(Clearwidom.net) When I read the Minghui Weekly, I saw stories about many illegally arrested practitioners in detention that have been and are still on hunger strikes to protest and oppose the persecution.

At my current level, I understand that it is not a good method to oppose the persecution by relying too much on "hunger strikes" and it is also dangerous. When they read such an understanding, maybe many practitioners who have been on hunger strikes or are still on hunger strikes will feel hurt and attacked because they have paid an extremely high price and endured great pain, and some practitioners have indeed broken free in this way. However, to be responsible to Dafa and to fellow practitioners, I need to write this article. I feel that if we really want to get through the tribulation, we should not rely on hunger strikes, and we can only achieve this by maintaining righteous thoughts to let go of life and death and let such righteous thoughts finally dominate us, discarding attachments and conforming to the standards of Dafa practitioners.

From another point of view, hunger striking is a helpless way to oppose the persecution. If practitioners rely on this one technique, then are we dropping to the same level as everyday people? If we regard hunger strikes as the main approach and even rely on hunger strikes, will we even have enough physical strength or a clear enough mind to think and be able to use the magic weapon of sending forth righteous thoughts? Can we still calm down to discover and let go of our own attachments?

During the early stage of the persecution, some practitioners broke out of detention within a short period of time by hunger striking. That was due to the strong righteous thoughts and right stance that they took. Afterwards, many practitioners took the path of "hunger strikes." They treated hunger strikes as a common approach and paid too much regard to the approaches that are used by everyday people to oppose persecution.

Master Li said:

"Studying the Fa and doing cultivation are a person's own affair. Yet often there are quite a number of students who consistently take other people as their role models--they look at how other people do things and then follow suit. This is a kind of poor behavior developed among everyday people."("Path")

Some practitioners were on "hunger strikes" for two months, three months, and even over 100 or 200 days. Practitioners on "hunger strikes," do you think that is the only way for you to break free of detention?

Master has said that this persecution is not the persecution of one human being against another human being, but instead the interference and damage of deviated high-level beings against Dafa. In this malicious and destructive examination, the old forces wanted to control evil policemen and other bad people to beat practitioners to develop practitioners' righteous thoughts. Of course, Master did not acknowledge this persecution, nor would we. If we follow the everyday people's way of thinking: "Hunger strike--disease symptoms--serious disease--sent home," this is not the path that a practitioner has to follow. During the process of "hunger striking", most practitioners have developed serious diseases, and they became emaciated and had high-blood pressure, heart failure, kidney failure, and breast cancer, etc. Force-feedings have caused serious damage to the internal and external parts of practitioners' bodies, especially the trachea, esophagus and stomach. Hunger strikes also caused practitioners to become paralyzed or in a stupor. Could we still have righteous thoughts in such a state?

"When I taught the Fa I told you before about all the problems that might occur during this malicious and destructive examination. It is indeed difficult for those who haven't truly done cultivation to come through this. Now you can see why I've often told you to read the book more, right?! The Fa can break all attachments, the Fa can destroy all evil, the Fa can shatter all lies, and the Fa can strengthen righteous thoughts."("Drive Out Interference")

"Imprisoned as you are,

don't be sorrowful or sad

Carry on with righteous thoughts and actions,

and the Fa is with you

Calmly reflect on the attachments you have

Remove your human thoughts

and evil will naturally die out" ("Don't Be Sad" in Hong Yin, Volume II)

This should be fundamental to dissolving the persecution and breaking free of detention! Master has taught this Fa to us, but why do many of our fellow practitioners still consider hunger strikes as common, necessary, and the only effective way? It is better late than never--it is not finished yet. Though we have been persecuted as if we did not cultivate within Dafa, and we have left loopholes for the evil to make use of, after we are detained, as long as we can immediately follow Master's teaching, we can still quickly dissolve the persecution and come back to the path of Fa-rectification cultivation that Master Li arranged for us. Let us all take the bright great way that Master Li points out to us!

My level of understanding is limited. I would like to ask fellow practitioners to point out any inappropriate points.