How Our Mindset Affects Outcomes

(Minghui.org) Practitioners can sometimes invite persecution when our thoughts aren’t on the Fa. We are able to disintegrate any negative factors if we respond to the persecution with righteous thoughts. I’d like to tell you how two practitioners handled difficult situations.

Master said,

“If viewed in historical terms this is indeed such a major thing, then consider what kind of preparation it would have called for. The arrangements that were made were, in fact, quite detailed, to the extent that how each Dafa disciple would walk his path; what situations each would meet with; how each would advance or fall back; and how things would be handled when inappropriate states eventually came about, was all meticulously arranged. But be that as it may, it has to be that whatever you, as a living entity, want, is what ultimately counts. Whether you want to cultivate, wish for something, want to do something, don’t want to do something, don’t wish for something—all of it is decided by the person himself, and therein lies the difficulty.” (“20th Anniversary Fa Teaching,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. XI)

Ms. Zhang’s Story

When the persecution of Falun Dafa first began, Ms. Zhang read a practitioner’s article that mentioned that, according to the old universe’s arrangement, “Practitioners cannot avoid imprisonment.” That made her think, “Even if I’m imprisoned I can still cultivate.” Because of this seemingly upright thought, she was imprisoned for eight years. On the surface, she was arrested for distributing Falun Dafa informational materials.

Besides being brutally tortured, practitioners also face being separated from their families. The perpetrators frequently use this as leverage and ask practitioners, “Do you choose Dafa or your family?” Some practitioners have fallen into the trap and say, “Dafa.” In reality they have accepted the persecution. Ms. Zhang knew she had to use the Fa to resist the persecution and overcome tribulations.

Master told us, “...it is not permitted for you to get a divorce because of the practice.” (Lecture Six, Zhuan Falun)

Ms. Zhang refused to be “transformed” and refused to wear the prison uniform. In the eight years she was incarcerated, she only got to see her husband three times, and not even once during the final five years.

When brutal torture doesn’t work, the negative factors in other dimensions try to break up practitioners’ families. Some imprisoned practitioners worry that no one will take care of their husbands, while others worry that their husbands might have affairs. Quite a number of practitioners’ spouses divorced them.

Ms. Zhang said that her only thought was, “Dafa practitioners aren’t doing anything wrong by being good people. My husband will wait for me.” One woman chased Ms. Zhang’s husband for two years. She did his laundry and cooked for him. He accepted the food but he was not tempted. By the time Ms. Zhang was released, he had not only raised their son and sent him to college, he had also saved 50,000 yuan. That woman told Ms. Zhang, “Your husband is the best man in the world. If he were moved just a little bit, he would be mine today!” In fact, Ms. Zhang’s righteous thoughts helped her husband.

The evil factors tried to persecute Ms. Zhang by affecting her health. She could not eat much and she often thought, “It’s time for you to leave this world.” She constantly rejected this thought and eliminated the interference in the other dimensions. She endured this tribulation for four months. Her understanding was: “My body was given to me by Dafa. I cannot go along with this illusion and die. This would negatively affect the image of Dafa and saving sentient beings.”

Ms. Zhang learned the lesson from this episode and became increasingly clear on resisting the persecution. She said, “We are Dafa disciples in the Fa-rectification period. How do we validate the Fa? We must reject everything that’s not in line with the Fa. We are Master’s disciples and we must validate the Fa, save sentient beings, and eliminate all the bad things from the old universe, including the old forces and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).”

Ms. Zhang has been following her cultivation path unwaveringly. Many of her friends and families have begun to practice Dafa.

Ms. Bai’s Story

The CCP is now carrying out a “Zero-out” campaign targeting Falun Dafa practitioners. After making the arrest, they pressure the practitioner to write the three statements and agree to give up practicing Falun Dafa. They entice the practitioner with promises of being released on medical parole or probation. After some practitioners have written such statements, they are still sentenced. After others have been released, they are regularly contacted and told to write reports to be turned in to police stations or residential committees. The ultimate goal of the Zero-out campaign is to destroy the practitioner.

Ms. Bai did the three things well, but her understanding on how to negate the persecution wasn’t very clear.

Arrested after Accepting Persecution

Ms. Bai worked as a housekeeper for an elderly practitioner. In September 2020, the local police station carried out large-scale arrests targeting practitioners. Four police officers went to the elderly practitioner’s home to confiscate her Falun Dafa books, which the elderly practitioner firmly refused to allow. When the police also found other Dafa materials used to clarify the facts, they turned and asked Ms. Bai, “Do you practice Falun Dafa?” When Ms. Bai said she did, the police said, “Come with us.”

The entire time, Ms. Bai did not think about Master and or remember that Master told us, “When the evil ones ask whether you practice Falun Gong, you may ignore them or use other ways to deflect their questions. Don’t voluntarily let the evil take you away.” ("Rationality," Essentials for Further Advancement II)

Instead, she thought, “The elderly practitioner’s son works in the government, so I should be okay.” Even at the police station, she kept thinking, “Why hasn’t her son still come to get me?” She put her hopes in an ordinary person. As a result, she was taken to first one and then another detention center at around 9 p.m. But neither one would take her. She still did not realize that Master had intervened on her behalf. Her mind was not clear and she just passively went along with the police. Because her thinking was wrong, at around 3 a.m., one of the detention centers accepted her.

