(Clearwisdom.net) The practice site in Bangkok's Lumphini Park was personally chosen by Master in the early days. For years, practitioners in Thailand have come here at 6:00 am. Day after day and year after year, they come to do the five sets of exercises and to offer others free instruction in the exercises. Over a year ago we added group Fa-study to the activities at the practice site. We usually start group study by reciting Lunyu:
"'The Buddha Fa' is the most profound; among all the theories in the world, it is the most intricate and extraordinary science. In order to explore this domain, humankind must fundamentally change its conventional thinking. Otherwise, the truth of the universe will forever remain a mystery to humankind, and everyday people will forever crawl within the boundary delimited by their own ignorance." (Zhuan Falun)
To date, every practitioner here has benefited from cultivating Falun Dafa. Their illnesses have disappeared, their minds are peaceful, they have congenial relations with others, their families live in harmony, they look younger and more beautiful, and much more. Since July 1999, when the evil Chinese Communist Party (CCP) started persecuting Falun Gong, quite a few incidents have occurred in Thailand, and practitioners here have endured enormous pressure. These incidents and "trouble" were also tests during our cultivation. How well we passed each previous test determined the content of the next test. Just like students taking exams. If they fail, they will have to take a makeup exam. However, behind these tests there is the impure motivation of the old forces. Yet we have Master and Dafa, and we can absolutely deny their arrangements and consummate our worlds.
During the Fa-rectification, while facing such tests, more and more practitioners in Thailand have bravely stepped forward to clarify the truth to the people. They have overcome all kinds of difficulties that they encountered in the family, society or at work. They have given up their comfortable lifestyles and various human notions to assist Master during Fa-rectification, save sentient beings, and do the three things that Fa-rectification Dafa disciples should do. However, there are also some practitioners who have been conditioned by various human notions and who are still unable to step forward or step forward wholeheartedly.
One of the human notions we held was that we only needed to promote Dafa, that we shouldn't emphasize the persecution, feeling that otherwise we would stir up resentment, as people do not understand it. Additionally, another notion is that Thailand is a small country that cannot stand up to pressure from the CCP, and that we should appreciate the difficult situation the Thai government is in.
Such notions are in fact very muddleheaded.
First of all, every person, every country and every government must declare their stand on the issue of the suppression of Falun Gong. To support Falun Gong and oppose the persecution is in fact an opportunity for people to position themselves. If we truly care about Thailand, we should see that the Thai government is placing itself in the wrong position. We should see that the government's doing so will bring terrible consequences to Thailand. Wee should be very concerned about this and make every attempt to clarify the truth to the government and the people to help them understand what kind of people Dafa practitioners are and what we are doing. We should tell them to treat all practitioners who seek asylum in Thailand kindly; that Dafa practitioners are cultivators and future enlightened beings, and what a huge crime it is to attack such people and even put them in prison! However, such crimes are happening in China every day and they have started to happen in Thailand, as well. It is very dangerous!
There is another notion that has confused practitioners. Some say that, according to the law in Thailand, foreigners are not allowed to attack a third country in Thailand. Moreover, they use this law to restrict practitioners in their truth-clarification efforts. This is indeed a farfetched, crafty argument that cannot stand up to any analytical reasoning. What does "attacking a third country" mean?
For example, China is the source of the bird flu, and if the Thai newspapers expose such a fact, are they "attacking a third country?" The CCP regime covered up the SARS epidemic, and when someone told the Thai people and the Chinese tourists about the truth, were they "attacking a third country?"
Similarly, the CCP police have raped women in broad daylight, and have tortured and murdered innocent Falun Gong practitioners. When practitioners in Thailand go to sit in front of the CCP embassy to protest the persecution and ask them to stop such atrocities, I believe, no one who has a conscience and thinks logically would think that such a peaceful protest has anything to do with "attacking a third country," regardless of the angle from which one may look at the matter.
In traditional Buddhist countries, (from the king to the ordinary people) they all worship the Lord Buddha and the Three Treasures, and practicing Buddhism is an important aspect of their lives. People in Thailand are generally kind and hospitable; they have refined manners and feel sympathetic towards the weak. However, in recent years, along with the CCP's economic expansion and hoodlum diplomacy, many countries that are traditionally anti-Communist have been poisoned. This is especially the case for Thailand, which has deteriorated to the point where it cannot distinguish between black and white and between right and wrong. On important issues such as that of Falun Gong, Thailand has completely gone against its traditional values and has become CCP lackey.
Since 1999, almost all of the interference with Dafa in Thailand originated from the CCP regime. Under pressure from the CCP, the Thai government has shamelessly helped the regime do evil. With a phone call from the CCP embassy, the Thai police would arrest and beat people, even though what Falun Gong practitioners are doing, such as the peaceful protest outside the Chinese embassy against the brutal acts of the CCP police and distributing the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party, are totally legal. Furthermore, almost all the Thai police and officials who have learned the truth have said to Falun Gong practitioners, "You are all good people and have done nothing wrong; you pose no threat to society, but we have too much pressure from the Chinese government and there is nothing we can do..." What they say is exactly the same as what many Chinese police say.
The Thai government has openly arrested and beat Falun Gong practitioners; thus they have already committed terrible crimes. However, they are not the same as the CCP, because they know that Falun Gong practitioners are good people and the crimes they have committed are due to intense pressure from the CCP. Only Dafa practitioners in Thailand can thoroughly clarify the truth to the Thai government and the people, clear away the misunderstandings in their minds, get rid of the fear they have of the CCP and help them change their attitude. Only by our doing this well can Thailand be saved and the people in Thailand avoid elimination in the near future. Some people may say, "Is it that serious?" Well, let us review some of Master's teachings:
"So as for the Dafa disciples in any region, you are basically the hope for the beings in that region to be saved--their only hope, in fact. The beings there need to hear the Good News, and they need to hear you clarify the facts to them so that they can understand what Dafa is. That is why Dafa disciples' responsibilities are weighty." ("Teaching the Fa at the 2004 International Fa Conference in New York")
"Dafa disciples have become almost the only hope for humanity in some regions. Even though on the surface society is still functioning and Dafa disciples seem to be going virtually unnoticed by the various industrial and professional sectors, that's not the reality. The divine beings and all sentient beings in the cosmos are watching. The positions Dafa disciples are in and the roles they are playing are both tied to the survival of humankind."
("Teaching the Fa in San Francisco, 2005 (Q&A Portion)")
Let us all ask ourselves which notions we still need to "fundamentally change" after so many years of cultivation. Are we like everyday people who "crawl within the boundary delimited by their own ignorance?" (from "Lunyu," Zhuan Falun) The current situation in Thailand has provided us with a rare opportunity. As for what we should do and how to do it, these are the paths we each must take. We can certainly do well and live up to Master's expectations of Thailand.
