(Minghui.org) Greetings esteemed Master! Greetings fellow practitioners!
I am honored to join the Minghui website’s cultivation experience sharing conference. I would like to share how local practitioners in my city formed a group to rescue a fellow practitioner who was arrested last year. Practitioners played the lead role throughout the process.
Time Needed for Rescue
Practitioner A, an elderly Falun Gong practitioner in our area, lived far away from fellow practitioners. She was distributing Shen Yun DVDs in July 2014, when she was arrested by local police. We did not find out about her arrest until January 2015, when a non-practitioner told one of our local practitioners that practitioner A would be on trial in two days.
Practitioner B said: “This news was not learned by chance. Maybe Master let us know through the non-practitioner’s mouth. We need to hurry to rescue her.”
Practitioner C suggested that practitioner A’s family members hire a lawyer for her.
There were two issues that we needed to address. To clarify the truth about Falun Gong to law enforcement personnel and the 610 Office, and delay the trial to allow more time to rescue her. We all agreed with these suggestions.
False Hopes Promoted
Several practitioners visited practitioner A’s home that night. Her husband did not know that she would be tried very soon, and did not want to hire a lawyer. He thought that it would be useless, and that she should not have gone out to hand out the DVDs.
The local practitioners asked him, “What is Falun Gong? Why did Jiang Zemin persecute Falun Gong? Cultivating Falun Gong is one of the rights granted by the Chinese Constitution, and it is legal. The persecution of Falun Gong is illegal. The lawyers are cognizant of the law. If a lawyer defends her, she would be found not guilty and the court would have to release her.” Her husband agreed to hire a lawyer.
Her husband went to the court early the next morning to find out why he had not been notified of the court date. The person in charge claimed that they did not have a phone number. The judge told him that his wife had committed a crime, and it was not necessary to hire a lawyer, and that it would be a waste of money since they would release her eventually anyway. Her husband believed them and decided not to hire a lawyer.
A few of the practitioners also agreed after hearing that news. They thought that it would be less troublesome, and was better than paying for a lawyer.
Practitioner C asked everyone to study Master’s article “Stay Clearheaded.”
“Don’t harbor any false hopes about the evil CCP. This sinister demon came here to destroy mankind. As you clarify the facts, you must get the world's people to see its nature clearly. Dafa disciples shouldn’t harbor any fantasies about it. It has taken the lives of millions of Dafa disciples over these years of persecution. And over the course of a century, the wicked Party has, around the world, murdered hundreds of millions all told. The evil specter behind the wicked Party has used people in this world to harm others. If those who live under the wicked Party’s rule can manage to see it for what it is, there is hope for them. Those who refuse to forsake it will disintegrate together with it in the mass elimination. Dafa disciples need to stay clearheaded while they do their best at the three things.”
Misplaced Trust
The practitioners discussed the incident based on the Fa truths in the article “Stay Clearheaded.”
If we did not hire a lawyer to oppose the persecution, maybe the practitioner would make an agreement with the persecutors, and be transferred to a brainwashing center. If that happened, that practitioner would be ruined, and the law enforcement personnel would have committed a crime against Falun Gong practitioners. It was wrong to assume that practitioners were not in the lead. They should play the major role in the case. Anything else was arranged by the old forces and we should not fall into that trap.
All those who attended this sharing understood that the court had not even notified the family members of the court date. This indicates that their intentions were based on their methods, which we should not trust.
Fellow practitioners visited practitioner A’s family members again and told them that since the court personnel had kept the court date secret from them, they could not be trusted.
Family Hires Lawyer
The practitioners helped the husband recall the changes in practitioner A after she began practicing Falun Gong. The husband said she used to be quite ill, and had bad headaches. Nothing helped her until she started practicing Falun Gong. She also used to have a bad temper and no one in her family dared to offend her. Falun Gong subsequently changed her into a good person. If anyone bad-mouthed her now, she simply kept quiet. Finally, the husband agreed to hire a lawyer.
He told the judge that he planned to hire a lawyer for his wife, and the judge had to delay the court date by ten days.
