By a practitioner from Heilongjiang Province

(Clearwisdom.net) Years ago, practitioners in our city formed a cultivation group before most other cities had done so. We also made numerous efforts to rescue fellow practitioners from detention. Some efforts succeeded, some did not. There were many different reasons for our failures, including lack of coordination/cooperation, personal cultivation issues and other, unknown reasons. But we succeeded for only one reason--we followed Master's arrangement, and the evil factors in other dimensions could not find any excuses to persecute practitioners. Practitioners always returned safely home.

I now would like to share some realizations gained during a rescue effort.

When the Human Mentality was Dominant, we Failed to Rescue Practitioners

Between August and September 2004, a practitioner from our city was arrested in another city. We all agreed that we must rescue him. In the past we had successfully rescued many practitioners, and it had become a routine, similar to a job. Other practitioners might not have thought this way, but at least I had formed the notion of accomplishing an assignment. We first tried to analyze where the detained practitioner might have loopholes. Then we looked for our group's shortcomings. After sending righteous thoughts we sent articles to Minghui, displayed posters in public places, mailed letters, distributed truth-clarification flyers, made phone calls, and told the police to release the practitioner. These activities are not wrong, but the underlying reasons for doing these activities is what matters most. When our collective cultivation is in good shape, and our rescue efforts are based on saving sentient beings, with our motivation originating from our altruistic mindsets, then the result is always good. But in this case we faced new difficulties. Our past experiences didn't apply to this practitioner, because he was on the police "wanted" list, and the police had "accidentally" arrested him in a different city. The police might not have known his identity. If we proceeded with the old rescue routine, would that inadvertently give away his identity? Would he tell the police who he is?

All of us knew this practitioner well and thus felt strongly for him and worried for his well-being. We therefore put his rescue at the highest priority. We had forgotten some of the real reasons for rescuing practitioners, that is to walk the path Master arranged, to eliminate the evil and to save more sentient beings.

We examined our minds with a human mentality, trying to discover faults. After a while, all we could come up with was some speculation and not a realistic approach for rescue. It appeared we had exhausted our options, and we sent righteous thoughts with a passive and pessimistic attitude. This kind of mentality rendered our righteous thoughts ineffective. Of course, some practitioners continued looking for ways to rescue him, but others were reluctant. Our cultivation group as a whole wasn't united in the one body, so the effect was poor.

One month passed, and the practitioner was still in a detention center suffering from persecution. We also didn't have much information about him.

More than 30 days after his arrest we heard a rumor. A practitioner in detention had died, and it could be him. We were shocked. Our inner most feelings were stirred. An energetic young man, half way along on his cultivation, with so many sentient beings waiting for him to save them - how could he be dead? How could we fellow practitioners allow the evil to be so rampant? What have we done during his month-long incarceration? Have we operated from the standpoint of human mentality? Numbness? Procrastination? Sending righteous thoughts as a matter of routine? Did we truly realize that his arrest was an evil attack on Dafa, that it was an attempt to stop our efforts to save people?

Although we still have certain faults and sometime don't get the best results, as long as we recognize our problems, with Master's guidance we can correct our actions. Master doesn't acknowledge the persecution, so why should we? If we hold on to human fear and inactivity, aren't we silently accepting the persecution? Did we follow Master's teachings? According to the way we comprehend the Fa, did we do the right things?

Sharing and discussions helped us clarify our huge responsibility. A pure thought then occupied my entire being. Several fellow practitioners who heard the rumor were deeply touched. Our human mentality vanished. Once we identified our basis, we became determined to take action to rescue our fellow practitioner. We reached this decision based on our mission to clarify the truth, and shake up and eliminate the evil, although we didn't know if the detained practitioner was still alive. We couldn't let the evil get away with killing more practitioners.

Once our goal was set, inspiration came to us automatically. We decided to contact the practitioner's family.

We only knew he lived in the countryside, but didn't know the address. We also knew that his aunt (father's sister) was a retiree from a government agency in our city but did not know her name. These limited clues were insufficient to find his family. One practitioner said, "I heard that another practitioner's relative also works there [at the government agency]. We should try to ask her." It was an urgent task, and we had waited too long. We all believed immediate action was crucial.

When our minds are righteous, Master will give us wisdom. I came up with an idea. I dialed 114 (the phone number inquiry service) and got the agency's phone number. After that, I asked Master to support our effort and dialed the number. I asked, "Do you have a person whose surname is X?" (the practitioner and his aunt have the same rare family name). "Yes, but she is retired," was the answer. I said, "I have an emergency, her relative is in trouble. Please let me know her phone number." Without hesitation, the person gave me his aunt's number. After I dialed the number, the practitioner's cousin told me that his mother was not home. I told him what happened to his cousin. To my surprise, this person's mind was deeply poisoned by the communist party's lies. He refused to listen to me and told me that there was nothing he could do. I was very sad. The sentient beings are so scared of the evil Party that they did not even want to help their own relatives. This exemplified the importance of clarifying the truth and saving people.

He hung up quickly. I didn't give up and dialed the number again. I told him in a friendly manner: "Your cousin is a good person, and you should know that he did nothing wrong to deserve the arrest. Where he is, the police could kill him. Perhaps you, as one his relatives, could do a little more to help him." I also told him some practitioners' stories. His voice softened, "But we have no contact with him." "What about his own family?" The cousin told me that the practitioner's parents had passed away, but he had three older brothers. He also provided the phone number of the practitioner's oldest brother. I dialed the number and an old man answered the phone. I told him, "Your brother was arrested. His life is in danger." The man said," We cannot help. We don't have any capability to help him. We are busy with our farm, and that is our only means of survival, sorry."

