By a Falun Gong practitioner in China

(Clearwisdom.net) I was very much affected by a fellow practitioner's article, "Cultivate by Master's Arrangement Rather Than Improve Through Enduring Persecution." (http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2007/8/27/88995.html) I agree with the practitioner. I would like to share my personal experiences of bringing to the forefront impediments to improving through enduring persecution.

Since the beginning of the persecution, I have experienced a relatively stable cultivation path. I paid attention to my personal safety and resisted the persecution. I also clarified the truth about Falun Gong and was never arrested. Alas, last year someone reported me to the police when I was clarifying the truth. It came to my attention that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) authorities had planned for two weeks to arrest me the next time I clarified the truth to the man that reported me. About two dozen policemen came in several cars just to arrest me. They ransacked my home and confiscated my Falun Gong books and photos of Teacher.

The first question they asked was, "Do you practice Falun Gong?" I could tell from their speech that they knew perfectly well what Falun Gong really is, but they chose to suppress the practice and persecute practitioners knowingly. They described their crimes as "executing the law." I decided not to use this question to clarify the truth about Falun Gong to them. Besides, this was not the time or place to clarify the truth, for this was an environment created by the evil beings from other dimensions. In a free environment, I would have gladly answered the question with the truth.

It was a pity that these policemen sat opposite me in an environment arranged by the evil beings in other dimensions. They took photos of me. They asked this question for the sheer purpose of collecting "evidence" to justify their persecution. Naturally, I had to refuse to answer the question.

The officers tried different ways to make me answer the question. One even said, "You are not like a Falun Gong practitioner. They always admit openly that they practice Falun Gong and that they don't care about the consequence of identifying themselves as Falun Gong practitioners. You don't even answer this basic question. You dare not answer the question because you are afraid of being taken to prison." The chairman of the local 610 Office even told me, "You don't look like a Falun Gong practitioner." They knew I practiced Falun Gong, but they asked the question because they wanted me to admit it. The old forces must have exhausted their wits to create a wicked "cultivation environment" for me! I felt sorry for them, but their plot did not work.

I am a Falun Gong practitioner in the Fa-rectification period. I have been very proud of this title because this explains my entire life. With or without the persecution, I will not compromise my faith in the Fa. I do not fear to admit that I am a Falun Gong practitioner. As a Falun Gong practitioner, I have taken an incredibly challenging journey. Heaven and Earth, as well as sentient beings in the universe, have witnessed what I have done to validate the Fa and that I have given my life to Teacher and the Fa. No one can take this truth from me! Teacher knows my heart better than I do myself. Therefore, Teacher would never "test" me with such an elementary question at the pivotal moment when sentient beings await Teacher's salvation.

This was not arranged by Teacher, so I must not cooperate. If I had answered such an elementary question, I would have stepped into the trap and willingly accepted the arrangement of evil beings from other dimensions for "upgrading" my cultivation level. If I had accepted the "test," the evil beings from other dimensions would never have let me go if I didn't reach "their" standards.

It was puzzling to me why other practitioners would knowingly jump into such a trap by "righteously" answering their question. It didn't matter at all when the chairman of the 610 Office told me that I didn't look like a Falun Gong practitioner. It didn't matter at all whether they understood me or not. If the evil beings could understand me, I would not be a Falun Gong practitioner. The only thing that matters is that Teacher acknowledges me as his disciple. There is no need for me to prove anything to the old forces or the evil beings or to seek their acknowledgment that I am a Falun Gong practitioner.

When the chairman of the 610 Office said, "You don't look like a Falun Gong practitioner," I asked him in return, "If I don't look like a Falun Gong practitioner, why did you arrest me? You should release me right away." They were astonished by my response, but they no longer tried to get an answer. They wrote in their book, "No response."

I also believe that only by fundamentally denying the "cultivation environment" that the old forces and the evil beings have arranged, and by refusing to "cultivate" or "upgrade our cultivation level" in the environment they have arranged, will we be able to prevent them from committing the terrible sins of persecuting us. This is truly taking into account their wellbeing. They stressed that they had mobilized a large police force and that they could not possibly allow themselves to work for nothing. I knew they were trying to create fear in my heart, make me "considerate" towards the police, and be cooperative during the interrogation. But this tactic did not work. They were using their twisted "logic" to make me say things that they could use as "evidence" to justify their persecution. But I thought only about stopping them from committing crimes and about denying the old forces' tests, which would take the policemen to their doom in the end. To be truly "considerate" of the policemen, I must try my best to save their souls.

When they wrote "no response from the detainee" in their document, they admitted that they had no excuse to commit crimes against me. The less I was persecuted, the fewer crimes they committed. I must not neglect their lives because I wanted to reach Consummation or because I had no fear. I must not prove to the old forces or the evil beings from other dimensions that I am a qualified practitioner at the expense of the policemen's lives. I would not be saving sentient beings, but instead pushing them down to hell. I must never accept the old forces' "tests" for my own Consummation at the risk of harming sentient beings. Only the old forces will insist on "testing" me at the expense of sentient beings' lives. I must not treat sentient beings the same way the old forces treat them.

