Sharing with Practitioners Who Were Just Released from Detention

(Minghui.org) Many Falun Dafa practitioners have been imprisoned for not renouncing their faith. Several days ago, I shared understandings with practitioners who were just released from prison. We heard that most of such practitioners don’t have a good cultivation state. They usually have a strong fear mentality, and are unable to quickly move on and join the Fa validating effort. Through the many sharings that we have had in the past, we know that there exist several causes.

Discussions of Released Practitioners

Due to the persecution perpetrated in prison, most practitioners are unable to study the Fa or do the exercises. Without studying the Fa, their righteous thoughts would weaken, human notions and attachments would grow, and their will to cultivate would not be as strong anymore.

Practitioners would be affected by association with prisoners for a long time, and become more and more like ordinary people. It is indeed difficult to not get polluted when living in such a bad environment, especially without constantly studying the Fa.

In prison, the guards constantly try to brainwash practitioners with things indoctrinated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). This can further weaken the will of the imprisoned practitioners.

I have been persecuted many times, and know very well about the persecution situation in jails. I experienced how it can destroy a practitioner’s body and mind. When I first was released from prison, I thought I was doing pretty good. But, I was shocked when I realized how much I had fallen behind. I saw that the Fa-rectification had been rapidly moving forward, and my mind could not keep up with the progress. Thus, I was not able to quickly join and bond with other practitioners. Moreover, I had a strong mentality of fear. It was an inexplicable fear, as if I was always in danger of getting arrested again. I also felt inferior and did not want to meet practitioners, friends, or family. 

I realized that I was greatly interfered by the fear mentality. Through a period of time of studying the Fa and intensely sending forth righteous thoughts, the situation improved. One time, when I sent forth righteous thoughts for a long time to clean my dimension, I saw something looking like a black bear leaving my body. From then on, I no longer had the fear mentality, and my state quickly improved.

The Need to Catch Up with Fa-rectification

Through sharing, we all realized that fellow practitioners who have just been released must do the following:

Study the Fa a lot. If one doesn’t have a book, one should ask for help from nearby practitioners as soon as possible. It would be best for them to join a Fa-study group. One must be persistent in Fa-study, to stop interference.

Consistently do the group exercises in the morning and not slack off.

Try to be in contact with fellow practitioners, and not get isolated. I know of a practitioner who was released from prison a year ago, but he doesn’t communicate with any other practitioners. He only has one book and he doesn’t read the Minghui Weekly or other Falun Dafa materials. He is unable to get on the Minghui website. It’s obvious that he can’t keep up with the Fa-rectification progress, and can’t do the three things well.

I also hope that when possible, fellow practitioners can all help those practitioners who were recently released. There are many things they need help with, such as getting books, finding Fa-study groups, clearing up confusions they might have, and so on. Helping them is also helping ourselves, and it is just part of our cultivation.

As cultivators we must be compassionate. We try to save ordinary people with our compassion, but what about our fellow practitioners? These are the people who are closer to us than our own relatives! We should help them as much as possible – from cultivation to everyday life.

When I was detained, I got to know another practitioner, and it happened that we were released at the same time. He said to me, “I don’t have a home anymore. My wife has divorced me, sold our apartment, and moved overseas. My son is also overseas. What am I supposed to do now?” I felt very sorry for him and I said, “If you trust me, you can stay in my home, and try to get in contact with your son.” It turned out that he was able to get in contact with his son within a month. Later on they successfully reunited, and he was able to get back on track in cultivation in the Fa-rectification period.

Lastly, I want to remind fellow practitioners who were recently released – don’t feel inferior. Try to quickly find the state of “always cultivating as if you were just starting” (“Fa Teaching at the 2009 Greater New York International Fa Conference” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. IX). With the time we have left, let’s try our best to do the three things well.