Letting Go of Self to Save More People

By a practitioner in Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province

(Clearwisdom.net) In preparation for the Beijing Olympics, the government agencies at the city, county and district levels have held meetings one after the other. They have initiated campaigns like the "City Moat Project" and the "Summer Strike Hard Campaign" to persecute Falun Gong practitioners. Work units in Zhulu, Chicheng and some other counties have transferred a large number of people to go to the countryside. They designated people to be responsible for keeping surveillance on every practitioner. The 610 Office branches of different work units have also employed people to destroy Falun Gong "truth-clarification" materials. The county level 610 Office issued a directive saying that the work unit would be fined 5,000 yuan for every flier found at the work unit. Every county installed security cameras at the main streets, at the work units, and at the cross roads. At the same time, the county 610 Office constantly harassed practitioners that they designated as "key targets," trying to force those practitioners to give up their belief. They also threatened practitioners with being fired from their jobs if they did not write a "guarantee statement".

Ms. Li Guirong from Zhulu County was arrested on May 23, 2008 and her home was ransacked. She was handcuffed and shackled while being taken to the Zhangjiakou City Detention Center. When the police were ransacking the house, Ms. Li's husband tried to reason with them to protect his wife. He was also arrested and held at the Zhulu Detention Center. Chicheng County also gives incentives for people to report practitioners. The informers receive 1,000 "yuan" for every practitioner they report. On May 24, 2008, a female practitioner was reported while clarifying the truth. She was badly beaten up at the police station and the National Security Division before being sent to the Zhangjiakou Detention Center.

The escalated persecution has seriously affected local "truth-clarification" and our efforts at saving sentient beings. Some practitioners began to exhibit fear, and in some areas practitioners were bogged down in debate on projects aimed at exposing the evildoers and rescuing fellow practitioners. I would like to share my understanding on the issue with fellow practitioners.

The persecution arranged by the old forces is meant to destroy sentient beings and to eliminate the people they consider unqualified to be saved. However, Teacher wants to save as many sentient beings as possible. He does not hold sentient beings' past faults against them. As long as they support Dafa during the Fa-rectification period and do not commit crimes against Dafa, they will be given opportunities for salvation. Those evil beings and factors controlled by the old forces have been doing things in line with the principles set forth by the old forces, to sabotage or interfere with the Fa-rectification. It's impossible for them not to do bad things and it's equally impossible for them to change for the better. The Chinese Communist Party's recent violent attacks against the Quitting the CCP Service Center in Flushing, New York further exposed its viciousness and hooliganism. As practitioners, we must have a sober understanding about the old forces and the persecution it has arranged, as well as the situation of persecution we are facing today. However, we should not be moved by any of the old force arrangements and keep on doing what we should do. Only by doing so can we be worthy of the title "Fa-rectification period Dafa Disciple."

We must also understand what is an attachment. What is fear and what is self-protection? Isn't it an attachment to self? If we can truly let go of ourselves, put our mission of coming to this world above everything, and if every one of our thoughts is about the safety of sentient beings and if we use righteous thoughts to look at this persecution, then there will definitely be a better outcome.

Since last year, news about practitioners in our city being sentenced constantly appeared on the Minghui/Clearwisdom website. The number of practitioners being sentenced and the weight of the sentences handed down were unprecedented. Wanquan, Huanhua and Chicheng counties, as well as the city proper, were hardest hit. At a time when the whole Fa-rectification process is drawing to an end, severe persecution like this still happened in our region. This really deserves some thought from us. Teacher said,

"The students in regions that have been severely persecuted, or in places that have been seriously damaged, should really think about it: what's really going on? " ("Teaching and Explaining the Fa at the Metropolitan New York Fa Conference")

There are many factors that cause the persecution. However, our experience in cultivation during the Fa-rectification period and the countless bitter lessons we have learned showed that when the practitioners in a region fail to form one body, have misunderstandings among themselves, have attachment to self, validate themselves, do not cooperate with one another and fail to form a powerful righteous field, then that region will be most vulnerable to severe persecution.

The article "Offering People Salvation Is Our Highest Priority"

(http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2008/5/24/97606.html) published on the Minghui/Clearwisdom website merits being read by every practitioner in our region. The separation and conflicts among practitioners have become very serious in some cities and counties. The practitioners have been bogged down in endless debate over an issue in a Fa-rectification project. Repeated experience sharing failed to achieve any common consent. As a result, they wasted a lot of time.

When we argue over this, we lose valuable time. Right now, it is urgent to save people, so how much time can we afford to waste? No two practitioners are alike. How can we compare one practitioner to another? As long as practitioners do something to save people, we should selflessly cooperate and offer support, but we often make comments about certain practitioners and regard their deficiencies as the reason why they suffer persecution. In reality, it is something we should harmonize. On the other hand, if certain practitioners do not agree with some of our ways of handling things, we should not take it too personally. As long as we are trying our best to offer people salvation and walking on the path of saving people, Teacher recognizes this. From whom else do we still seek recognition?

Let's look back at the powerful and destructive earthquake in Sichuan Province. Many practitioners shed tears for the victims. This is not human sentiment. It is because we had not done well that a large number of sentient beings passed away before learning the truth and being offered salvation. The practitioners felt grieved and remorseful for these lives who also came to this world to gain the Fa. Isn't this our responsibility? Natural disasters and man-made calamities are happening one after another. No one knows what tomorrow will be like. The sentient beings' fate is unknown. As practitioners we are very fortunate that Teacher is looking after us. However, these people are not that lucky. If practitioners do not save them, they would have no hope. Fellow practitioners, please free yourself from the conflicts and separation which belong to human beings. If you have time you can hand out more fliers, clarify the truth to more people, persuade more people to quit the CCP and save more people. This is what we as practitioners should do.

At present many practitioners in our region have the mentality of fear and their righteous thoughts are not strong enough. When the persecution escalates, their first thought is to protect themselves. Righteous thoughts come from righteous belief and righteous enlightenment in the Fa. It also comes from the practitioners' indestructible and diamond-like solidity in their cultivation. All of this comes from the Fa. Therefore, to study the Fa well is the fundamental guarantee for doing well. Sending forth righteous thoughts can completely disintegrate the evil forces and evil factors involved in the persecution of the practitioners in our region, and prevent people from committing sins against Dafa. This is also a part of saving sentient beings. Teacher has bestowed on us the supernormal powers of the Buddha Fa. We have failed to bring it into full play because we still have human attachments, fear and lack of righteous thoughts. Sending forth righteous thoughts is one of the three things Teacher asked us to do, so it is just as important as the other two things. I have realized that in this dimension, we use righteous thoughts to save sentient beings, while the manifestation in other dimension would be a battle between the righteous and the evil in the universe.

Please feel free to comment and correct me on anything inappropriate.

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