(Clearwisdom.net) I have been fascinated by the wondrous phenomena of the universe ever since I was a child. During the years qigong was popular, I wished that I could learn every one of the various types. One day, while browsing in a book fair, I found by chance a book with a very nice cover. It was not expensive, so I bought it and from the moment I started reading, I could not put it down. I realized that the book contained the Great Law and the Great Way. Thereafter, I was determined to cultivate through to the end and to return home.
Teacher said, "So the way this Fa has spread has been entirely heart-to-heart and person-to-person." (Falun Buddha Fa Lectures in the United States, Teaching the Fa in New York City) My wife, children, mother-in-law, brother-in-law as well as sister-in-law and her mother began practicing Falun Dafa one after another. We set up a Fa study group at my home. My wife and I became assistants of a practice site. Before long, the practice sites had grown from one to nine and the number of people coming to my house to study the Fa grew to a group of seventy plus people. I did not feel tired even though I worked from dawn to dusk. Because of the large number of practitioners, I purchased Dafa books with my own money so that when people with predestined relationships came, they would have the books to read right away. I also gradually added equipment for the practice sites. On my cultivation path I made blunders or took a roundabout course from time to time. When July 1999 came, I still had a lot of attachments to let go of.
I still remember that on the morning of July 21, 1999, staff from the neighbourhood office came to our practice site to investigate us. I was pretty good at talking, but my legs were trembling during the investigation. After July 20, under enormous pressure, attachments that I had not yet let go of, especially fear, began to surface. At the time I had a heavy heart and felt wronged, "We are doing our best to be good people. Why are we treated like this?"
The Public Security Bureau, the police station, the neighbourhood administrative office, work units, as well as friends and relatives all came to talk to me. They asked me to confess my so-called "wrongdoings," hand in my Falun Dafa books, write a statement guaranteeing not to practice Falun Gong anymore, and promise not to appeal for Falun Gong. This went on and on without stop. At the time, I lost contact with other practitioners. All the media in China were being used to fabricate lies or launch vicious attacks on Falun Dafa. The country entered a very dark era. Because of my fear, I asked someone to write a confession for me, handed in a few Dafa books, and even promised not to practice Falun Gong. In all, I did something that a Dafa practitioner should have never done. Even now I feel grieved whenever think about the things I did.
I knew clearly in my heart that I should never waver in my determination to persistently cultivate Dafa. Later I came to realize that the environment should not always be like it was so I contacted fellow practitioners and organized a dozen experience sharing conferences. Through steadily studying the Falun Dafa books and sharing experiences, all of us improved our understanding of the principles of the Fa. There were practitioners constantly going to Beijing from my home and coming back to tell us their experiences in letting go of life and death. They were very moving. I still remember a practitioner who was from the countryside. She grabbed my hand and said with tears in her eyes, "I thought I was the only one who was still practicing Falun Dafa and had never expected that so many practitioners are practicing. I feel so happy."
Another practitioner who came from a small town in the northern border area went straight to Beijing for a peaceful appeal right after the experience sharing. She came back one week later. Although she had lost about 20 kg, she was in very good spirits. She was arrested in Beijing but did not expose her identity. She took the lead in starting a hunger strike and holding experience sharing conferences. Using their wisdom, the practitioners talked to the police and let them know what had really happened to Falun Dafa practitioners. At last they were freed with a verdict of "not guilty." However, at that time I still had very strong fear. Whenever I wanted to exchange experiences with other practitioners I would usually choose a hotel in the outskirts of town because I thought that would be safer. One time a practitioner came to my home to get Teacher's new article. I thought it was the police so I did not open the door.
With the study of the Falun Dafa books and the sharing experiences I gradually let go of my fear. During this period of time my home was illegally searched three times. They confiscated my computer and printer. At first I did not know we should not cooperate with the evil so I answered every question raised by the police as best I could. Though it did not bring any losses to my fellow practitioners, I felt my behavior was not right. As time went by I came to know what I could do. I was under house arrest at my work unit for two months and was illegally held at a detention centre for three months.
