(Minghui.org) A fellow practitioner from our area was illegally arrested and detained. While she was held in the detention center, she treated the inmate around her with kindness, and told them about how wonderful Dafa is and the facts about the persecution. Many inmates came to like the practice as a result. She also took good care of a paralyzed inmate. Her kind deeds touched the hearts of some of the guards, as well. The head of detention center even offered to help her and released her under the provision of “house arrest.”
However, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) wouldn't stop persecuting her. Six months later, she received notification from the local court that she would be put on trial within the next two weeks. The practitioner then came to see me. As time was very tight, and after some discussions with a few other practitioners, we came to the understanding that this practitioner should not wait to be taken away by the police, but should move away for a while.
I told the practitioner about our suggestion, thinking that the police would not be able to find her if she went out of town, and then would stop looking for her. Although leaving home is not what Master wants us to do, it could be a way to resist the persecution. To my surprise, she didn't want to go anywhere, because her father had signed as a guarantor when she was “bailed out” of the detention center. She was concerned that if she left, her father would be in trouble. Furthermore, her mother was bedridden and needed her care. Even though her younger sister could look after her, she didn't feel she could just leave.
We knew this practitioner was under enormous pressure and was quite attached to affection for her family. So I suggested that she study the Fa and send righteous thoughts more often. I realized that we could not simply impose our views upon her and we should respect her decision. Master told us:
“Each person is traveling his own path, and each is gaining enlightenment from Dafa as to what will one day be his own Fa.” (“2012 International Fa Conference at the U.S. Capital”)
Master also said:
“Even when an ordinary person goes through something he will draw a lesson from it, and give it some thought. So, all the more so should a cultivator try to figure out why the old forces exploited his gaps. You have got to figure out what your problem is.” (“Fa Teaching at the 2013 Greater New York Fa Conference”)
I shared my understandings with this practitioner and suggested that she look inward and figure out why she had been arrested and where her loopholes lie. Through Fa study, she realized that she didn't study the Fa enough and had tried to find a shortcut to elevate to higher levels. She even attended lectures given by those who were undermining the Fa, and was following others instead of the Fa. This in itself was undermining the Fa and was the fundamental problem that was taken advantage of by the old forces.
When this practitioner realized her mistakes, she made a solemn declaration to rectify herself and told those who had also attended these lectures to do the same, so that they could make up for their losses. She was trying very hard and constantly looking inward.
When news came from the court stating that the date for the hearing was to be brought forward, and that she would be taken back to prison, her heart was affected. I suggested that she move away for a while, but she started to prepare for being taken to prison. She asked me to help write down Master's articles on pieces of cloth so that she could take them with her to prison, and also asked me to help her younger sister take care of her mom. I said to her angrily: “You are paving your own way and following a path arranged by the old forces. Do you also want to drag me into this?”
Why did I get so angry? When I got back home, I started to look within and found a big attachment to selfishness. In the past few days, even though I seemed to be helping her, I didn't truly take what she was facing seriously. In fact I was trying to protect myself the entire time. I was afraid of getting involved and didn't want to bring too much trouble to myself. I was thinking: If it hadn't been for this matter, I could have enjoyed more comfort and ease, and be able do the three things in a stable environment. I also realized that I had failed to view the issue from the Fa's perspective.
I understood that the fellow practitioner wasn't in the wrong, I was. Digging more deeply, I found that I had failed to have total faith in Master and Dafa. I always say that we must not acknowledge the old forces, yet I was doubting what the outcome would be. When I found my own loopholes and exposed them, my xinxing improved and my righteous thoughts became stronger. I remembered Master's words:
“No matter whether it’s the living beings in the universe from the past or all the living beings who have now been rectified, they are all watching. It’s only because your mind isn’t righteous that you attract those evil things. If your mind is righteous, nobody will dare to come. And even if they really could come, gods wouldn’t allow it.” (“Teaching the Fa at the Western U.S. Fa Conference” in 1999)
Master's words strengthened my righteous thoughts. I realized that I mustn't just passively allow the CCP to take my fellow practitioner away. I must let go of “self”, and work with others to eliminate the old forces. The persecution of any fellow practitioner is also a persecution of me. I realized that it was an opportunity for me to let go of my attachment to fear and cooperate well with the whole body to save sentient beings.
