(Clearwisdom.net) There were tens of thousands of Falun Dafa practitioners in our city before the persecution started. Since the persecution began on July 20, 1999, the practitioners in our city have created an environment in which we offer people salvation and validate Falun Dafa, despite the brutal persecution and the severe pressure.
I. Validate Dafa: the great way has no form but Dafa practitioners are one body
1. Cooperating as one body
Since the persecution started in 1999, some practitioners have volunteered to act as coordinators despite the tremendous pressure. We had coordinators even in small areas. The coordinators discussed and made plans when major incidents took place and worked with each other and shared the workload. The coordinators saw the big picture and were in charge of hosting Fa conferences so all practitioners could share their experiences and improve together. Some practitioners were in charge of purchasing equipment; some practitioners were in charge of installing computers, getting online and teaching other practitioners web skills; some practitioners wrote articles and edited truth clarification materials; some practitioners were responsible for printing; some were in charge of establishing coordination with practitioners in other cities and districts, as well as delivering truth clarification materials; some were responsible for Dafa books; some were helping practitioners who had gone astray. Since the beginning of the persecution, we cooperated well as one body despite the atmosphere of terror, and the practitioners in our city have been an indestructible, whole body in the past few years.
2. Persisting in sharing at Fa conferences; persisting in studying the Fa as a group and improving as one body
Fa conferences, doing the Falun Gong exercises and studying the Fa as a group are the form of cultivation Teacher has left us. We never cancelled a single Fa conference, no matter how rampant the persecution was or how dangerous the situation appeared. In fact, we held the largest number of conferences during the period when the evil was most rampant. When significant changes took place inside or outside China, when an important issue emerged in an area or when practitioners in a certain area had misunderstandings toward Fa rectification, the coordinators would host a Fa conference to improve our understanding and improve as one body.
The coordinators pay close attention to the Minghui website and the process of Fa-rectification. When Teacher gave specific requests on the overall situation of Fa-rectification, the coordinators would host a Fa conference to address those areas where practitioners fell short. In 2002, when the persecution was severe in a certain area and Fa rectification work was affected, the local coordinators planned a Fa conference. The situation in that area at the time was highly stressful, and there were many plainclothes police officers patrolling the area. We discussed whether we should still hold a Fa conference and eventually decided, "At this time, practitioners in this area need to share their experiences to help them improve quickly. This is the goal of a Fa conference. External changes should not affect Fa conferences and there would not be any problems if we walked our path righteously." We held the conference on time and it helped the local practitioners to actively participate in Fa rectification.
Nevertheless, we also suffered three major losses in the past few years. They took place in December 2000, May 2001 and January 2002. In January 2002, practitioners from another area came to our city to converse with us because they had some conflicts. They decided to hold a Fa conference after they found a few local practitioners. They telephoned each other and gave detailed information on the location of the conference on the phone, including the building number, the door number and the details of what was going to take place. As a result of this carelessness, 29 practitioners were arrested.
We learned from this lesson and now notify practitioners of Fa conferences in person, not via telephone. Once we cancelled a conference when we learned a practitioner had given telephone notice. Another time we cancelled a conference because the number of practitioners attending the conference far exceeded the expected number. Based on being responsible to the Fa and to improve as one body, we decided not to host conferences just to go through formalities; not to compete with other regions in terms of the number of conferences we hold; and we should not host conferences for the sake of the conference itself. Now, almost every practitioner can regard Fa conferences with a solemn and righteous mentality.
Amid the fanatical persecution, we founded Fa study groups despite the pressure. Through group Fa study and experience sharing we saw our omissions and gaps, and we saw that practitioners who persisted with righteous thoughts and righteous actions did well in their areas.
Practitioners in one small district of several hundred households were highly afraid, and truth clarification activity was nearly non-existent. They formed several Fa study groups and got together periodically to study the Fa. A few practitioners from each group would get together and share their experiences. Their xinxing improved quickly. During the Fa validating work they not only distributed truth clarification materials in their own area but also made same-day trips to nearby cities. They formed an indestructible group of Fa particles during Dafa validation.
II. Dafa Material Production Sites throughout the city
1. Pooling our efforts to build and maintain material production sites
In 2000, Dafa practitioners realized we should tell the world's people about the facts of the persecution, to help them see the wonders of Dafa and be saved from permanent disaster. Despite the severe atmosphere, some practitioners who were forced into homelessness bought equipment and started clarifying the truth. The coordinators felt the Dafa practitioners' selflessness and the power of the one body. Practitioners from all areas did their best to support causes of validation of Dafa, truth clarification and offering people salvation. Some used their money to print flyers; some bought equipment; some volunteered their technical skills; some even sold their furniture and some used the money that they saved for their weddings to be used to print flyers or buy equipment.
Practitioner Wang Shuqin was tortured to death on September 21, 2002 at the age of 63. She and her husband owned a grocery store; they lived frugally but used their savings to make truth clarification materials. Because of the selflessness of the practitioners, the material production sites in our city have never stopped running because of financial difficulties.
