(Minghui.org) Over the years, I have observed some problems in how practitioners who provide technical support for our truth-clarification efforts (whom I refer to “tech practitioners” hereinafter) handle things. This is a sensitive topic that many practitioners tend to avoid. But today, I’d like to take this opportunity to share some of my heartfelt thoughts, as I feel every human attachment could obstruct us from moving forward in our cultivation, and inappropriate conduct could negatively affect our efforts in saving sentient beings.
Incident 1
A fellow practitioner was reported to the police while out talking to people about Dafa. Her home was ransacked, including a desktop computer mainly used by her family members who did not practice Falun Gong.
The computer was assembled with the help of a tech practitioner and the woman had asked him to buy the best parts despite the higher price.
Not long after the police confiscated the desktop, the practitioner and her husband were summoned to the police station and told that a great deal of materials against the Chinese Communist Party were found on the computer.
“That’s impossible,” her husband argued, “It was assembled by a professional technician, and it is solely for the children’s school work. All the parts are brand new and the hard drive itself cost more than 1,000 yuan. I can show you the receipt.”
“Nonsense,” the police said, “the hard drive could not have cost more than 500 yuan. Look what we’ve found on it.”
The police opened the computer and showed them what was stored on it – heaps of Dafa materials, one article after another.
The police kept asking for the name of the tech practitioner who assembled the computer and threatened the couple, “If you do not cooperate with us, your son will lose his job and your grandson cannot go to college!”
When they got back home, her husband complained, “See what your people have done to our computer!”
The woman never told the police who assembled the computer for them. She thought she should take the responsibility herself and would never implicate any other practitioner.
She did not mention the incident to other practitioners either, because she did not want to cause any negative impact for the tech practitioner.
When I heard about this, I felt it’s not appropriate for the tech practitioner to save Dafa materials on the computer intended for non-practitioners’ use, without getting their permission. Doing so has apparently put the practitioner and her family in danger.
Meanwhile, I also want to say to the practitioner whose home was ransacked, I believe it’s out of goodwill that the tech practitioner saved truth-clarification materials on the computer, so that her family can learn more about Dafa.
On the other hand, I also wondered how the police knew that the computer had Dafa materials.
Incident 2
Last year, I ran into a fellow practitioner whom I knew for many years when I went back to my hometown.
He became a bit hesitant when he was telling me about the difficulties he had with his computer. “It cost me a lot of money, but there is always a problem here or there,” he said. As I have heard similar complaints before, so I guessed what he meant to say.
“Why don’t you learn how to fix it yourself?” I asked.
“How can I learn? He (the tech practitioner in his area) never tells anyone about how to fix things, even if you ask him,” the practitioner went on, “When he was fixing the problem, he would ask you to do something so you could not see how he fixed it.”
“It’s also impossible for me to learn how to fix the computer myself. Besides time constraints, I cannot understand the instructions, especially those foreign letters.” He stopped there and I could see tears of frustration in his eyes.
I didn’t say anything because I didn’t know anything about the technical side of a computer myself. I felt helpless, and a bit sad.
Incident 3
Another practitioner who passed away a few years ago didn’t know much about computers either, and had little sense of computer security. He saved everything on the desktop, such as truth-clarification materials, phone numbers of personnel in various departments of the local government, Minghui booklets, list of people who had quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated organizations.
I warned him when I saw what was on his desktop, “Why don’t you save them somewhere instead of putting them all on the desktop? This is very unsafe.”
“It doesn’t matter,” he said, “My computer is encrypted.”
I didn't know much about computers myself. I just felt it’s inappropriate to keep everything on the desktop.
Later, his computer was taken away by the police for a while, and the password was cracked. Based on the materials stacked on the desktop, the police claimed that he was the “leader” of the local practitioners. He was tortured severely. He was in a pretty bad condition after his release and eventually passed away.
Incident 4
There is one other practitioner in our local area who knows a bit about computers. However, he only set up some basic encryption for his computer instead of a full encryption, saying: “There won’t be any problems. Nothing has happened all these years.”
Later, the police searched his house and cracked the password of his computer. They found a copy of a truth-clarification material in his computer, which matched a printout found in his home. The file was then used as evidence against him. As a result, he was sentenced to three years in prison.
He struggled with health issues after he was released and never stepped out to clarify the truth again.
Many lessons can be avoided if fellow practitioners had fully encrypted their computers for Dafa work so that the evil could not have accessed them, or if all fellow practitioners can learn some basic computer skills and never take any chances by thinking “Nothing would happen.”
Some Heartfelt Words to Tech Practitioners
I want to say to all practitioners involved in technical support: “Thank you all for your most unwavering support over the years in our Fa-rectification period cultivation.”
“In a situation when most practitioners who use computers know very little about them, you have made sure that our printers are running and our computers are in operation, and all our projects for saving sentient beings are being carried out as planned. It would have been impossible to achieve all this without your support and help. Thank you!”
In many ways, tech practitioners have come across more difficulties and made more sacrifices than us. For instance, many of them are tied up doing tech support and do not have time to look for jobs or do full-time jobs. As a result, they struggle to make ends meet. We, however, may still complain about their “insufficient” tech support. All too often, we have forgotten to be more considerate of them, thinking we had given them a great favor when we actually only offered a small help.
No matter how difficult a situation might be, we must not deviate from the Fa principles or indulge in human attachments. Master told us,
“... any desire you have can become an attachment and can be used by the evil. As soon as that kind of thought emerges, the evil might conjure a false image for you, and this will then cause interference.” (“Teaching the Fa at the Washington, D.C. International Fa Conference,” Guiding the Voyage)
Fellow practitioners, let us keep cleaning ourselves in Dafa, rectify ourselves and let go of human attachments so that we can be more diligent together and return to our divine positions with Master.
Let us walk our remaining path well at the last critical moment in assisting Master in Fa-rectification and leave the best and the most shinning part of us to the future.
Please kindly point out anything not in compliance with the Fa principles in the sharing.
Editor’s note: This article only represents the author’s understanding in their current cultivation state meant for sharing among practitioners so that we can “Compare in studying, compare in cultivating.” (“Solid Cultivation,” Hong Yin)
Views expressed in this article represent the author's own opinions or understandings. All content published on this website are copyrighted by Minghui.org. Minghui will produce compilations of its online content regularly and on special occasions.