One incident really shook me up. A practitioner told the police after she was arrested that she had obtained Falun Dafa material from me. The Public Security Bureau thought they had caught a "big fish." When they arrested me, they handcuffed my hands to the back of a chair behind my back so I could neither sit down nor stand up. I was also beaten with a wooden stick and it was very painful; but my main consciousness remained very clear. I knew I would never cooperate with the evil's demands or anything that it instigated. At that time I did not know about sending forth righteous thoughts so in this difficult situation, I just didn't say anything. The result was that all of a sudden they stopped the beatings. They said, "Why should we beat you?" so their attitudes swiftly changed. It was just as our Teacher said in Zhuan Falun, "you will indeed find: 'After passing the shady willow trees, there will be bright flowers and another village ahead!'"
Later I read Teacher's new article "Dafa Disciples' Righteous Thoughts Are Powerful" (Essentials for Further Advancement II). Teacher wrote,
"Why should you, a Dafa disciple, fear the evil ones when enduring persecution? The crux of the matter is that you have attachments. If not, do not endure passively, and face the evil people with righteous thoughts at all times. No matter what the situation, do not cooperate with the evil's demands, orders, or what it instigates. If everyone does this the environment won't be this way."
From this paragraph I enlightened to the fact that the evil did not deserve to test me because my mind nature was very righteous.
I remember at the end of 2000, many practitioners went to Beijing to appeal. There was a very fierce struggle in my mind. I even dreamed that someone described me as a coward. I enlightened to the fact that I must try my best to validate the Fa, clarify the truth, save sentient beings, and be a qualified Fa-rectification period Dafa disciple. Although I still had a lot of attachments to let go of, I was determined to cultivate through to the end. First, I paid for the portable printers and spare parts for fellow practitioners. When the truth clarification materials were in short supply I purchased high-speed printers and CD burners, and used my expertise in computers to do what I should do. I used all my savings on clarifying the truth. In my workplace there were always tests for my Xinxing [the nature of the mind or the heart, moral character]. Through the study of the Dafa books we improved our levels of understanding of the Fa principles and cooperated more and more harmoniously.
During the past year I have felt more clearly that the evils are becoming weaker as a whole and the situation is turning for the better. However the evils are desperately trying to use our omissions to interfere with us. My understanding is that to understand their true nature is to eliminate them. However, the prerequisite is for us to have powerful righteous thoughts. This year I defeated several persecution attempts with righteous thoughts.
For example, last October my work unit tricked me into a brainwashing centre. I used the opportunity to clarify the truth to the staff there and sent forth righteous thoughts. I used my wisdom and displayed the fine moral qualities of a Falun Dafa practitioner. Because several people in my family are practitioners and my relatives all know the truth about the goodness of Falun Dafa, they requested my work unit and the "610 Office" [a bureau specifically created by the Chinese government to persecute Falun Gong. It has absolute power over each level of administration in the Party, as well as over the political and judiciary branches] to release me. When the local fellow practitioners learned the news they all helped by sending forth righteous thoughts. As a result the evil ended in failure and seven days later I was told that I could go home. It was just as Teacher said in "Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Philadelphia, USA,"
"Whether it's inside or outside China, all the same, although there are still a lot of beings who've been misled by the evil's propaganda, overall, in other dimensions the strength of the evils and the strength of the righteous are no longer in balance. The strength of the righteous has tipped the scales in its favour as far as they go. Those evil beings can't hold up now." "Fa-rectification disciples, the persecution has already come to this stage, and Dafa has already come to this stage in the Fa-rectification: what's there for us to still be afraid of? Haven't you already seen your future very well? So when it comes to those evil beings and their arrangements, as long as your righteous thoughts are strong enough you can reject them, repel them, and make them helpless."
