(Clearwisdom.net) On the afternoon of December 26, 2003, I became extremely sad after I heard the news from a fellow practitioner that Falun Dafa practitioner Mr. Liu Chengjun was tortured to death in Jilin Prison. Now, thinking about the whole process after I have calmed down, I feel that I did not do my best to rescue Liu Chengjun.
At the beginning, when I heard that Mr. Liu had been tortured severely in Jilin Prison and his life was at risk, just like many other practitioners, I knew the issue was urgent. We sent forth righteous thoughts and we all tried to find ways to rescue him. We asked for him to be bailed out for medical reasons, and we went to Jilin Prison to ask for his immediate release. But it was on a weekend, and we did not find the head of the prison. We only found one person there who was on duty and a team head whose last name was Tan; they just gave us the runaround. We thought it was of no use to stay there any longer, so we left. I felt very helpless and sensed that we needed to improve ourselves somewhere, but I did not know where the problem was exactly. I had not searched carefully from within, nor did I discuss the issue with fellow practitioners. Later on, I began to feel numb and helpless about it, and developed the incorrect notion of relying on Mr. Liu's relatives to solve the problem.
After a few days, I heard that the prison had agreed to grant the request to let Mr. Liu out on bail for medical treatment. However, the local (Nong'an County) Public Security Bureau would not agree to this. Around that time, I ran into a fellow practitioner on the street, and discussed it with him briefly. I realized that we hadn't done enough to clarify the truth locally.
Teacher said, "Wherever there's a problem, that is where you need to clarify the truth and save people." (Teaching the Fa at the Washington DC Fa Conference, 2002).
The idea of going to those offices that are directly related to Mr. Liu's case and clarifying the truth to them face to face appeared in my mind at that time. However, because of my fearfulness, this idea did not remain with me very long. I did not have the courage to look into this possibility thoroughly and face it righteously. I did not think of other ways to clarify the truth either, and therefore have caused a huge loss in the efforts to rescue our fellow practitioner, as well as in our efforts to validate the Fa and save sentient beings.
Examining the cause of the great pain, I realized the main reason was that I hadn't studied the Fa deeply, and therefore did not have a steady foundation. Under most circumstances, I felt that my thoughts were on the Fa, but actually this was only on the surface. I did not truly understand the principles of the Fa, and did not have a firm belief in Teacher and the Fa. Cultivation is very serious, and not just something to talk about and something to think about. It is a complete change of one's innate character and a rebirth of oneself. Only if we truly immerse ourselves in the Fa and assimilate to the Fa can we do things according to the principles of the Fa. Only then can we overcome normal human attachments and notions, validate Dafa better, and save sentient beings more effectively.
Of course, the evil is very vicious. All the arrangements of the old forces, the so-called test of Dafa and Dafa practitioners, are for their own selfish purposes. Teacher does not accept any of their arrangements, and neither should we. Our mission is to follow Teacher in Fa-Rectification closely, and break through all the arrangements of the old forces. However, in this specific case, we did not achieve a complete denial of the old forces.
During this process, some practitioners have tried very hard. In their efforts, however, there were human attachments. Although some methods seemed to be working on the surface to a certain extent, there was no real effect at a deep level. When we could not realize our attachment in time, the evil took advantage of our omissions and increased the persecution, making the whole situation more complicated and severe. It is true that we have to do things according to the environment of everyday people, but we are cultivators and Dafa practitioners during the Fa-rectification, and we should stand on the basis of the Fa when we do things. For example, in the case of having Mr. Liu Chengjun released on bail for medical purposes, this is just one way of rescuing fellow practitioners. The whole process of the rescue effort gave us a chance to clarify the truth and reveal the persecution of Dafa practitioners and validate Dafa in local areas. The public would certainly criticize the illegal sentence by the judiciary system once they knew the truth. Exposing the evil will prevent it from persecuting our fellow practitioners. Our righteous words and behavior would also let the local people see and experience the compassion and peacefulness of Dafa disciples and consequently realize the beauty of Dafa.
The lesson is heavy and painful, because one of our Dafa practitioners was tortured to death. The lesson should make us more sober and mature. I hope that other practitioners will also share their experience, so that we can improve where we have not done well, encourage each other and move forward together, and walk each of our steps correctly on the path of Fa-rectification.
February 1, 2004