(Clearwisdom.net) It's been over ten years since the persecution started in 1999. When the persecution started, some practitioners gave up the practice. Many went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong believing it would help them reach consummation. As a result, they were arrested and put in forced labor camps. Some of them couldn't stand the torture and renounced Falun Gong; some believed the perpetrators' lies and came to have misunderstandings of the Fa. Those who are afraid of the persecution do not resume the practice because they think they would suffer further persecution, or their family members fear for them and prevent them from returning to the practice. However, in their hearts they still agree with Falun Gong and know that it is a righteous practice.
Some practitioners hide in their homes while they study the Fa and do the exercises. They do not contact other practitioners. They read Teacher's lectures but do not read articles from Minghui and Zhengjian. These practitioners have not been persecuted but they fear for their safety when they see other practitioners suffering.
I did not know what to do for these practitioners. I once held a grudge against them and believed that I was better than them. These attachments prevented me from treating them with compassion and righteous thoughts. My mind was hung up with thoughts of how they were dragging down the progress of Fa rectification and how their compromises intensified the persecution. The anger I had against them prevented me from sitting down and talking with them sincerely.
After I was released from a forced labor camp, these bad thoughts haunted me. When I shared my experience in front of the practitioners who had written Guarantee Statements or who did not help to clarify the facts of the persecution, I told them how tough I was and how I could let go of life and death. I forgot it was my righteous thoughts and Teacher's grace and protection that allowed me to survive and leave the camp. I was validating myself because of my attachments of showing off, zealotry, and pursuit of fame. As a result, a great gap formed between me and them.
After reading Teacher's lectures and many experience sharing articles, I knew what my problems and gaps were. I realized why a practitioner once told me, "Your stories don't move me."
I gradually learned how to truly look within and assimilate to the teaching. My attachments made me protect and validate myself. The Fa rectification I understood still fell within the box of selfishness and I still walked on the path arranged by the old forces. When I did something right one time, it was because I did it based on the teaching of the Fa. The teaching is immense and how would I know that I would always behave correctly? I wanted to show off and have practitioners praise me. My thoughts prevented the local practitioners from becoming one body. I even unknowingly acknowledged the old forces' so-called test for Dafa practitioners.
Teacher wants us to be one body and that includes those who have not done well and have not come out to validate the Fa. These practitioners learned the teaching before the persecution and they are the kings and lords from high levels who have enormous predestined relationships with Dafa. They are meant to help Teacher rectify the Fa and save the sentient beings. Only when theses practitioners come out and do what they promised to do will the people who have predestined relationships with them be able to be saved.
As the Fa rectification progresses faster, forming one body is becoming more important. We should not ignore the importance of finding these former practitioners. Finding them and restoring what Teacher wanted is the way to completely deny the old forces' arrangements.
The process of finding these practitioners exposed many of my attachments and made me more responsible for the Fa and for fellow practitioners. I was unable to bring these practitioners back to the Fa with thoughts to change them and not myself. A compassionate heart and understanding of the Fa will do the job. We should encourage the practitioners with things they did well and at the same time look within ourselves. Blaming and threatening them with "Teacher said so and so" will not work.
