Reflecting on the Recent Arrests of Many Local Practitioners

(Minghui.org) Master asked us to set up family truth-clarifying materials production centers everywhere in 2000. But over 20 years have passed since then, and many practitioners are still relying on others for their truth-clarifying materials.

I feel that practitioners who are still relying on others are following the arrangement of the old forces and Chinese Communist Party culture. Instead, we should follow the path arranged by Master in Dafa cultivation, which is “a Great Way without form.”

In order to frame a certain practitioner following a recent group arrest, the police attempted to accuse him of being the leader of local practitioners. I think it shows that the police hope we are an organization of devoted members who follow one individual on how to do things. But as cultivators, we all know this is exactly what Master doesn’t want us to do.

Master said:

“It’s not enough to be passionate about Dafa—you need to be rational, to be mindful of safety when in an evil setting, and to go about your practice in a virtuous and honorable manner. The old forces have changed many things, but I am beating them at their own game. But on your part as Dafa disciples, you have to stay on a proper course.” (“Fa Teaching Given at the New York Fa Conference Celebrating the 25th Anniversary of Dafa’s Spreading,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. XIV)

Looking back over the past 20 years in our area, we have learned so many painful lessons in regard to the tangible form of cultivation. We once relied on practitioners in another city for materials. When the persecution happened, the connections between the practitioners in both cities led to the arrests of at least 70 of us. 

At one point, our region relied on one big material production center. When production was running at capacity, there was a large-scale arrest. Some practitioners were persecuted to death, some were sentenced, some were forced to live away from home, and some gave up Dafa and turned to other religions.

Better to Teach Someone to Fish Than to Give the Person a Fish

There was an article on Minghui about a practitioner’s father who was committed to helping other practitioners and was very capable. She and many practitioners relied on him to do many things. Their cultivation went well with his support and help, until one day her father developed dementia. She felt like the sky was falling. Those who had relied on him in the past came to “help” him by looking for his attachments, but to no avail. 

She finally came to her senses and realized that the old forces had moved her father out of the way so that she and the other practitioners would improve. Their collective attachments to her father ruined him. While she did mature in her cultivation, it came at a great cost.

During Master’s Fa rectification, the old forces at different levels are “helping” him for their own selfish purposes. As a result, they are hindering its progress and becoming demons that interfere with Fa rectification. When we descended to this human world, we may have signed contracts with the old forces, which have blocked and restricted us from following the path of Fa rectification arranged by Master. 

Some practitioners in our area stayed on the path arranged by the old forces. They ruined their own cultivation as well as others’ without realizing it. We all should have learned our lessons after we stumbled. 

I admire the devotion of those practitioners who produce Dafa materials. They usually have simple meals, sleep little, and squeeze in time to study the Fa. But doing work is not cultivation. One cannot improve without cultivating the heart. Instead, one may still suffer constant tribulations. 

In one example, when a practitioner was just released from prison, another practitioner approached her with funds and asked her to help produce truth-clarification materials without first finding out how she was doing in her cultivation.

We need to reflect on and think about if we are walking the path Master has arranged. Those practitioners who have supplied others with materials also need to think about whether they are being truly responsible to others. Because they provide materials, those who take them maybe cannot let go of their selfishness, their attachments to others, and their attachment to protecting themselves. Have the suppliers unintentionally prevented their recipients from taking the paths Master has arranged for them?

Every time a big material production center was destroyed and many practitioners were arrested, we weren’t able to do much to save people for a long time. 

In comparison, those practitioners who cultivate on their own wouldn’t be affected. They can stand the loneliness and continue to do the three things steadily and silently. 

I know of an elderly practitioner who used to be involved in a large material production center and had connections with many practitioners. She was imprisoned several times and tortured. After she realized the problem, she set up her own production site at home. She has been making beautiful materials for herself and using them every day to save people. She’s never been persecuted again.

It is better to teach someone to fish than to offer him a fish. Dafa cultivation is for each cultivator’s attainment. Giving practitioners materials is not as good as teaching them to make them, which would help them to be independent and mature in their own cultivation. We should harmonize with what Master wants instead of sticking to personal understandings, concepts, or formalities.

Eliminating the Party Culture Notion of “Egalitarianism”

As Master’s disciples, we all came here with one goal—to validate Dafa and assist Master in saving sentient beings. While we share information and resources, we should make a clear distinction between shared and personal resources. Party culture concepts like “communal” and “communist” should be eliminated in our cultivation environment.

