I felt that my state of mind changed a lot. I exchanged roles with people I was talking to. I did not need help and support anymore. Instead I offered support and help. I stepped out of the state of "handling everyday people's affairs." When I told people the truth of the persecution I did not describe Dafa disciples being persecuted as victims and people who need sympathy. Instead, I told people that those ordinary Dafa practitioners upheld their beliefs of 'Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance' under such harsh persecution and deserved our greatest respect. They used their lives to safeguard the most precious values in our world, and in fact they did these things for human beings like you and me. People were touched when they listened to me. Then attachments of complacency started coming up. There was an underlying thought deep in the bottom of my heart. I believed that practitioners' sacrifice won support from the common people and awakened souls that were numb up to that point. It was probably correct from a human perspective, but from our divine side that was enlightened, this thought was not pure enough. The thought failed to carry out Fa-rectification from the root and even recognized the persecution unconsciously. It did not meet the requirements of the Fa for Dafa disciples during the process of Fa-rectification.
Since Master Li began to lecture again in 2000, he kept telling us what to do, how to look at the persecution with righteous thoughts and how to deny all of the arrangements made by the old forces. Master told us everything in detail and enabled us to send forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the evil. However, failing to step out of humanness and abandon old principles would make it impossible to completely deny the arrangements made by old forces. For example, when we praised Dafa disciples in Mainland China for their determination and enduring tribulations in prison, we actually had a loophole – we thought they were great since they went through such a tremendous test. Do you know this might be one excuse that old forces could take advantage of to continue the persecution? "Look, although I persecuted you, it is in your best interest after all. You cannot pass the test without me." Therefore, if we failed to consider the overall situation of Dafa and completely deny everything of old forces, we cannot really safeguard the Fa, and would undermine efforts to stop the persecution of old forces. When I realized this, I started to correct the warped notions in my heart.
We have been sending forth righteous thoughts in front of the Consulate for one year. Last month when Jiang visited Germany, we gathered there to send forth righteous thoughts for 24 hours. In principle, the sunshine in April would be mild, but I had severe sunburn on both arms. It itched and hurt a lot. I knew the sun shouldn't be like that. When I thought that I had to endure in order to eliminate the evil and when I thought about hardships that Mainland Dafa practitioners suffered, the sunburn that I suffered was nothing. (Look, do you see any attachment of comparison and acknowledgement of the persecution behind the would-be correct thought on surface?) Two weeks later, when we sent forth righteous thoughts as a group on a weekend, the scorching sunshine hit me on the skin like needle-sized bombs. I felt pain even on the skin covered by my clothes. The traffic was still heavy like before on the street. From time to time, people honked to show their respect for us. I suddenly realized: we are here to help our Master to rectify the Fa and to eliminate all of the evil that persecutes Dafa. We should not allow anything to interfere. We should not allow anything to test us! I said silently in my heart: "No matter who you are, we are here to send forth righteous thoughts, and to show the holiness and solemnness of Dafa to save sentient beings -- you cannot do that any longer. In the past year I quietly submitted to your 'test' and you took advantage of my loopholes. Today I warn you in all seriousness that you have to wake up and avoid the danger at the last moment. Now it's the Fa-rectification period and the attitude that you have toward Dafa will determine your future. You have also been used. Assimilating to and supporting Dafa is the only way out for you." When I realized this, clouds suddenly covered the sun. There were two shorter contests like this one after that. In the next three hours we did not have any interference, and a cool breeze came through. Interference like this never happened again.
I realized the power of righteous thoughts and understood why we should validate Dafa based on the Fa more deeply after I had this experience. We should resist evil openly and firmly with rationality given to us by Dafa and deny all the arrangements made by the old forces, instead of enduring and sacrificing. We should not leave any loopholes for the evil and should not acknowledge any Fa from the old cosmos. We should firmly safeguard Dafa based on the Fa, and be pure and righteous.
Translated from:
http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2002/5/25/16209.html
