(Minghui.org) I learned about Falun Dafa from my mother when I was little. But I didn't really start cultivating until two years ago.
My Mother Is Arrested
About six months ago, my mother was illegally arrested and I encountered my greatest tribulation since starting cultivation. I realized it was my opportunity to walk my own cultivation path.
During the course of rescuing my mother, I learned how to clarify the truth to the police and how to cultivate myself. Before that, I didn't even know how to explain the facts about Dafa to a stranger, and I didn’t know how to look inward.
While working on getting my mother released, I gained some legal knowledge. So when I was talking to those involved, I would use the law as the starting point. Each time after I went to the government and demanded they release my mother, I would review how it went and figure out what I had done inadequately. Then I tried to do better next time. Every day, I wrote a report and submitted it to the Minghui website about what happened when I demanded the police release my mother. I did that to expose their evil crimes. This deterred those who were afraid of their crimes being publicized.
Clarifying the Truth to the Authorities Directly and Rescuing My Mother
I went to the domestic security division to demand that my mother be released. The division head had been extremely evil and had arrested many practitioners. Although many practitioners have clarified the truth to him, he never listened. When I talked to him, he said he did not want to talk about Falun Gong. I adjusted my mindset and said to him pleasantly, “Today I came here for my mother. My mother was arrested because she practices Falun Gong. How can I not mention Falun Gong?”
One police officer said, “Don't you know that your mother violated the law?” I replied calmly, “I know the law. The law does not say that practicing Falun Gong is a violation of the law. The constitution states that a citizen has freedom of belief and freedom of speech. For my mother, Falun Gong is her belief. How could you interfere with her faith?
“Falun Gong practitioners do things according to Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance to improve their moral character. Should such good people be persecuted?” They all listened while I spoke. I found that, as long as you have strong righteous thoughts, Master gives you a steady stream of wisdom.
Appealing for Justice for My Mother
My family members and I went several times to the government and demanded they release my mother, but we were always pushed away. Fellow practitioners and I thought about how we could appeal for justice for my mother. I felt a lot of pressure. Attachments like fear, losing face, and worry about being ridiculed were interfering with me. Later I enlightened that these were attachments to be eliminated. My grandparents wanted to join in my efforts; fellow practitioners also encouraged me.
I got a piece of white cloth and wrote in huge print “Injustice” in red ink. I attached the cloth to a board. As I worked, I thought how this board would be able to eliminate a lot of the evil in other dimensions the following day. My righteous thoughts were foremost.
The weather was warm the next day. I knew Master was encouraging me. After I served breakfast to my grandparents, I went to the entrance of the government building and set up the “Injustice” board.
In a short while people came to look at the board. I started to clarify the truth to them. Soon 20 to 30 people had gathered around. I raised my voice so that everyone could hear me.
Driven by righteous thoughts, my 91-year-old grandfather also stood up and clarified the truth with me. He told them how my mother respected her elders, and now she had been arrested just because she practiced Falun Gong. He told them that now there was no one to looks after him and to please help by voicing their support.
Many people were moved. Someone even offered his ideas. Many in the audience were government officials. The director of Community Administration who had ordered the arrest of my mother was afraid to show up. Fellow practitioners and I discussed how to clarify the truth to him. If he understood the truth, he would not persecute practitioners again.
The first time we went to see him, he acted in an intimidating manner and wouldn't listen to us. The next day we went to his office again. He saw us and said, “Why are you here again? I am not in charge of this. You can go find my boss.” We knew that he was fearful and that we would have to go see him every day. We looked for him again for the next few days.
One day when we went to his office, the judicial section head was there. This man had heard the truth. He walked up to me and said, “Little girl, don't come here again. There is something you are not aware of. Every sentence you say is like an arrow into our boss!” A fellow practitioner replied, “If your boss did not order the arrests of practitioners, we would not be meeting with each other. We are here to let your boss know not to persecute practitioners. We want him to be good.” The fellow practitioner and I both felt the power of clarifying the truth. Later this director of the Community Administration expressed his intent to not persecute practitioners anymore.
During the course of my efforts to rescue my mother, my attachment of fear arose from time to time. When that occurred, I sent forth righteous thoughts and recited Master's Fa.
Gathering Signatures to Rescue My Mother
My fellow practitioners and I decided to collect signatures to support the rescue of my mother. In a short time over 8,000 signatures were collected. We realized that this was also an opportunity for sentient beings to choose their future.
When over 3,000 people had signed the petition, the local government was outraged and gathered all its CCP members to discuss this. The local government sent many people to threaten the village officials into monitoring practitioners. They harassed both practitioners and those who had signed the petition.
No matter how crazily the evil acted, fellow practitioners understood that: “Just by staying unaffected you will be able to handle all situations.” (“Teaching the Fa at the Conference in the Midwest-U.S.”) We remained unaffected, and things calmed down a few days later. I remember that almost everyone in the village signed the petition. The police went and threatened every home and spread rumors.
At the beginning, many people believed the rumors and often pointed fingers at me. I could not stand it and became depressed. A fellow practitioner reminded me that we are saving sentient beings, that the evil wants to destroy sentient beings, and that we cannot be fooled by the evil. As long as we expose the evil's lies and eliminate the evil behind people, they will change under our righteous energy field.
After that practitioner talked to me, I changed my mindset, and my righteous thoughts came back. A miracle happened. The village broadcast an announcement that signing the petition would not affect anyone and telling everyone not to worry about it. People's resentment disappeared, and they understood the petition. I learned that a practitioner’s mindset influences the consequences of what we do. A righteous mind makes things go well.
There were many touching incidents. For example, a police officer went to ask someone why he had signed the petition. The person replied, “I like to sign for Falun Gong. People who practice Falun Gong are good. If you are afraid of the petition, don't arrest them.”
Writing Truth Clarification Letters
I enlightened that I should use my true identity when writing truth clarification letters. So I wrote letters to my detained mother and to all levels of government officials, including the staff at the detention center. The results were quite good.
I knew that the letters I wrote to my mother wouldn't be given to her, but at least the guards would read them. My mother told me after returning home that the guards called her out a few times and asked what my job was. She told the them that I majored in the law. They said to her, “We didn't bully you; isn't that right?” They obviously understood that it was wrong to detain her and feared legal consequences themselves.
As I was rescuing my mother, my fellow practitioners helped send forth righteous thoughts, coordinated efforts to clarify the truth, and helped me improve my understanding of the Fa when I had difficulty overcoming tribulations.
Master said: “Whatever you experience during your cultivation—whether good or bad—is good, for it comes about only because you are cultivating.” (“To the Chicago Fa Conference” in The Essentials of Diligent Progress Vol. III) It seemed that I suffered a lot while rescuing my mother. But actually I eliminated many attachments, and it helped me become mature on my cultivation path.
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Category: Improving Oneself
