Reflections After a Tribulation

(Minghui.org) I was arrested by police officer Guan on July 14, 2023, when I was distributing Falun Dafa informational materials. Officer Guan was a deputy lead of the Domestic Security Team at the County Public Security Department. He installed a hidden surveillance camera in the corridor leading to his home, and recorded my activities. I held righteous thought and refused to cooperate after my arrest. I was able to return home with dignity at around 10 p.m.

Believing in Master and the Fa

When Guan was arresting me, I shouted, “Master, help me please!” Guan said, “Your Master can’t help you. No one can help you today.” Guan took me to the police station, where another three officers interrogated me. I kept sending forth righteous thoughts, and ignored their questions. I thought: “Since I am already here, I will eliminate the evil in other dimensions, and disintegrate the demonic elements and communist spirits that manipulate these officers, assuring that they no longer commit crimes against Dafa.”

An officer asked me for my name and address. I said calmly, “Let’s not talk about this right now. You take a good rest. Falun Dafa is being persecuted, and you know better than me how unfairly we are treated.”

He responded anxiously, “Don’t tell me this. What is your name?” I ignored him and kept sending forth righteous thoughts.

They took photos of me, which they used to search on their computers for my identity. After a while, they came and asked if I was from another county and if my name was Zhang Shufen. They then noticed that the person they found on the computer did not look like me at all. Guan said to me, “Your Master is here and is strengthening you with gong.” He was taunting me, but I knew that Master was protecting me.

At lunch time, the officers bought some food and offered me some. I said, “Thank you, but I am not hungry.”

The officer asked, “Why do you thank me? You probably hate me in your mind.”

“I don’t hate you,” I replied. “I blame myself for not doing a good job, which let you have the chance to create karma for yourselves.” They all fell silent.

After lunch they asked for my name again, and took photos of me, as they wanted to search on their computers once more for information about me. They eventually found my identity. They took me to my home and confiscated Master’s picture that was on the wall, as well as several Falun Dafa books. They wanted to detain me for half a month. I said in my mind, “What you say doesn’t count. My Master has the final say.”

My husband asked if it was possible not to detain me. They told him that I had to sign a guarantee statement. My husband asked me to sign it, but I refused. “If I had not cultivated in Falun Dafa, I would have died ten years ago. I am not signing anything.”

Another officer tried to talk me into signing, so I said to him, “Aren’t you police supposed to teach people to be good citizens? Why do you want me to be an ungrateful person?” He was speechless.

They took me back to the police station, gave me a physical examination, and completed other procedures. I was then taken to a detention center. On the way there, they took photos of me and sent them to their social group to gain “political achievements.” The detention center, however, refused to accept me because my blood pressure was very high. The police took me to the hospital three times to have my blood pressure checked, and it measured higher each time it was tested. They had to let me go home in the end. I heard officer Guan say to another officer, “She begged her Master to rescue her, and now she is free. We sent her photos to our social group too early.”

I stayed calm through the whole process. I was not afraid, did not hate or resent the police, and got rid of any worrying thoughts. Master helped me and dissolved this persecution of me. I came to understand that if I had hated these police officers (who were also lives waiting for salvation) and feared suffering losses, then this might not have been the outcome.

Denying the Old Forces Arrangements

Police officers who have been involved in persecuting Dafa practitioners for a long time have accumulated many ways of tricking Dafa practitioners. They sometimes threaten the practitioner. If the practitioner is scared, they may do things that a Dafa practitioner should not do. They also sometimes use soft tactics to trick practitioners into feeling grateful to them, resulting in bad decisions.

When they were about to take me to the detention center, they seemed to be kind, and reminded me to change my clothes and bring daily necessities. I told them that I did not need to. I held a thought, “That is not the place for me. What you say doesn’t count.” If I had agreed with them, changed my clothes, and brought daily necessities, I would have been agreeing with the old forces arrangements, and they would have succeeded in persecuting me.

Dafa practitioners should follow Master’s arrangements. However, practitioners must hold righteous thoughts so they are able to recognize and deny the old forces’ arrangements.

