(Clearwisdom.net) There were several coordinated efforts to rescue fellow practitioners in our district recently. I did not take part in any of them and was rather numb about the whole thing. During an experience sharing that focused on the rescue project, practitioners tried to look inside themselves to find areas that needed improvement. I, on the other hand, said, "We have already sent righteous thoughts, went to the forced labor camp and worked with their family members, but to no avail. We should cultivate ourselves well first, and then the rescue will succeed on its own." A fellow practitioner talked back, "Following your line of argument, we do not even have to go out tomorrow." Another senior practitioner said, "How many times have you joined the rescue project? There is something not right about your understanding."
I was indignant in my heart at that moment and thought that I, too, had done many things to validate the Fa. Those were very important things and I had been kept busy. Then again, I wondered why I was so moved by the criticism. I remembered Master's words,
"I can tell you that when you fail to pass a test, and you hear things that grate on your ears, that is really my Law Body making use of unpleasant words to rouse you and tell you something." ("First Fa Teaching Given in the United States")
I figured it out and realized that it was Master giving me the hint that I should participate in rescuing fellow practitioners.
The next day, I went to the judicial bureau with other practitioners. When we returned, that senior practitioner told me, "I'm so happy for you. You finally stepped out." However, under the influence of my bloated ego, I could not accept the practitioner's encouragement. "This is nothing. I went to the forced labor camp with his sister long ago. At that time, nobody was doing that," I shot back, and then went on to elaborate further. After the incident, I asked myself why I was so eager to speak up for myself. Wasn't I arguing on my behalf to find excuses for not participating in the rescue project? Through studying the Fa more and searching inward, I asked myself questions such as whether I treated fellow practitioners' problems as mine, was I being selfless, and was I looking for an excuse when I claimed to be busy and only joined the rescue effort a couple of times a month? Why couldn't I cooperate with others? Eventually, I enlightened to the fact that I should help rescue fellow practitioners.
Many of my shortcomings were exposed after I joined the rescue project. One time, six practitioners were kidnapped by the local police when they were out clarifying the truth. We went and stood outside the police station to send forth righteous thoughts. At three o'clock in the afternoon, the police decided to illegally detain four of them. When the policemen were about to push these practitioners into the police van, aunt Ren, who was sending righteous thoughts with us, walked right into the courtyard of the police station. She blocked the door to the police van and said to those who were persecuting Dafa practitioners, "Falun Gong cultivators are good people. They had illnesses before and now are all well again. What are you arresting them for?" The policemen shuffled, and did not dare to talk with aunt Ren. Those four practitioners were pulled into the police van. My heart sank as I watched them being carried away by the police van. Right then, I found where I fell short. If I could do the same [as Aunt Ren] and clarify the truth whenever problems arose, then these practitioners probably would not have been taken away.
"The next person's things are your things, and your things are his things." ("Teaching the Fa at the Washington, D.C. Fa Conference")
I had not followed Master's words. I spoke to Master in my heart, "Master, as your disciple, I will do better in the future."
When the news came that practitioner Li was in a dangerous situation after being illegally detained, aunt Ren decided to request his release from the director of the labor camp together with practitioner Li's mother (who was not a practitioner). Practitioners who could go to the labor camp went there to send righteous thoughts at a close distance. Others did the same intensively at home. I asked myself in the evening whether I dared to deliver the request to the director in person. I quickly shied away from the thought. I knew I was not ready to do that. I could only send righteous thoughts nearby.
The next day, we did not see practitioner Li's mother at the forced labor camp. At 9:40 a.m., one practitioner said, "We cannot let the old forces interfere with us. I will go to the bus stop to wait for her. If I don't come back by 10 o'clock, two of our practitioners should go ahead to see the director." I immediately said, "Yes," and that aunt Ren and I would go. When I said that, it was because I sensed it was the right thing to do according to the Fa, but I also did not feel ready for it. Fellow practitioners were all sending forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the evil elements that interfered with practitioner Li's mother who was coming to demand her son's release. Meanwhile, in my heart there was a hidden message. "Please come soon, so I do not have to go see the director myself."
