(Clearwisdom.net) (Continued)
[Writer's comments -- It is vitally important to overcome and transcend tribulations, to understand the Fa from the perspective of the Fa and to break through human notions. I have written down the lessons I have learned and the notions I have overcome during this period of Fa-rectification and would like to share them with the fellow practitioners. Please kindly point out anything improper.]
In a Detention Center
1. There is a notion existing among some practitioners, that the environment is too evil; when practitioners were tortured to death, their family members were not even informed. Those practitioners think, "The evil wants us to die, so we won't die. They want to torture us, so we don't give them any excuse to do so." That is why some practitioners do not want to go on a hunger strike and would eat well, thinking it is a way of not cooperating with the evil.
As a matter of fact, this notion comes from fear and the pursuit of comfort, which the practitioners are not able to break through, and they use this excuse to cover up these notions. First of all, we should be clear that going on a hunger strike is not based on the thought that we want to die, nor is it done for the purpose of giving the evil beings a chance to persecute us. During these demonic tribulations, when we have strong righteous thoughts, those righteous thoughts we send forth will eliminate the evil and rotten demons in other dimensions that persecute Dafa.
Think about it: why do detention center authorities detain Dafa practitioners? Would they allow you to eat well without an ulterior motive? In fact, their fundamental purpose is to make practitioners give up cultivation. All the tricks they use are for the purpose of eroding the willpower and righteous thoughts of Dafa practitioners. If we are settled in prison in temporary comfort, our will to cultivate would eventually be destroyed, and this would make the evil most happy.
By contrast, if Dafa practitioners are not afraid of hardships and completely refuse to cooperate with the evil by way of hunger strikes or other means, and if they are able to let go of the thought of life and death to safeguard Dafa, then they will act like magnificent diamond-solid Gods, and this is what the evils fear most.
2. Some practitioners say, "The environment is too evil. Many practitioners who had been on a hunger strike didn't get out; instead they were soon sent to labor camps."
We must be clearheaded that the hunger strike is not simply for getting out of the detention center, but a way to completely negate all the arrangements by the evil. We do not cooperate with the evil at all. We are prepared to safeguard Dafa with our lives. The evil beings are not worthy of testing Dafa at all.
When I decided to go on a hunger strike, my thought was to completely resist the evil and I would not take the path arranged by the old forces. Based on this thought I was not afraid of the evil at all and was unshakable in the face of any threats or tricks the evil presented me with. "Get rid of any attachment you have, and don't think about anything. Just do everything a Dafa disciple should do, and everything will be covered." ("Teaching the Fa at the Washington, D.C. International Fa Conference") The fundamental reason for a hunger strike determines its result. Our hunger strike should be based on validating Dafa and opposing the arrangements of the old forces, not for any personal interests.
3. Some practitoners think that if we go on a hunger strike the evil would intensify their persecution, which means that they would come and search the cells, and would monitor the cells 24 hours a day, and this would affect our Fa-study and sending forth righteous thoughts.
Actually, this understanding is to acknowledge the evil to a certain extent and does not completely negate the evil. We not only require an environment to study the Fa, to practice the exercises and to send forth righteous thoughts, but we also aim to walk out in a noble and dignified manner. We are not supposed to be here in the first place. If we just endure passively, in order to maintain a relatively comfortable environment, the evil will take advantage of our loopholes, step-by-step, and we will lose the easier environment in the end as well.
In fact, when we do not cooperate with the evil and oppose them completely, the environment will become easier. We will be able to send forth righteous thoughts, right in the face of the monitor, and the evil will not dare to take any action.
4. Some practitioners are deceived by the hypocritical kindness shown by the guards in the detention center. The guards would say things like that they are merely in charge of detaining the practitioners; they don't want to see practitioners being detained either, but they don't have the authority to make decisions. Falun Gong practitioners practice Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance, so the practitioners should consider their [the guards'] situation and cooperate with them.
Some practitioners were deceived, thinking that they should not cause any trouble for these guards or to other inmates in the same cell, and therefore they abided by the rules and cooperated with the guards.
In fact, this wrong understanding is caused by not distinguishing between Fa-rectification cultivation and personal cultivation. Any beings that persecute Dafa are guilty beyond forgiveness. To prevent them from persecuting Dafa and to tell them the truth is showing true compassion to these beings.
For today's Fa-rectification, the old forces have made systematic arrangements on all levels, from top to bottom, and the prison cells, the instruments of tortures, the punishments, the prisons, the forced labor camps, the detention centers and the police today are all part of the arrangements the old forces had made, in layer upon layer, to damage Fa-rectification. We should therefore not acknowledge any of these. Everything we do should be from the standpoint of resisting their persecution. Isn't it true that the existence of these guards was also part of the arrangement to persecute Dafa? We must follow Master's teaching, "No matter what the situation, do not cooperate with the evil's demands, orders, or what it instigates" ("Dafa Disciples' Righteous Thoughts are Powerful") and completely negate all the arrangements the evil forces had made.
