(Minghui.org) The COVID pandemic broke out during the Chinese New Year in 2020. Our area was under lockdown. One member of every household was allowed to leave their home to shop every other day. Everyone was required to scan the barcode before entering a public area. Most companies either closed or required employees to work from home. Everyone was in a panic, and there were few people on the road. Whoever went outside had to wear a mask. People kept a “social distance” when talking to each other. This situation complicated our efforts to tell people about the persecution.
After our group Fa study, a practitioner said, “I noticed that many cars are parked near the residential areas. We can’t enter the apartment buildings, but what if we just leave the materials on their cars?” We thought this was a good idea, and discussed how to make it more effective.
We decided to print out the Pandemic Weekly Journal, and Minghui Weekly which had fewer pages than the other materials. They would fit into envelopes, then we could leave them on the cars. Since they wouldn’t know what was in the envelope, they most likely would open it.
The first time I distributed them, I felt a bit nervous. The streets were empty. When we walked near the cars people could easily see us. So a practitioner and I decided to work together, with one of us distributing the materials, and the other one sending forth righteous thoughts. When we saw someone walking towards us, we alerted the other person. We didn’t leave the envelopes on every single car. We either put it on their doorknobs or windshields. It took us nearly two hours to hand out 60 envelopes.
The next day, we went back to check. We saw that many cars had either already left or the envelopes were taken, and only a few of them were still on their windshields. A couple of open envelopes lay on the ground. We felt the outcome was good. This gave us more confidence to use this approach.
Later the lockdown was lifted in our area, and we were able to enter buildings. These days almost every household owns a car, and there were many cars parked outside apartment buildings. We treated this way of truth-clarification seriously.
Every time when we looked at the content, we looked at it from peoples’ perspective. We also made sure that all Dafa informational materials came from the Minghui website. During the process of printing, folding up materials, and putting them into the envelopes, we sent righteous thoughts, so every letter carried great power. Before distributing the Dafa materials we sent forth righteous thoughts and studied as much Fa as possible. We also cooperated well with one another. When we ran into issues, we used our wisdom to deal with them. For more than a year the outcome has been good. Sometimes when there was interference, we dealt with it with our righteous thoughts. We felt that we were improving.
Recently, a planned group arrest happened in our area. A practitioner I knew was arrested. Her family acknowledged Dafa and supported the practitioner in doing things to validate Dafa. When she was arrested, her son behaved very righteously. He refused to cooperate with the police. He never stopped demanding that his mother be released. He also hoped other practitioners would join him in rescuing her.
The coordinator came to discuss the issues we faced hoping I could give him a hand. Initially, I felt I lacked experience. I also had some concerns about my safety, thus, I was reluctant to step forward. However, when I realized that he had such strong righteous thoughts and trusted practitioners, I realized that I was selfish, and wanted to protect myself, as opposed to validating Dafa and rescuing practitioners. Master said,
“The next person’s things are your things...” (Fa Teaching Given at the 2002 Conference in Washington, D.C., Collected Teachings Given Around the World Volume II)
I asked myself if we shouldn’t cultivate and become altruistic. How could I only think about myself? I told the coordinator that I would help, but I lacked experience.
I went online and downloaded the brochure for using legal means to oppose the persecution. I also searched for sharing articles on the Minghui website related to rescuing practitioners. I gradually gained some knowledge. I printed out more defense statements and content related to the legal aspect provided by fellow practitioners in the Justice Forum. Then I prepared to share with her son. Meanwhile, practitioners, also shared that the standpoint of our rescuing practitioners was to save every sentient being in the police department, procuratorate, and juridical system who we interacted with. We should not pursue the outcome, nor be moved by what happens on the surface. We should let go of sentimentality towards the practitioner being persecuted. Master is taking care of them. What we do is use this way to talk to people about Dafa and awaken people.
