(Minghui.org) The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) uses surveillance cameras and facial recognition technologies on a massive scale to monitor and control the citizens of China. Such scrutiny penetrates all aspects of life and makes people feel they have eyes on them everywhere they go.
Some Falun Dafa practitioners were arrested or harassed because they were detected by the cameras. Some did not understand surveillance technologies and even overestimated their power. Others spread false information, putting a lot of pressure on the practitioners handing out truth clarifying materials. Some practitioners couldn't let go of concerns, which interfered with their ability to do the three things well or even made them stop doing them. Some were afraid of going to group Fa study sessions.
Master said:
“Under trying circumstances of any type, you must all keep steady in thought. Just by staying unaffected you will be able to handle all situations.” (“Teaching the Fa at the Conference in the Midwest-U.S.”)
It is my understanding that surveillance equipment doesn't record practitioners who are walking a divine path. No matter how advanced the technology is, it is still on the level of human beings and only works on humans. Master taught us:
“The old forces don't dare to oppose our clarifying the truth or saving sentient beings. What's key is to not let them take advantage of the gaps in your state of mind when you do things.” (“Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Boston”, Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. II)
We should pay attention to safety and treat the surveillance rationally and with caution. But doing this won't interfere with our ability to save sentient beings at all. Master said,
“Also, don’t use the wicked things that happen during the persecution as an excuse for not validating the Fa or not validating it well, ...” (“Walk Straight Your Path,” The Essentials of Diligent Progress Vol. III)
Sentient beings are in great danger. If we only pay attention to our own safety and don't try to save others, they face the risk of being eliminated. Saving sentient beings is Dafa disciples' great responsibility. Master said,
“So as for the Dafa disciples in any region, you are basically the hope for the beings in that region to be saved--their only hope, in fact.” (Teaching the Fa at the 2004 International Fa Conference in New York)
It appears that some practitioners were caught and arrested by CCP agents because of the surveillance cameras. But those who were arrested still had omissions in their cultivation and were taken advantage of by the old forces. In addition, at the end stage of Fa rectification, the evil factors are already greatly reduced. Master said:
“So as Dafa disciples you should just firm up your righteous thoughts, and do well with what you need to do. If you can manage to really do well in all three regards, nobody will dare to touch you.” (“Fa Teaching at the 2015 West Coast Fa Conference”)
Looking at it technically, the surveillance cameras and big data and facial recognition technologies are not as good or effective as claimed. We should not worry about them too much. They are nothing before practitioners with righteous thoughts and actions.
In addition, with the progress of Fa rectification and practitioners clarifying the truth, more and more people know the facts about Falun Dafa and many police and agents of the 610 Office have either stopped participating in the persecution or become less active. Some police officers even try to protect Dafa adherents. Many such cases have been reported on the Minghui website. As it says in one of Master’s lectures:
“Question: Big data is now a thing in ordinary society. In China more and more surveillance cameras are being installed, technologies such as automatic face and gesture recognition are being used, and they are doing whatever data analysis they want to. Does this pose greater risks for Dafa disciples who go out to distribute materials and raise awareness, or should we not worry too much about this?
“Master: Dafa disciples have their ways. There will be little interference if you are righteous with whatever you do. As I have always said, there won’t be any problems if you are righteous on your part. But if you do things with human thinking or attachments, problems will be hard to avoid—even if you are doing Dafa things. But it is indeed hard to meet the standard, or the level required; that is, it will be hard to meet if you don’t have the necessary foundation, and that’s when problems arise.
“But that said, I’m also thinking about how everyone around the world regards Chinese products as the worst, don’t they? I’ve heard that out of every thousand cameras they install, five hundred don’t work (laughter and applause), and that as soon as they fix one, some other one is broken. So, there is the poor quality of the products they’re churning out, on top of the careless attitude people have when they do things… Anyway, whatever the CCP does turns into a scandal, in the end. Aren’t they trying to get the world to use their 5G technology? It won’t be long before everyone realizes the poor quality of their offerings, so it won’t get very far. People will quickly abandon it. (Applause)” (“Fa Teaching at the 2019 New York Fa Conference”)
No matter how many surveillance cameras the CCP uses, they don't work on practitioners with righteous thoughts. In addition, the miracles that Dafa practitioners display have shocked the police. Below are a few examples.
One practitioner, who is a physician, has always been on the CCP's blacklist. The police installed three surveillance cameras near his clinic to film different angles.
He didn't think about the cameras and continued doing the three things well. He kept talking to people about Falun Dafa in his clinic and other practitioners continued attending the group Fa study on the second floor of the clinic. Recently, a few cameras started to malfunction and were replaced. But the cameras malfunctioned again just a day later. The police changed the cameras three times within five days and they still didn’t work. The deputy captain in charge of the cameras couldn't figure out what was going on so he went to the clinic to get some information.
The police officer accompanying the deputy captain was so intimidated by the physician's righteous thoughts that he hid in the police vehicle. To enter the clinic, the captain pretended he needed some medicine. The practitioner asked the captain if he was a CCP member. The captain said he’d joined the Party at 18 when he was at school. The practitioner said, “You need to withdraw from the CCP as soon as possible. Please remember ‘Falun Dafa is good and Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance is good.’” The captain mentioned that he was from the criminal police division but didn't mention the cameras.
The practitioner asked the captain to return to the clinic that evening. The captain finally asked about the cameras malfunctioning. The doctor said, “I didn't touch them. Why did you come to me with this problem? If you are using the cameras to target Dafa practitioners, they won't work no matter how advanced the technology may be. You should stop doing bad things to practitioners. If you don’t, I will expose you.”
The caption said, “I told you we also want to do good things. We won't change the cameras again.”
This practitioner remembered that Master had told us that half of the cameras won't work. Master's words are the Fa and what he says will happen. Half of the cameras were already locked by Master. It is up to the Dafa practitioners' righteous thoughts and actions to deny the rest of them. After Master's 2019 lecture, the CCP's 5G technology was boycotted around the world. This is really a test to show how much we truly believe in Master and the Fa.
After the persecution of Falun Dafa started, cameras were set up in front of that practitioner's home. But no images were ever recorded. When the doctor moved, new cameras were put up near his new place. But they didn't work either. The CCP's surveillance equipment won’t work because of the practitioners’ righteous thoughts.
Another practitioner who was closely monitored by the CCP used to go out at night to hand out information. Through cultivation and the reinforcing of his righteous thoughts he understood that the entire world is a Dafa practitioners’ stage—not the evil’s playground. Master asked us to take a leading role in Fa rectification and so we should not be affected by the evil.
This cultivator handed out pamphlets day and night. He paid attention to some basic safety concerns but didn't care about the surveillance cameras or the people the CCP arranged to monitor him. Sometimes he gave out hundreds of leaflets in a day.
When this practitioner told the chief of police the facts about Falun Dafa, the chief said, “We won't persecute you. We also saw practitioner Liu (not his real name) pass out a lot of Falun Gong materials every day. But we haven't touched him either.”
Let us use Master's Fa to encourage ourselves to walk on the path of Fa-Rectification diligently:
“Get going and get active, and, like the Dafa disciples in North America, don’t shy away from the difficulties that you meet with. Don’t be blocked by man-made constraints. And don’t be intimidated by the evil, for these historic days are given to you.” (“To the Fa Conference in France”)
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