As an example, many practitioners had their cars impounded when they were arrested. Their cars had been used extensively by other practitioners to do Dafa work. Some of them were sentenced to prison and some are still in prison.

Cars, just like money, are personal property. How can we casually share them? How can we take them for granted and use them for free just because we are doing Dafa work? Is this the kind of behavior we should be leaving for people in the future as reference?

In another example, someone who began to practice Dafa in recent years ran a small store out of her house. Her store had a good reputation and business was good. She talked about Dafa to many customers, including police officers. 

As she gradually got to know more practitioners, many of them visited her store frequently. Sometimes, they made truth-clarification phone calls in her store and borrowed her car because she was always willing to lend it to practitioners. She said, “Practitioners used the car to do Dafa work. How could I say no?” However, she later became a primary target for persecution and was forced to write a guarantee statement under pressure. Her cultivation, life, and business were all ruined

We Should Value Fellow Practitioners’ Time and Skills

Similar to personal property, a practitioner’s time and skills are also a personal resource. Those with technical skills help others for free because they have the heart to be responsible for Dafa. Those of us who avail ourselves of their services and help must not regard their assistance as something they are obligated to do.

Some practitioners say that the skilled practitioners should do this or that, as if talking about “model workers.” If a company depends on the hard work of just a few “model workers” in order to be successful, the company is doomed.

When the practitioners who had been producing Dafa materials for years proposed setting up many small production sites so that each practitioner could walk their own path, they were often accused of being selfish by those who relied on them.

Think about it. If one person has to carry 200 pounds of food to feed 10 people, that is too much and the person will be exhausted. If everyone tries their best to carry as much as they can, everyone will have enough. Some of the practitioners who opposed setting up many production sites argued, “Is this egalitarian? If you have the ability, you should carry more.”

As cultivators, we cannot follow crooked Party culture without realizing it. Be it the president, factory workers, farmers, or students, everyone should do the three things well in their own professional and social class, in their own circumstances and within their own abilities. Cultivating among everyday people in ordinary society by maximally conforming to ordinary human society is the most righteous cultivation form in Dafa.

Security Concerns with Cell phones, WeChat, and Security Agents

The home of an elderly practitioner was a Dafa materials production center and a place for group Fa study. But he used his cell phone all the time and also used WeChat video, a known security risk.

After learning that a former coordinator’s home was under surveillance, some practitioners insisted on studying the teachings there anyway. They claimed that stopping the Fa study there was following the path arranged by the old forces; not daring to send righteous thoughts in front of the surveillance cameras was an indication of the attachment of fear; and not joining the group Fa study was not harmonizing the whole body.

Nowadays, eavesdropping devices can amplify the sound 400 times. However, some practitioners did not pay attention to their cell phone security. They said aloud, by name, which practitioner did this or that. Some asked around about many things; some commented on practitioners’ sickness karma or their attachments without knowing the actual situations. We should learn our lessons and not spread rumors and disturb other practitioners.

Secret agents have been involved in many of the large-scale arrests and deaths of practitioners over the years. Some practitioners were coerced to become agents after they were arrested and blackmailed by the National Security Agency, and secret agents have infiltrated practitioners’ groups. In fact, secret agents have never stopped making trouble among us over the years.

Right before the torch relay for the 2008 Olympic Games began in China, an agent infiltrated our local group. Luckily, he was quickly identified so little damage was done. Agents also targeted the places where practitioners gathered and mingled with them. Some practitioners unknowingly provided useful information without realizing it. Other problems have been mentioned in another sharing article on Minghui.org, “A Sharing on Maintaining the Overall Cultivation Environment.”

No matter how big the materials production center, it cannot support everyone. Thinking this way can only feed and strengthen attachments. The great invisible form is too vast for the monstrous evil to touch or detect. It is everywhere without any energy channels or acupuncture points, but with the boundless mighty power. Let’s all mature in our cultivation and follow Dafa and Master as our guidance, not any individual practitioners.

I wanted to share the problems I’m seeing and do not mean to point fingers at anyone. Please point out to me if my understanding isn’t correct.

Editor’s Note: This article only represents the author’s understanding in their current cultivation state meant for sharing among practitioners so that we can “Compare with one another in study, in cultivation.” (“Solid Cultivation,” Hong Yin)