Becoming one body to clarify the truth and save sentient beings
I began practicing Dafa in October 1997. Over a period of nine years--since the beginning of the persecution--fellow practitioners and I have traveled to thousands of villages to validate the Fa and save sentient beings. We have written truth-clarification messages; hung banners; sent out booklets, flyers, CDs, and the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party; exposed the facts about the persecution; and advised people to withdraw from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the Communist Youth League, and the Young Pioneers. (Known as the "three withdrawals.") We made use of gatherings of our friends and relatives to save whomever we could, whatever their backgrounds or positions in life.
The intense persecution of Dafa and its disciples still continues. Master said in "Rationality" from Essentials for Further Advancement II:
"The actions they are now adopting in the persecution of Dafa and its students are extremely evil and shameful, and they fear these will be exposed. You must let the world's people know about their evilness--this is saving people, as well. While eliminating the evil, you consummate yourselves and strengthen the Fa's manifestation in the world."
Following Master's instructions, whenever a fellow practitioner was persecuted, we immediately prepared a report about it, made many copies, and distributed them to expose the evildoers. My understanding is that the more details we have about the persecutor, including his/her name, position, workplace, etc., the greater the impact we have on the evildoer. This is also helpful in saving the practitioner and clarifying the facts to sentient beings.
To save imprisoned practitioners we send forth righteous thoughts together near the prison area. We take it upon ourselves to visit the immediate family and other relatives of the practitioners and tell them that the Chinese Communist Party is evil, because it is clearly wrong to persecute kindhearted people. We give them facts about Dafa and bring them gifts during the holidays. Many of their family members have come to understand the facts and have done the "three withdrawals." Some family members have attempted to rescue the practitioners in their own way and told the practitioners about what they were doing.
While petitioning for the release of fellow practitioners, we have been in contact with judges, lawyers, police officers, prosecutors, staff at the 610 Office, etc. We explain to them the facts about Dafa and the persecution. We also tell them that the saying "Whatever you sow, so shall you reap" is a cosmic law.
The Fa is our Teacher--we should always look inward
Around 2002, the coordinators from different districts that had been "illegally imprisoned" were released. Through studying the Fa and with the support and encouragement of other practitioners, most of them have returned to their cultivation practice. However, as the Fa-rectification moves forward, activities are on the increase and saving sentient beings is becoming more pressing. Some of these coordinators and I have had significantly different views with respect to clarifying the facts and exposing the evil persecution and how to carry out these activities.
Faced with these conflicting opinions, I felt bad at times, thinking, "They really are not fit to be coordinators. Probably they have not studied Master's recent lectures or articles on the Clearwisdom website. Master said it so clearly, but still they do not seem to understand." My state of mind was as Teacher described in "The Closer to the End, the More Diligent You Should Be:"
"But as cultivation is lived out, when the suffering bears down on you and conflicts come up that hit upon the deepest part of you--and especially when it rattles the rigid notions you have--the test is really hard to pass. It can even be to the point that you know full well it's a test but still can't let go of your attachments."
I also thought, "Master, these coordinators are wrong. Please wake them up." I truly felt sorry for them and worried about the plight of practitioners still in prison. The fact that many sentient beings are waiting to learn the facts also weighed on my mind. Whenever I felt this way, I would send forth righteous thoughts to clear my own surroundings and then calm down to study the Fa. Teacher would enlighten me through my study.
Actually, in "Further Understanding" in Essentials for Further Advancement, Teacher told us:
"As long as you're a cultivator, in any environment or under any circumstances, I will use any troubles or unpleasant things you come across--even if they involve work for Dafa, or no matter how good or sacred you think they are--to eliminate your attachments and expose your demon-nature so that it can be eliminated, for your improvement is what's most important."
During Fa-rectification we need to expose the evil, clarify the facts, and save sentient beings. As coordinators, they should share this understanding but they didn't. Why not? These activities are certainly important. Master arranged for things to happen this way because of some attachment I had. But to what? This was baffling. After looking within for some time I finally realized that, while I was happy for the return of these coordinators, I also wanted to turn over many activities to them so that I could have more time for my own cultivation. This selfishness kept me from recognizing that these coordinators had lost a lot of time in cultivation. Furthermore, they were brainwashed by the communists. It takes time to study the Fa in order to clean out communist concepts. I just wanted them to immediately take on Fa-rectification activities. This lack of consideration for others was truly a lack of compassion, but I had been blaming them instead of myself.
Then I realized that coordinators were practitioners. They were no different from other practitioners. They were not assigned by Master or elected by other practitioners. They were just willing to coordinate Fa-activities, a valuable service to all practitioners and the community. However, they were not above anybody and could not impose their wishes on others. If there is any requirement for being a coordinator, it is to have a high enough level of consciousness to serve as an example to others. They must do the three things well and be able to keep up with Fa-rectification.
I am also aware that, because both my job and family conditions have improved, conflicts with fellow practitioners are needed as a means to improve my character. With this understanding I can feel Master's compassion, and my mind gradually can calm down and become peaceful.
Now I can calmly deal with conflicts. When there is an argument, I let others decide what to do as long as it is in line with the Fa. I do not insist on my views, and I cooperate with whatever the group decides to do. I try to let go of the attachments to fellow practitioners. Although this may take a while to work out, it no longer affects me negatively in my Fa study like it did.
In recent years, group Fa study in my area has become widespread. Every practitioner has an opportunity to participate in group study at least once a week. We also have enough truth clarifying materials both to cover our area and to support some nearby districts. We have agreed that the coordinators will get together on important issues and try to reach an agreement on what to do. This will allow all of us to act as a whole, which is much more effective than working alone to stifle the evil.
For me, all the talk boils down to once sentence: Focus on making progress. During the last phase of Fa-rectification I constantly remind myself, "Validate the Fa. Doing what Master tells us to is our responsibility."
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