(Clearwisdom.net)
A fellow practitioner and I were both Falun Dafa assistants and studied the Fa together before the persecution began. We have not seen each other since July 20, 1999. Later, I learned that he was detained in the city's forced labor camp. He was recently released, and one day, we met by coincidence.
"I didn't do well" was the first sentence he spoke.
I thought to myself, it is good that he is so clear-minded. It is still precious if he can recognize that he did something incorrect, returns to the right path, and strives hard to make up for his mistake. There is still an opportunity as long as the Fa-rectification has not ended; the key is to let go of the emotional burden.
"Actually, I didn't do well either. If I had been in your shoes, I might have done even poorer than you did," I said.
He replied, "I really didn't do well. If I had done well, I wouldn't have been detained in the forced labor camp. We Dafa practitioners shouldn't be detained in the forced labor camps."
At that moment, I realized the real meaning of "I didn't do well". I felt so small and selfish in front of him. Although we are both practitioners, I had measured him with my own narrow mind.
I had said some words, which instead of being meant to reassure him were actually to cover up the areas where I myself didn't cultivate well. I then asked: "How did you get out?"
"Of course, I got out with openness and dignity as a Falun Dafa practitioner!"
He recounted to me the persecution he had suffered for the last two years in the forced labor camp. In every circumstance, the evildoers never were able to break his will. Everybody had to hand in an "Experience Material"[coerced statement to defame and renounce their belief in Falun Gong] before their release from the forced labor camp. He started his written experience with the story of how he obtained the Fa, then added the benefits he received from the Fa, and finally wrote about the truth of the persecution. He wrote many pages. At the end of his statement, he wrote: "Falun Dafa practitioners are as indestructible as diamond!"
After reading his experience, an officer from the forced labor camp talked to him in private and asked him if he would continue to practice Falun Dafa. He answered with determination that a Dafa practitioner would definitely persist in cultivation. This officer then told him that he was released and could go home.
Staring at this fellow practitioner with simple clothes but an immensely broad mind, I suddenly felt the solemnity and compassion of Dafa! Time flies! I remembered Teacher's poem, "Share in learning and share in cultivating," (Hong Yin). I knew I should strive forward diligently, cultivate myself well, and save sentient beings. I must live up to the glorious name of a "Fa-Rectification Period Dafa Disciple"!
2003-9-27
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