(Clearwisdom.net) In July 2009, my sister was illegally arrested by the local police because she practices Falun Gong. I knew that as practitioners, we had the duty and ability to rescue her.
The day after my sister's arrest, I spent the whole day sending forth righteous thoughts and then came up with a plan to rescue her. During the course of rescuing my sister, I made sure to follow the Fa and look within at all times, and I viewed this as a test for myself. After four months of effort and with the help of practitioners, my sister was able to return home.
I would like to share how I looked inward and aligned myself with the Fa.
Cultivating While Rescuing Fellow Practitioners
I believe that we need to put into practice what we study. Although I can't see what happens in other dimensions, I believe what Master says about practitioners having supernatural abilities.
Every day, in my mind, I tell my sister to strengthen her righteous thoughts and encourage her by telling her, "You are a practitioner, no one can harm you. Conform to the Fa under all circumstances and be worthy of the title, Fa-rectification Dafa disciple. You must be firm. You know that you have supernormal abilities." I later helped her identify her attachments and told her not to be moved by sentimentality. Furthermore, I told her to never cooperate with the evil in any way.
When I sent forth righteous thoughts, I added the following thoughts: (1) Eliminate all evil specters around so and so. Purge the demons of lust, sentimentality and desire, and the communist specter. (2) Eliminate all the dark minions and rotten demons that persecute practitioners and control the personnel of the 610 Office in certain locations.
During the process of rescuing my sister, I saw many of my attachments and human notions. At first, I found fear, resentment, affection for family, and blame towards my sister for not doing well and causing problems. I further thought about the difficulties associated with the rescue effort and the danger it might bring to me personally. I was also concerned with the need for more money, and worried about my sister's safety and the possibility that she might die.
There was a period of time during which I became jealous of other local practitioners who were able to get a lot of help from fellow practitioners, family members and lawyers in their rescue efforts, whereas I felt lonely and helpless.
After some time, I saw no positive results and became anxious with many negative thoughts emerging. I also worried about the possibility of my sister getting sentenced and not being able to take it. All the negative thoughts tried to overwhelm me and push me away from the Fa. I also had the thought of, "If my sister can get out, it's fine to give some money." This thought led to my sister's former husband asking me for money. Recognizing this problem, I told him, "Practitioners can't use money to appease evil people." I still ended up giving him 2,000 yuan to encourage him to be part of my rescue effort. While explaining the Fa to him, I recognized that my own cultivation lacked maturity.
When my sister got arrested, all my family members blamed me and held me responsible. I felt immense pressure all day long.
Through studying the Fa and looking inward, I found that all the attachments and human notions I have originated from a selfish intent, an attachment to "me first." I recognized that selfishness was part of the old universe and couldn't be part of the new universe characterized by Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. Hence, it had to be eliminated.
With a better understanding of the Fa, I looked at the rescue effort as a way to improve in cultivation. I applied the Fa to correct my thoughts and actions, and didn't get attached to gain, loss, or the results of my efforts.
Saving Sentient Beings While Rescuing Fellow Practitioners
The persecution of practitioners gives us the opportunity to explain the facts about Falun Gong to all personnel of the 610 Office, the court, the prosecutor's office, etc.
The first time I went with a fellow practitioner to the Domestic Security Division to request the release of fellow practitioners, it was under a tense environment. Nonetheless, we maintained our composure and spoke rationally and sincerely. After returning home, I wrote a letter to further clarify the truth as though I was writing to my friends.
When I went to visit my sister at the detention center, I used it as an opportunity to explain the facts about Falun Gong to everyone I met, and advised them to withdraw from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and the affiliated Youth League and Young Pioneers. Almost everyone withdrew. Some even took our truth-clarification materials to distribute to other people.
In the past, I didn't know how to participate in the rescue efforts of practitioners and did little to help. Through rescuing my sister, I learned many principles and witnessed the miraculousness and solemnity of Dafa. I believe the success of a rescue effort depends on how well and to what extent we are able to align ourselves with the Fa. Having human notions of selfishness, laziness, helplessness, anxiousness, anger, harbored resentment, or feeling discouraged are particularly harmful in a rescue effort. Having any of these negative feelings will not only lead to failure, but may also lengthen the detention time of our fellow practitioners. It will also have a negative impact on saving sentient beings.
