Cherishing Fellow Practitioners

(Clearwisdom.net) I was moved to tears after studying Master's new article, "What Is a Dafa Disciple." What is the happiest thing for a being? It is to become a Dafa disciple in the Fa-rectification period and to be able to assist Master in Fa-rectification and saving sentient beings. Here, I would like to share some of my cultivation experiences with fellow practitioners and report to our mighty Master.

1. Visiting fellow practitioners in detention

I accompanied my husband (also a practitioner) to visit a fellow practitioner in detention. He went inside and I waited outside. I was not allowed to stay in the gate guard room. It was cold and snowing and I sent forth righteous thoughts for more than an hour. Since my husband hadn't come out, I talked to the guard and mentioned how hard it was for us to come visit from another place. The guard somehow contacted another guard and got permission for me to visit the practitioner in detention. I took this opportunity to encourage that fellow practitioner.

This experience encouraged me. A month later, I went to a forced labor camp to see another fellow practitioner. I kept a clear mind and went there as a Dafa practitioner with the most pure and righteous power from the Fa. I went there to eliminate the evil beings in that horrible place and to eliminate interferences around fellow practitioners.

I visited that practitioner twice. The second time, I had to claim I was one of her relatives in order to get permission to see her. The visit was interrupted temporarily because a guard came to stop me and claimed he suspected I was a Falun Gong practitioner. I talked to the guard in charge while keeping righteous thoughts. I resumed my visit later. My second visit was very important to this practitioner, who, at that time, had reached her limit of endurance. I encouraged her to keep righteous thoughts. Later on, she coordinated with other practitioners in detention, and they refused to do slave labor and sent forth righteous thoughts regularly. One year later, when she was released, the practitioners there were no longer pressured to be brainwashed and most of the bad beings in that forced labor camp had been eliminated.

2. Saving sentient beings earnestly and solidly

A fellow practitioner had to leave home for years in order to avoid being persecuted. Her daughter was without her mother's care from the age of 13 or 14 and started to hang around. She often told lies and deceived others to get money, so this practitioner really worried about her. The husband of this practitioner had another woman and didn't take care of his daughter. When this practitioner was in detention, I cared for her daughter and often asked her to stay at my home. I didn't fuss about her telling lies and sometimes helped her financially. Gradually, she changed her behavior. Once she told me that she thought everyone in society was selfish except for Dafa practitioners; even her father didn't care about her. She truly felt that Dafa was good and that Dafa practitioners were good. When the news of a potential earthquake spread in her hometown and many people were in a panic, she told her friends that reciting the words "Falun Dafa is good" could keep them safe. Now she has a stable job and has even saved some money for her mother, who is in detention.

Master said in "Teaching the Fa at the 2004 Chicago Conference:"

"The way gods see it, saving sentient beings is absolutely not something done in a manner like in human society, where after someone makes some mistakes human means are used to correct him. Gods are merciful and have the greatest capacity to forgive, and they are truly responsible to beings, instead of focusing on a person's actions at a given time. That's because gods awaken a being at a fundamental level, and enliven a being's Buddha-nature at a fundamental level. So looking at things from this perspective, you still need to step up your clarifying the facts some, and still need to do it in greater depth, do it better, and do it more solidly; you absolutely can't just go through the motions. Only when you do it earnestly can you save that many people."

3. Cherishing fellow practitioners

A fellow practitioner was compromised after she was seized and taken to a brainwashing center. When she was released and returned home, she felt ashamed for the things she had done and became very sensitive and unsure about things. She complained that other practitioners had not tried hard enough to get her released sooner and felt they didn't truly care for her. Due to her constant complaining, other practitioners started to avoid her, which made matters worse, and she started to have grudges against some of them. When she told me her thoughts, I understood her situation, since I had a similar experience and knew how one could feel after having been enlightened along an evil path. I immediately took action and studied the Fa and also send forth righteous thoughts with her. I encouraged her and truly cared for her. When I asked other practitioners to look inward and to help her in a Fa study group, one practitioner immediately criticized me and said there was no need to have so many practitioners involved and that a few were enough.

My husband and I took turns and cared for her child on weekends so that she had time to study the Fa and send forth righteous thoughts with us. After a while, she made progress and wrote a good article in order to expose the persecution.

However, when her article generated good feedback from other practitioners, I thought it was unfair. I thought about when the other practitioners didn't understand me and blamed me even as I was trying hard to help her resolve her conflicts. For a week, I often thought about her shortcomings, which rang a bell in my mind. Others can treat me unfairly, but I cannot treat others the same way.

For a period of time, the little practitioner in my home often found many Udumbara flowers on tree leaves. Sometimes, I sent these flowers to other practitioners, including an older practitioner couple. All the members of that family practice Falun Dafa. The couple had done much Dafa work quietly. I had never noticed that they blamed anyone nor did they speak highly of themselves during experience sharing. This couple put the Udumbara flowers I had sent on the table in front of Master's photo and vowed to offer them until the day of the Fa-rectification in the human world. Four years have passed, and the leaf dried and the twig is gone, but the 20 or so white Udumbara flowers are still fresh as new. This is Master encouraging us practitioners to help each other with righteous thoughts, to harmonize and complement each other, to treasure these holy predestined relationships between practitioners, and to advance diligently together.