After a while, a practitioner told me it was ten o'clock. I said let's wait for one more bus, and of course practitioner Li's mother was not on it. This time, I really had to go meet the director. I wanted to tell aunt Ren that her righteous thoughts were stronger and she should lead me through. Then again, we all came from high levels to obtain the Fa, I thought. We have the same Master and the same Fa. How could my righteous thoughts not be strong enough? I believed I could do it because Master was right beside me. I asked Master to strengthen my righteous thoughts. At that instant, fear and tension went away and my expression became soft and gentle. I knew deep in my heart that none of it was because of my own ability. It was benevolent Master who took away the bad stuff that blocked me from rescuing fellow practitioners.
Aunt Ren and I went ahead to meet the director of the labor camp. We told him about the wonder and beauty of Dafa, the truth about the persecution of Dafa practitioners, the current social status, that good and evil are receiving their due, and gave him a few examples in which people were rewarded for protecting Dafa practitioners. However, he still refused to let us see the detained practitioner. It was a false manifestation but my human side was moved by it. I said, "How can we know if he is dead or alive if you don't let us see him? Even a phone call is better." Because this thought was not righteous enough, we were only allowed to talk to him on the phone in the end.
There was another time when the labor camp decided to send a practitioner who had been severely tortured back to a local police station. The police station refused to receive him. After some sharing, practitioners realized that we should not walk away from a problem when it arises. We should clarify the truth to the director of the police station and dissolve the evil elements in our local area. I forced myself to say, "I will go." Although I made the decision, it was hard to walk the first step. My thoughts were mangled. To me, this was a lot harder than going to the labor camp, because the police station has the authority to arrest people directly. My attachment to fear surfaced.
I delayed going there day after day. I asked myself, if Master can protect us during life-threatening tribulations in our cultivation, then why was I so afraid when a policeman or a police station was not even going after my life? I realized that the fear came from the evil Party's influence. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched many massive death-causing movements before. In order to protect themselves, the Chinese people told on friends, coworkers and even fathers and sons. Friends became foes. Under the current CCP's rule, people do not genuinely care about their fellow man. Apathy has become a doctrine to live by. However, I am a Dafa disciple. Master wants us to:
"...attain the righteous Enlightenment of selflessness and altruism." ("Non-Omission in Buddha- Nature" in Essentials for Further Advancement)
I will eliminate the evil factors from the CCP that were interfering with my clarifying the truth to save sentient beings and rescuing fellow practitioners.
I decided to go to the police that evening. It was already five o'clock in the afternoon. I immediately informed other practitioners to send forth righteous thoughts and told them that I would go to the home of the director of the police station to clarify the truth. I stood in front of Master's photo and said, "Master, please help me." At the moment, Master again got rid of the factors that were interfering with my going to clarify the truth. My heart was lifted. A fellow practitioner who accompanied me on the way encouraged me, "You will be all right." I said, "What I am doing is merely going there to say a few words. Master is doing everything." The director was not home when I arrived. His wife and daughter were in. I clarified the truth to them and told them that heaven will eliminate the CCP and they should withdraw from the Party for their own safety and not be involved with the persecution of Falun Gong any more. After I left his home, I learned that practitioners had been sending righteous thoughts above and below his apartment unit in the building. In addition, many practitioners were sending forth righteous thoughts at close distance nearby. Some of them had just come back from persuading people to quit the CCP in a rural area and had not had a chance to eat.
Master told us a Fa principle,
"These things are arranged by the master and performed by the master. Therefore, it is said that cultivation depends on one's own efforts, while transforming gong is done by one's master. You can only have such a wish and think about it like that, but it is the master who actually does these things. " (Zhuan Falun, 2000 translation)
During the process of rescuing fellow practitioners, all kinds of human notions surfaced, including my attachment to fear, complaining, being restless, showing off, being arrogant and jealous, being competitive, dismayed and depressed, and I did not cultivate my speech. They were intermingled to interfere with me. However, when I could put down my selfishness and consider things from the perspective of the group, benevolent Master would resolve the conflicts, barriers and distrust between other practitioners and I. During the time period when I conformed to the group, what I experienced the most was Master's compassion, Dafa's power and supernormal ability, and fellow practitioners' preciousness. After reading Master's new scriptures "Thoroughly Dissolve the Evil" and "To Australia Fa Conference," I have become more determined to study the Fa well, follow the path Master arranged for me, and cooperate with fellow practitioners as a group to disintegrate the evil and assist Master with Fa-rectification.
Fellow practitioners, please kindly point out anything incorrect in my understanding.
Category: Improving Oneself
