(Clearwisdom.net) The Bei District and Laoshan District Courts in Qingdao sentenced over a dozen Falun Gong practitioners to prison in 2009 alone. During the development of these cases, we came to realize that the whole process was a battle between righteousness and evil and an opportunity for us to save sentient beings and improve as one body of practitioners. Regardless of what we have done in the past, we should cherish every opportunity and meet the requirements the Fa sets for us as one body. Below I share my understandings of several issues with fellow practitioners. Please kindly point out anything inappropriate.
1. What was our first thought after learning of the persecution of our fellow practitioners?
I heard some practitioners say, "It must be that that practitioner had an omission, so the old forces took advantage of it and persecuted him." Other practitioners complained, "He should look within to see what problems he had." By saying these things, they instantly pushed away the arrested or detained practitioners and forgot that we are one body. When a practitioner around us gets arrested, could it be just that one practitioner's business? In my opinion, it was just that the problem with our whole body manifested in that specific practitioner. Shouldn't those who had those thoughts look within themselves in the first place?
How can a person who is still cultivating not have any omissions? We are Falun Gong disciples, and we have Master to take care of us. Through Fa study, we can enlighten to solutions to any issues we may have. Why do we have to acknowledge that the old forces can persecute one of us just because we as a whole body have loopholes? Isn't such a thing imposed upon Fa-rectification by the old forces? If we feel it is OK for the old forces to persecute our fellow practitioners because they either have omissions or signed certain pacts with them in historical times, aren't we acknowledging and passively enduring these arrangements and the persecution? I am not saying that the persecuted practitioners have no omissions. What I want to point out is how we should follow Master's requirements and treat fellow practitioners' omissions with righteous thoughts.
Some practitioners have done pretty well in this regard. I once heard a practitioner say, "When I hear of a practitioner suffering from a tribulation or being persecuted, the first thought I have is to negate this persecution. No one can use any excuse to persecute my fellow practitioners. The persecuted practitioner is under Master's care and I believe he can improve himself from studying the Fa. I will send forth righteous thoughts to disintegrate all evil factors that persecute him and strengthen his righteous thoughts." What this practitioner gives persecuted fellow practitioners is his righteous thoughts, which is a manifestation of his firm belief in Master and the Fa. If he could go a step further and look within to see if there is anything he could do to improve himself, it would be even better. After all, it is not accidental for him to hear about the persecution of other practitioners.
2. How effective was our sending forth righteous when we heard about the arrest of fellow practitioners?
There was a practitioner who once said, "I don't see any effect now that we've been sending forth righteous thoughts for so long." As a matter of fact, this practitioner was not alone and there were quite a few practitioners who had similar thoughts. I would encourage everyone to reflect on the effectiveness of sending forth righteous thoughts. First, did we have the firm belief that our righteous thoughts can and will secure the release of our fellow practitioners? Did we send forth righteous thoughts on time and with a calm mind? Did we persist in sending forth righteous thoughts at set times? Second, did we have any bias towards the detained practitioners? Did we send forth righteous thoughts more often for practitioners we felt closer to and less often for those we felt distant from? Did we follow Master's instructions on sending forth righteous thoughts? How is our own status, and did we cultivate ourselves during the process.
I once shared experiences with an out-of-town practitioner regarding sending forth righteous thoughts. He told me that almost no practitioners were still being held in his local detention centers. They could achieve this mainly because their local practitioners did very well in cooperating with each other, and they were persistent in sending forth righteous thoughts. They divided each 24-hour day into several time slots, with a couple of hours in each slot. Local practitioners were then broken-up into several groups, with each group responsible for sending forth righteous thoughts at the top of every hour during a specific time slot. As for non-assigned time slots, each group was encouraged to send forth righteous thoughts as much as possible. This way there were practitioners sending forth righteous thoughts every hour of the day, leaving no chance for the evil to even take a breath. After a period of time, the detained practitioners were released one after the other. Moreover, whenever there was an arrest or sentencing of any practitioner, they could get on the Internet to spread the word quickly and accurately. Other practitioners would then adjust their time for sending forth righteous thoughts or cooperate together to rescue the arrested practitioners. Because this area did very well working as one body, those arrested practitioners were eventually freed without any trouble.
3. Should we file lawsuits against perpetrators?
Our local practitioners have different understandings regarding whether to file lawsuits against the perpetrators. Some feel it is no use going up against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and there won't be a positive outcome even if a lawsuit is filed. I think practitioners who hold this notion lack righteous thoughts. Master said in "Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Philadelphia, U.S.A.," "As I've said, everything that happens today in the ordinary society is the result of Dafa disciples' thoughts."
If we acknowledge that the CCP is strong, we can only imagine how non-practitioners fear the CCP. Therefore, it is crucial that every practitioner maintain righteous thoughts and righteous actions, which also is a factor in determining whether we can catch up with Master's Fa-rectification process.
Other practitioners, including myself, think that we should file lawsuits if our financial condition allows. We need to conform to the rules of society and should strive to uphold justice. During the process, non-practitioners will have the opportunity to learn about the persecution and make a conscious choice between righteousness and evil. At present, more and more attorneys are brave enough to take on Falun Gong cases. Through investigation and evidence collecting, many of them have come to see the illegality of the persecution of Falun Gong, and their righteous thoughts are awakened. Moreover, the evil is afraid of being exposed. The lawyers' tracking and exposing of the evil also plays a significant role in helping practitioners clarify the facts and save sentient beings.
