(Clearwisdom.net) The local "610 Office"* recently arrested a Dafa practitioner in my area. In order to rescue him, his family paid the local "610 Office" a large ransom. The "610 Office" agreed to release him after receiving the ransom, but they still haven't fulfilled their promise as of this writing.
I was shocked when I heard this news. My first response was that I must reveal the crime of the "610 Office!" On the other hand, submissively paying the ransom to the "610 Office" reflects a cultivation problem among Dafa practitioners and raises a fundamental question within our cultivation: Do we each have steadfast faith in the power of righteousness?
Jiang Zemin and his henchmen have been trying to "bankrupt Falun Gong practitioners financially." Therefore, paying the "610 Office" ransom is compromising with them. Perhaps a Dafa practitioner would argue, "It was my family members that paid the ransom, not me. Besides, I did not have to write any guarantee to renounce Falun Gong to get out of the prison. Once out, I can contribute more to Fa-rectification work." It might sound acceptable to "buy" your way out of prison instead of renouncing Falun Gong, but this reflects a fundamental attachment and the lack of steadfast belief in the power of righteousness.
Let's think about it for a minute. Because the "610 Office" profited from the abduction, they could make a successful business out of abducting Dafa practitioners and collecting ransoms. It follows that those Dafa practitioners who cannot afford to pay ransom would be subject to more severe persecution. Moreover, part of the ransom would doubtlessly be used to sustain the persecution against Falun Dafa. When the Fa-rectification reaches the human realm, the people working for the "610 Office" will be annihilated for their crimes against Falun Dafa. Can you honestly say that you did not encourage their crimes when you paid them ransom?
I sometimes read articles on Clearwisdom.net showing that some Dafa practitioners fail to have steadfast beliefs in righteousness when they are in the midst of persecution. For example, one of the articles that reveals the persecution facts says, "All the Dafa practitioners who have a steadfast belief in Falun Dafa are subject to more severe persecution." It appears to the author that the level of a Dafa practitioner's determination is positively correlated to the level of persecution. What was supposed to be an article that reveals the facts of the persecution sinks into an article written by an everyday person complaining about injustice. Such an article becomes less useful, as we should write articles to reveal the facts of the persecution and to share our righteous understanding of the Buddha Fa (Law and principles in the Buddha School) so as to generate the Fa's power to repress evil and eliminate disorder.
From the Fa's perspective, one of the purposes of Fa-rectification is to offer the lives from the old universe salvation, and bring them to the new universe. How can it be possible that the new Fa fails to repress evil and eliminate disorder? It is only when we hold fast to some attachments that it appears that the power of the righteousness fails to rectify the evil elements and, thus we fail to see through the illusions in the human realm.
There are a lot of positive examples among Dafa practitioners, that when practitioners refused to compromise with the evil, they did not suffer from escalated persecution. Instead, their righteous thoughts and actions brought them a better, improved living environment.
One night about two years ago, police abducted a young female Dafa practitioner (referred as X from now on) from her home and took her to a forced brainwashing class. The police had also abducted scores of other Dafa practitioners, but X was the only abducted Dafa practitioner who started a hunger strike and practiced the Falun Gong exercises as if there were no policemen present. During the practice, a policeman hit her on the hands and interrupted her. She was not at all intimidated by the policeman's violence. Instead, she opened her eyes and questioned the policeman, "Do you dare to give me your name?" She repeatedly demanded the policeman's name and scared the policeman away. X was released the same night.
I am aware of another young female practitioner (referred to as Y from now on). Each time the police abducted Y, her family refused to pay the fine (or ransom.) The "610 Office" learned from past experience that they would not be able to profit from her. In the latest arrest, the police were supposed to send her to the provincial forced brainwashing center for persecution according to their rules, but the forced brainwashing center refused to take her without money, so the police had no choice but to send her to the precinct forced brainwashing center. Y escaped before long and continued to clarify the truth about Falun Dafa and the persecution to the Chinese people.
