(Minghui.org) I gained a new understanding about getting rid of fear, and denying the old forces’ arrangements while sending forth righteous thoughts recently.
Master said,
“Timidity is caused by a factor called “timidity” that exists in this universe. It causes you to be afraid. The more scared you are, the more its effect on you. You have to conquer it with willpower—it’s a matter of willpower. This too needs to be accomplished in your cultivation.” (Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Switzerland)
My understanding is that we should not be scared of fear. As long as we have a strong willpower, we can conquer it. As long as we consider it as just one kind of attachment, reinforce our main consciousness, and distinguish the fear from our true self, we can get rid of it easily.
But why do we often feel that it is very difficult to get rid of the fear? After I continuously studied the Fa and sent forth righteous thoughts, I realized it was because we combined the fear with the old forces’ persecution. As soon as we had fear, we thought of the old forces' persecution. As soon as we thought of the persecution, our fear would be reinforced. It gave us the illusion that the fear and the old forces’ persecution were indivisible.
While I was trying to get rid of fear, I was making a great effort, and could barely manage to take fear lightly. When an incident happened, I was still overwhelmed and I was still affected by fear. Every time during my tribulation, I relied on my belief in Master and the Fa to turn things around, and gradually took the fear lightly. However I did not make a fundamental change, and still was fearful when facing a problem.
After I continuously studied the Fa and cultivated, I found my fundamental problem. I tied the fear and old forces’ persecution together, and subconsciously created a life and death test I could not break through. While sending forth righteous thoughts, I asked myself, “What are you truly afraid of? Is it loss of fame and personal interest? It does not seem like it.”
I kept asking myself and dug deeper. Finally, I realized that I was afraid of the old forces’ persecution. I was afraid of the evils’ power. I was afraid of being arrested and imprisoned, or even that my organs would be harvested while still alive. I was afraid that I did not do well during the persecution and let down Master and the Fa. My mind was full of the old forces' persecution, and the more I thought about it, the more fear I had.
I realized that after many years’ Fa-rectification cultivation, I did not actively position myself as a Dafa disciple. I often unconsciously positioned myself as a victim of the persecution. Although I kept talking about saving sentient beings and helping Master rectify the Fa, my mind was still passive, and I thought of the fear and persecution the most. This significantly restrained my divine side. I always thought of how to not be afraid of fear, and how to get rid of persecution and fear. Even though I did the three things well, it was actually to avoid the persecution and get rid of the fear. It seemed my biggest goal of cultivation was to get rid of my fear and to avoid being persecuted.
After I realized my fundamental problem, I continuously increased my Fa-study and sending righteous thoughts. I also strengthened my righteous thoughts of believing in Master and the Fa. After I reinforced my strong will within the Fa, I gradually found the fear was partially caused by my human notions and attachments, and partially caused by the old force’s reinforcement. The old forces exist within my attachment, and notions to play its roles. Its goal is to destroy me and sentient beings.
The old forces can persecute us because they take advantage of our omissions in cultivation. They rely on our attachments to survive. However, the old forces’ persecution should not exist just because of our attachments and notions. We are cultivating Dafa and the cultivation form Master bestowed on us has nothing to do with the old forces. No matter what attachments and shortcomings we have, it has nothing to do with the old forces. We must firmly stick to this in order to break through the old forces’ persecution.
Master is rectifying the Fa and the universe. The unrighteous things have nowhere to go. As long as we follow Master’s requirements and truly cultivate within the Fa, we are denying the old forces and their arrangements. The fear is a factor of the old universe, and an attachment. If we have righteous thoughts and strong willpower, we can easily distinguish it, treat it as an attachment, and eventually get rid of it. If we artificially add the old forces’ factors into the fear, or consider that the fear is hard to conquer, we actually strengthen the fear.
Although the old forces are gods and have powers, they are not acknowledged by the Fa-rectification. They are doomed to be eliminated. We deny everything they did to us and there is nothing to be feared. The fear and the old forces do not necessarily have any relationship. It was just me who inadequately linked them together and intertwined their relationship. Then it started to evolve and eventually became the tribulation and the life and death test of my cultivation.
With further Fa-study, I also realize that we should not treat fear, attachments and old forces like the western medicine treats illnesses, which only treat the problem on the surface where it happens. Instead, we should improve all aspects of our xinxing as a whole and deny the old forces fundamentally. Only then will the fear be truly eliminated.