PureInsight | September 24, 2001
The old evil forces have made comprehensive arrangements throughout history. Many of these manifested themselves in Europe, including the multiple languages that have caused some difficulties in spreading Dafa, the Industrial Revolution that originated in England and the system of empirical science that does not accept the existence of Gods but became a culture and a religion. Darwin’s Theory of Evolution, Hitler’s misuse of the swastika, and the Theory of Marxism originated in Europe. The international communist revolution began in Europe and the whole world was enveloped by this theory, as evidenced by the current non-violent, true communism under capitalism in which social welfare is sustained through heavy taxation in European and nonEuropean countries.
Today’s Europe is a peaceful garden on the surface but it is, in fact, not peaceful inside. Unsettling events include the formation of the European Union (EU), the adoption of a single European currency, and new adjustments in the triangle relationship among China, the United States and Europe. Europe has overtaken the US in trading volume with China, now totalling over $100m, and Europe has replaced the US to become the 2nd biggest market to China. Such sudden economic benefits have made Europe hesitate painfully between moral standards and economic considerations in its diplomatic relationships with China. The visit paid by Chinese Prime Minister, Zhu Rongji, with over 100 officials elevating this tormenting predicament of the EU to the top level.
Britain is on the edge of Europe. It seems that close attention has been paid to it by the old evil forces: the Industrial Revolution, Darwin and Marx as well as today’s ambivalent attitudes and responses from the media and the government are all related to the serious arrangements made by them for Europe. As a practitioner in the United Kingdom, I feel the complexity of our environment deeply.
At the Washington, DC Conference, the Master said “I turned the tables and made use of the old forces' arrangement. Because the evil forces run from top to bottom, they are interfering with the Fa-rectification without missing a single level.” “The old forces made well-ordered arrangements, but I too have done things with much order.”… “During this period [we should focus on] how we can seize this opportunity to truly demonstrate the extraordinariness and the great mighty virtue of a cultivator. This is also a precious opportunity. Since the old evil forces insist on giving us a chance to eliminate them, make good use of it. History has never seen this before, it's hard to come by.”
To use this opportunity well we must be clearly and explicitly aware, reflecting both upon and within the Fa, of which events are arrangements by the old evil forces, which are manifestations of arrangements from ordinary human society; which are our own attachments, and which are caused by difficulties we come across when clarifying the truth. We should neither “handle things or categorically accept things the way it was done before in personal cultivation”, nor consider all difficulties as arrangements by old evil forces without checking against ourselves. The Master said, “When a problem arises, we have to examine ourselves first to see whether things are right or wrong on our part. If we determine that it is interference or [an attempt to do] damage, when we deal with the specific problem we should try our best to be calm and kind to these people who are at the surface, because when the evil uses people, these people themselves usually aren't aware of it, although those people who are used are usually either people whose thoughts are just bad or people who have bad thoughts arising.” (“Fa-Rectification and Cultivation”). We should act, according to the local situation, in a way that ordinary people can accept and pass our righteous thoughts and messages to human beings to stimulate their kind thoughts.
One day when we were holding an activity in central London a Caucasian lady came by with two of her sons, one of whom was about 10 years old. As soon as he saw the Falun Emblem, he said, “Mum, look! Hitler’s thing!” It happened that the lady knew a little about swastikas. She said, “Darling, that’s not Hitler’s thing. It’s an ancient symbol from China”. Then we took the opportunity to explain the emblem to them. But the majority of people we come across during our Hongfa (spreading the Fa) activities are not like that lady. They misunderstand our use of the Falun Emblem. Whether or not we should openly display the emblem was discussed among practitioners in the UK. Some of us think that the idea not to display it is an ordinary human’s notion while some think we may turn those people who have misunderstood the emblem away and miss the opportunity to clarify the truth to them. In Zhuan Falun the Master said, “… this symbol itself does not connote any concept of classes. Our human civilization began to widely learn about this symbol 2,500 years ago during Sakyamuni’s time. It has only been several decades since Hitler’s time and World War II. He stole it…” At the European conference in 1998, he explained further when he answered a question of “Why did it happen that the swastika was misappropriated by Hitler?” I realise that Hitler’s misappropriation of the swastika is part of the arrangements by the old evil forces aiming to make European people misunderstand it in order to prevent their obtaining Dafa. Of course, we Dafa disciples do not accept this arrangement. We must be clear about this point in our mind.
Quite often I have used Master’s words “firm inside/ inwardly but yielding outside/ Outwardly” to remind myself. I realise that if we really hold firm faith in the Fa in our hearts we can reach the state of “diamond without omission” and will definitely be able to find the most proper way to offer salvation to human beings in this dimension during clarifying the truth, Hongfa activities, and Fa-rectification. Otherwise, if, for whatever reasons, we do not deal with an issue well, we will be helping the old evil forces’ arrangements. The only way to ensure that we are able do well is to study the Fa.
Last month, during the UK Experience Sharing Conference, all disciples who attended twice read through together all of Master’s Jingwen (articles and lectures at conferences) from “The Knowing Heart” onwards. Many practitioners felt that they benefited from doing this and would like to have more intensive group readings like this. This conference also helped me make another important break-through on my cultivation path. Now I understand more clearly, reflecting both upon and within the Fa, why we should not be attached to our Yuan Shen (true spirit), cultivation, consummation and the Fa-rectification as well as the establishment of a new colossal firmament . This naturally becomes the real motive in my determination to do better during Fa-rectification.
As Master said, “The Fa can reveal all attachments, the Fa can eradicate all evils, the Fa can expose and dispel all lies, and the Fa can strengthen righteous thoughts.” (“Deter Interference”)
This is what I have recently learned. I have written this article in the hope that other practitioners, especially practitioners in Europe, will hold more comprehensive and deeper discussions on the issues related to old evil forces’ arrangements in Europe.
