(Minghui.org) I’ve practiced Dafa for 29 years. Many practitioners I know are now elderly, and I am considered a young practitioner. I have observed practitioners go through persecution in various forms over the years, which has led to great losses in saving people in our area. I’d like to tell you some of the reasons I think the practitioners I know were persecuted, so that in the future we can walk our cultivation paths better.

Not Knowing How to Use the Magical Tool Master Gave Us – Looking Within

There are many reasons why practitioners are persecuted. First of all, I would like to discuss this from the perspective of looking within, my own experiences and the situation of practitioners in my area who were persecuted.

The most painful thing is to see practitioners I know pass away. Some felt clarifying the truth amounted to cultivation, and so they felt they did the three things well. However, they could not let go of certain notions, and in the end lost their bodies because the old forces took advantage of their loopholes. (These attachments include lust, resentment, using Dafa resources for personal use and so on.) Some practitioners are repeatedly imprisoned and go through sickness karma.

Many of them are veteran practitioners who went through ups and downs, and their conviction in Dafa and practicing cultivation is obvious. Yet, I observed that nearly all of them have a common problem. During conflicts or tribulations, they don’t know how to look within. They stop at the criteria of a person with high standards: “I need to be more tolerant and hold myself to higher standards.”

For example a practitioner may think: I did not make him angry, why did he suddenly swear at me? He misunderstood my intentions. I am a practitioner, I should not be like him. Perhaps he’s busy and has no time to study the Fa more often, so I should forgive him and sympathize with him. The practitioner thought she got over the tribulation and her cultivation improved. She appears to be benevolent. But has she improved in cultivation? Strictly speaking, no. She stopped at the standards of ordinary people and did not look within as Master told us to.

We’ve practiced cultivation for so many years, and we don’t want to just be good people among humans, do we? Then what stops us from looking within? I think the notions and attachments that we should have eliminated during conflicts are what’s blocking us, and preventing us from examining ourselves: there must something I haven’t done right that made him uncomfortable. Could it be that the way I handled things isn’t kind or my thoughts don’t conform to the Fa? Master is making use of the person to help me find where I’m lacking.

If you still can’t find the problem, think again. Perhaps we have notions from past lifetimes that we’re not aware of. I should then look at myself unconditionally as Master told us to do. As a practitioner, nothing we experience is coincidental. If one really cannot find the problem, then we should think, oh, it is my karma. We must look within in tribulations. There must be something we need to change, so we can assimilate to the Fa.

If we indeed cannot find where we’ve gone wrong and we really want to know the answer, what should we do? We must have a strong desire: I want to know what my problem is. I want to improve in cultivation! Master will see our wish to progress and help us. The Fa is boundless, and Master has ways to help us understand. But the precondition is that we must want to improve! This is a crucial step.

Master said,

“Buddhas look at whether a person is sincere when he takes his vows, and at whether he truly cultivates.” (Teachings at the Conference in Houston)

Because there’s a principle in the universe, what you choose counts. You want to improve, Master will help you; if you don’t want to improve, Master cannot do anything.

The phenomena of not looking within and lacking the strong desire to find one’s problem is a common occurrence. This is particularly true among elderly practitioners. Perhaps it’s because our notions were formed among ordinary people for too long and the attachment is too deep, or it's because we failed to look within every time we encounter tests and protected this notion that should have been eliminated. Consequently, the notions became very stubborn. In the end, these notions turn around and control the main conscience. When this person tries to look within, they obstruct him or her.

It makes you look for external causes and become trapped in right and wrong seen at the human level, and it keeps telling you that you’re right. It causes things to change according to your mind intent. It will lead you to hear the wrong thing or see deceptions to reinforce the notion that you’re right. It makes all kinds of strong reasons appear in your mind or use “this is interference by the old forces” to stop you from looking within. It traps you in strong egoism. You end up feeling things are terribly unfair and no one can be trusted. You thus isolate yourself.

It’s easy for practitioners who don’t have a clear understanding of the Fa to use the old forces’ interference as an excuse. Master said he did not arrange any personal tribulations after July 20, so if there’s interference, it must be the old forces.