2. Full financial, technical and xinxing support for surrounding areas
Because of the practitioners' realization of the concept that all practitioners are one whole body and our financial abilities and our willingness to sacrifice for Dafa, the situation of Fa rectification progressed rapidly in our city. We distributed many truth clarification flyers in surrounding counties and villages. We delivered carloads of flyers to other areas, and we also provided out-of-town practitioners with money, clothing and equipment. Practitioners who had technical skills went to other areas to teach the practitioners how to get online and helped them build material production sites. When serious issues arose, coordinators would ask practitioners from that area to come to our city or they would go to those areas and organize a Fa conference, to help those practitioners improve xinxing as one body and keep up with Fa rectification.
We also encountered many difficulties.
Practitioner Wang Kemin was tortured to death in May 2003 at the age of 38. He was in charge of delivering the flyers to a certain area. Once he had to visit several practitioners before one practitioner accepted the flyers. At his next visit, however, he saw the flyers from last time were collecting dust in a corner. He had to carry the flyers back.
In the past few years, practitioners in other cities who were persecuted also affected our city. Once one practitioner in another city was abducted and the perpetrators tried to abduct practitioners in our city through her. They abducted one practitioner in our city and tortured her, but she escaped with the power of her righteous thoughts. The perpetrators tried to create distrust among us, but we refused to leave the practitioners alone because they affected us, because we are one whole body. The practitioner in our city in charge of delivering the flyers as well as the coordinator went to the other city and held a Fa conference. After we shared our opinions and improved together, practitioners from that city came to our city to pick up flyers. They also reconvened Fa study groups and built material production sites to keep up with Fa rectification. Because of our realization that Dafa practitioners are one whole body and our willingness to sacrifice, we built a solid foundation for offering people salvation on a larger scale.
3. A painful lesson
In early 2001, the material production sites in our city not only churned out truth clarification flyers but also provided Dafa books for practitioners who were returning to Dafa practice. We learned from our experiences. Some were in charge of printing and distributing flyers; some exposed the persecution online; some helped practitioners who had gone astray; some printed Dafa books and some held experience-sharing conferences. Because we cooperated well as a whole body, the situation in our city improved quickly.
In late 2001, there were a limited number of practitioners who were making truth clarification materials. Most of the practitioners were homeless to resist the persecution. As the demand for flyers increased, the practitioners in charge of making flyers studied the Fa less and became less diligent in personal cultivation and improvement. Some practitioners were attached to themselves and developed attachments to their work. The main coordinators had conflicts and refused to listen to kind reminders from other practitioners, which provided the perpetrators with excuses for the persecution.
In March 2002, after practitioners in Changchun City successfully tapped into the cable TV system and broadcast truth clarification videos, the practitioners in our city also started planning a similar feat. They bought many types of equipment and were busy installing them. Some practitioner rarely studied the Fa or did the exercises, and some practitioners didn't sleep for days and their eyes were bloodshot. Other practitioners saw these people were in a dangerous state and kindly reminded them, but they said they were busy and would study the Fa as a group after the busy period was over. In fact, the work to validate Dafa cannot replace Fa-rectification cultivation! Around April 18, 2002, practitioners involved in the tapping incident were arrested, all equipment and Dafa related materials were taken away, and the direct financial loss was hundreds of thousands of yuan. What was worse, the practitioners who were arrested were the backbones in Dafa work in our city, and their arrest almost paralyzed Dafa validation efforts in our city. Practitioners who stayed home didn't have the courage to step forward, and the overall situation was in a slump
4. Building smaller scale material production sites
After trials and tribulations, Dafa practitioners matured and realized the seriousness of Dafa practice. They calmed down and studied the Fa and adjusted their state of cultivation. Because of the shortcomings associated with large material production sites, one practitioner proposed that we should dismantle the one large material production site and build numerous smaller sites.
There were many articles then discussing how to build smaller material production sites throughout an area. The practitioners working at the material production site shared thoughts with practitioners who stayed home and helped them realize the importance of having widespread material production sites. Practitioners who worked at the material production sites taught the stay-at-home practitioners technical skills and eliminated their fear of being discovered by the authorities. Some practitioners who used to stay home improved quickly and devoted themselves to working at the material production sites; more of these practitioners stepped forward and actively shouldered Fa-validating work.
There were only three material production sites in an area with more than 100 practitioners. The practitioners who took charge of the sites had a heavy workload and they were afraid. They stopped production when a stressful situation arose. They went to discuss this with the coordinators. The coordinators held a Fa conference regarding the issue of building widespread material production sites. One week later the goal was achieved.
During the persecution, despite the financial hardships and various difficulties, Dafa material production sites have followed a righteous path and have functioned better and better. As of early 2003, we have basically achieved the goal of having widespread material production sites. Right now, almost every single material production site in our city can operate independently and in cooperation with others.
(To be continued)