(Clearwisdom.net)
(Continued from Part 3 http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2001/12/27/17151.html)
Over the past two years, the practitioners were frequently transferred from one team to another. Some of them have been in five or six different teams (almost every team in the labor camp). Wherever they are sent, they win the admiration and the genuine respect of the people there. Behaving as true cultivators, they are always considerate of others and strict with themselves. They are constantly in high spirits and optimistic, and they are sincere and true to everyone and everything. This is because instead of regarding themselves as prisoners in a labor camp, every one of them is functioning as a particle of the Fa. No matter if in the field, on the parade grounds, or in the dorm, through every heartfelt and friendly conversation they do their best to let people understand the truth of Dafa. Even under more and more severe persecution, they still defend the Fa, stick to the truth, and treat the people around them with unchangeable hearts of kindness. They have melted peoples frozen and decadent hearts with their sincerity, reviving consciences that had almost died. They often told the prisoners, "In the past, you always tried to conquer violence with violence and evil with evil, so you treated others this way and ended up in jail one after another. It is because you have never experienced the great power of conquering violence and evil with benevolence. It is just because you are indeed wrongdoers that you are afraid of the police, like rats are afraid of cats. Dafa practitioners are benevolent and selfless, and they will never yield to the evil forces. That is why they have won the respect of people everywhere, from the detention centers to the labor camps."
The sharp contrast between the good and the evil is changing people from the very bottom of their hearts. After a long period of contact and communication with Dafa practitioners, people have witnessed that Dafa practitioners are completely different from what the Chinese media says about them. After listening to practitioners talk about their cultivation experiences, many prisoners were moved and even changed their outlook on life. They expressed that they were determined to stop doing wrong and to begin a new life, and some of them even expressed the willingness to learn Falun Gong after they were set free. Before their release, many prisoners sincerely told practitioners, "We are called the dregs of society by people and have been in jail several times. Nobody but Falun Gong practitioners ever told us the meaning of life, and well never commit crimes again, even if we have to beg for money or food to survive, because Falun Gong made us really want to be good." Through the promotion of "Truth-Compassion-Forbearance" by practitioners over the past two years, the good natures of many prisoners have been awakened, and many of them have obtained the Fa and are practicing cultivation very diligently. Such instances are abundant in the labor camp. In private talks with practitioners, many policemen frankly expressed their discontent with the higher authorities and their own willingness to make friends with the practitioners. After gaining some understanding of Dafa, they began to look at Dafa and practitioners with admiration. Even the prisoners who were once pressured into helping the evil to persecute practitioners said with a guilty conscience to the practitioners, "We know you are all good, innocent people, and we dont want to treat you like this, but we are being coerced and will have to apologize to you in the future."
There are more such stories of Dafa practitioners in the labor camp. All these things are the result of the great power and magical effect of Dafa in purifying peoples hearts. As practitioners, they are just doing what they should do as particles of Dafa without trying to reach some standard in the human world on purpose. In reality, however, all their efforts have achieved good effects. In addition to enduring the pain and suffering forced on them, the practitioners teach people to be good and change their hearts with the power of Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance. They are reawakening peoples consciences, correcting their misunderstandings, readjusting their states of mind, invigorating their spirits and winning their respect.
Throughout the two years in the labor camp, the evil authorities have never been able to find a valid reason to detain the practitioners, whether from the angle of human sentimentality, rationality, or law. They only want to increase the so-called "reform rate" (the number of practitioners per unit who renounce Falun Dafa under pressure), and thus completely disregard the law and treat this persecution as a game played by the authorities. If you write an empty promise to give up cultivation, you will be released. Otherwise, your sentence will be prolonged without reason. They have utilized the worst practices from all the past political movements and the present regime, including: intensive labor, brainwashing, beating, torture, electrical shock, handcuffing behind the back, confinement in small, spike-laden cells, hanging, sitting on an iron chair, chilling with ice, and burning with fire. They have tried to brainwash practitioners by escalating the persecution and employing all possible methods of violence against them, especially the women practitioners. Their vile actions fully demonstrate the cowardice and evilness of the ruling clique headed by Jiang Zemin. From another point of view, under such unfair treatment and in such a complex environment, Dafa practitioners have endured hardships beyond the limits of everyday people, and have displayed indestructible faith in "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" and diamond-like determination to reach consummation. "The steadfast, righteous thoughts of a cultivator transcend all human understandings, transcend all human thinking, and can never be understood by everyday people. At the same time, they cannot be changed by everyday people, because humans are not able to change enlightened beings" ("Coercion Cannot Change Peoples Hearts").
