(Clearwisdom.net) Yesterday I read an article from the Fifth Internet Experience Sharing Conference of Practitioners in China, entitled "Being One of the Millions of Pure Lotus Flowers." It said, "[Though you] always think of saving people, how can you save people if your own safety is in jeopardy, and you face the risk of being arrested at any time? What we have learned from our experience is this: if we are always able to keep ourselves in a safe situation, we can save more people. It is essential." I share the same understanding.
Before the persecution began in 1999, my relatives all supported Dafa. After the persecution began, I went to Beijing to validate the Fa, and my relatives respected me for what I did. But when the persecution escalated, I was arrested and persecuted. Currently I also have financial difficulties because of it. Given these circumstances, while I was trying to clarifying the truth to my relatives, they refused to listen or read the truth-clarification materials. They said that they were afraid of being persecuted, as I have been, if they read those materials. In my workplace, other practitioners were also arrested, and their homes ransacked. Some were sent to forced labor camps, while still others were detained. Such persecution has happened frequently. Many people who have heard of or witnessed these incidents have gotten the following impression: if a person practices Falun Gong, the result will be suffering and persecution. It thus became very difficult to help them to learn the facts about Falun Gong, and they even actively avoided contact with practitioners. They became afraid to even read the brochures we gave them. Because of these circumstances and difficulties in clarifying the truth, we looked inward and found the things we did not do well, including not paying attention to safety. The unsafe environment around us made people feel scared. They thought that being in contact with our practitioners would bring danger to themselves, so they did not want to associate with us, much less accepting our materials or reading them. Sometimes when we just mentioned Falun Gong, people changed the subject on purpose. How can we save people like that? Therefore, it is important to create a safe environment and help people feel safe enough to contact us.
Teacher said,
"Getting arrested is not the purpose. Validating Dafa is what's truly magnificent, and it is to validate Dafa that you step forward. Since you step forward, you should try to succeed in validating the Fa--this is the real purpose of stepping forward." ("Rationality", Essentials for Further Advancement II )
"Things that I don't want cannot be acknowledged or affirmed--they are a disgrace." ("Fa Teaching at the U.S. Capital" )
The persecution of Falun Gong practitioners is a disgrace to the universe. Teacher told us to validate the Fa, clarify the truth and save people in all kinds of situations. The arrest, torture and forced labor of practitioners are not acknowledged by Teacher. The tribulations we face are because we did not do well as cultivators. Our Teacher does not acknowledge the persecution, nor do we. We should listen to our Teacher, pay attention to our safety and that of others, and create a good environment to save people.
Let us be responsible to the Fa, to ourselves and to fellow practitioners, by getting rid of the potentially unsafe issues, and saving more sentient beings. Teacher talked about safety on many occasions.
"It's true that some students are really careless when it comes to safety and security. It seems as though after they are released by the evil and have been severely persecuted, they forget about it a couple of days later. Your safety and security affects other Dafa disciples' safety and security, so you must be mindful of this and take this matter seriously. Don't let the old forces' factors take advantage of your gaps. Many students outside of China have seen Dafa disciples in China not pay enough attention to safety and security, but they can't say anything to them directly and can only worry anxiously." ("Teaching the Fa in the City of Los Angeles", February 25, 2006)
Though Teacher has made it very clear, still there are practitioners who do not pay attention to safety and security issues. For example, when a practitioner was told to pay attention to the security of his cell phone, he said, "Don't worry. With strong righteous thoughts, nothing will happen." When another practitioner attended an experience sharing with more than twenty other practitioners, he kept his cell phone on and it rang frequently. When other practitioners reminded him, he got annoyed. The two practitioners were later arrested. There are also two other practitioners who did not mind their speech. They liked to ask for information about other practitioners. When practitioners were together, instead of sharing cultivation experiences, they first asked for fellow practitioners' names, workplaces, etc., like a policeman. Some practitioners also like to spread all kinds of things they heard through the grapevine, no matter how reliable the information is. Some practitioners who are responsible for delivering Dafa materials carelessly talked about the name of the practitioner who gave them the materials, or who are doing what projects. All these behaviors are truly worrisome! Some practitioners made excuses for themselves, saying that being of advanced age, they were more likely to be more talkative. That is not acceptable. Teacher has never said that a person's standards for cultivation can be lowered because of old age. Cultivation is a very serious matter, and we must be strict with ourselves.
In the article mentioned at the beginning, the author wrote, "To set up a good security environment, always keep one practitioner as the contact for material delivery, do not attend unnecessary sharing or discussion groups, do not let unfamiliar practitioners enter the material-production sites, produce enough materials based on the request-but do not overdo, and be cautious spreading the location of material-production sites."
Let us carefully follow Teacher's words, pay attention to both our own and other practitioners' safety, and be responsible to the Fa, ourselves, fellow practitioners and sentient beings.
Please point out anything inappropriate.
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