Master said,

“When you’re interfered with you can’t always think, “I have to destroy whoever is interfering with me, no one can interfere with me.” (People laugh) Why don’t you stop and think about it: Why is someone interfering with you? Why is it able to interfere with you? Is it because you have an attachment, or because you have something you can’t let go of? Why don’t you look at yourself? The true reason lies with you yourself, and that’s the only reason it can exploit your gap! Don’t you have Master watching over you?” (“Fa Teaching Given at the Metropolitan New York Fa Conference,” Collected Teachings Given Around the World Volume III)

“I’m going to tell you that no matter what kind of conflicts arise, or what kind of situations emerge, it’s bound to be that we have gaps in ourselves. That’s for sure. If there weren’t a gap nobody could exploit it.” (“Fa Teaching Given at the Metropolitan New York Fa Conference,” Collected Teachings Given Around the World Volume III)

Speaking of this, there is something we need to pay attention to. Practitioners often go to extremes in understanding Master’s teachings. This is because we are using human notions to study the Fa – we accept parts that agree with our notions and reject what goes against our notions. Thus, we fail to see the true meaning behind the Fa principles. To avoid problems from not having clear understandings of the Fa, the best way is to be humble. We should listen to other practitioners' understanding of the Fa. This is a powerful way to help break through notions and gain a better understanding of the Fa. It helps push us in the right direction.

For instance, a local elderly practitioner was able to face the persecution with strong righteous thoughts and appeared to do the three things diligently. This year, she suddenly had severe health problems. When her consciousness was not clear, she inadvertently exposed her resentment towards practitioners that was buried in her heart for many years.

Practitioners who heard her words were stunned because she buried these things inside so deeply. From what she said, the criteria she used to judge right and wrong is a fundamental notion and the way she did things for a long time. It is not in line with Dafa. She did not look at people or things that she harbored resentment for from the perspective of cultivation. She did not know how to look within and only stopped at what was right and wrong on the surface.

Elderly practitioners’ conviction and determination to do well in cultivation has been a constant encouragement for younger practitioners. These elderly practitioners went through all kinds of hardship in life and various social turmoil. Master’s compassion and profound teachings explained the fickleness of human emotions they encountered in life, and so they especially cherish Dafa. However cultivation is so serious, and elevating one’s realm does not come from determination alone.

One has to endure hardship in cultivation due to karma. However, when we run into all kinds of conflicts that touch our hearts, our notions make us behave like ordinary people and we fall into the trap of judging who is right and wrong instead of distinguishing who is the real me at this crucial moment. Thus our notions are protected time and again. It becomes a test that we cannot pass.

No one knows how long their life span is. Some practitioners are reminded to look within when the evil exploits their loopholes. Even if they realize they need to look at their cultivation state, their main conscience is already weak and worse still, is not clear. Some even begin to doubt Master and the Fa.

I’m not judging whether a practitioner is right or wrong. I’m just analyzing the situation from the perspective of the Fa. This is one of the main reasons why I feel many practitioners who seem to be doing the three things well run into all kinds of persecution – they do not change themselves fundamentally. There’s an old saying: It’s impossible to “become a Buddha by putting down the knife.” Without a solid foundation in cultivation, without the habit of letting go of gains and attachments, we won’t have the powerful righteous thoughts to shake the evil. Looking within is a practitioner’s most basic requirement, everything else is just empty talk.

Looking within unconditionally is the fastest, most convenient and advantageous route to resolving conflicts and improving in cultivation. If we have the habit of looking within, and are able to humbly listen to other practitioners' reminders and suggestions, we will avoid many losses. There are only gains and no harm in looking within, so why are we reluctant to do so? It’s because we are obstructed by our notions that don’t want to die.

Not Eliminating Our Fundamental Attachment

Master said,

“Some students never eliminated their fundamental attachments, and that is an issue of whether or not they are truly Dafa disciples at a fundamental level.” (Teachings at the 2005 Conference in San Francisco)

Fundamental attachments have an important relationship with today’s cultivation in the Fa rectification period, so we must find our fundamental attachments.

