(Clearwisdom.net) Recently, a fellow practitioner who is close to me was arrested again, and I had all sorts of human notions about it. The last time this practitioner was sentenced to prison, I was concerned about his parents and visited them every three to five days to tell them the facts about Falun Dafa. When I heard he was back home, I was delighted and went to visit him. However, I didn't expect to be rebuffed as soon as I walked into his home. His father showed me a long face and didn't say a word to me. I knew he was thinking, "My son just got home and you are here to get him started with Falun Gong again." At the time, I was very upset. I thought to myself, "I will no longer go to your home." After that, I didn't visit them again.
This time, the practitioner's mother came to me.
In "Fa Teaching Given in Manhattan," Teacher said,
"Anyway, since as cultivators you know that everything you do in society right now, including in your own personal life, falls within the realm of cultivation, then even more so should you take seriously everything that unfolds around you, and take more seriously this formless form of cultivation that you do." ("Fa Teaching Given in Manhattan")
After reading this, I looked inward and thought about how I handled the situation at that time. Was it their problem that caused them to treat me that way back then, or was it because I didn't do well? I had been telling them the facts about Dafa with human notions and sentimentality. When things didn't go well, I felt resentment and jealousy. How could I save people if I didn't have real compassion?
The next day, I went to this practitioner's home to talk to his family about Dafa again. I wanted to save them and validate Dafa. That's what Teacher asked us to do. As I walked into his home, I saw that his father was in tears. He hadn't eaten or slept for a whole day. He said to me, "I didn't sleep the whole night. I was kneeling outside asking heaven, gods and Buddha to save my son and let him come home. Your master is a divine being, so why doesn't he save my son? You said Falun Gong is good, but I don't believe it."
Teacher said in "Fa Teaching Given in Manhattan,"
"Each Dafa disciple is in fact shouldering responsibility for an enormous cosmic system, and if you are to save the countless sentient beings of such a massive system, then not only is the responsibility huge, but it also becomes very critical that you walk your path correctly. The beings that can be saved will be benevolently reconciled, purified, and mended by Fa-rectification..."
I said to him, "No one can help your son but my Master. Your son is detained and you worry so much that you don't eat or sleep. What good will that do? Our Master is saving sentient beings, but you don't want to be saved. Even the gods and Buddha are crying for you. Do you know how much Master has suffered in order to save sentient beings? His hair turned gray in one night. Do you know how many Dafa practitioners are locked behind bars because they are trying to save sentient beings, how many children have been orphaned, and how many elders have no one to look after them? The world's people are still being deceived by the poisonous lies from the Chinese Communist Party. One is arrested for being a good person. You can see that the moral standard of society is so low, and people's hearts are getting worse. Yet you are still not awakened. You should not blame our Master." My tears started to flow too.
I also told him, "Dafa disciples are saving people. Your son is doing the same. The Chinese Communist Party arrests you if you try to save people. It wants every living being to fight against Dafa and be eliminated. Why don't you start practicing Dafa?" He said, "I will start practicing Dafa if my son comes home." I told him, "There are no preconditions for cultivation. If you try to cultivate with preconditions, is that really cultivation? If you don't really cultivate, how can Master save you?"
The alarm clock went off, and it was time to send forth righteous thoughts. I immediately sat down to send forth righteous thoughts. He asked me, "How do you send forth righteous thoughts? I will eliminate the evil with you. I am going to the police department to demand my son's release tomorrow." I was moved to tears, seeing that he finally understood the truth about Falun Dafa.
"Cultivation depends on one's own efforts, while the transformation of gong is done by one's master." (Zhuan Falun)
A few days later, the older man's daughter also came home. As soon as she heard that her brother had been arrested, she said something disrespectful about Master. She said that her brother had been arrested over and over after he started practicing Falun Gong. "What is wrong with being a good person? Why hasn't Fa-rectification ended? Why doesn't your master take care of my brother?" When I heard that, I thought to myself, "We practitioners really should look inside. The evil is taking advantage of our loopholes. Our families don't understand us and it gets in the way of their being saved. Isn't it because we didn't do well? We have an important responsibility here."
At that moment, I had the thought, "I must help you understand the truth, because that is the responsibility and duty of a Dafa practitioner." I said to her, "Our master has suffered so much to save sentient beings. The Chinese Communist Party fabricated many lies about our master. It is really hurtful hearing you say these things about our Master. Your brother has been arrested. Wasn't it because he tried to clarify the truth and save people? You shouldn't be deceived by the Communist Party. Many Dafa practitioners have lost their lives, were sent to forced labor camps, lost their families, lost their spouses and children, and could not return home. In this persecution, many practitioners have been tortured to death or disabled in prison, living a life worse than death. Do you know that it is all because they want to save you? If Fa-rectification ends now, how many people will be eliminated? How can you stay in the world if you have not been saved? Your brother was arrested, but wasn't it because we are trying to save as many as people as possible? It is because our Master is merciful. He has been waiting for the world's people to wake up and avoid being eliminated. He is trying to save your life and leave you all with a bright future. But, instead of thanking our Master, you blame him. Do you know how a Dafa practitioner feels when she hears you saying those things?"
From looking at her eyes, I could tell that she better understood the truth about Falun Dafa. I asked her, "Did your brother break any law or commit a crime? Why don't you demand his release?" She said, "I will go to the police department with my father tomorrow to demand his release. I agree that Falun Dafa is good, and it indeed helps one eliminate illness and obtain a healthy body. I just don't understand why they always arrest people?" I told her, "That is because the Chinese Communist Party doesn't want people to be saved. It is keeping Dafa practitioners from saving people. In order to destroy sentient beings, it tries to have all sentient beings commit sins against Dafa during the Fa-rectification period, and has resulted in them being eliminated. Why don't you start practicing Dafa at this precious time? Why do you pass by Dafa? A person is most fortunate to start practicing Dafa, and that is the way to be saved." I felt that the evil that controlled her had being eliminated. After that, I went to their home every evening to tell them about Dafa and the persecution. I told them of my understanding of the Fa and wanted them to start cultivation practice.
Teacher said in "Fa Teaching at the 2009 Greater New York International Fa Conference,"
"Whatever part of China it may be, the Dafa disciples there understand what their responsibility is, namely, to cultivate themselves well and save sentient beings. And that is what should be done. The more people that can be saved, the better, for that is the responsibility that you shoulder."
Dafa has cleansed my attachment to self and human notions, and I let go of these attachments. So, all the local practitioners sent forth righteous thoughts to rescue the fellow practitioner. We worked together with the family to demand his release. The arrested practitioner was also full of righteous thoughts and did not give in to the evil.
"When disciples have ample righteous thoughts, Master has the power to turn back the tide" ("The Master-Disciple Bond" from Hong Yin II)
After just over thirty days, this practitioner left the evil den with righteous thoughts. Now his father and sister have both started practicing Falun Dafa.