We invited her son to meet with us. He couldn’t eat or sleep well. He told us that he was afraid that she’d suffer. Therefore, through his classmate, he talked to a guard in the detention center and asked her to take care of his mother. He also wrote his mother a letter, asking her to be smart and not contradict the police. We first acknowledged that his care for her was absolutely right. Then we talked from our perspective on what a family member should do that would be truly helpful and supportive to their family members. We reminded him that his mother didn’t commit any crimes, but the police participated in the persecution. Therefore, we should talk to them in an upright manner, and make them release our family members.
After we discussed the matter with him, he said he felt relaxed and confident. He said he would go to the Domestic Security Department to seek her release. He also said when he wrote the next letter, he’d encourage her to be firm and not to cooperate with any police officer. She had not committed any crime, so she should be righteous.
After we returned home we discussed our actions and then got in touch with the practitioner’s relative. We asked the relative to work with the son to go to the police station and Domestic Security Department to demand her release, as well as clarify the facts. We asked some practitioners to send forth righteous thoughts in close proximity. When they went to the police station to demand her release, people from the police station refused to let them go inside. The police officer who received them told them that they didn’t have any authority to release her. They told them to talk to the Domestic Security Department.
We then went to the Police Sub-Bureau to find people from the Domestic Security Department. Her husband talked to the guards at the entrance about her situation. Then, one guard called the Domestic Security Department to come outside. The person said since the case was still open, they didn’t want to meet her son, or allow him to come inside.
We discussed and decided to have her son write a truth-clarification letter. It would not only be mailed to the Domestic Security Department, but also to the police, procuratorate, Juridical system, Discipline Inspection Committee, Appeal office, and so on. That way, we could clarify the facts on a large scale. In the beginning, her son was a bit concerned, as he wasn’t sure how far this letter would go.
I told him, “When they came to arrest your mother, they didn’t dare to put on police uniforms. They know that practitioners are good people and don’t commit any crime. They were scared and wanted to cover up what they did.
“After your mother began to practice, not only did she recover from her illnesses, but her morals improved. For us to write this letter was to state this fact and asked for help from every person in charge to uphold justice for her. Isn’t this a great thing? There are probably good people in every department, perhaps anything they say would help us.”
He agreed and wrote the letter. He said that his mother benefited from cultivation both mentally and physically, but it was not against the law to practice. He hoped every leader used their power wisely, to help the kind, uphold justice and give a helping hand to his family. He mailed this letter to each department, and it was very effective.
During the process of working with him, we also constantly shared with him our thoughts to resolve his concerns, and we encouraged him. Gradually his righteous thoughts became stronger.
Later her son hired a lawyer to go to the detention center to meet with her. The lawyer said his mother was in good condition. So her son was assured. Practitioners put aside their own issues to selflessly work with him. He was very touched. One time, he insisted on treating us to a meal. We didn’t want to refuse him, so we went with him. But still, I picked up the tab when he wasn’t looking. Her son was very touched and said, “You practitioners are truly great! You support me and spend your own money. I truly got to see what it means to be selfless. Only you practitioners can be like that. You are truly awesome!”
On the 37th day after the practitioner was arrested, a person from the Domestic Security Department called the son to go come and take his mother home. We were excited and greatly appreciated Master! This experience also made us witness the power of having righteous thoughts and actions and working together.
A practitioner who was a coordinator appeared to have illness symptoms recently. She appeared to be quite ill during the last few months.
She was very enthusiastic and had a great sense of responsibility. She could also endure hardship. She has played a very important role in our area, but I didn’t think she knew how to cultivate. I felt she lacked a clear understanding on the Fa, and had a lot of attachments, including being attached to doing things. On the surface, it seemed that she tried to help other practitioners, but in actuality, it resulted in other people becoming reliant on her. Meanwhile, it also affected practitioners walking on their own cultivation path. Most practitioners in her area seldom browsed the Internet, and let her make all the arrangements. They didn’t take the initiative to participate, but instead just waited for her to tell them what to do. Since she was very busy every day, it also affected her Fa-study, cultivation, and improvement.
