(Minghui.org) My father was a well-regarded assistant in our area. He passed away in March 2012. He left very suddenly -- he fell asleep and never woke up. His death set off shock waves among practitioners, and many of them were confused by it. I, too, pondered the reason for his passing. He appeared to believe in Master and the Fa and was quite tough in bearing karma, but I knew that he had strong attachments to fame, benefit and sentiment. For example, he lived an extravagant life.
At the time of my father's death, my mother's status was also very bad. She was incontinent and couldn't eat; it seemed as if she was on the verge of death. I reminded her to believe in Master and the Fa at every moment. I was by her side every day and encouraged her to read the Fa.
My mother had lost hearing in one ear, and her hearing in the other ear was very poor. When I wanted to tell her something, I had to write it down on paper and use the words that she could understand. I told her: “You must get well. We must follow the path that Master has arranged for us!”
Gradually, my mother got better and better. I took out Master's “Teaching the Fa at the Conference” series and encouraged her to read it. My mother acted as if she had never read these teachings before. I was perplexed and thought that she might have forgotten that she had read them.
A Delayed Solemn Declaration
One day, I brought Master's new article “To Choose” to my mother and went to prepare dinner. Twenty minutes later, I saw that she was still studying the article. She asked me: “How come I cannot understand Master's article? What does 'People, do not choose the wrong direction, / Curry favor with the wicked regime, and you’ll be duped by demons' mean?” I shared my understandings with her, and she became lost in reflection.
I reminded her that it was time to send forth righteous thoughts. After sending forth righteous thoughts, I called her for dinner. She was still in deep thought. I patted her on the shoulder. As if being woken up, she suddenly said to me: “I've cultivated for more than 10 years. How come I have chosen the wrong direction?!”
The following words from her shocked me: “After July 20, 1999, your father became afraid and wanted to burn our Dafa books. I disagreed, but he said we would be ruined if they [communist authorities] came to ransack our home. I was scared, too, so I finally agreed. I helped him tear and burn many of Master's books and articles. Your father also wrote a guarantee statement to the 610 Office and promised not to practice Falun Gong anymore. For so many years, Master has always protected me. The problem with my leg is the after-effects of a stroke, but Master was so merciful by keeping me from having a crooked mouth and tremor in my hands, letting me appear normal. Today, after studying 'To Choose,' I know I was wrong. I have done bad things to Dafa. And your father was currying favor with the wicked regime!” She sobbed.
Nearly 90 years old, my mother had lived in the shadow of my father and been submissive. Even though my father had done many things that were disrespectful to Master and the Fa, she dared not to stop him. She had been covering up her mistakes by trying to forget. Master awakened her memory using the article “To Choose,” giving her a chance to repent and correct her mistakes. I suggested she publish a solemn declaration, and she said she would do it. I wrote it out for her and asked her to read it in front of Master's photo.
When It's Too Late for a Solemn Declaration
My father used to be a practice site assistant in our area. Prior to July 20, 1999, dozens of practitioners came to our home for group Fa study every weekend. When the persecution began on July 20, 1999, the 610 Office agents came to talk to my father. He became scared and wrote the guarantee statement, promising to stop practicing Falun Gong.
Later, my father wrote a solemn declaration to correct his wrongdoing. However, to save face, he only touched lightly on his actions that had been disrespectful to Master and the Fa, and his declaration was rejected by Minghui.org. The practitioner who helped him submit the declaration was enlightening along an evil path and didn't tell my father to rewrite the declaration. All those years, my father appeared to be steadfast in Dafa cultivation on the surface, but in fact, his inner fear was very strong.
After I started running a truth-clarification materials production site in 2006, I gave my parents three sets of Master's articles to encourage them to study the Fa more. Recently, my mother told me that my father hadn't allowed her to read them. Being scared of having Dafa books at home, he sent them away or destroyed them.
When my father was in critical condition in 2005, Master hinted to me to come and live with my parents. I brought my child along and constantly sent forth righteous thoughts for my father. His condition dramatically improved in a week. However, he drove me out of his home two months later because I was very thrifty, which conflicted with his extravagant lifestyle. My father was deeply poisoned by the evil Communist Party culture.
To help my parents remove their attachment to an abundant lifestyle, I went to their home to study the Fa at lunchtime from Monday to Friday. I only ate plain buns that I brought with me, trying to show them that practitioners should sever the palate’s attachments and seize the time to study the Fa. However, they did not listen and laughed at me for being too thrifty.
When I was staying with my parents, a 610 Office agent came to harass us. I told him: “Falun Dafa is a righteous Fa. We are practicing Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.” Due to my righteous thoughts, the agent said that he would not come there anymore. Afterward, my mother revealed that 610 Office officials had come to see my father many times. Perhaps because of her feelings and wanting to save face, she did not tell me at the time that my father had written a guarantee statement.
Because my father had written the guarantee statement, the old forces took advantage his loophole. His cultivation state was very poor. He was not compassionate; he killed animals for food; he didn't cultivate his speech; he was attached to food; he had resentment; he liked to brag; he was not able to cross his legs in the sitting meditation; he fell asleep while sending forth righteous thoughts; and he was not able to study the Fa.
Over the years, I showed my father articles written by other practitioners about failing to write a solemn declaration and it being taken advantage of by the old forces. I reminded him to declare as wrong any bad things he had done to Dafa.
A couple of weeks prior to my father's passing, Master hinted to me in my dream to “do the declaration,” but I could not figure out what it meant. Seeing that I couldn't understand the hint, Master then hinted to me more directly to have my father write a solemn declaration. I told my father about it, but he said that he had never done anything bad to Dafa. Now I know that he was in extreme danger, as the old forces were planning to take his life.
Now, because my father has died, he cannot write a solemn declaration, and it is too late. Through my Celestial Eye, I saw my father being subjected to an instrument of torture, with something that looked like a nail in his tongue and his body hanging like a cloth being hung out. I didn't dare to tell my mother about it because I know she still has sentimentality toward him.
For many years, I was often reminded in my dreams that my father was not on the Fa. I tried to ask fellow practitioners to help my father, but they tended to measure the problems between my father and me using everyday people's principles and thought that I was not filial to him. For example, a fellow practitioner who knew about my father's negative opinion of me often told me, “Your father is steadfast in Dafa.” I reminded her to not look at things superficially, but she thought that I was being resentful toward my father.
Fellow practitioners' misguided esteem for my father created a lot of pressure for him and kept him from developing the courage to admit his wrongdoings. In addition, because fellow practitioners failed to play a righteous role in helping with my family's situation, a great deal of pressure was also exerted onto me, and my tribulation was magnified. My workload increased at work, and the 610 Office agents followed me and harassed me. I conducted myself according to Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance in every circumstance, and one agent eventually remarked, “You are indeed a good person.”
I wrote this down to remind fellow practitioners to cherish this precious opportunity of cultivation that does not come along in ten thousand years. Since Master has mercifully given us the opportunity to write a solemn declaration, please correct your wrongdoings quickly, if it applies to you! What happened to my father is a lesson!
