PureInsight | October 3, 2007
[PureInsight.org] There were
several coordinated efforts to rescue fellow practitioners in our
district recently. I did not take part in any of them and was rather
numb about the whole thing. During an experience sharing that focused
on the rescue project, practitioners tried to look inside themselves to
find areas that needed improvement. I, on the other hand, said, "We
have already sent righteous thoughts, gone to the labor camp and worked
with their family members, but to no avail. We should cultivate
ourselves well first, and then the rescue will succeed on its own." A
fellow practitioner talked back, "Following your line of argument, we
do not even have to go out tomorrow." Another senior practitioner said,
"How many times have you joined the rescue project? There is something
not right about your understanding."
I was indignant in my heart at that moment and thought that I, too, had
done many things to validate the Fa. Those were very important things
and I had been kept busy. Then again, I wondered why I was so
disturbed. I remembered Master's words, "I can tell you that when you
fail to pass a test, and you hear things that grate on your ears, that
is really my Law Body making use of unpleasant words to rouse you and
tell you something." ("First Fa Teaching Given in the United States")
(Official Translation) I figured it out and realized that it was Master
giving me hints to rescue fellow practitioners.
The next day, I went to the judicial bureau with other practitioners.
When we returned, that senior practitioner told me, "I'm so happy for
you. You finally stepped out." However, under the influence of my
bloated ego, I could not accept the practitioner's encouragement. "This
is nothing. I went to the labor camp with his sister long ago. At that
time, nobody was doing that," I shot back, and then went on to
elaborate further. After the incident, I asked myself why I was so
eager to speak up for myself. Wasn't I arguing on my behalf to find
excuses for not participating in the rescue project? Through studying
more Fa and searching inward, I asked myself questions such as whether
I treated fellow practitioners' problems as mine, was I being selfless,
and was I looking for an excuse when I claimed to be busy and only
joined the rescue effort a couple of times a month? Why couldn't I
cooperate with others? Eventually, I enlightened to the fact that I
should help rescue fellow practitioners.
Many of my shortcomings were exposed after I joined the rescue project.
There was one time six practitioners were kidnapped by the local police
when they were out clarifying the truth. We went and stood outside the
police station to send forth righteous thoughts. At three o'clock in
the afternoon, the police decided to illegally detain four of them.
When the policemen were about to push these practitioners into the
police van, Aunt Ren, who was sending righteous thoughts with us,
walked right into the courtyard of the police station. She blocked the
door to the police van and said to those who were persecuting Dafa
practitioners, "Falun Gong cultivators are good people. They had
illnesses before and now are all well again. What are you arresting
them for?" The policemen shuffled, did not dare to talk with Aunt Ren.
Those four practitioners were pulled into the police van. My heart sank
as I watched them being carried away by the police van. Right then, I
found where I fell short. If I could do the same [as Aunt Ren] and
clarify the truth whenever problems arose, then these practitioners
probably would not have been taken away. "The next person's things are
your things, and your things are his things." ("Teaching the Fa at the
Washington, D.C. Fa Conference") I had not followed Master's words. I
spoke to Master in my heart, "Master, as your disciple, I will do
better in the future."
When the news came that practitioner Li was in a dangerous situation
after being illegally detained, Aunt Ren decided to request his release
from the director of the labor camp together with Li's mother (who was
not a practitioner). Practitioners who could go to the labor camp went
there to send righteous thoughts at a close distance. Others did the
same intensively at home. I asked myself in the evening whether I dared
to deliver the request to the director in person. I quickly shied away
from the thought. I knew I was not ready to do that. I could only send
righteous thoughts nearby.
The next day, we did not see Li's mother at the labor camp. At nine
forty, one practitioner said, "We cannot let the old forces interfere
with us. I will go to the bus stop to wait for her. If I don't come
back by 10 o'clock, two of our practitioners should go ahead to see the
director." I immediately said "Yes," and that Aunt Ren and I would go.
When I said that, it was because I sensed it was the right thing to do
according to the Fa, but I also did not feel ready for it. Fellow
practitioners were all sending forth righteous thoughts to eliminate
the evil elements that interfered with Li's mother who was coming to
demand her son's release. Meanwhile, in my heart there was a hidden
message. "Please come soon, so I do not have to go see the director
myself."
After a while, a practitioner told me it was ten o'clock. I said let's
wait for one more bus, and of course there was no Li's mother on it.