Besides, I will not be able to reach Consummation even if the old forces think I have passed their "tests." I will have the old forces witness how Falun Gong practitioners let go of themselves to the greatest extent for the sake of sentient beings, including letting go of the attachment to Consummation, with the great compassion they have attained in the Fa. That they put down "no response from the detainee" has reflected my compassion towards them and my detachment to Consummation. This is how I was considerate of them on the surface.

I didn't think of going on a hunger strike or escaping, because I would have thought that I was a prisoner. To acknowledge the arrest and to resort to a hunger strike or an attempt to escape is to passively acknowledge the persecution. I didn't want to be released by creating symptoms of sickness, either, because that would be acknowledging another form of the old forces' persecution. I don't believe that displays righteous thoughts. First, I am not a prisoner. Second, I don't have any illness. I was just brought here to sit for a few hours.

On my way to the bathroom, I looked at the well-guarded entrance and thought, "I shall walk out of here in an upright manner, completely unharmed!" Denying the old forces' arrangements is not limited to going on a hunger strike, escaping, or creating signs of illness. Besides, these would extend the persecution. Even if a practitioner is released on any of these conditions, the police will come after him or her again later. Therefore, they should not be accepted as ways to be released from imprisonment. We should not leave these cases for the future generations to follow because they are passive and are detrimental to our health. We must not be remembered in history as victims of the old forces.

I didn't say or do any unreasonable during the entire time I was held. I didn't think of practicing the Falun Gong exercises or doing anything I knew would irritate the police. I didn't want to do anything to exaggerate or dramatize my protest because that would be typical of a left-winger. "Left-wing" is part of the CCP culture. It will not prove my protest of the persecution. Instead, I would be joining the "left-wing" CCP. Excessive speech or action does nothing good to save sentient beings. Hence, I was ever so polite to them. In response, they were very polite to me and didn't feel that I was fighting against them. In fact, I was not against them. It is not even worth fighting against the old forces' arrangements for I only need to know how to negate and eliminate the old forces' arrangements and to eradicate all the evil beings and elements behind the policemen.

Within 24 hours, the police decided to release me unconditionally after they discussed the situation. They didn't even ask me to sign anything. One policeman told me, "It appears that you don't have any attachments. Go home and practice your Falun Gong." The chairman of the 610 Office said, "A few years ago, we would never have handled your case like this." But I thought, "Not necessary! If all the Falun Gong practitioners would let go of the thought of life and death, let go of the attachment to Consummation, and change from selfishness to altruism, the persecution would never have taken place, and you would never have had a chance to handle any such case!"

This incident happened over a year ago. On all politically sensitive dates, the police arrested other fellow practitioners, but they left me alone.

I thought many times about sharing this experience, but somehow did not follow through. As a practitioner in the Fa-rectification period, I think it is a shame to be arrested or persecuted, for it is not what Teacher wants. Even though I have prevailed over the persecution, it was a negative lesson. There is a positive and negative side to everything in the human realm. The persecution of Falun Gong is an opportunity to clarify the truth and to save sentient beings, but it will also scare off some people who could have been saved.

In my humble opinion, it is Teacher's arrangement for me to walk my path well to validate the Fa. But I didn't walk the path well and I have let Teacher down. I feel very guilty every time I think about the arrest. The persecution has prompted many people to commit terrible crimes and sins. No matter how well we behaved or how our strong righteous thoughts amidst the persecution, we have created a lot of losses. There is nothing to celebrate to prevail over the persecution. There are some losses that cannot be repaired. What is lost is lost. We should never acknowledge what we did not do well or leave a negative history for future generations. This is the true reason why I didn't want to share my experience.

We have come to validate the Fa, not to validate the evil persecution. The Fa does not expect us to accept the evil persecution. What we leave behind for the future must be the most righteous path that rectified the Fa. If we are released from police custody after we upgrade our cultivation level, it is as if we have justified the evil persecution. That is not the truth of it. When we prevail over the persecution, it is because we have attained the Fa's requirements and because Teacher protected us, not because the persecution prompted us to reach a higher level. With or without the persecution, we are bound to reach a higher level under the guidance of the Fa. We do not need the persecution to examine our levels. The persecution is not an inevitable process to a higher realm. It is our road of Fa-rectification to follow Teacher's Fa, elevate ourselves in the Fa, fundamentally negate the evil cultivation environment for the sake of saving sentient beings, and walk steadily on our path to the end.

I didn't want to share my experience, but was prompted by a fellow practitioner's article about negating the persecution. I wrote this article because I decided that my thoughts on and my experience of negating the persecution might show fellow practitioners a different way to negate the persecution.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2007/9/2/161837.html