I have known her for more than 10 years. We had a lot of interactions in our day-to-day life, she trusted me and asked my opinion. In the beginning, when I saw her issues, I pointed them out with a peaceful mindset. However, as time passed, I talked more bluntly. I didn’t feel her cultivation state changed much over the years. I gradually developed resentment. Sometimes when I reminded her, my tone wasn’t very kind, I also began to look down on her. I knew that I had to look inward and cultivate kindness, and should be tolerant and compassionate toward fellow practitioners’ shortcomings. However, I didn’t see any major issues in me, nor look deeper inward.
During that time, I began to recite the Fa, and I felt I had a new understanding of cultivation. Prior to that, when I ran into things, I only looked at the surface and from the perspective of an ordinary person’s principles. I didn’t know how to look deeply inward. Gradually I learned that I should look at which attachment of mine was hit upon beyond the superficial reason, and then eliminate my attachments. She was very worried about her illness. She kept looking inward and hoped that we would point out her shortcomings so that she could quickly rectify and improve herself.
I didn’t realize it, but I pointed out her problems without regard to her feelings and my tone was superior. I also felt that she was responsible for some of the problems in our area. Even though she wasn’t against what I said, I knew that my cultivation state was off. It was already difficult to face an illness karma tribulation. I tried to help her look for shortcomings and share with her on the surface, but my tone and attitude added pressure on her.
What caused my complaints about her, even to the point of getting mad? Why couldn’t I understand her feelings and difficulties? Why did I lack compassion toward practitioners? I told myself that I must look inward. Wasn’t her state a reflection of my issues?
When I thought about it, I felt great regret. I felt I let her down. For the longest time, I did not seriously look inward. However, now I began to examine myself and dig deep into my heart. Master mentioned in Zhuan Falun, the main book of Falun Dafa, that when people are jealous they look down on others. Wasn’t I like that? However, I wasn’t sure what I was jealous about. I didn’t want to be a coordinator myself, so where did that jealousy come from? When I memorized what Master said about jealousy in Zhuan Falun, I understood that I did not believe in her. I felt that she didn’t reach the standards for a coordinator, in my opinion. Whenever I noticed her shortcomings, I felt unbalanced and even indignant.
I also felt that she didn’t have a good understanding of the Fa-principles, and had strong attachments. Didn’t I feel that I was better than her? Whenever I saw her issues I directly pointed them out. I felt I was being responsible to her. But, when I examined myself, I wondered if I was I truly doing it for her benefit. When I saw she did not improve, I should have sympathized with her. So why did I feel indignant and upset? I suddenly realized that I had a deeply hidden selfishness.
Thank you Master for enlightening me! I understood that my motive for helping her was selfish. I used what I felt what a coordinator should be like to judge her. I lacked compassion for a practitioner facing an illness karma tribulation. I couldn’t think from her point of view, instead, I judged her. I suddenly understood the fundamental reason why my practitioner family member and myself had a strong conflict. I thought I was being responsible to him. When I saw his shortcomings, I bluntly pointed them out and hoped he would change. When he didn’t accept what I said I felt indignant and resentful. Our relationships became tense. I felt I was very wronged.
Two days ago, I read an article on the Minghui website in which the practitioner said, “Every being was created by the Creator. Every being is using his or her way to display the glory of a being. No one can replace someone else, and nobody should tell others what to do.” Every practitioner has his or her understanding of the Fa, everyone’s state is different. Everyone walks on his or her own path and uses his or her own way to assist Master in the Fa-rectification. For us to have the opportunity to work with one another in the Fa-rectification lies in our predestined relationship. Therefore, we should treat practitioners with humility and respect. When we see others’ shortcomings, we should kindly remind each other, improve together and work well with one another to walk well on this sacred path in assisting Master in the Fa-rectification.
I felt grateful for benevolent Master once again: Thank you for having me become your disciple! Thank you for compassionately safeguarding me, and bringing me back to the path of returning home!