(Clearwisdom.net) Among the cases of Falun Gong practitioners losing their lives as a result of persecution, most are related to cases of hunger strikers. The most frequently reported cases generally read as follows: “So-and-so is detained at a detention center and is conducting a hunger strike to protest the persecution. His/her life is in danger.”
During the early periods of the persecution, some practitioners relied on hunger strikes to break out of detention and resist becoming “reformed.” However, in later periods, very few cases are seen where practitioners were able to successfully break out of detention through staging a hunger strike. In the end, these cases of hunger strikes seem to have become cases of practitioners being in “critical condition” or “persecuted to death” cases. At one point in the persecution, hunger strikes seemed to be the “way” and “formula” for opposing the persecution, and were used by many practitioners without hesitation. I enlightened from the Fa that there are different requirements within the Fa for practitioners at different levels. There are no examples in Dafa cultivation. Only by cultivating within the Fa can one not be persecuted or can the degree of persecution be lessened.
Master said in Zhuan Falun,
“Without food or water, it was under this very special circumstance that he resorted to this particular cultivation method.”
“Even if this method is used in cultivation practice, one must consume one’s own energy to sustain this physical body. Therefore, it is not worth the effort.”
I enlightened to the profound meaning of this paragraph to guide our cultivation in the Fa-rectification period. When you use hunger strikes to oppose the persecution, due to your own energy consumption, your energy is depleted, which leads to organ failure and loss of consciousness. Through reading Zhuan Falun, we know that everyday people use their brains to command the limbs to do things, while cultivators use their minds to command their supernatural abilities to do things. When you are in a coma due to a hunger strike, you are not in control of your mind, let alone your righteous thoughts. At that time you can no longer take care of your body and it's completely handed over to the evil. At the same time, it is suicidal and self-injuring behavior. This loophole in your cultivation is taken advantage of by the evil, and leads to more severe persecution, such as allowing the persecutors to force-feed practitioners with pepper sauce, feces, and unknown drugs at will. Torture, coupled with brutal forced-feeding and possible suffocation, leads to further rounds of persecution. From studying the Fa, I enlightened to the understanding that hunger strikes are not the best way to counter the persecution.
This was the Fa principle I enlightened to prior to 2009, when I was illegally arrested. At that time, Master manifested hypertension in me and I was looking to use this illusion of sickness karma to break out of the evil's den. I was still in good spirits, so I thought that I would just eat less. After only a few days I felt that I was losing focus when reciting the Fa and sending forth righteous thoughts. This condition was caused by my seeking the state of sickness karma. I immediately stopped the thought of eating less. I could clearly see that practitioners holding hunger strikes would not be able to control themselves with their main consciousness. How could they still send forth righteous thoughts to stop the persecution?
In 2010, during a round of brutal persecution, more than a dozen practitioners were being tortured at the same time. I heard the guards ordering the wicked people to put drugs in the water in order to force practitioners to “reform” under torture and the effects of the drugs. In this situation, I started a hunger strike, abstaining from food and water. I asked Master to strengthen me and allow me to enter the state of Bigu or fasting. Although I suffered great physical pain, I was not hungry nor tired. I kept reciting the Fa and sending forth righteous thoughts, and disintegrated the evil's attempt to force-feed me the nerve-damaging drugs. On the third day of being tortured by being hung up by handcuffs, I closed my eyes and recited the Fa while in excruciating pain. As I kept reciting the Fa, I started to feel that I was not being tortured, but instead I was holding a wheel in front of my chest. It felt extremely comfortable and I thought it was an illusion. When I twice opened my eyes, I saw that I was indeed being tortured. This is the boundless power I obtained when my main consciousness was constantly filled with righteous thoughts.
This is my current understanding of hunger strikes. It also deepened my understanding of the Fa principles that Master taught us, “I find this statement too absolute. When anything is made absolute, it becomes incorrect” and, “Without knowing the Fa at high levels, one cannot practice cultivation.” (Zhuan Falun)
I am writing this in order to share my current understanding with fellow practitioners. Please kindly point out anything inappropriate. Heshi.
