(Clearwisdom.net) After the live organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners was revealed to the public, some practitioners felt shocked and felt that the scale and cruelty of the persecution was too much. How could this kind of persecution happen to steadfast Dafa disciples?
I would like to share a story about a fellow practitioner. This practitioner repeatedly stepped forward to appeal for Falun Gong after the persecution started in 1999. Not only did he go to Beijing, he also motivated other practitioners to go with him. His actions at the time were borne of rational, righteous thoughts, and he experienced a lot of hardship. He was repeatedly illegally arrested, but he never considered giving up Dafa cultivation. For a period of time, I did not have any new news about him.
When I saw him finally, he talked about his experiences during his last time being arrested. The police were brutally interrogating the Dafa practitioners one by one, and he was one of the last few people to be questioned. With such brutality happening in front of him, he worried that he might not be able to handle himself well during the cruel interrogation. But he was determined not to say anything improper about Dafa and Master. He felt that he could not betray Master and Dafa under any circumstances. However, facing the endless persecution, he did not know how he could continue to handle it. Then he thought about taking a risk and escaping, so he jumped out of a third floor window and injured his feet, which caused him even more pain. Since he could not understand the issue from the Fa, he faced huge mental pressure at that time. He was clear, as a Dafa practitioner, that he should continue going out to clarify the facts. However, he also worried that he might not be able to endure the torture if he was arrested again, and he thought that if he failed to endure, he might lose what he had already achieved in cultivation (this was his understanding at that time). A number of practitioners shared similar thoughts and fears. He was concerned about not being able to improve his understanding, and he also knew that he should be able to at least encourage other practitioners to step forward.
After he recovered, this practitioner continued his path of making truth-clarification material and clarifying the facts. He was arrested and released many times. Each time he suffered brutal persecution and torture that seriously damaged his body. However, once he was released, he would continue doing what a Dafa disciple was supposed to do.
Now this practitioner is on Clearwisdom's list of Dafa practitioners who were tortured to death for not giving up cultivation. I know that he was dedicated to cultivation and was always involved in clarifying the facts and resisting the persecution. Even though it was regretful that he did not break through the arrangements of the old forces, he should still have a good position in cultivation, since what he has done is not in vain. At this pivotal and historical moment of Fa-rectification, what else could be more important and worthy than the sublimation of a life, saving sentient beings and having a beautiful future in the new cosmos?
Whether a practitioner is considered to be steadfast or not in cultivation is not a black and white matter. Cultivation is not that simple. It is more complicated than the factors and principles of any ordinary worldly thing.
The number of Dafa disciples is large. There have not been just a few cases; countless practitioners have experienced similar hardships as the practitioner I just described. From those I have known, I have witnessed firm resolve, suffering, as well as confusion and breakthroughs. I have also witnessed regret. For a Dafa disciple in the Fa-rectification period, in order to do away with the old forces' arrangements, I am quite sure that we must become more and more determined; we do not have any other choice. In other words, for any issue, no matter whether it is easy or difficult, we should push ourselves to the highest level. We should not let speculation or confusion block our paths and stop us from completely dissolving the old forces' arrangements. It needs to be mentioned here that if a person does not break through the old forces' arrangements, it would only affect his cultivation level, and would not affect his consummation, since the essential part has already been done. This is totally different from someone who has quit cultivation, or did not give up, but was afraid to go out and clarify the facts and save sentient beings.
In history, there were many righteous and determined Christians who were either fed to the lions or killed with arrows. However, they lived up to their own understanding of how to be firm, and faced death unflinchingly. Today, what we cultivate is Dafa. Dafa can resolve and balance all unresolved issues and give the best outcome to all lives. Dafa can dissolve the evil, including the old forces' arrangements, as long as cultivators have strong belief, strong righteous thoughts and strong determination. What is the evil really? It is vicious demons and trash in hell. Don't be fooled by their brutal play which will not last long; they are marked for elimination, and in the near future they will have to compensate Dafa disciples for what they have done. Let us discard everyday people's way of thinking, wake up and take action to expose the evil and clarify the facts.
We should give up more human attachments, and stop hesitating and being confused. No matter what happens, we should firmly follow our paths, and study the Fa more so that we will have stronger and stronger righteous thoughts. We shall definitely achieve this goal.
