(Minghui.org) My father was recorded by security cameras while he distributed truth-clarification materials, and was followed for a few months before being arrested.
When I heard about it, my first thought was what Master wrote:
“...just by having your heart unaffected you will be able to handle all situations...” (“Eliminate Your Last Attachment(s),” Essentials for Further Advancement II)
Even though my father’s loopholes were taken advantage of by the old forces, we should not acknowledge this persecution.
During the process of rescuing my father I identified many attachments that I had previously ignored. I realized that I needed to improve my cultivation state. In the process I turned this bad situation into a good thing.
After my father was arrested I let fear overtake me twice. Once was when my mother (who is also a practitioner) went to the police station by herself. I sent righteous thoughts for her while I waited. When she didn’t contact me until very late at night, due to my fear, I thought she was arrested.
She explained that it took so long because there was construction on the road. The lights were very dim, so she had to push her bicycle all the way home, so it took two hours longer.
Another time was when my father was being held at the police station. I quickly passed the station’s phone numbers to our local rescue team. As my father was the only one held there, I was afraid that the officers would retaliate and search my parents’ home. There were Dafa books and Master’s portraits at home. Later when I shared my concerns with other practitioners, they told me they highly doubted if those police officers would come back, as they had already confiscated everything they needed.
I began to examine myself to see why I had this attachment of fear. I realized that fear grows when one’s thoughts wander and are not on the Fa. For example, when my mother returned late, I began to think that something had happened to her. My parents had some informational materials at home so I was worried that the police would search their home again. I looked at the issue from the standpoint of a regular person.
A practitioner’s article I read mentioned that some practitioners had illness symptoms. When they had symptoms which resembled certain types of illnesses, they “happened” to hear or read about serious consequences of that illness. The more they thought about it, the more it seemed they had the illness. That’s how they developed fear.
In Zhuan Falun Master mentioned someone who died after his wrist was scratched. I felt that Master said this to warn us about irrational thoughts. The starting point showed that one wasn’t treating oneself as a practitioner. When one develops fear, one should not follow one’s bad thoughts and let them gain the upper hand. Instead we should try to stop them, analyze the situation rationally, and handle it from the standpoint of the Fa.
When my father was first arrested, I repeatedly read the lectures in which Master mentioned righteous thoughts. I sent forth righteous thoughts intensively every day. I also asked practitioners to help send forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the interference in my parents’ local area. When I consulted Justice Online, a practitioner kindly reminded me to put my focus on saving the police, Procuratorate, and juridical system staff. Only then did I realize that I was only focusing on getting my father released, and my starting point was solely for myself.
I also realized that this selfishness arose from sentimentality. If I could treat saving the people involved in my father’s arrest as the top priority, the persecution would be dismantled. Besides asking the telephone team to clarify the facts on a large scale, in order to save those police officers involved, I wrote them a letter and mentioned my family’s situation. I also worked with our local practitioners to write a letter to people in my hometown and distribute it widely.
I teach Chinese in a school. Although I brought up the topic of human rights from time to time in my classes, I thought, “Isn’t my family’s situation a great opportunity to clarify the facts to people?” After my father was arrested, I immediately started thinking about using this to clarify the facts in-depth to my students.
I said to my students, “Today I want to give you a special lecture. I want to talk about something that’s happening in China to my family.”
I started by talking about the Cultural Revolution that my parents went through. I then talked about how qigong began spreading, and how later Falun Dafa was introduced. I also played the introduction video to Falun Dafa. I talked about how my father began practicing back then, and how he regained his health. I told my students that due to its popularity, Falun Dafa was persecuted in China, and about the staged “self-immolation incident” orchestrated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). I also played the documentary, “The Persecution of Falun Gong.”
I mentioned the Body Exhibition held in our local area, and I covered live organ harvesting, and how governments responded to it.
I said that my mom had all kinds of illnesses but she didn’t begin practicing with my father. When she came overseas to visit me she suddenly had a relapse of her illnesses. Since she was not covered by any medical insurance, she was afraid to incur expensive medical costs. She began sincerely reciting “Falun Dafa is good! Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good!” and she was fine the next day.
