(Clearwisdom.net) In the past whenever I read Minghui/Clearwisdom articles in the "News from China" and "Facts of the Persecution" categories, I always felt scared and uncomfortable. Gradually, however, I realized that this kind of mentality was not right. Teacher tells us,
"The actions they are now adopting in the persecution of Dafa and its students are extremely evil and shameful, and they fear these will be exposed." ("Rationality" in Essentials for Further Advancement II)
I personally think that our truth-clarification is mainly about explaining clearly how good Falun Dafa practitioners are, how Jiang's faction has used despicable means (financially, reputation-wise and physically) to persecute us, how the persecution hurts the public (by making them lose an environment with a sound legal system, lose their moral foundation, by worsening their society's living environment, by putting their lives in a terrible and pitiful position if they believe the evil's lies, and so on). Our truth-clarification should cover these main aspects. If we ourselves do not read the persecution articles or do not treat them with righteous thoughts after reading them, won't we be tacitly acknowledging the evil?
If we are able to enlighten clearly and righteously to Fa-principles and follow them strictly amidst the huge tribulation created by the old forces, won't we be displaying Falun Dafa's power? As members of the main body of Falun Dafa practitioners in Mainland China, what then is our responsibility? A fellow practitioner's arrest will create a certain degree of negative impact on his or her friends and relatives, because what ordinary people fear most is being implicated. Moreover, being arrested is taking the path arranged by the old forces. The more Fa-rectification practitioners that can live in freedom and not in detention, the more sentient beings will be saved!
Based on these thoughts, afterward, whenever I read news about the persecution of fellow practitioners, I first look for my own shortcomings and things from the articles that I need to know about for safety reasons. Then, I always use righteous thoughts to help those practitioners who are written about in.
The persecution against fellow practitioners is like the persecution against myself. Actually, many practitioners have had the same feeling, namely, whenever a large-scale persecution occurred in a certain area, our bodies would feel especially bad and uncomfortable. However, my new understanding made me get rid of the old numb and depressed mentality.
In the past when I sent righteous thoughts it was like I was "helping others." Now I realize more deeply the inner meaning of practitioners being one whole body. Viewed from the microcosm, each of us is a complete and isolated cosmos. Viewed from the macrocosm, won't we be a part of a bigger being or even just a very small particle? It's like a human being, when someone uses a hard object to violently hit a certain part of your body, in addition to feeling uncomfortable in that part of the body, your whole body will feel uncomfortable and your mental state will not be good. Therefore, in order to not cause the whole body to ache and in order to maintain a good mental state, you need to guarantee that you are not injured in any part of your body (this is probably not a very accurate comparison).
It does not matter if fellow practitioners know each other on the surface and it does not matter how far apart we are from each other physically, we are always connected both internally and externally. The persecution occurring in any part of the body will need the whole body to address it. I personally think that perhaps this is part of the reason why Falun Dafa is all-encompassing.
We send righteous thoughts not for the sake of simply "helping" fellow practitioners. It is because the persecution against fellow practitioners is surely and truly persecution that is happening to ourselves. The manifestations don't appear at the surface of our physical dimension, yet, in another dimension it is surely and truly happening. Of course, being responsible for fellow practitioners is not just limited to the form of sending righteous thoughts, and other forms are also indispensable. This also provides us with an opportunity to clarify the truth, and how we handle it is up to us.
When I understood this principle of the Fa (1), I instantly discovered that I had expanded my mind so much more, and my mind was taking up everything and thinking about everything. At that moment it was as if my righteous thoughts had filled the entire cosmos...
Time is passing minute by minute. I still have so many degenerate notions that I have not done away with. The key is to walk my path well and do what I should do well in this era of forging the "greatest enlightened beings." I know that I have lost many opportunities. I must treasure this time and not create any regrets.
(1) Fa: Law and principles; the teachings of Falun Dafa.