This time, I really had to go meet the director. I wanted to tell Aunt
Ren that her righteous thoughts were stronger and she should lead me
through. Then again, we all came from high levels to obtain the Fa, I
thought. We have the same Master and the same Fa. How could my
righteous thoughts not be strong enough? I believed I could do it
because Master was right beside me. I asked him to strengthen my
righteous thoughts. At that instant, fear and tension went away and my
expression became soft and gentle. I knew deep in my heart that none of
it was because of my ability obtained from cultivation. It was
benevolent Master who took away the bad stuff that blocked me from
rescuing fellow practitioners.
Aunt Ren and I went ahead to meet the director of the labor camp. We
told him the wonder and beauty of Dafa, the truth of the persecution on
Dafa practitioners, the current social status, the change in celestial
movements, and gave him a few examples where people were rewarded for
protecting Dafa practitioners. However, he still refused to let us see
the detained practitioner. It was a false manifestation but my human
side was moved by it. I said, "How can we know if he is dead or alive
if you don't let us see him? Even a phone call is better." Because this
thought was not righteous enough, we were only allowed to talk to him
on the phone in the end.
There was another time when the labor camp decided to send a
practitioner who had been severely tortured back to a local police
station. The police station refused to receive him. After some sharing,
practitioners realized that we should not walk away from a problem when
it arises. We should clarify the truth to the director of the police
station and dissolve the evil elements in our local area. I forced
myself to say, "I will go." Although I made the decision, it was hard
to walk the first step. My thoughts were mangled. To me, this was a lot
harder than going to the labor camp, because the police station has the
authority to arrest people directly. My attachment to fear surfaced.
I delayed going there day after day. I asked myself, if Master can
protect us during death-threatening tribulations in our cultivation,
then why was I so afraid when a policeman or a police station was not
even going after my life? I realized that the fear came from the evil
Party's influence. The Chinese Communist Party launched many massively
death-dealing movements before. In order the protect themselves, the
Chinese people told on friends, coworkers and even fathers and sons.
Friends became foes. Under the current CCP's rule, people do not care
for each other genuinely. Apathy has become a doctrine to live by.
However, I am a Dafa disciple. Master wants us to "attain the righteous
Enlightenment of selflessness and altruism." I will eliminate the evil
factors from the CCP that were interfering with my clarifying the truth
to save sentient beings and rescuing fellow practitioners.
I decided to go to the police that evening. It was already five o'clock
in the afternoon. I immediately informed other practitioners to send
forth righteous thoughts and told them that I would go to the home of
the director of the police station to clarify the truth. I stood in
front of Master's photo and said, "Master, please help me." At the
moment, Master again got rid of the factors that were interfering with
my going to clarify the truth. My heart was lifted. A fellow
practitioner who accompanied me on the way encouraged me, "You will be
all right." I said, "What I do is merely go there to say a few words.
Master is doing everything." The director was not home when I arrived.
His wife and daughter were in. I clarified the truth to them and told
them that heaven will eliminate the CCP and they should withdraw from
the Party for their own safety and not get involved with the
persecution of Falun Gong any more. After I left his home, I learned
that practitioners had been sending righteous thoughts above and below
his apartment unit in the building. In addition, many practitioners
were sending forth righteous thoughts at close distance nearby. Some of
them had just come back from persuading people to quit the CCP in a
rural area and had not had a chance to eat.
Master told us a Fa principle, "These things are arranged by the master
and performed by the master. Therefore, it is said that cultivation
depends on one's own efforts, while transforming gong is done by one's
master. You can only have such a wish and think about it like that, but
it is the master who actually does these things. " (Zhuan Falun) (official translation, by U.S. Practitioners, 2000)
During the process of rescuing fellow practitioners, all kinds of human
notions surfaced, including my attachment to fear, complaining, being
restless, showing off, being arrogant and jealous, being competitive,
dismayed and depressed, and I did not cultivate my speech. They were
intermingled to interfere with me. However, when I could put down my
selfishness and consider things from the perspective of the group,
benevolent Master would resolve the conflicts, barriers and distrust
between other practitioners and I. During the time period when I
conformed to the group, what I experienced the most was Master's
compassion, Dafa's power and supernormal ability, and fellow
practitioners' preciousness. After reading Master's new scriptures
"Thoroughly Dissolve the Evil" and "To Australia Fa Conference," I was
determined to study the Fa well, follow the path Master arranged for
me, and cooperate with fellow practitioners as a group to disintegrate
the evil and assist Master with Fa rectification.
Translated from:
http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2007/9/21/163062.html
