Facing Intensified Persecution, Practitioners Should Check for Common Problems in Cultivation

(Minghui.org) Ahead of a meeting between Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump, the CCP is intensifying its persecution of Falun Dafa in both countries. In addition to ramping up its espionage activities, the CCP is recruiting and manipulating more overseas Chinese to carry out its transnational repression campaigns. It has also attempted to sever longstanding communication channels between Minghui.org and Falun Dafa practitioners in mainland China.

Over the past two weeks, a large-scale “door-knocking” campaign emerged in my city, surrounding counties, and elsewhere in the province. Unlike in previous harassment campaigns, many of the police officers involved wear body cameras and begin recording the entire process even before entering the house. Some proceed to conduct illegal searches, raids, and assaults without saying a word upon entering.

Just in my area, at least 50 practitioners have been harassed in this campaign, and there are additional cases that have not been reported to Minghui.org. A number of practitioners have also been illegally searched, arrested, and detained. The scope and intensity of this campaign remind me of the beginning of the persecution in July 1999.

How can there be such widespread escalation in an era where the CCP’s collapse is imminent, the Fa-rectification is about to end, and Dafa practitioners are completing their historical mission of helping to save people? It could result from the CCP’s inherent nature and a bout of madness before its demise. It could also be related to our own shortcomings as practitioners. What omissions in cultivation have we failed to correct? Are there human attachments and notions that we have yet to relinquish?

As practitioners, we should look beyond the superficial phenomena to find the root cause. On the surface, the increased persecution in my area came about after a new police chief was transferred from another region. In his previous post, he viciously persecuted Falun Dafa practitioners. Upon taking office here, he sought to climb the ranks by doing the same thing.

Another factor is that most police stations have had their personnel replaced with new officers; some stations even had their entire leadership replaced. Officers who had previously come to understand Dafa have either retired or been transferred. The newly appointed young officers are mostly unaware of the truth, deeply poisoned by the CCP’s lies, and filled with hatred toward Falun Dafa and its practitioners.

On the surface, these changes have led to a new wave of persecution. However, nothing is a coincidence. Master Li (the founder of Falun Dafa) wrote, “You should also be clear that “natural” does not exist, and “the inevitable” has reasons behind it.” (“Expounding on the Fa”, Essentials for Further Advancement)

By examining the issues within myself, I see two main issues that might have allowed our loopholes to be exploited.

Being Lax, Growing Numb, and Seeking Comfort

Laxity, apathy, and complacency in cultivation have become widespread among practitioners today.

Back when the persecution first started in 1999, many practitioners went to Beijing to validate the Fa by displaying banners at Tiananmen Square. Leaving their families and businesses behind, they traveled day and night, enduring wind and rain, to the countryside, mountains, and towns, traversing fields, climbing hills, and scaling buildings to distribute materials, hang banners, and post posters. These are the demeanors of future enlightened beings created by Dafa. They were willing to give up everything, even their lives, to help save people. The magnificence of their actions won the respect of beings throughout the universe.

Twenty-seven years later, the main force of Dafa disciples from that era has entered old age. Some are in their 80s and 90s, some have passed away due to illness, and a few have fallen behind or left the Fa. Fewer practitioners now remain. Though many of them are still doing the three things and helping to save sentient beings, the intensity is far less than it was back then.

For so many years, everyone has been doing the same things every day. Familiar routines have led to many practitioners doing things mechanically. Some feel that they had already made great sacrifices during the most difficult years, and now in the final period of Fa-rectification they should just walk the final path steadily and without any mistakes, hoping to achieve consummation smoothly and peacefully. Therefore, their efforts to save people are not as great as before; in some ways, it is as if they’re clarifying the truth to complete a task.

Furthermore, with the CCP’s surveillance having become almost omnipresent, fewer practitioners have gone out to clarify the truth. Many of those who still go out only talk to people but don’t give out printed materials, thinking it’s dangerous to carry them. I have heard from quite a few people that they haven’t seen Dafa materials in several years.

This mentality is similar to what Master said in “Fa-Rectification Period Dafa Disciples” from The Essentials of Diligent Progress II:

“Actually, there are a few students who have always been reluctant to do things that are for destroying the evil and clarifying the truth—as if that would be doing something for Master, or as if that would be putting in extra for Dafa. As soon as you heard me say that you had reached the standard for Consummation, you felt as though a big burden had been lifted, you let up, and didn’t want to do anything further, instead of taking what Master told you—something so sacred—to be motivation for becoming more diligent. If you are still unclear about what a Fa-rectification disciple is, you won’t be able to step forward in the current ordeal, and you will be led along by the human world’s pursuit of comfort and arrive at crooked understandings. Master’s heart has always been pained by those who have fallen, and the majority were ruined by that pursuit.”