Looking Inward

Once this situation was over, I wondered why it happened. Over the years, I had never let up in studying the Fa, doing the exercises, sending righteous thoughts, and telling people about Falun Dafa and the persecution. I had tried my best to help fellow practitioners when needed, and had undergone many tribulations, including life-and-death tests. What was the reason I faced this persecution?

I had a dream three days before the police arrested me. In the dream, I was about to go to school, but a lion and lioness were outside my door blocking my way. They did not want me to leave. My father was watching from the side, smiling, but did not intervene. These two lions disappeared sometime later. I came to understand that a test was probably coming my way. If I passed it well, I would achieve improvement in my cultivation, and the evil would be eliminated.

I held strong righteous thoughts after being arrested and did not cooperate with the police. I returned home safely and with dignity. I thought that I should have passed the test well. Then, why did the lions block me from going to school? Could it be that the evil in other dimensions were creating separations among our practitioners?

A situation later happened to our Fa study group. I told a fellow practitioner on the second day about what happened to me the day before. I told her that I would stop going to the Fa study group temporarily, to protect other practitioners. Two days later at group Fa study, the practitioner mentioned my situation to the group and asked the other practitioners to send righteous thoughts to support me. Someone wanted to ask my husband for more information, and asked other practitioners to continue with Fa study before he left. However, all the practitioners left and the Fa study ended.

Some Observations and Thoughts

Some of our practitioners have formed a habit over the years. When they heard that a fellow practitioner was being persecuted or suffering illness karma, they first accused the practitioner of his or her inefficiencies, implying that the persecution had happened because the practitioner did not do well. Master looks after Dafa practitioners. If a practitioner has flaws, they should correct themselves through cultivation. However, these flaws are not an excuse for the evil to persecute them.

I believe that if a practitioner is persecuted, other practitioners should form a one-body with strong righteous thoughts to support him or her, to deny the old forces’ arrangements, and help them find their shortcomings and eliminate them. Practitioners should not blindly blame the practitioner, which could aggravate their tribulation. How can a cultivator have no faults?

Many practitioners are unwilling to interact with practitioners who are suffering serious illness karma, claiming that they would feel uncomfortable if they did so. They simply watch the old forces persecute the practitioner who is in trouble, saying that they lacked the ability to intervene. Helping practitioners in tribulations is really just a case of reading the Fa with them and sharing thoughts on the Fa with them, to help them find their shortcomings, and encourage them to uphold righteous thoughts. Fa-rectification is coming to its end. If we still have such a strong selfish mentality, and the characteristics of the new universe are selfless and entirely for others, can we enter the new universe?

My Resentment Mentality

I still hold a lot of resentment. I was away from our local area for three years. During that time, almost all practitioners in my Fa study group suffered differing degrees of persecution. Two elderly practitioners suffered serious illness karma. They forgot how to do the exercises, could not read the Fa, and even forget how to offer incense to Master. Another practitioner stopped cultivating due to family sentimentality. I asked other practitioners to help them, but no one in the county helped. The practitioners’ indifference made me feel so resentful that I didn’t want to see them after I returned.

For several months after I came back, I visited the practitioners suffering illness karma, hoping to help them. When they achieved some improvement, some other practitioners came to flatter me, saying things like, “We are in need of people like you.” Some practitioners joined our Fa study group, giving comments like, “This is a good group. Joining this group, one improves fast.” Some even said, “I felt like a child without a mother while you were away.” Hearing all this made me feel very uncomfortable. If a practitioner fails at holding up their xinxing and enjoys the flattery, he or she might experience demonic interference.

I know that I must discard my resentment through cultivating, but I also want to point out that this kind of “following someone” rather than following the Fa is really harmful to practitioners!

I urge fellow practitioners to study the Fa and follow the Fa diligently. A cultivator must walk his/her own path and do everything in accordance with the Fa. Other practitioners’ experiences serve only as reference. Doing so benefits others and oneself, and gives the old forces no excuse to persecute us.