(Minghui.org) I enlightened to a new understanding of the old forces’ arrangements during Fa-study recently. This helped me correct my understanding of the relationships between Dafa practitioners, Dafa cultivation, saving sentient beings, and the old forces.
I realized that I hadn’t truly understood what the old forces were, and because of that, I couldn’t recognize what was arranged by the old forces. The result was that I was unable to negate their arrangements, and thus left loopholes for them to take advantage of, and brought many tribulations on myself.
I started practicing Falun Dafa when I was young, and now after two decades, I am middle-aged. Though I and other diligent practitioners appear younger than everyday people of the same age, we still show various degrees of aging. I have a few white hairs and some aging spots on my skin. Sickness karma has appeared from time to time and persisted for many years, though it’s nothing life threatening.
When I experienced some sickness karma, I usually thought it was to test my xinxing and that if I improved my xinxing and changed my human notions the test would pass. The sickness karma often disappeared for a period of time, but emerged again later.
I reluctantly accepted the situation, and consoled myself with the excuse that we can’t appear too youthful since we live among everyday people and should conform to the principles of this dimension of human beings.
I now realize that this understanding was very limited. The correct understanding is that tribulations arranged by the old forces should not appear at all. The old forces have prevented me from displaying the supernormal state of a Dafa disciple, and I had been following their arrangements. The worst thing was that it interfered with my doing the three things.
We are practitioners cultivating in the human world, so we still have some attachments. Though we have attachments, we should correct ourselves and conform to the characteristics of the universe while in the Fa, rather than while in the tests and tribulations arranged by the old forces.
The correct attitude negates the tribulation immediately. We shouldn’t accept anything that is not arranged by Master.
After practicing Dafa for decades, practitioners display the merits and mighty power of Dafa. Our physical bodies should appear young and healthy, and our work should be done well and be praised by our supervisors. Our families are harmonious. Our spiritual and material lives are rich. Our relatives, friends, neighbors, and colleagues should see the beauty of Falun Dafa from us. You won’t need to explain a lot, but rather just simply state, “Because I am a Falun Dafa practitioner, Falun Dafa is great!” People should be convinced already, simply by knowing you.
But we have endured a lot of tribulations. Some practitioners were arrested, jailed, abducted, and some died during the persecution. Some were dismissed from their jobs, illegally deprived of their pensions, and their family members have suffered too.
These negative matters are not what Master wanted or arranged for us. Master wants every practitioner to save more sentient beings and fulfill his or her prehistoric vows. So these negative matters must have been arranged by the old forces. If we had the righteous thoughts to negate these arrangements, the results would be different. Master said,
“When disciples have ample righteous thoughtsMaster has the power to turn back the tide”(“The Master-Disciple Bond,” Hong Yin Vol. II)
Some practitioners have looked inward during tribulations but couldn’t find the root cause of the problem. Master said,
“Many of you have never thought about it further. What’s really going on? You only find it odd and feel quite disappointed about being unable to practice qigong. This "oddness" will stop your practice. It is a demon interfering with you, as it manipulates people to disturb you. This is the simplest form of interference, and it can achieve the goal of stopping your qigong practice.” (Lecture Six, Zhuan Falun)
The old forces never intended to help Dafa practitioners succeed in their cultivation practice. Their aim is to eliminate practitioners who they think don’t meet their standards.
Master said,
“For a long period of time the sentient beings in Dafa, especially the disciples, have had a misunderstanding of the Fa at various levels regarding xinxing improvement. Whenever a tribulation comes, you do not see it with the side of your original nature but view it completely with your human side. Evil demons then capitalize on this point and inflict endless interference and damage, leaving students in long-term tribulations.” (“Expounding on the Fa,” Essentials for Further Advancement)
And:
“When a tribulation arrives, if you, a disciple, can truly maintain an unshakable calm or be determined to meet different requirements at different levels, this should be sufficient for you to pass the test. If it continues endlessly and if there do not exist other problems in your xinxing or conduct, it must be that the evil demons are capitalizing on the weak spots caused by your lack of control.” (“Expounding on the Fa,” Essentials for Further Advancement)
I enlightened that when we are challenged by a new tribulation, we should immediately think:
“‘I’m not an ordinary person. I’m a practitioner. You shouldn’t treat me this way, for I’m a Falun Dafa practitioner.’” (Lecture Six, Zhuan Falun)
We should then strengthen our righteous thoughts to deny the interference and only follow Master’s arrangements.
Master said,
“‘I'm Li Hongzhi's disciple, I don't want other arrangements or acknowledge them’--then they won't dare to do that. So it can all be resolved. When you can really do that, not just saying it but putting it into action, Master will definitely stand up for you.” (Teaching the Fa at the 2003 Lantern Festival)
“Our Falun Dafa will protect practitioners from deviating. How does it protect you? If you are a true practitioner, our Falun will safeguard you. I am rooted in the universe. If anyone can harm you, he or she would be able to harm me. Put simply, that person would be able to harm this universe.” (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun)
We should also send forth righteous thoughts to dissolve the old forces’ arrangements. Master will help us. Master said,
“Because he always committed bad deeds and interfered with my teaching of Dafa, I then eliminated him completely.” (Lecture Five, Zhuan Falun)
Some practitioners might think that our journey of cultivation practice will be smooth and easy without any interference. No, it won’t be. If you slack off, the old forces will take advantage and throw tribulations at you.
It took me a long time to realize this issue and to correct my understanding. Fellow practitioners, please strengthen your righteous thoughts and firmly believe in Dafa and Master. Let every one of us become an example that clarifies the truth through our actions and displays the mighty power and beauty of Dafa.
Category: Improving Oneself