Not long ago, during the restructuring of my work unit I kept righteous thoughts, took a correct attitude, and did not fight for positions with others. The result was that I returned to my original job, which provided me the opportunity to contact more people with predestined relationships and gave me an increase in pay. At the same time, I displayed the qualities of a Dafa practitioner to my colleagues. In the process of examination and appraisal, the key leaders took a clear cut stand and resolutely rejected the attempts of one or two members of the appraisal group to use the Falun Gong issue to prevent me from taking part in the examination and appraisal. From this incident I realized that as a practitioner, how well I dealt with my work, family, the relations between colleagues and relatives and other society related issues would be the key in deciding how much good I could embody in Dafa to make everything perfect and spread the Fa. Our Teacher said in "Teaching the Fa at the 2001 Canada Fa Conference" (Guiding the Voyage),
"I know that you've all worked so hard. You have to work and you have to study, you have your family life and social activities, and at the same time you have to take care of your family, do a good job at work, and you have to study the Fa well and do the exercises well, and what's more, you have to clarify the truth. It is hard! It's pretty hard both time-wise and financially. It's hard, so your mighty virtue is displayed; it's hard, and so it's a good opportunity to establish your mighty virtue. Remarkable! Since you are cultivators even though it's hard you should do even better."
I must do well those things I had not done so well in the past, make up all the omissions I had, and do a good job in the things everyday people do to embody Dafa to make everything perfect at the everyday people's level. The key to all this is to squeeze enough time to study the Fa, practice the exercises, send forth righteous thoughts, and do even better in clarifying the truth.
I was an assistant, so I know a lot of practitioners. A good number of them still have not stepped forward. I thought after all they had cultivated before so they should not miss this golden opportunity that doesn't occur in tens of millions of years. Because of this though, our Teacher arranged it so I had plenty of opportunities to "bump into" them. I tried my best to tell them the development of Falun Dafa both at home and abroad and inspire them according to their actual conditions. To those who are firm in cultivation, they will be guaranteed to receive articles published on the Clearwisdom website as soon as possible, and to those who want to clarify the truth I will have the materials ready for them.
Two days ago I dreamed that I was attending an experience sharing conference. The venue was very large, yet only a third of the seats were occupied. When I woke up I enlightened that the reason the seats were not filled up was that a lot of practitioners around us still need our support. We must cherish the period of time before the Fa rectification comes to this human world.
Though I still have a lot attachments and have a long way to go when compared to those who are cultivating diligently, I will try my best to get rid of my shortcomings and study the Fa more, send forth the righteous thoughts more, keep up with our Teacher's Fa-rectification process, and progress all the time on the journey home.
I will take this opportunity to express by gratitude for the infinite mercy of our Teacher who has, again and again, pointed the way for us to go forward and corrected our deviations; has time and again strengthened me to help me through difficulties; and who has displayed wonders and headed off disasters. I also thank Minghui Net for its timely reports on the spreading and the development of the Fa both inside and outside China, as well as the course of the Fa rectification. Every article is like a Fa experience sharing from which I can see my shortcomings and the differences. I also thank the fellow practitioners around me. They have given me selfless help whenever I suffered from tribulations and an environment for me to go forward.
This is my personal experience. Please be compassionate enough to give your opinions.
Editors' note: The process of setting up and then gradual maturing of the Minghui/Clearwisdom sites, the concerted perseverance of the Dafa practitioners inside and outside China, and the steady existence of Minghui Net, bear witness to the Dafa practitioners around the world validating the Fa with the Teacher, persevering in cultivation, and selflessly clarifying the truth to save sentient beings. We would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to all the Dafa practitioners who have sent in articles since the website was launched in June 1999. We thank those practitioners in China who risked being arrested and sentenced to prison, or being sent to a forced labour camp, or having their families torn apart or killed, and who have broken through all kinds of obstacles. "Strive forward together, a bright future lies ahead." ("In Harmony With the Fa", 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.