I would like to discuss the impact on our cultivation when we don’t eliminate our fundamental attachments. A few years ago, I ran into a problem at home that has to do with my practicing Falun Dafa and how it affects my family member’s future. This made me even more afraid. As if there was a heavy rock in my heart, I was in deep misery. When I read the Fa with other practitioners, I honestly told them about my situation. They patiently analyzed and shared understandings from different angles. I felt my fear lessen bit by bit, as if peeling layers of an onion. Yet for some reason, deep in my heart, a shadow would often pop up and in an instant, I returned to that depressed and terrified state.

One day, while studying the Fa with practitioners, I said without thinking: “How I wish I would practice cultivation in the deep mountains and forests.” In fact, I wanted to cry. From my youth I always believed in Gods and Buddhas, and I happily practiced Falun Dafa for years. Words cannot express the joy I had in finding my purpose in life. Yet where did the sacred and joyful feeling of practicing cultivation go? Why do I feel cultivation is so hard? This is not the state I want to be in!

I knew that what I said was not on the Fa—I was just expressing my helplessness. This state lasted for several months. I studied the Fa and sent righteous thoughts to get rid of this, but nothing changed. I really wanted to know: what is my problem?!

One night, I had a vivid dream: water was coming from my kneecaps nonstop. I wiped away the water with napkins. The water stopped coming out; instead a thick, transparent substance appeared. When I woke up, I did not know what the dream meant. I decided not to think about it. However, I knew the dream meant something, as it was too vivid.

After breakfast, I don’t know why but I suddenly thought of reading Master’s article “Towards Consummation.” I began to read it eagerly. (Every time I talk about this incident, I want to cry. Every Dafa disciple has felt Master’s protection. Master cherishes us more than we cherish ourselves). As I read the article, I thought of my fundamental attachments.

I recalled what Master said,

“As a matter of fact, for cultivators in the past to say, “I’m doing such and such,” “I want to do such and such,” “I want to obtain such and such,” “I’m cultivating,” “I want to become a Buddha,” or “I wish to attain such and such,” none of that was outside of selfishness. But what I want you to do is to truly, purely, and unselfishly Consummate with the real righteous Fa and righteous Enlightenment—only then can you achieve eternal non-extinction.” (Teachings at the Conference in Switzerland)

Indeed, why do I want to become a Buddha? The Buddha world is perfect, people fight among one another in the human world, there is birth, old age, sickness and death, being human is suffering, I want to become a Buddha and be free from human suffering and attain eternal happiness. Isn’t this the fundamental nature of beings in the old cosmos – selfishness? Using Dafa to get the happiness I am pursuing, isn’t this my fundamental attachment? Master sees this and so do the old forces.

Why did Master repeatedly tell us to eliminate our fundamental attachments? It’s because we cannot enter the new cosmos holding on to this fundamental attachment – selfishness.

Because I wasn’t aware of my fundamental attachment, I did not eliminate it when the old forces used this as an excuse to persecute me, under the pressure of the labor camp, when my heart was moved by human emotions. It made me unhappy and cause me to suffer. This touched my fundamental attachment – self, “I” succumbed to it and could not pass the test. Looking back, despite practicing cultivation for so many years, because I held onto my fundamental attachment, it led to many losses in my cultivation.

As I read “Towards Consummation” I suddenly understood, as if a door opened in my mind. I cried out loud, and it was like an awakening. The wrong path I took, my cultivation process in the past two decades appeared in my mind clearly. It was as if I suddenly saw how I performed in every tribulation and what made it so hard for me.

I suddenly understood what Master was trying to tell me through that dream: it is mostly bones in my kneecap, so much water coming out from the bones, it is telling me my fundamental objective for practicing cultivation is not pure. A transparent substance came out in the end, it means only after all the water is removed can I cultivate good things. Like someone who was lost in the forest for a long time, I finally found the right direction. No matter how far the road ahead to home, I knew which direction to go.

I felt I let Master down and the sentient beings who trusted me to save them. I’m also moved by Master’s constant protection and care for us practitioners.

Although I found my fundamental attachment, it does not mean I thoroughly eliminated it. I still have many other attachments. But I know now how to uncover, suppress, and eliminate them whenever I run into problems. Thus, I am constantly eradicating the source of this attachment, selfishness, bit by bit.