She decided to begin practicing Falun Dafa. I told my students that if the persecution hadn’t happened, wouldn’t it better for people to have another way to keeping fit? If there was no information blockade in China, could this persecution last so long? Would the coronavirus pandemic be covered up?
I said that my parents know that Falun Dafa offers hope, and that’s why my father was handing out informational materials.
All of my 300 students reacted positively. Afterwards they kept asking me about my father’s situation. They also began paying attention to human rights issues. When my father was bailed out for medical reasons and came home, I told my students what my father experienced in the detention center.
Since it happened to my family, it was easy for me to bring up the topic. I clarified the facts to everyone I could think of. The outcome was good. People who knew about the truth also helped brainstorm ideas, and thus, they kept spreading the truth.
I know an English teacher named Alice (alias). She used to take Chinese language classes from the Confucius Institute. She mentioned that her Chinese teachers supported the CCP, so I gave her copies of The Epoch Times.
After the lockdown was lifted this year, she told me she stopped learning from her old teachers. She got together with a few good friends and wanted to take language lessons from me. When I clarified the facts to them about Falun Dafa, she said, “I know the CCP is most afraid of Falun Dafa. Falun Dafa is truly wonderful.” She told the others about the forced organ harvesting conducted by the CCP from illegally detained Falun Dafa practitioners.
One of them said, “I have seen Falun Dafa many times in different countries. This time I truly understand what it is.” The others said, “We’d like to learn Falun Dafa from you.” When someone didn’t know about The Epoch Times, Alice said, “It is an independent and uncensored media which only reports truthful information.”
When I send righteous thoughts, I know that how powerful they are reflects my cultivation level. I knew I needed to revisit my cultivation state. I did poorly in sending righteous thoughts in the mornings. Sometimes I missed my alarm. When I missed sending forth righteous thoughts at work, I almost never made up for it later on. I also craved delicious food. When I felt tired, instead of doing the exercises I took a nap. Sometimes I kept watching online videos. I wasn’t diligent in my cultivation. I decided to rectify my cultivation state.
I began by waking up a few minutes before it was time to send righteous thoughts. I managed to send forth righteous thoughts at the four set times, and I added two additional times. I also stopped being attaching to what I ate. During the one month when my father was detained, I often had simple foods like Tofu and vegetables. Now when I feel tired I do the exercises.
I stopped watching online videos and my efficiency improved immediately. I could carry on with the projects and local activities that I participated in. If I could hold onto that, my cultivation state would be elevated even more.
I talked to my mother every day while my father was being held. I told her how I enlightened on this matter, what I learned from the sharing articles on the Minghui website, as well as some relevant legal knowledge to help strengthen her righteous thoughts.
In regards to my father’s arrest, many police officers broke the law. But since we didn’t know about the laws, we didn’t catch it. After my dad came home I shared some of my understandings. My parents accepted most of what I said, but they found some of things I suggested too hard to do. I always had high expectations of them, but I realized I was influenced by my sentimentality. Master said,
“For one, you don’t have the power to change another person’s life or fate, ultimately, even if they are your closest of kin. Could you really change a person’s destiny?” (The Fourth Talk, Zhuan Falun)
Why would I force my opinions on my parents? I’m young and full of energy. Why couldn’t I understand their situation and the harsh environment they face? Wasn’t being attached to my family’s cultivation state an attachment? If they couldn’t enlighten from the Fa on their own they wouldn’t change just because of something I said. Cultivation means cultivating oneself, we can’t change others.
Master said,
“Clarifying the facts and saving sentient beings are what you need to accomplish. There is nothing else for you to accomplish. There is nothing else in this world that you need to accomplish.” (“Fa Teaching Given at the 2015 New York Fa Conference”)
After this article was published, I truly came to understand the meaning of this passage. All we need to do is to clarify the facts so as to save sentient beings.
Thank you benevolent Master! Thank you fellow practitioners for your selfless contribution after my father was arrested!