August 14, 2001
(Clearwisdom.net)
I am not a Falun Gong practitioner, but after observing many things in the Fa-rectification, I feel I need to share my understanding with you.
At the recent Washington, D.C. International Fa Conference, Master Li clearly indicated the time period for Fa rectification. As a result, some practitioners simply began to wait for the changes in the cosmic climate, failing to remember that, "Without human action(s) happening under cosmic changes, such conditions would not have been brought to ordinary human society, and neither would they be called cosmic changes ("The Issue of Killing" in Zhuan Falun)"... "as well as issues like how you fill and enrich that paradise of yours in your final Consummation" "Cherish the present time and make the best use of it--this time is meant for the disciples" (Lecture on the Fa at the Washington, D.C. International Conference).
If practitioners simply wait without taking action and do not expose and eliminate the evil, how could they play the role of righteous particles of the cosmos? And how could they save other beings without first clarifying the truth? Master Li said, "Anyone who tries to make excuses for himself and who's never stepped forward is wrong" (Lecture on the Fa at the Washington, D.C. International Conference).
My understanding is that, depending on an individual's situation, there are many ways to validate Dafa and clarify the truth. Some practitioners go to Beijing and appeal, some distribute materials clarifying the truth, and it is also validating Dafa to clarify the truth to relatives, friends, colleagues, etc. Practitioners should do more if they can, but if not, even once every two weeks still counts as participating. If it is unsafe in the morning, the job can be done in the afternoon during the hottest period of the day. If it is not convenient to go to streets, you can go to residential buildings. When one additional person knows the truth, the number of righteous elements increases and the space left for the evil is reduced.
Once, I heard some practitioners saying that they weren't good at [public] speaking; but I could not understand why they're unable to speak the truth after learning so many principles of Dafa. In fact, the police have arrested practitioners even though they didn't break the law, so a practitioner should tell the police they're committing a crime when they arrest practitioners. You can also tell them that they will certainly receive retribution even though they are protected by higher officials. Actually, among [the officials] there are some who still do not know the truth, or who do bad deeds just because they think it's their job. A practitioner, however, should tell them not to run the risk of forever ruining their future life just for the sake of their salary in these few years -- anyone who does too many bad deeds would be finished completely. Just looking at what happened to society in the past--from chaos to order and from order to chaos-- one indeed has to hold onto the fundamental principles and tell right from wrong. Otherwise, the police would cause some practitioners who still have the attachment of fear to have a wrong understanding. As a result, those policemen with unlawful actions may seem blameless, and practitioners--who have done nothing wrong--may feel as if they've broken the law. Little by little, the righteous beliefs of some practitioners are weakened and fragmented in this way. I heard that, when a practitioner was sending forth righteous thoughts in a detention center, the officials were very scared to see such an action and thus transferred the practitioner to another detention center so that they would not be affected. At that moment, the practitioner should have told them that his action was a process to eliminate the evil elements that controlled them [the police]. A human being should not be that vicious and it was those vicious elements that manipulated them to do bad deeds.
Upon hearing some practitioners were transformed after their arrest, a number of practitioners were afraid to take action. We do not have to mention what vicious situation converted these practitioners--at least they stepped forward to validate the Dafa (although they were unwillingly transformed because of their insufficient ability to endure). In this sense, they were much better than those who just sat at home and held onto their wrong understandings. Teacher Li said he would look at this situation in an overall manner, and so he gives opportunities to compensate for the losses (note: paraphrase by the writer who is a non-practitioner). The Dafa books clearly talk about what to do and why one should do it. Should one yield to the vicious elements because of fear? Should fear stop one from rectifying the situation? If there is no god, should we cooperate with their vicious actions? Although I still have some fear, they won't stop me from doing what is most righteous. I think that resisting and eliminating the vicious elements are what anyone with a conscience should do. In the 50's or 60's, upon finding someone doing wrong deeds, people would point it out and then bad people would not dare to do it. Let us join together to clarify the truth and expose the vicious elements. At the same time, let us strengthen our righteous thoughts and righteous field. In this way, the evil will be exterminated.
In the past, a cultivator needed to cultivate for several generations. Now, one can achieve the goal in a very short time, which is indeed a very good opportunity that cannot be attained with pursuit. But how can one succeed without discarding the human mentality first? And how can someone ignore it when they notice a murder or arson? When a person does wrong deeds, he is digging himself a tomb. Therefore, by pointing this out, you are essentially saving him--so how can you not do it?
Editors note: The author of this article is the family member of a Dafa practitioner who is currently being detained. Although the author has not started to cultivate, he has read many Dafa books as well as Teacher's new articles. He has also read many materials from Minghui (Chinese Web site for Clearwisdom.net). In addition, he has a good and supportive understanding of the Fa rectification process. He is strongly against the vicious actions of Jiang Zemin's regime and he has distributed many materials clarifying the truth, as well as spoken to many people about the truth of Falun Gong. He said, "It will not take very long before I start to practice Falun Dafa." So therefore, we felt it good to share his thoughts with you.