Do Not Treat “Sickness” as a Way to Escape Persecution

(Minghui.org) I quite often see the scenario of a practitioner being arrested for practicing Falun Dafa, and then the police taking them to the hospital for a medical examination to prepare for further persecution. The result being that the practitioner is very “sick,” either with dangerously high blood pressure or other problems with much of their body. When the practitioner is released for medical reasons, they think, “I thank Master for arranging the condition and helping me to escape the detention.”

I have also suffered this persecution and I know very well the pressure that practitioners face while in custody. But I feel that except under extremely special circumstances, we should not acknowledge the illusion of a medical condition.

Indeed we shouldn’t acknowledge the persecution. We should clarify the truth, awaken people, and validate Dafa under all circumstances, openly and righteously. We should show the greatness and beauty of Dafa everywhere and act as a representative of brightness and hope that Dafa brings to the world’s people.

But I didn’t see this in many experience sharing articles. Many fellow practitioners said that they begged Master to give them the false appearance of being “critically ill” so as to be released. I think they forgot that the first things that Dafa shows people are its miraculous effect of healing diseases and keeping fit, and its ability to improve people’s morals. These are major talking points when we clarify the facts.

Imagine what people (including the perpetrators) will think if they see that practitioners are very “ill” (even though we take it as a “false appearance”) after many years of cultivation practice. Most people believe what they see, but not what we say. By seeing these “critical conditions” in practitioners, it might be hard for them to ever believe in Dafa’s health benefits or any other facts we want them to know.

The world’s environment is changing with the minds of Dafa practitioners. I believe whether a practitioner can stop the persecution depends on our righteous thoughts, our faith, and the noble character and compassion we have developed in Dafa cultivation. Even in the worst years of persecution, those police officers who were manipulated by the evil old forces respected those practitioners who demonstrated righteous thoughts and righteous deeds.

My understanding is that appearing “critically ill” will not stop the persecution. Instead, it will only change the form of persecution. Thus many practitioners were taken to detention centers multiple times.

In this case, it’s time for us to look inward. On the surface, the reason for being detained is because the practitioners talked to people about Falun Dafa. But the real reason is the practitioner’s own unrighteous thoughts which were exploited by the old forces. For instance, when the practitioner goes out to clarify the truth, are they doing it to validate the Fa or to validate themselves?

Of course it is necessary for us to protect ourselves from persecution. But the only way to completely stay safe is to truly comply with Dafa and think and act righteously at all times.

As we can see, almost every arrest and detention is preceded by a home raid, and each raid almost always results in the loss of Dafa books, materials, and personal belongings. The loss of Dafa books is no trivial thing for practitioners, because our top priority is to uphold Dafa. A practitioner denied admission by the detention center due to being “critical ill” is not considered as having overcome the persecution. If practitioners always appear to be healthy and vigorous after the persecution, the perpetrators would wonder what had happened. I believe that no matter where we are, if we simply show what a practitioner is supposed to be, the persecution will be reduced to a minimum.

Many police officers I know were observing practitioners at the beginning. The more they saw the negative side of the practitioners, the less they believed in Dafa. They thought practitioners were lying, thus they would severely torture the practitioners without fearing any consequence. If we really take the Fa into our hearts, follow the principles of “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance,” look inward, awaken people sincerely, and demonstrate our inner compassion and wisdom, the persecution might be different.

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