Some practitioners think that all attachments come from selfishness, so just focus on eliminating it. It’s not wrong to think this way, but everyone’s fundamental attachment is different and their paths are different. Everyone’s fundamental attachments will cause him or her to stumble. In the process, he or she learns a lesson and enlightens to the Fa. Furthermore, everyone’s fundamental attachment will decide and dictate his or her cultivation path. Our various attachments are like the branches of a tree and they all come from the tree’s root. The fundamental attachment is the root of the tree. If we don’t dig out the root, only pruning the branches on the surface, the root will continue to grow. The best approach is to do as Master told us to do.

Not Standing from the Perspective of Fa Rectification Cultivation

Being unselfish is the fundamental difference between the new and old cosmos. Assisting Master in saving people is the fundamental difference between Falun Dafa practitioners and cultivators in the past.

Why do we dare to act as we like when we’re entangled in conflicts and saving people? An important reason is that we don’t have a clear awareness of Fa rectification cultivation. Thus, we cannot balance the relationship between ourselves and sentient beings. We don’t realize how our cultivation affects the life and death of sentient beings! Without realizing it, we become focused on personal cultivation. Because our starting point is wrong, it’s easy for the old forces to create trouble for us. That is why we are unable to get rid of certain human notions and find ourselves in tribulation for a long time.

Without the right starting point, we won’t have pure, powerful righteous thoughts to save sentient beings. We will be trapped in self and unable to conduct ourselves as practitioners. Consequently, beings around us are destroyed and non practitioners as well as the beings behind him cannot be saved. The greatest compassion in the universe is to harmonize and complete what Master wants. Yet, we unknowingly stand opposite Master in saving people and we cause an obstruction. That is a great sin! It not only destroys sentient beings, but it also puts us in peril.

Coming from the wrong starting point also manifests when we do the three things. As time goes by in Fa rectification cultivation, we easily fall into the trap of practicing cultivation mechanically. Without realizing it, we study the Fa, do the exercises and send righteous thoughts for personal consummation, to have good health or because we don’t want to be persecuted. We should study the Fa to assimilate to the Fa so that we have the power to save people. We have good health so that we can save people and send righteous thoughts to eliminate evil elements that are stopping us from saving people. As time goes by, we don’t have the compassion to save people with urgency, and the determination and mission to help Master save people that made us take the risk to come to earth. Such insensitivity is delaying the time for saving people and stopping us from reaching the standards required of us by the Fa, time and again.

When we continue to be trapped in a tribulation or find a dead end in doing something, we should see if our starting point is selfish. Things will change and we will find a way out if our basis is right.

In the article “China Fahui | Eliminating the Persecution of Being Released on Bail with Righteous Thoughts”, the author struggled with various notions and fears, and with self and saving people. When she reminded herself that she was a Fa rectification practitioner and only thought of saving people, she tirelessly wrote letters and personally clarified the truth to those who persecuted her. Such kind, selfless thoughts broke through the persecution. This passage in the article: “Always remember that saving people is our mission. Start by clarifying the truth to the police officers directly involved in the persecution, and approach them with compassion. The fact that we prioritize saving people, especially those directly involved in persecuting us, demonstrates the virtue of Dafa disciples. With such purity, who would dare harm us? The evil persecution will naturally disintegrate.”

Our cultivation path is very narrow, so we must be upright! Every thought that is selfless, every kindness shown towards people, every rejection of the deceptive self will enable us to feel the transformation in our minds and bodies when we assimilate to the Fa.

We should cherish and treat Fa rectification seriously! This opportunity is unprecedented! Master said,

“If you can do it, you may continue your cultivation. If you cannot do it or cannot cultivate, from now on you can forget about cultivation. Except for demons that will deceive you, nobody else will teach you, and in the future you will not be able to cultivate.” (Lecture Eight, Zhuan Falun)

I feel sad and lost every time I read this. It is a sense of hopelessness when a being loses the opportunity to practice cultivation forever when he or she has waited so long for this chance. We can only do well, there is no other way.