(Clearwisdom.net)
With the Fa-rectification approaching the final stage, more people are awakening to the truth and the Fa-rectification situation is becoming more effective. Nevertheless, many practitioners are still illegally detained in prisons, forced labor camps and other places where they are severely harmed and even tortured to death. This is happening for historical reasons and because of practitioners' personal issues. However, it is also happening because not enough people care to help and the rescue efforts from practitioners who are at liberty are not sufficient.
Teacher said: "You have to rescue your fellow cultivators and Dafa disciples--we can't let the evil persecute them wildly and without restraint." (From "Explaining the Fa During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference") Some practitioners still do not pay enough attention to this issue. Some seem to be numb or helpless, others cannot keep up [with the effort] in the long run. There are even those who do not have the proper understanding and attitude towards our fellow practitioners' detention and torture but simply ignore this issue. Prisons and forced labor camps are places where the evil congregates and where the persecution against Dafa practitioners is the most vicious. Many imprisoned practitioners do not have a clear understanding of the Fa-principles or have serious deficits in their character or behavior; in this high-pressure environment and place, they easily take the wrong path, and may even be destroyed in the process. Practitioners who are at liberty have the responsibility to help and rescue practitioners in prison. We are offering salvation to all sentient beings, and even more so should we save our fellow practitioners.
I have several suggestions regarding how to best help and rescue practitioners in prison How to specifically implement these should be based on different areas' and different individuals' actual situation.
1. Send Righteous Thoughts with a Specific Target in Mind and Be Persistent
We should increase the times we send forth righteous thoughts as a group. Focus on eliminating the dark minions and rotten demons in their dens and within the dimensional fields of imprisoned practitioners; target specific police officers or tormentors who have committed crimes, so that they will receive immediate retribution in this lifetime. Some practitioners did pretty well in the beginning, but as time goes by or when they are caught up with too many other things, they forget to send righteous thoughts. We need to pay attention to being focused and not just rush through it.
2. Expose to the Local People What Is Really Going On in Their Areas Behind Closed Doors
Prisons and forced labor camps are usually located far away from cities in order to ensure that detainees will not come in contact with the outside world and to implement a strict information blockade. Basically these places are in a state of complete isolation from the outside world. This is one of the main reasons why the people in power dare to commit the most heinous crimes without restraint. Practitioners who are at liberty should go through various channels to gather and compile the perpetrators' crimes and the torments practitioners have suffered, and post the information on the Internet in a timely manner. Practitioners should also expose the local transgressors to the local people. Practitioners who have been detained and persecuted should overcome their fear and write down their personal experiences and understandings as well as misdeeds that they may have witnessed and reveal these to the world.
3. Explain the Truth to Specific Groups of People
Practitioners should explain the true situation by sending letters and/or e-mails, making phone calls, mailing truth-clarification materials or directly going to policemen or personnel working in prisons and labor camps. It is also very important to explain the truth to senior officials and supervisors in the judicial community, because some of them might have been deceived; others may have directly given orders to persecute Falun Gong practitioners.
Family members and relatives of some imprisoned practitioners are often poisoned by the false propaganda, and may not have a correct understanding of the true reason for their family member's detention and have misunderstandings about Falun Dafa. Police have also used family members and relatives to pressure or "transform" steadfast Falun Dafa practitioners. We should be serious about explaining the truth to family members and relatives of practitioners who have been detained and encourage them to take active measures to rescue their loved ones, rather them passively waiting and enduring. Family members and relatives who understand the truth can better understand and support practitioners who are illegally detained or imprisoned and they can contribute more to helping and rescuing fellow practitioners.
4. Offer Help Regarding Fa-Principles and Essential Needs to Practitioners Who Have Been Detained
Practitioners who have been detained have several common problems: They may not understand the Fa-principles clearly. They may not be able to completely reject the old forces' arrangements and the persecution. Their righteous thoughts are not strong and they neglect sending righteous thoughts or they don't do it at all. They also seldom explain the truth to police or people around them. Especially practitioners who were detained for a long time, have missed many opportunities to read Teacher's lectures. Some practitioners who were detained for two to three years still do not know the importance and the specific times for sending righteous thoughts. Practitioners who are free should use every opportunity to visit or use other channels to explain to them the relevant Fa-principles. This will be of great help to them, because fundamentally it is still up to their own righteous thoughts and righteous actions to break through the tribulation.
Practitioners can also send righteous thoughts before they begin studying the Fa, with a strong will or wish that the practitioners who are illegally detained are able to listen to the Fa or could study Fa with us. We could also send messages of the relevant Fa principles to fellow practitioners' minds.
Some imprisoned practitioners have lived a difficult life. Some of the detention centers deny steadfast Dafa practitioners visitation rights and withhold the money and other items sent by their relatives. Some practitioners don't even have the basic daily necessities or a change of clothes. Practitioners and their family members can bring these cases to the related government departments and file complaints against this kind of illegal action. If the conditions permit, some practitioners can go through special channels to help solve this kind of problem.
5. Use Legal Measures to Help Imprisoned Practitioners Reject the Persecution
The detention and persecution imposed on Falun Dafa practitioners violates China's constitution and laws. In some areas the cruel persecution against steadfast Falun Dafa practitioners is still very severe: Prison terms are illegally extended; practitioners are kept after their terms have expired; and practitioners are sent to brainwashing classes for further torment after they are released from prison. Some practitioners and their family members endured this passively, whereas others held hunger strikes to protest this illegal treatment.
Practitioners who are free and family members can go through regular legal channels to request the release of illegally imprisoned practitioners. We should report details about the location and identity of people who have severely mistreated and tortured Falun Dafa practitioners until they were disabled or died to the courts. In addition to holding a hunger strike to protest, practitioners should also remind and encourage imprisoned practitioners to clarify the truth and oppose the persecution from a legal standpoint, for example, by filing a complaint with the relevant government departments. This way the effect will be powerful.
6. Help Practitioners Who Have Taken the Wrong Path
Some practitioners in prison have been "transformed," or even utilized by the evil to take part in persecuting other Dafa practitioners. The majority of these people can still be saved. Some have compromised with the evil against their will; some did not clearly understand the Fa-principles at a certain point in time and therefore have enlightened along an evil path. We should use all opportunities to kindly help them so that they can return to the right path as soon as possible. We do not necessarily have to wait until after they are released to offer our help.
There are only a very small number of people who have done something terrible. From our perspective, perhaps they have gone to the other extreme or are beyond saving. However, Teacher pointed out to us in "Teaching the Fa at the 2004 Chicago Conference":
"I don't want to leave a single person behind. That's why Master's thinking is usually different from yours."...
"You folks can't just go and abandon a person without trying hard enough. No matter what kind of mistakes someone has made, or what kind of a person he is, I still want to give him a chance."
After all, these people have practiced Falun Dafa. Teacher does not abandon them, therefore, we should try our best to help them and make them awaken to the truth as soon as possible.
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