PureInsight | July 8, 2002
It has been two years since May 13th 2000, the date I was arrested. That was also the first "Falun Dafa Day." Many things have happened during this period. As every person has changed a lot, so have there been many changes in the Fa-Rectification process. On this extraordinary day, which will be the date that the future humans will commemorate together, I come to Canada to share my experiences with all practitioners. On behalf of the disciples in Mainland China, all disciples who have come to help Master to rectify the Fa in the human world and sentient beings in the universe, I say "Thanks, Master" while we are still with Master in the human world. Thank you, Master, for saving sentient beings and for having done everything to create the gods of the future cosmos.
I went to Ireland in March, 1999, to pursue my studies. Soon after, the "April 25th Incident" happened, followed by the tribulations in July. At the end of that year, during the Christmas holidays, I intended to join a group study with other overseas disciples. However, because I had lived in China for a long time, I had always considered myself as one of the Mainland China disciples. I cared about their situation. Some of them stepped forward, but some didn't. So I wanted to go back to see if there was anything I could do during my vacation.
When I went back to China, the whole cultivation environment was in shambles. All the assistants were being watched. Disciples could only practice at home or contact each other privately. At that time, the situation truly became a great way without form, with no coordinators, no assistants, no one there to tell everyone what to do. Every disciple made his own decision. When Dafa faces tribulation, how can one be responsible to Dafa and to oneself? At that time, many disciples who appealed were arrested. The arrested disciples in detention centers established contact with each other, which then became the main forms of contact among disciples in Mainland China. When these disciples were released, they took the responsibility to become de facto assistants. They organized group experience sharing and study, told their stories to others, so as to help more practitioners advance on the basis of the principles of the Fa and to step forward. When Master was not there and in the absence of his verbal instructions, these disciples, during a time when Dafa was being sabotaged, took on responsibilities as Dafa particles without a second thought. Their conduct was meant to be left for the future and for us to learn from today as well.
During the period in Mainland China when I shared experiences with those who devoted themselves to safeguarding the Fa, one of my most significant feelings at that time was that I saw a lot of my own selfishness. I had never been aware of my selfishness so clearly. I discovered that I was always thinking of myself, such as my security, whether my understandings can be comprehended by other disciples or not, and my Consummation. Even when considering what to do to safeguard the Fa, I still thought about showing what "I" did. Now when I recall the experiences during that period, I know I was only able to become aware of my selfishness when I went beyond the realm of selfishness. When I shared experiences with the disciples at the forefront of safeguarding the Fa, when I put my mind on how to safeguard the Fa, I went beyond the realm of selfishness, which made me understand that we were truly magnificent by being a part of Fa-rectification. When we devote ourselves to the Fa-rectification process, we are letting go of selfishness and assimilating to the new universe's characteristic of selflessness.
On April 25, 2000, a lot of articles were published on the Minghui/Clearwisdom websites to commemorate the "April 25th Event." Those articles expounded the historical significance of courageous Dafa disciples safeguarding and upholding the truth, and what their pure, benevolent actions meant for the future of human beings. In Beijing we printed out and read aloud together those articles during various experience-sharing sessions. They inspired group after group of disciples' righteous thoughts. Like a "snowball effect," more and more disciples were brought along to step forward to safeguard the Fa. As a consequence, it had become an irresistible trend, going on and on, that the Dafa disciples from different parts of the country, one after another, went to appeal for and safeguard the Fa.
Then, a question occurred to the disciples who safeguarded the Fa openly and often got detained: what should we do exactly in the future during this ongoing process? We appealed in hopes that the government would be able to correct their mistake and stop the persecution. What if they insisted on going down this path?
Facts have revealed that the Dafa disciples' earnestness and benevolence were ignored. Instead, the government intensified their persecution. On April 25, 2000, the sky was pale yellow in Beijing, full of dust. Plainclothes detectives were all around Tiananmen Square. Some of the disciples went there and displayed their banners. Some of them were caught and taken away by the evil even before they could take out their banners. The evil locked us up in prison before we attained our goal of assisting Master with Fa-rectification. While safeguarding and rectifying the Fa, disciples realized one after another that although we hoped the government would correct and position itself well, but if the government authorities insisted on this way, we could not just walk right into the bags opened by the evil without having any effect of safeguarding and rectifying the Fa. We appealed for the purpose of safeguarding the Fa, not testing whether or not we met the standard for our personal consummation. In this way, we should direct our steps toward that goal. We should adopt a more rational and effective way. Then, we all gradually realized that we should clarify the truth to more sentient beings and offer them salvation. While being persecuted, we would never resort to violence, but we would never submit to the evil. We clarify the truth and offer salvation to beings in a most peaceful way.
We now know that it was a critical step to be taken for Fa-rectification. Furthermore, it indicated a more significant meaning for our cultivation practice. It determined whether a cultivator could thoroughly break away from humanness. Master talked about breaking away from humanness in "Digging Out the Roots" in Essentials For Further Advancement. At that time, however, what we did was to arrange for some of the everyday people's organizations and governments to listen to and recognize us. When we took the step of clarifying the truth, it meant we were no longer attached to anyone's recognition and had thoroughly broken away from humanness. If they did not understand the Fa, we still stuck to the Fa and continued forward with cultivation. This was most merciful -- we clarified the truth for saving beings and not for obtaining any power or influence in the human world. I now believe that it was a trial that Master left for us disciples to come to understand by ourselves for our cultivation.
Translated from
http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2002/5/19/16126.html