Only because of their selflessness, are the Dafa practitioners able to confront the persecution from the evil forces and bear pressure unimaginable to ordinary people. Without the thought of personal loss or gain, everything they do is for others and the good of all sentient beings. Superficially, it is just Dafa practitioners who are suffering. The evils are manipulating the power in their hands and all the resources of the "State machinery" to suppress the practitioners in the name of the country and the Party and are even instigating the ignorant people to hate Falun Gong and its practitioners by spreading fabricated stories and vicious lies. However, the two-year-long persecution of Dafa has plunged the whole society into a state of panic, and in actuality, it is the everyday people who have suffered most. The leaders of offices or businesses that employ Falun Gong practitioners are not only harassed by police, but they have to listen to criticism from their superiors. If a practitioner goes to appeal in Beijing, his work leaders will be reprimanded and his colleagues will have their salaries cut. Therefore, all the leaders are under pressure to intensify their "administration" and get involved in the persecution of Falun Gong in order to avoid punishment. Once a practitioner disappears, they will always become extremely nervous and leave no stone unturned in searching for the person. The family members of practitioners not only have to bear the burden of supporting the family alone, as well as endure the misunderstanding and ridicule from others, but they are also frequently harassed by police and threatened with dismissal by the heads of their workplaces. If a practitioner disappears from the view of authorities, then the local police or their workplace heads, along with the sub-district officers from their area, will go to pressure their family members. Moreover, if there is anyone in the family who is due to be promoted at work or to go study abroad, he or she will be punished and lose the opportunity only because his or her relative is a practitioner.
We can see that the whole society is enduring suffering from the persecution, not only Falun Gong practitioners. In the last stage of the Dharma-ending period, our great benevolent Teacher is offering salvation to all sentient beings and is enduring a great deal for us, the Dafa practitioners. What we endure during our cultivation is only a very small portion. If, in the Fa-rectification period, we fail to withstand the trials and fail to defend the Fa with determined hearts, it is meaningless to talk about cultivating up to higher levels within this lifetime or the fruit status that will be obtained after Consummation. For Dafa practitioners, to eliminate the evil is to participate in the Fa-rectification and offer salvation to the people of the world. The greatest benevolence to the people is not to allow the existence of the evil.
The process of cultivation is like that of climbing a mountain. The path toward the peak is rugged, dangerous and full of precipices. Many people hesitate and watch at the foot of the mountain, but only a few have the courage to try to overcome all the difficulties and climb toward the peak. So only these courageous ones have the opportunity to enjoy the beautiful scenes on the top of the mountain. Although some of them might become careless and fall after climbing mid-way, they will nevertheless reach the top if they rise again and persevere with a determined will. Those who watch at the foot of the mountain will never be able to enjoy the beautiful scenes on the top unless they climb the mountain too.
"The path a Dafa disciple takes is a glorious history, and this history has to be created by his own enlightening" ("Path"). As Dafa disciples at this crucial time, we feel extremely honored to gain personal salvation from our Teacher. We should treasure such a rare opportunity and take every step well on the path of cultivation. We believe that the greatness and the grandeur of Fa-rectification disciples will unfold to the world in the near future.
All the practitioners unlawfully imprisoned in Shayang Labor Camp, Hubei Province, send greetings to our great Teacher!
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