5. Some practitioners operate from the understanding that arrangements had been made for them to be sent to labor camps, in order to save those who have been "transformed" by the evil and to rectify the evil environment of these labor camps.
This wrong understanding sounds rather tempting. Actually, it acknowledges the evil's arrangements to a certain degree. Why should practitioners be sent to labor camps to rectify the environment there? "Dafa Disciples' Righteous Thoughts are Powerful." In fact, many practitioners who had such an idea have cooperated with the evil after they arrived at labor camps.
6. Dafa practitioners are one whole body, and only when we unite into one body will we be indestructible
In the detention center, our group sending forth righteous thoughts was interfered with. On the second day, a guard called out a Dafa practitioner to "have a talk," asking about the group exercise incident. This practitioner did not deny it and clarified the facts to the guard. Unfortunately, the evil took advantage of human sentiment and selfishness on the part of the practitioner and came up with a trick: to disintegrate our collective power, the guard said that this practitioner would be allowed to do the exercises for one hour each day, but this practitioner must cooperate in his work by not doing large-scale group exercises with others. This practitioner was fooled and did not recognize the guard's scheme. Later, our collective power was weakened and the environment for doing exercises and studying the Fa became worse.
7. Facing the tribulation, we must figure out what we should do by ourselves, as there is no model in cultivation. We should not measure ourselves by how much or how well another individual has done. All of us must base our actions on the Fa, basing our judgment regarding right and wrong on Dafa. Dafa practitioners should take the Fa as teacher, under any and all circumstances.
In the Forced Labor Camp
1. See through the wicked hypocrisy and deceit
The surface environment in the forced labor camp can be very deceiving. In order to persecute Dafa practitioners, political scoundrel Jiang spent a lot of money building jails. Some practitioners felt that the environment was pretty good when they first arrived, and thought the food was not bad, either, but we must see through and recognize the wicked intention of the evil. All these arrangements are aimed to drag down gods and make them humans, to take advantage of practitioners' pursuit of comfort, to destroy their will power, so that they would give up Falun Dafa practice and would betray Master.
In order to make Dafa practitioners give up their belief, the evil tried every possible way to "show their concern for you," to "move" you with human sentiment. If you do not compromise and refuse to fall into their traps of soft or harsh tactics, they will become treacherous and ruthless, cursing you with all kinds of dirty language and abusing you with all kinds of tricks.
2. We should not allow ourselves to have any pursuit of comfort
Master said,
"If you are still unclear about what a Fa-rectification practitioner is, you won't be able to step forward in the current tribulation, and you will be led by the human world's pursuit of comfort to 'enlighten' along an evil path. Master's heart has always been pained by those who have fallen, and the majority were ruined by that pursuit." ("Fa-rectification Period Dafa Practitioners")
Once we develop the mentality of seeking comfort, we might cooperate with the evil, which would give the evil the opportunity to take advantage of our loopholes. This is especially true in labor camps, where steadfast practitioners bear huge mental pressure. If a practitioner takes the wrong direction, he may have a false feeling of being free of suffering. During the tribulation, we should not have one bit of pursuit of comfort and we should not acknowledge the persecution to any extent.
3: Do no listen to the evil's words; if you listen, their words will be poured in your mind
All the books used by the evil to slander Dafa were written under control of wicked demons and they contain all sorts of rubbish. Some practitioner claimed that they could stay unaffected, and they could argue with the evil and point out their absurdness after reading the books, but consequently, the evil influenced the practitioners. As a steadfast Dafa practitioner in jail wrote in his experience sharing report, "There is one kind of practitioners that they could not change. They are those who just recite the Fa with their eyes closed and do not take any notice of the evil. Yet, most of the "transformed" people are those who argued with the evils before falling into their traps. Of course, the most fundamental reason is that they cannot give up their attachments."
4: In tribulation, Dafa practitioners should give up all attachments, including the attachment to family members. For those who have dropped down, many of them stumbled due to this "sentiment." In fact, when a Dafa practitioner's xinxing is completely based on the Fa and s/he acts righteously, everything will be taken care of.
When I came out of the jail cell and returned home, I found my family situation was not as bad as I had thought. Many things seem to be accidental, while the fact is that as long as we have strong enough righteous thoughts, Master will control everything.
The above are my personal experiences and understandings.
(The end)
Please see Parts 1 and 2 on
http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2003/1/6/30590.html
http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2003/1/7/30634.html
.
