(Minghui.org) I was very touched by the article “A Reminder to Overseas Practitioners Calling China to Clarify the Truth,” recently published on the Minghui website. It made me realize that I lack compassion. When I read the first part of the article, I thought to myself: “If it were me calling the police, I would have said what that Taiwanese practitioner said too. But the author suggested another way of starting the conversion, which sounded warm and kind. That is the compassion that I am lacking and wanting to have.”
The author suggested starting the conversation when calling the police with, “[name], how are you! It is a predestined relationship for us to talk over the phone today. I hope we can be friends and understand each other better. I heard there is a Falun Dafa practitioner detained at your place. This is not something we good people should be doing! Helping others is helping ourselves. Falun Dafa is a cultivation practice that teaches people to be truthful, compassionate, and tolerant. You will be blessed for protecting good people...”
I believe that if we start the phone call with the words above, any police officer on the other end of the line would be impressed. Every life has Buddha nature; when he feels the compassion from us, his soul will be awakened. He may regret what he did, stop doing evil, or even make up for what he did.
My understanding is that letting a person repent for his mistake and choosing righteousness is offering salvation. When we are hostile toward the police, we create a wall between us and them. A great compassionate being does not have walls in his/her heart.
Almost all our local veteran practitioners have been persecuted by the police one way or another over the years. Every time a local practitioner was arrested and detained, we rarely heard that the practitioner had shown pity or compassion toward the police. Most of the time, the practitioner resented and argued with the police. He/she treated the police as an enemy, and spoke to them indignantly, which often led to more intense persecution. Why is that? That’s because the practitioner wanted to overpower the police. There was no compassion in his/her words. Evil is not afraid of evil; the worse our thoughts are, the happier the evil is. The evil is afraid of kindness and compassion; the kinder, more compassionate we are, the better we can dissolve it.
There are many articles on the Minghui website to illustrate the effects of compassion. For example, when a practitioner was being persecuted, she treated the police with compassion. The words she spoke were so moving that the police immediately changed their attitude toward this practitioner. When what we say or do meets Dafa’s requirements, the Fa is omnipresent and the characteristics of the universe can restrain everything, including the evil thoughts and actions of the police.
I have observed this phenomena in recent years: when a practitioner returned home after being arrested or detained, other practitioners often asked if he had given in to the police’s demands.
Most practitioners would reply, “I clarified the truth to the police. I questioned them about what was wrong with Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. I told them that they will meet their retribution for what they did...”
Some said, “I was never polite to the police. The softer you appear, the worse they behave. I always said to them: ‘How could you have a good future when you persecute Dafa disciples?’”
There are also people who say, “The police are how the old forces manifest in the human world. You would be submitting to the persecution if you treated the police too politely.” Many practitioners agreed with them and praised them: “Wonderful! You do not have attachment of fear. This is righteous thoughts.”
I feel that those aren’t righteous thoughts, but only a battle of words. Although one may feel relieved after winning the argument, that is not compassion, either. It is a manifestation of the wicked communist party culture. We did not show the police our cultivated compassion, or dissolve the evil behind them, let alone save them.
We must eliminate the evil factors behind the police, but we must also be kind to the person. Only compassion can awaken them. Some police behave badly toward practitioners. I think it might be because of lack of compassion from practitioners or inappropriate words while talking to and about them.
It is hard to save a person, partly because it is hard to cultivate the great compassion needed. But it is easy to destroy a person, a few words to vent our hatred may provoke the negative factors in the person. He may be destroyed as a result.
Master said,
“The Fa’s rectification of the Cosmos has finished, and now a transition to the Fa’s rectification of the human world is taking place. Most of our Dafa disciples will join me as the Fa rectifies the human world.” (“Wake Up”)
I believe it is urgent for Dafa disciples to cultivate our great compassion. Let us not overlook this. Time is of the essence.
This is my current understanding. If there is something incorrect, please kindly correct me.
Editor’s note: This article represents the author’s understanding at their current cultivation state, meant for sharing among practitioners to “Compare with one another in study, in cultivation.” (“Solid Cultivation,” Hong Yin)
All articles, graphics, and content published on Minghui.org are copyrighted. Non-commercial reproduction is allowed but requires attribution with the article title and a link to the original article.