Refusing to Go Along with the Detention Center’s Demands

In the detention center, the first thing Ms. Bai was told to do was to memorize the detention center rules in three days. She saw that the second rule was “support the CCP leadership.” Other rules included “correct yourself,” “change your outlook on life and on the world,” and so on. Ms. Bai immediately awakened, “As a Dafa disciple, how can I memorize this?” So she began to recite the Fa from memory and send forth righteous thoughts the rest of that day.

There were nine other practitioners in her cell. Three days later, the section leader came to check on them. Some of the practitioners said they were illiterate. Others said they couldn’t memorize the rules. He said, “Is there anyone who doesn’t want to memorize them?” Ms. Bai immediately raised her hand. Angry, the section leader said, “You will be on duty both day and night!” Nothing happened after that.

The next day, a police officer showed up with a printed copy of the three statements. This policewoman used a different strategy. She appeared very nice, and repeatedly tried to persuade them. She promised, “All you have to do is to copy what’s written here. Then you will be released. You can do whatever you want when you go home. No one will care if you practice Falun Dafa.” Ms. Bai firmly refused to obey and said, “It’s impossible for me to write this.”

Ms. Bai continued to recite the Fa from memory every day and negate the persecution. She was transferred to the larger detention center 20 days later and was put in a cell with 40 criminal inmates. She was again told to memorize the detention center rules and write the three statements. Because she refused, she was not given a toothbrush or a pad to sit on. The detention center emphasized that Falun Dafa practitioners would be given heavy sentences if they refused to write the three statements.

Released on Parole

The next day, Ms. Bai began bleeding from her vagina. Her cellmates kept saying, “My goodness, I hope you don’t get sick from sitting on the cold floor.” After sitting on the cold floor for two weeks, she had stomach pain. She didn’t know where it came from and thought, “Was this from sitting on the cold floor?” With this human thought, the pain worsened. In the end she was forced to have a medical exam and was diagnosed with cancer.

Once again, Ms. Bai again didn’t have a clear understanding of the Fa’s principles. She should have realized: “Is this Master getting me released with a fake sickness symptom?” Falun Dafa is widely praised for its miraculous health benefits. Even though appearing to be sick could get a practitioner out of detention, it does not validate the Fa, nor is it helpful in clarifying the facts or saving sentient beings. The evil factors again took advantage of this thought. Ms. Bai quickly lost weight and became extremely weak. She had heart palpitations after even just a few steps.

Detention center officials intensified their efforts to get Ms. Bai to write the three statements. The director, police officers, and monitoring prisoners all tried to persuade her. They told her that she would be released on medical parole if she wrote it. The director also pressured the police officer responsible for her cell, so the officer came to lean on her every day. But Ms. Bai firmly said, “I will not write it no matter what.” So the officer finally gave up.

The director reported this to the procuratorate. The procuratorate staff contacted Ms. Bai’s son and promised to release her on parole if she was “transformed.” The detention center made an exception and allowed her to speak to her son. Ms. Bai didn’t give her son a chance to persuade her but just said, “Don’t worry, Son. As you know, I was not sick for over 20 years and I’m still totally fine.” The detention center arranged for her to have surgery and chemotherapy, but Ms. Bai firmly refused to agree to the plan. She was determined to just follow Master’s arrangement. Then a miracle happened. The night after she spoke with her son, the bleeding stopped.

Since all the practitioners refused to memorize the detention center rules, the detention center came up with something new: They would have to memorize the book Di Zi Gui.

But this time Ms. Bai’s mind was clear and she remembered Master’s Fa,

“A Dafa disciple’s righteous thoughts stem from the Fa, and your cultivation is not a matter of how good, as a human being, your ideas are or how brilliant your approach is. Rather, your cultivation is a matter of whether you manage to have righteous thoughts in the face of challenges.” (“Be More Diligent,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. X)

Ms. Bai thought, “I must use my time to recite the Fa. I won’t memorize Di Zi Gui.” The detention center then found a Buddhist to talk about Buddhism. Ms. Bai knew it was a test. No matter what the Buddhist said, Ms. Bai refused to listen; instead she silently repeated the phrases for sending forth righteous thoughts.

Later, the Buddhist cooperated with the police to try to persuade Ms. Bai to write the three statements. She encouraged all the prisoners to get angry at Ms. Bai, “If you don’t write it and end up bedridden, we will have to take care of you!” In the end, the Buddhist got very sick. She was bedridden for three days and had to get medical help.

After she witnessed how Ms. Bai returned to normal without any medical treatment, she agreed to quit the CCP and memorized Master’s poems in Hong Yin. Several prisoners in the detention center also memorized them.

Ms. Bai was given the medical parole by the procuratorate even though she refused to write the three statements. Even though she was tried several days later and sentenced to six months, she was released after just one month. In comparison, another practitioner was worried about her pregnant daughter-in-law, so she wrote the three statements. She was sentenced to two years and two months.

After she was released, Ms. Bai told the other practitioners that both her arrest and illness symptoms happened because she was not clear on the Fa principles. The evil factors can take advantage of us when our mindset is wrong.

Once we correct our mindsets, Master has many ways to help. Just as Master told us,

“Now that the persecution has happened, I’ve made use of it so as to have Dafa disciples nullify the persecution while validating the Fa, thus establishing the mighty virtue of Dafa disciples.” ("My Version of a “Stick Wake-up,”" The Essentials of Diligent Progress Vol. III)