Disagreement Among Practitioners
A few practitioners who had not cooperated with us for a long time disagreed, and said that hiring a lawyer might irritate the judge and result in a conviction.
Several practitioners invited those practitioners to come together to study Master’s article “Stay Clearheaded” and the “20th Anniversary Fa Teaching” first, and then discuss the matter.
One elderly practitioner who was against hiring a lawyer finally understood why a lawyer should be hired, after practitioner B said, “Master told us to have lawyers defend Dafa disciples in his lectures. If we hire a lawyer that will be good for the judge. If the lawyer argues that practitioner A is not guilty according to the law, then the court has more reasons to release her, and that is also good for them too.”
Another practitioner said she knew the judge, and that she would like to talk to him about Falun Gong.
All the practitioners had come to an agreement, but practitioner A, the arrested practitioner, was still in the dark. Practitioner C said he may have a local lawyer talk to the practitioner before the Beijing lawyer arrived. This would be an opportunity to tell the local lawyers the facts about Falun Gong.
The practitioners talked to several lawyers, and found one who agreed to visit practitioner A. The lawyer found out that practitioner A had heard that they had hired a Beijing lawyer for her, and that she was greatly inspired, and decided to deny her agreement with the court.
Spreading the Persecution News
Our local practitioners formed a group to rescue practitioner A. We did the following during a ten day period.
The practitioners visited practitioner A's husband three times, and talked to him about Falun Gong so he would develop righteous thoughts. At the same time, they put up posters throughout the entire city about the case. They even went to practitioner A’s hometown to hand out information and put up posters, to warn the local police not to be fooled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
The practitioners then sent letters and messages to the persecutors, and called them. They told them that they should not persecute good people, and should release them.
Additionally, they distributed flyers which exposed the evil deeds committed by the former judge, in the residential area where the prosecutor and court personnel lived. Many practitioners who had not clarified the truth about Falun Gong in the past came out and helped.
Many Falun Gong practitioners were involved, and there seemed to be a battle in another dimension. Each time we called the perpetrators, the weather would suddenly change from good weather to rain or snow.
Changing Lawyers Did Not Stop Us
The day before the court date, the Beijing lawyer notified us that he could not come. We realized that since this was our cultivation process, we had to let go of human notions and remain unaffected. With Master and the Fa here, everything will be fine.
We let go of our worries and just continued to do what was needed. Local practitioners continued to cooperate well. Some put up posters in the city, and some went to the countryside, as well as the practitioner's hometown.
A lawyer we had not contacted called at around 9:00 p.m. to say that he would arrive in the neighboring city and needed us to pick him up. This lawyer was not sure at first, but decided to come, and we were amazed at his decision.
We realized that Master had arranged for him to take on this case. This lawyer was willing to accept practitioners' suggestions. He said he understood that Falun Gong practitioners were innocent. He said that he would inspire the kindness of the judge and the people seated in the courtroom.
The lawyer arrived only five minutes before the court session opened. He pleaded not-guilty on behalf of practitioner A, and used a peaceful tone. He also reminded the judge about the right attitude he should have when facing Falun Gong practitioners. Practitioner A spoke up and said that she was not guilty of anything, for following the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.
Our local practitioners surrounded the court and sent righteous thoughts to eliminate the evil in other dimensions, in order to strengthen practitioner A and the lawyer.
The court trial was over and the judge did not announce the result.
Practitioner A’s family members, including her husband and two sons, thanked the practitioners for their selfless help with tears in their eyes.
The judge went to the detention center two months later to tell practitioner A: “You are the same age as my mother. Falun Gong is good. You can go home now. Practice it well. Don’t give up!”
Practitioners Played the Lead Role
Everything was arranged by Master, and each step was arranged by him. We could feel that Master was beside us.
During the rescue process, our local practitioners formed a group that cooperated well, something that had not happened before. Everyone’s xinxing improved.
The goal of rescuing practitioner A was to save people and to cultivate ourselves. We cooperated with the lawyer and clarified the facts about Falun Gong. It was Falun Gong practitioners who played the lead role.
Thanks to Master! Thanks to fellow practitioners!