I felt sad for him and told him that we knew that the people in the countryside were struggling to make ends meet. I went on to say that all lives are important, we are all good people, this world should have principles, and if you don't help your brother now, you may regret it for the rest of your life. I also said, "You are brothers, after all. Please think this over. If you want to go, we will accompany you there." Moved by my sincerity he agreed to consider our offer and call me back in the afternoon. I asked him for the other two brother's phone numbers. He said, "No need, I can make the decision, they always listen to me."

Once I returned to our city, practitioners gathered to discuss the next steps.

When I called the brother again there was no answer. The same thing happened the next day. It seemed that he really did not want to help. We approached his involvement from the standpoint of not relying on him. How could practitioners rely on everyday people? He and his family are sentient beings waiting to be saved. Whether it's clarifying the truth at a detention center, demanding the police release our people, a family member is only a formality that fits the situation. However, with family members prominently involved, the evils have little room to make excuses. Our righteous thoughts [and Master's blessing] are the genuine reasons for achieving results.

After a brief discussion, several practitioners decided to visit the brother's home in the country. We wanted to personally clarify the situation to his family.

Not knowing his address, I asked the phone inquiry station and learned that the brother lives in a village far away from the city.

The three of us hired a taxi and went to his home in the poor village. The home was simple and clean. His brother was a typical peasant -- somewhat uneasy in our presence, and he didn't even invite us into his home. We stood in the front yard talking to the unwelcoming host and used our compassion to try to persuade him, using language that he could accept. We told him that Falun Gong practitioners are good people, and we really cared for his brother. We came all the way from the city in a taxi, just to tell him that his brother is a good person who deserves to live a good life. If he dies in jail, it will be a huge injustice. We talked and talked, patiently and reasonably. Finally, he put down his guard and became friendly. We told him our plan to facilitate his trip. We invited him to go with us directly to the detention center. He then took us to see another brother. The minute we saw that brother, he turned around and left without saying a word. We had no resentment at his cold attitude. We would save him in the future.

The practitioner's brother had all but decided to leave with us. But a man came out and took pictures of our taxi and each one of us. We knew the evil controlled him, so we stopped him.

Before we left, the man's wife ran after us, crying and yelling. She would not let the man go with us. No matter what we said, she did not listen. I was a little angry and told her firmly, "How can you behave like this? We are doing you a favor. It's up to you now, but I hope you will not regret." I went back to the taxi and saw the other practitioners sending righteous thoughts. In less than two minutes, the man and his wife came back. The woman had changed her attitude completely and said "sorry." She agreed to let her husband go with us.

We dropped him off at a hotel. Then we gathered several coordinators in our city and debated what to do next and quickly reached a consensus. In the evening we informed all practitioners in the city to send righteous thoughts. We also contacted a lawyer and made a plan to approach the officials at the detention center and mapped out our travel route to the detention center in the other city and prepared some printed materials. We cooperated in our work, and everyone did his part.

The next day a righteous lawyer arrived. After briefly discussing strategy, the lawyer and the brother went to the detention center. We planned to remain behind and send very intense righteous thoughts. Every one of us joined the strong field as one body. Although my celestial eye is closed, I have no doubt that the righteous field must have been extremely strong.

We later learned that the practitioner was alive. He was very steadfast and had gone on a hunger strike for more than thirty days. He didn't tell the evil anything, nor did he cooperate with them in any way, not even when the police interrogated him. The police eventually discovered his identify from the Internet, but they could do nothing to him. So, they tortured him and put him into a cold room. When he was suffering the most painful experience, he felt Master's, the Fa's, and the practitioners' powers. A criminal inmate told him, "Your people are working to get you out!" He knew this couldn't have come from the inmates. How could a criminal inmate know about the rescue effort? His heart was filled with righteous thoughts. When our energy fields joined, the evil collapsed instantly.

Behind the scenes, certain practitioners spoke with the city political security chief and convinced him. He told the practitioner, "Let his family members come here. We will let him out." The police from our city went to the detention center and took him out. Then they released him unconditionally.

Superficially viewed, this was a big event. In his previous incarceration the practitioner was on medical parole but had run away and was wanted by the police. The police had been on a regional manhunt for him. How could they let him go like that this time? It wasn't supposed to be that easy. But since we followed Master's arrangement, the outcome was completely changed.

Now he was free, but our mission to save people didn't end there. We were still concerned about his family members and especially the people in the village who had not learned the truth. We needed to find a way to quickly save them.

The practitioner's oldest brother had positive views about us. He admired our unity and camaraderie. But his other family members were still in the dark. Other people in the village also had not heard the true facts. This practitioner had been away for years, working on Fa rectification projects. As a result, he lived on a shoestring budget and has not provided for his relatives who did not appreciate this at all.

We heard that one of his relatives was getting married. After a discussion, we decided to have some practitioners attend the wedding.

Practitioners clarified the truth to people at the wedding. The practitioner's relatives were touched upon hearing the truth. They realized we are not as CCTV described us - quite the opposite. The relatives saw our compassion for all people. More than fifty people at the wedding agreed to quit the Chinese Communist Party and its affiliates.

Although I didn't attend the wedding for various reasons, I was still moved by fellow practitioners' efforts. I also experienced the power of cooperation.

August 1, 2008

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2008/8/3/183256.html