(Clearwisdom.net) While I worked overseas, to save money I often shared a rented house with several Chinese people. So I had a chance to meet different people who have dreams of making a fortune overseas.
Auntie (which is what I call her) recently came from China to visit her daughter and found temporary restaurant work. She is a sincere lay Buddhist. When she initially shared the house with us she was a bit reserved. But with constant contact, the gap between us disappeared. Today when she was chatting with me, she kept asking, "I know the Falun Dafa that you practice is a righteous practice, and I saw that your Dafa books emitted a pure, blue light. It keeps beaming outward like an electric light and is very righteous. However, many people in my workplace and I, who also believe in Buddha, do not understand why you do not forbear. Why do you spread the "Nine Commentaries on the Chinese Communist Party"? Isn't it that the more you protest, the more the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) persecutes you? Why don't you just practice at home? We always wonder about this!"
Hearing this, I smiled and told her the following.
"Auntie, let me tell you a story. You must have heard about the story of Jesus being nailed to the cross. The spread of Christianity was also a process of tribulations, with one of the most well-known incidents of persecution in the ancient Roman Empire. Similar to the fabrications and defamations by today's Chinese authorities about Falun Gong practitioners, the Roman emperor, Nero, and his followers concocted a lie that the Christians had set a big fire, and then made this a nationwide propaganda issue to justify attacking the Christians. They lied and said that Christians killed people, drank babies' blood, committed incest, practiced cannibalism, and so on. Of course, when we look at history now, we know that those were all fabrications. But at that time it incited the ancient Romans to hatred, and a ruthless persecution of the Christians began. Countless steadfast Christians were fed to the lions. Their limbs were severed from their torsos and they were tortured and killed. Historian Philip Schaff wrote, "The corpses of the martyrs, which covered the streets, were shamefully mutilated, then burned, and the ashes cast into the Rhone..." Even still, such dark horror did not prevent Christianity from spreading widely. More and more people all over the world were astounded by the mighty spiritual power of those who suffered for their belief, and many still embrace this belief today. By contrast, the once arrogant Roman Empire collapsed due to several disasters like pestilence, and the dead were countless. This part of the Roman Empire's history went down as a symbol of infamy.
"Auntie, you have also seen that the defamations and persecution that Falun Gong practitioners have suffered are similar to that of the early Christians. During the persecution and fabrication of incidents against Falun Gong, many kindhearted Chinese people also have so much hatred and misunderstanding of Falun Gong, similar to those people in the ancient Roman Empire. Auntie, in your Buddhist belief there is something about reincarnation, and now in the Western world there are also researchers who focus their research on such topics. When they treated seriously ill patients with hypnosis while doing their reincarnation research, it was found that the reason many patients were in pain was simply due to their mocking the Christians who were persecuted during the ancient Roman period. Thus, during reincarnations over the past 2000 years, they have to keep repaying their karma, repaying the sins they committed against divine beings. So, if the kindhearted Falun Gong practitioners do not tell the facts to awaken the misled Chinese people, will these people be able to repay their karma in their future lives for the sins that they are now committing? Because of the truth-clarification by Falun Gong practitioners, the world's people have awakened, and their correct understanding of the Buddha Fa will prevent them from suffering hardship in their future lives. This is indeed the true compassion of Dafa practitioners for the world's people!
"In regard to our spreading the Nine Commentaries, actually, Auntie, have you ever thought about this: Communism is also a kind of belief. However, Communism is based on atheism and is against deities and all upright beliefs. The deities are compassionate and are for the good of sentient beings. Since Communism is against the deities, then what is it? Think about it rationally. Isn't it evil and demonic?
"Some cultivators have supernatural capabilities and have seen Communism in other dimensions manifest as the image of a beast. I don't think anyone would like to live with a demon beast in hell. So, we encourage people to sever their ties with it. Isn't this following the will of heaven? This is offering people salvation and is a good deed! In particular, with the people who hold a belief, you claim that you believe in Shakyamuni, you believe in a god or other deities, so if, at the same time, you also believe in atheistic Communism, then don't you think that Shakyamuni would look down on you? What would Jesus think about you? Would other deities look after you? If one's belief is not fundamentally pure, then isn't it more important for those who have a belief to withdraw from the Communist Party? Isn't it better to be a pure believer? The withdrawal is not something to show to anyone; it is actually to show the deities. The withdrawal is actually a vow of returning to the deities, so it is also acceptable to withdraw with an alias, as the deities will see it.
"As for why we practitioners do not forbear or practice secretly at home, actually it is also easy to understand with ordinary principles. It is like when the parents have finally raised the child after many hardships. The parents have taught the child the principles of being a human being, but one day a group of hooligans come and beat the parents. And also there are some people watching the incident, who make irresponsible and sarcastic remarks. How would this child respond? Of course the child will defend the parents with his or her life. Shouldn't the child seek justice for the parents? If you see your parents being beaten but keep silent, or if you even help the hooligans to beat your parents, expressed in common terms, aren't you even worse than an animal? This analogy applies equally to today's persecution of Falun Gong by the Chinese Communist Party. In this harshest and most complicated situation we believers of Buddhas, in the test of the life and death, are like the above mentioned child; what choice do we make? Would we hide away or step out to defend our parents? What kind of people do the gods respect? Aren't they the ones who do not fear life or death? Only such people are like shining gold, the 24 carat pure gold, and true believers. So, we need to stand up against the persecution and expose it."
Auntie thought deeply for a while and said, "I have not come to understand until today what kind of people truly hold a belief in Buddha. I have not studied the Buddha's teachings in Buddhism for almost 20 years, and have never had such deep insights as what I have learned today. I support what you are doing. Please help me declare my withdrawal from the Party today. I did not previously understand what the Chinese Communist Party was and feared it quite great deal. Now I no longer fear it. I'd like to be a person who truly believes in Buddha."
Hearing this I said to her, "Our Master mentioned that one would be able to return to his or her origin simply for saying that Falun Dafa is good. What you said is also shining as gold. This is such a pure thought amidst the CCP's persecution environment; even the gods and Buddhas respect you. I think the higher beings in the cosmos must be smiling!"
Auntie and I shared heartfelt smiles.