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Save People First, Look for Root Causes Later
By a Dafa practitioner in Jinan
(Clearwisdom.net) Recently there have been many articles
sharing experiences of saving persecuted fellow practitioners on Clearwisdom.net.
On June 26, Minghui Editors strongly recommended the article "Critical
Discussions with Practitioners in Donggang Concerning Ongoing Problems in the
Liaoning-Donggang Area" (http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2006/6/29/74936.html)
and reminded us that "We should not think that these are other regions'
problems that do not have anything to do with ourselves." I think the issues discussed in this article are critical.
The analysis is complete as well. We can almost directly relate this to the
ongoing problems in Jinan. "Cooperating as one body to save fellow
practitioners" mentioned in the article is something Dafa practitioners in
Jinan haven't been doing well for a long time. During the past several years,
how many fellow practitioners have been "arrested illegally", sent to
brainwashing centers or forced labor camps or been illegally sentenced? How many
of them have been saved when we cooperated as one body and were able to walk out
with dignity and return to the Fa-rectification? Usually after fellow practitioners were arrested there were
reports on Clearwisdom.net. Afterwards, practitioners made stickers carrying
short truth clarification messages or included the information in "Minghui
Weekly" (the Jinan Edition). Due to insufficient information, it was often
hard to use these for truth-clarification materials. Even if truth-clarification
reports were published, the amount of materials was never sufficient because
both the practitioners who made the materials and those who distributed them
didn't give it enough attention. A week passed. The following week, other tasks
came up that kept everyone busy. Then for a long time, there was no news until
one day it was reported that the practitioners had already been sent to a forced
labor camp. Then everybody expressed regret, sighed, and blamed a fellow
practitioner for having loopholes. How many felt ashamed that they didn't try
their best to save fellow practitioners? After a while, they gradually forgot
about it. Later, news about other practitioners being arrested came out, and
this almost became a vicious cycle. Why has the evil succeeded repeatedly in Jinan? Why, when the
Fa-rectification advances and the evil becomes weaker and weaker and many
practitioners in other locations have walked a path that terrifies and weakens
the evil, why are practitioners in Jinan still passive and unable to use other
alternatives! We should really look inward to dig out the root cause. The issue resides in different areas. Here I would like to
discuss my own perspective of letting go of blaming practitioners' loopholes and
trying our best to save practitioners and sentient beings. Let's use an example in our daily life. If we see someone
fall into the water and struggling to get out, what should we do? Of course we
should extend our hands to pull him out of the water or find people who are good
swimmers to save him. We shouldn't stand on the shore and blame him, saying
"Why weren't you being careful? I've warned you not to walk by the water.
Why didn't you listen? You have to promise me not to walk by the water again
before I can save you." If we treat our persecuted practitioners like the
person watching others drown--just blaming and complaining about their
loopholes--and we lose our best opportunities to save practitioners, then what
level is our xinxing at? Aren't we behaving like ordinary
people and being interfered with and blocked by the evil without even realizing
it? If the persecuted practitioners strongly believe in Master
and believe in the Fa and maintain their righteous thoughts and continue to do
the three things well in any environment and if they let Master
arrange everything for them, then they can conquer any difficulties. The
practitioners outside should completely negate the persecution of their fellow
practitioners because no matter how bad the practitioners do, Master continues
to give them opportunities and wouldn't arrange for them to suffer in jails.
Only the old forces and evil spirits and rotten ghosts would grab onto
practitioners loopholes and put them into a deathtrap. If at that time, the
practitioners outside still don't let go of their fellow practitioners'
loopholes, aren't they unintentionally acting as assistants for the old forces
and evil spirits and rotten ghosts? Then are we still walking the path Master
arranged for us? When our fellow practitioners face difficulties, if we still
talk behind their backs, wouldn't the level of our xinxing and
enlightenment level be very low? Last year, not too long after a lawyer practitioner was
detained in a forced labor camp, some practitioners spread the story that he had
been "transformed" in the forced labor camp. But in fact, he had been
persecuted and locked up in a small cell. When his statement was published on
Clearwisdom.net, everyone then realized that he had never given up his belief.
After another practitioner was arrested last year, some practitioners
immediately thought: "What if he tells them my name?" Another woman
practitioner who had been arrested several times got detained again and was
persecuted almost to the brink of her death. At that time what other
practitioners talked about was not how to save her, how to write, call or
distribute truth clarification materials to expose the evil organizations and
the evil people, or how to utilize this opportunity to expose the evil to save
sentient beings or how to keep doing that until the practitioner was freed.
Instead they talked about where her loopholes were and how she didn't pay enough
attention to her safety. Another 76-year-old woman practitioner was
illegally sentenced to a lengthy prison term early this year. A
rumor has been spread that she did not pay enough attention to security, and her
family was not in harmony, which was why she got arrested several times. News
didn't get out until two weeks after she was sentenced. What's even more
heart-breaking is that, even now, there are still people talking irresponsibly
and spreading rumors about this practitioner. Recently an elderly woman
practitioner was persecuted. There were no efforts to save her before she was
sentenced, but some people seemed to be very "clear" on her loopholes. I myself somewhat cared a great deal about fellow
practitioners' loopholes and did not stop other practitioners who had such
thoughts about the persecuted practitioners when they were in urgent need of
help. Now that I think about it, I feel very ashamed. In recent years, good
fellow practitioners were often persecuted by the evil. Although the high walls
of the forced labor camps or jails confine a practitioner's body, they can't
confine the heart of a genuine practitioner. Regretting the loss of sentient
beings being saved due to practitioners being locked in jails, how can the
practitioners outside make it up? It's very difficult. If we don't save them in
time, the loss is not only for the fellow practitioners, but also for sentient
beings, for ourselves, and for our Master, because all Dafa practitioners were
Master's family before, and Master hopes to save them all so that they can
cultivate to consummation. As a practitioner in the Fa-rectification period, no matter
how good we cultivate ourselves, we are not a stand alone celestial body. We are
one body with close connections. When fellow practitioners have shortcomings or
loopholes, we should stay clear-minded with our strong righteous thoughts and be
benevolent with great tolerance so we can help each other, remind each other,
and support each other. We should keep in mind what Master said: "Your accomplishments reflect mighty virtue gained
through sound Fa study and the solidifying of righteous thoughts, and your
shortcomings tell of the things that you need to work on along your cultivation
path." ("To the Chicago Fa Conference") If we all follow what Master asked us to do, the situation in
Jinan with regard to practitioners validating Dafa will be just like "after
passing the shady willow trees, there will be bright flowers and another village
ahead!" |