I also know of a young male Dafa practitioner (referred to as Z from now on). Jiang's henchmen forced his employer to fire him from work, so Z had to find a new job. Z posted his resume and cover letter on the Internet, and specified to his prospective employers in advance that he practiced Falun Gong and would be a responsible, diligent employee. In less than two weeks, three companies extended Z a job offer. Z accepted one of the offers and started working again. Later, the police in his area escalated the persecution so Z was unable to return home. Upon knowing Z's difficult situation, Z's company rented an apartment for him and actively protected him from the persecution.
To prevent Dafa practitioners from traveling to Beijing to clarify the truth about Falun Dafa, the local police abducted me from home as a preventive measure during the New Year of 2001. At first, they warned my family that they must pay 10,000 Yuan for ransom before they would consider releasing me; otherwise, they would incarcerate me in jail for the rest of my life. [500 Yuan is the average monthly income for an urban worker in China.] The police added that I must also renounce Falun Gong or they would transfer me to a forced labor camp. My family wanted to pay the ransom but I told them not to do so. I said, "They have no reason to send me to the forced labor camp." Although my family was not entirely convinced, they agreed not to pay the ransom. When the police saw that my family refused to pay the ransom, they lowered the ransom to 5,000 Yuan. When my family still refused to pay the ransom, they again lowered the ransom, to 3,000 Yuan. When they lowered to 2,000 Yuan, my family started to think perhaps they should pay the ransom. I told my family solemnly that they shouldn't even pay them a dime for ransom. In the end, the police gave up the idea of collecting the ransom. They asked me to give them a verbal guarantee to renounce Falun Gong. Still I refused to comply with their demand. They eventually released me unconditionally.
I helped my family establish and reinforce righteous thoughts through this incident. We must not give in or compromise with Jiang Zemin's henchmen. Later the policemen from the local precinct came to my home while I was not home, and asked my mother to help persuade me into writing the Three Statements. [The Three Statements consist of a letter of repentance, a guarantee to never again practice Falun Gong, and a list of names and addresses of all family members, friends and acquaintances who are practitioners.] Otherwise, they would abduct me, take me to the forced brainwashing class, and put a bounty on my head if I escaped. After I returned home, my mother told me what had happened and said, "We haven't committed any crime. On what charge can they put a bounty on your head? I would like to see them try." During the illegal detention, many fellow practitioners and I actively clarified the truth about Falun Dafa to the policemen, and we helped many of them understand that we were people of high morality. In the end, I even shared Teacher's new article entitled "Coercion Cannot Change People's Hearts" with a policeman and asked him what they thought of this article. He said, "It was a very good article."
Although I was detained for one month longer than other practitioners because I refused to compromise with Jiang Zemin's henchmen, I believe it was worth it because I helped my family and the policemen establish and reinforce their righteous thoughts about Falun Dafa. My family members were intimidated by Jiang's henchmen, but they are no longer afraid to stand up to them. The policemen did not understand Falun Dafa and followed Jiang's orders to persecute Falun Dafa blindly. But in the end they admired Teacher's article and positioned themselves correctly during the Fa-rectification. Isn't it wonderful that things turned out this way? Isn't it because I had a steadfast belief in the power of righteousness?
Finally, I would like to conclude this article with a passage of Teacher's Fa:
Teacher said, "Indestructible righteous faith in the cosmos's Truth forms benevolent Dafa disciples' rock-solid, Diamond-Like Bodies, it frightens all evil, and the light of Truth it emanates makes the unrighteous elements in all beings' thoughts disintegrate. However strong the righteous thoughts are, that's how great the power is." ("Also In A Few Words" from Essentials for Further Advancement II)
* "610 Office" is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems. Due to pressure from the international community, the Chinese Communist government has renamed the "610 Office" on October 15, 2003, and lied to the world, stating that the "610 Office" has been "disbanded."