As I had more confidence, I went to see the practitioner the next day. Her father wanted to pay money to the authorities so that his daughter could be spared. I encouraged the practitioner not to give them anything, and to go with the arrangement by Master.
This practitioner's younger sister was very scared and tried to throw me out of the house several times. I didn't take it to heart and kept visiting her and studying the Fa with her. We realized that there must be loopholes on our part to be in this situation. However, we are taken care of by Master and we can rectify ourselves within the Fa. We will definitely not allow any other beings to persecute us. Master does not acknowledge the persecution, nor should we. But how should we handle this situation? Master told us:
“Human history does not exist for [people] to take being human as its final goal, nor is human history a recreation ground created for the evil to display its viciousness. Mankind’s history was established for the Fa-rectification, and only Dafa disciples are worthy of displaying their glory here.” (“To the 2005 European Experience Sharing Conference” from The Essentials of Diligent Progress Vol. III)
I understood that since Master said that only Dafa disciples are worthy of displaying their glory here, then we shall display the glory of Dafa in the courtroom! We would use all legal means to suffocate the evil and save sentient beings. The time we have left is for them to wake up, not for them to persecute us.
I reminded the practitioner that we must be kind and compassionate towards those working in the legal system, as they have also been deceived by the CCP. Likewise, the police are also beings that we need to save. Detention centers are not places for us to study the Fa and do our exercises, and that she must hold strong righteous thoughts and return home safely. We must have faith in Master and believe that we will disintegrate the old forces' persecution. We encouraged each other and held a strong thought that we would walk the path that Master has arranged.
When the day of the trial came, we called a few practitioners and went to send righteous thoughts near the courthouse. We held a strong thought: We practitioners are one body and nothing can interfere with us. About an hour later, we saw the practitioner walk out safely with her family members.
The practitioner came to see me the next morning. With tears in her eyes, she told me about what happened in court. She said: “As soon as I walked in, I asked Master to strengthen me with compassion. I was a bit nervous at first, but gradually calmed down. I could feel that my energy field was very strong. I knew fellow practitioners were helping me at the same time. When the prosecution said that we were against the law, I explained to them that we have freedom of belief, and told them about the wonderfulness of Dafa and how I had benefited from the practice. In the end, I told them not to harm innocent people, and that they should choose a bright future for themselves by treating Dafa practitioners kindly. I was cut off from time to time, but I said what I wanted to say.”
Through this incident, the practitioner's family members understood the facts about Dafa. Her father said that he would always support Dafa from now on. Her younger sister said that no matter what the outcome was, she would take good care of her mom so that her sister would not need to worry about her. They all wrote solemn declarations, stating that all the bad words they had said about Falun Gong in the past were null and void. I was so happy for them. The fellow practitioner said to me, “I've seen your improvement. You never criticized me no matter what decision I made. You were just quietly helping me and helping make up what was lacking. My whole family saw that when I was in trouble, you didn't try to stay away. We are all very grateful.” I said to her calmly: “Let us all thank our Master. I also cultivated myself in the process. My deep gratitude to Master for his boundless grace is beyond words!” Thank you Master! Thank you fellow practitioners!
Looking back at the cultivation journey that I have taken over the past ten years, I've experienced many obstacles and stumbled along. I could feel Master's compassionate protection every step that I took.
Although there have been many areas in which I didn't do well, and sometimes I feel that I have let Master down, my heart will forever be connected with Dafa. My entire life belongs to Dafa!
In the last leg of Fa-rectification cultivation, I will be more diligent and return to my true home with Master!