During this tribulation, a practitioner had a dream. At the time, she was unaware of the door-knocking campaign. In the dream, it was a dark night, and she and a group of other practitioners were being escorted along the road like prisoners by vicious forces. A demon snatched her Dafa book, tore it in half, and tried to bite it. Although she was terrified, she fought hard to get it back. She wanted to hide the book but felt it wasn’t safe anywhere. Hiding it in the grass might lead to someone else taking it, and it would be disrespectful to Dafa. She felt it was safest to keep it on her person, so she hid half the book in each of her two pockets. One pocket leaked, and half of the book was lost.

She searched everywhere and found a copy of Zhuan Falun on the concrete platform of a flower bed—a practitioner had discarded the book out of fear to avoid further persecution! She quickly picked it up. When she looked at the practitioners who were with her, she saw that each of them had a numb expression, helplessly allowing the evil forces to whip and punch them. They only endured the violent persecution, and not one of them resisted.

The entire space was filled with evil, and the atmosphere was oppressive. The practitioner looked up at the sky, where the moon appeared exceptionally large, and she could vaguely see a Falun spinning.

This practitioner’s dream is very telling. It points out the true state of cultivation for many practitioners.

Failing to Improve Oneself Amid Conflicts and Allowing the Old Forces to Exploit Loopholes

A local practitioner named Wang, who is skilled in technology, recently developed serious illness karma. Other practitioners came and studied Dafa teachings with him, hoping to help him improve. While they helped him look inward for problems, his past illegal fundraising issues surfaced. Because his cultivation foundation was poor and he couldn’t improve his xinxing, he was unable to recognize his mistakes. This caused his condition to worsen, bringing him to the brink of death and forcing him to be hospitalized. However, he was already in debt, and his family was unable to afford the high hospital bills.

His mother, a new practitioner whom Wang had practically dragged into the practice for health and fitness, complained to fellow practitioners who came to visit her, asking for financial support. Because the project that Wang undertook was very important, everyone depended on him and couldn’t do without him. A small number of practitioners generously donated money, hoping he would recover quickly and continue coordinating the project. The amount donated was likely substantial, and practitioners from other areas also participated.

Some practitioners felt that such donations went against Dafa teachings and wanted to stop everyone from blindly donating money. This caused an uproar among the practitioners. An online mailbox where practitioners posted information became a battlefield for criticism and debate. With the CCP culture that some practitioners had not yet eliminated, together with interference from vicious forces in other dimensions, the atmosphere became chaotic and caused considerable turmoil among the practitioners.

Many human attachments were exposed as a result, yet few know how to cultivate themselves. If this continues, there will inevitably be a breaking point, allowing the old forces to exploit practitioners’ gaps and the persecutors to succeed.

Conclusion

Of course, there are other factors contributing to this wave of persecution. For example, the local cultivation environment has been relatively relaxed in recent years, with no major persecution cases. This led to elation and a sense of self-satisfaction among practitioners. Some even started traveling, relaxing, and taking vacations to alleviate their long-term stress. But they did not realize that cultivation is inseparable from their lives, and the two were connected from the very beginning of their cultivation.

Cultivation practice is a sifting process; the sand will eventually be washed away, and only gold will remain. Each wave of persecution may be the last, and each may eliminate a number of practitioners. In Fa-rectification cultivation, the old forces’ tests for Dafa disciples are severe and destructive. For true cultivators, the ordeals we face can be seen as both bad and good. Handling them with righteous thoughts will make cultivators purer and more effective in saving sentient beings. Conversely, responding with human attachments, emotions, and selfishness will cause heavy losses for both cultivation and our efforts to help save people.

Let us learn from this lesson, study the Dafa teachings more, and study them well. Master said, “It follows, then, that in all circumstances one should adhere to the standards for a practitioner, prioritize Dafa, and look at everything in light of the teachings.” (“Critical Times Reveal One’s Spiritual State”)

Let us pull ourselves together and remember Master’s guidance: “Cultivate with the heart you once had, and spiritual perfection is certain! May you grow ever more diligent as you approach the end!” (“To the Experience-Sharing Conference in Taiwan”). Diligent cultivation is the only way to live up to Master’s kindness.

The above are my personal understandings at this stage.