(Minghui.org) I was moved after reading the article, “Having a Clear Mind Because of Being Reborn in the Fa,” published on the Chinese Minghui website on September 27, 2013. I saw clearly that the evil of the CCP brainwashing centers forced on Dafa disciples was as bad as the persecution in labor camps. In fact, the brainwashing is worse in terms of mental torture!
With strong righteous thoughts, practitioners can let go of life and death; then the evil cannot “transform” them. They transferred the practitioner who wrote the article from one brainwashing center to another. During three and a half years in brainwashing centers, he was sad to see that “No one in the brainwashing centers could remain steadfast in righteous beliefs from the beginning to the end with me. They gave in to the evil using various reasons and excuses.” “I have seen over three hundred practitioners 'transformed,' including ex-practitioners who went astray.”
Although what that practitioner observed was a local phenomenon, we can see the degree of evil in the brainwashing. We should learn a deeper lesson, and not let the dark minions persecute Dafa disciples so easily!
From fellow practitioners and many articles regarding brainwashing published on the Minghui website, we know that the methods used in brainwashing sessions are torture and lies. Practitioners in the brainwashing centers are forced to listen to misleading, false stories day and night, produced by CCP "experts" in deception, and ex-practitioners who went astray. The most inhuman tactic employed is sleep deprivation.
“The evil went hysterically crazy at the end, after they had exhausted all their methods of beatings and torture. They tried to kill me. For nearly four months, I was not allowed to sleep a bit for 24 hours. After over ten hours of so-called 'transformation' and beatings, I was left standing throughout the night. My body from my waist down to my feet was beaten black and blue. They called in a doctor to check on me. The doctor was scared, and warned them repeatedly that I might die. But the beatings nonetheless only intensified.
"During the daytime I had to be highly alert to deal with the collaborators, those former practitioners who had gone astray. I needed to correct their false ideas and try to guide them back to the right path, so I could not afford to lose consciousness during the day. But at night I fainted again and again during the overnight forced standing.
"One night I counted how many times I fainted. I collapsed about 15 or 16 times, completely losing consciousness. Without any dizziness to warn me, I just fell down hard on the concrete floor. Sometimes I woke up from the pain, and then just got up myself..." (Having a Clear Mind Because of Being Reborn in the Fa)
For a normal person such a story is entirely inconceivable. But Dafa disciples know that no one, not even a person with tenacious vitality, could emerge from this situation without Master's protection!
Early in the persecution, Jiang Zemin issued secret orders to police and the judiciary system that deaths of Falun Gong practitioners due to beatings were to be counted as suicides. Officials at all levels and the police have since had nothing to fear, and they completely lost their humanity.
In this case, suffering torture which is completely beyond the limits of ordinary human tolerance, some Dafa disciples reverted to their human thoughts instead of righteous thoughts. Master and righteous gods cannot protect someone in that case. There are only two possible outcomes... being tortured to death or betrayal.
We know from the Fa that practitioners who have been persecuted to death due to temporary human thoughts lost their lives, but Master acknowledges that they are disciples and their Right Fruit will not be affected. But if they have betrayed Master, even if the betrayal was not sincere, if they signed a repentance statement which slandered Master and Dafa, the old forces will seize on this as an excuse to increase their tribulations. Master said,
"So, for those students of ours who are momentarily in a fog and whose states of mind aren't right, think about it, once you become disrespectful of me, the old forces will do ruthless things to you, and they'll think that this person is just awful. Of course, they absolutely won't annihilate you right away. They'll guide you, have you see more and more false visions, make your mind less and less righteous, make your heart toward Master change in a demonic way, lead you down an evil path, and by doing so make you commit huge sins." ("Fa-Lecture During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference")
What does "do ruthless things to you" mean? I think it involves not only just preventing you from reaching the standard of consummation, and staying at your same level. Its goal is to send you to hell or to make a practitioner's body and soul become extinct. Fortunately, under Master's compassionated protection, "ruthless things" do not always succeed. Many practitioners who had gone astray, returned to Dafa.
In the face of torture, if even one human thought that uses false compromise to ease the pain emerges, the old forces will seize on this and immediately press harder and harder until one betrays Master and betrays Dafa. Because after this thought emerges, Master and righteous gods can no longer protect you, at least in this dimension. So the old forces take advantage to force the practitioner to make greater mistakes using your weakness. When you betray Master, then Master can't protect you in any dimension.
So we must be clear about Fa principles. Facing the evil persecution, we should not take any chances, fool ourselves, or have any crafty ideas. All our thoughts must be righteous. Even if we cannot think of anything, we may just chant "Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good." Without righteous thoughts, we will not have Master's protection and righteous gods' protection. How can a human overcome demons!
Facing torture, we should not just endure. Otherwise the old forces will think we are accepting their test, and the torture will be continuous. We must deny this persecution, such as by letting the pain be transferred to the abusers. Doing so also reduces what Master is bearing for us, and stops wicked people from doing bad things, thus increasing their chance of being saved. Master said,
"When Dafa disciples have strong righteous thoughts and no fear, they can use righteous thoughts to turn the tables on the evildoers. Whether it’s when the wicked policemen are using electric batons or when bad people are injecting drugs to persecute you, you can use your righteous thoughts to redirect the electric current or the drugs back to the person doing violence to you. You can do it with or without your palm erected—it works as soon as your righteous thoughts emerge." (“Stop the Evil Acts with Righteous Thoughts” from The Essentials of Diligent Progress Vol. III)
We cannot betray Master and Dafa at any time. Even if the betrayal appears to be against our will. Even if we lose our lives, our faith cannot be shaken! The flesh body is just a piece of clothing, while betraying Master and Dafa means body and soul extinction! Master said,
"If a cultivator can truly let go of [the fear of] death, then that death will forever be far removed from you." ("Teaching the Fa at the 2004 International Fa Conference in New York")
Therefore, when you defend Master and Dafa with your life, the threat of death will leave you.
We have learned from the Fa that every tribulation which Dafa disciples suffer has its deep historical reason. It is never unprovoked. Not only is this life related to our cultivation practice, all of our lives are related to cultivation practice. But this life while Dafa is spreading has the most important meaning. There might be historical reasons for the practitioners who are persecuted in brainwashing centers. So the tribulations are big. But if they cannot completely deny the old forces's arrangements because they are not clear about Fa principles, they may betray Dafa under torture, like the situation described in the article referenced above.
The cultivation of that small portion of practitioners who have great historic karma is more difficult than that of people with great virtue. Master talked about this clearly in the Fa. But this does not mean that they cannot cultivate to a high level. Everything depends on their perseverance, dedication, and efforts in this life.
I hope practitioners who have gone astray, as well as all other practitioners can learn from the article, “Having a Clear Mind Because of Being Reborn in the Fa.” We must fully understand, based on the Fa principles, that respect for Master and believing in Master are far more important than our own lives! If we can do this, will brainwashing centers still exist?
Reference: “Having a Clear Mind Because of Being Reborn in the Fa” http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2013/9/27/法中生-神志清-280292.html English version not available.