July 2, 2003
(Clearwisdom.net)
I Decide to Go to Beijing to Appeal
I began to practice Falun Dafa right before April 25,1999. At the end of 1999 we learned that Dafa practitioners around the country were going to Beijing to appeal when fellow Dafa practitioners from other places came to our small town to share their experiences. They also brought us the experience articles of fellow practitioners they had downloaded from the Internet. Over the following two days, I read all of those articles. From the thick stack of articles I learned the moving deeds of fellow Dafa practitioners who were risking their lives by going to Beijing to appeal one after another in order to clarify the truth of Dafa. Often, tears covered my face while I read the articles. At that moment, I suddenly found that my body was as light as a bird. I felt I was immersed in and lifted by a powerful energy field even if I was only moving around or doing Dafa exercises.
I decided I would go to Beijing to appeal. I asked myself: why was I going to Beijing? What was the purpose or what were my motives? I found that my first motive was that I had only been practicing for a very short time and had not done well. I learned that there were so many fellow practitioners in Beijing; I wanted to go there to meet them, and to share experiences with them so I could improve myself. But I found this motive had selfishness in it, so I discarded it. I kept on checking myself. Why was it right for me to go to Beijing? Finally, I got the point--protecting Dafa! The two words "protecting Dafa" appeared in my mind. Then my thoughts became crystal clear. Yes, I needed no other reason. I just went to Beijing to protect Dafa. That was right.
Then I asked myself: how could I protect Dafa? What could I do? Again my mind was not clear. I realized that I had learned Dafa for too short a time and my understanding was superficial. So what should I do? I remembered Teacher's words: "Sincerity is a prerequisite if you are to rectify your heart." (Falun Gong). I thought, all right, I would just follow this basic requirement. Think about nothing, just start off with my purest heart, my smile, and with honesty as my vanguard. I thought that as long as I have a right mind, teacher would tell me how to do the work.
Later, on the road to Beijing, things happened that somehow surprised me. A long time later, I finally understood the mysteries of the process. Back then, while on the train heading north, the only thing on my mind was to sit upright with dignity. Except for the idea of "protecting Dafa," I eliminated all other thoughts. At the same time, I kept my natural honesty and smile. I felt I was fresh, fresh, and energetic like a sprout pushing through the earth.
On the trip, there were two moving stories that showed the honest side of ordinary people to Dafa and Dafa practitioners.
Story one
As soon as I stepped on the train I met a young man who worked in a procurator's office. He was intelligent, proud of himself, and had a university degree. A young fellow Dafa practitioner introduced Dafa to him. But the young man had heard too many of the lies spread by the government media and was very aggressive. My fellow practitioner argued with him fiercely. I hoped the young man could look at the issue from another angle. I knew that arguing did not help much, but did not know how to get rid of his prejudices. I realize now that I had not learned Dafa deeply and at that time did not understand what Dafa practitioners should do from the standpoint of Dafa.
But what I did know was that my sincerity and smile should not change. So I listened to the two of them with a smile. When they talked about the concept of "universe," their argument reached an impasse. They could not understand each other or persuade each other because their understandings of the word "universe" were too far apart. The universe defined by science and the universe understood by a Dafa practitioner were very different. They each emphasized what they knew, but did not actually understand each other.
I could see that the young man, so proud of his knowledge and intelligence, was good at debating. If I could approach him from another angle, and shock his intelligence, he should become interested. Once his mind was opened, things would be easy.
Just then, they stopped arguing about the universe. I asked the young man, "Do you like intelligence tests?" Then I asked him a question. He easily answered the question. I said, "You are very smart." He replied coldly: "It was a simple question."
Then I said, "Please draw a circle on a piece of paper, including the center point, in one continuous line. But the center point can't be connected with any point on the periphery." He thought about it for a while but could not come up with a way to do it. Then he focused even more on the problem. "While drawing, please think in more than one plane," I suggested.
He thought about it some more and still felt it was difficult to find a solution. So he asked for a piece of paper and a pen. After ten minutes of trial and error, he found a solution. I could see he was surprised by the answer. He tentatively asked me, "Is it right?" I said, "Yes, but there is more than one way to do it. It works in a different way. If we make an adjustment to our usual way of thinking, we find the answer is simple, but the solution is wonderful." He was thinking while I was talking. His pride disappeared and his mind opened naturally.
Then I said, "You indicated that you do not understand why we appeal when you were talking with my fellow practitioner a while ago, and said that you thought that it was a useless tragedy. But we think differently. Just like the problem you just solved. If you look at the same problem from a different angle, the answer is different or even totally opposite. We do not think appealing is a tragedy. We do not even consider whether or not the appeal will be a success, we want to do it. We just go to do it."
He was listening and although he doubted some of what I said, he was interested. At least he had a partial understanding of why we appeal, and his face showed more respect. At that moment, a sentence burst out of my mouth, "Doing nothing is doing everything." His eyes sparkled on hearing these words. He quickly asked, "You also know this expression? So tell me what it means to you." I was wondering why I said those words, and I did not know how to explain the meaning of the sentence my brain was completely blank.
He had asked so eagerly, yet I had no answer. I felt a little embarrassed. But I realized that if I do not know, then I do not know, no need to cover myself. He said with disappointment, "Actually you also do not know it." He looked downward and became silent.
But after a short while, he started talking with us again. Surprisingly, he looked like another person. Sincerity and a smile were on his face; he talked with respect instead of pride and aggression. He said: "It's interesting to talk with you. I feel lucky to have met you. I hope we keep in contact. I love many things, have read Western philosophy, Eastern Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucius' books. It's been interesting talking with you today." His face was full of excitement. Then he carefully wrote down his address and handed it to us. We exchanged addresses with him, and became good friends. Later he could understand our talking with kindness. We needed to transfer to another train and had to part from him. He shook hands with us and said, "I wish you success! Take care!" We were moved by his sincerity and said, "Thanks!"
Story Two
The second story happened while I was being taken back home from Beijing. A fellow practitioner and I were sent to the on-duty office of a railway station to wait for a local police car to pick us up. Back then, we did not realize that we should not be detained by evils. In my mind, I was bighearted and not afraid of being detained. The first evening after we were sent to the on-duty office, cold, hunger and fatigue agonized us both. Then I had an idea: I am not scared even if I am forced to sit until I die! So I sat there upright and without moving. The night was gone, my mind became very clear and my body felt light and I was very happy.
The sun rose. One of the guards was called to take us to buy breakfast. He took me out first. My mind was peaceful and I didn't feel like talking. I just followed him with a smile. He asked where I was from. I told him. He became happy and said, "We are from the same place." His hometown is only tens of kilometers away. "You...", he couldn't continue talking, so he just shook his head. Compassion, respect, sorrow for not being able to help, and anxiety all showed on his face. I was still smiling and not talking. When we got to a small restaurant inside the railway station, I ordered a bowl of porridge. But he ordered some steamed stuffed buns for me and said he had already eaten. I did not want to refuse his kindness and started eating. I saw him bow his head and sigh. After I finished and went to pay the bill, he came over and tried to pay the bill for me. I insisted on paying. He shouted to the manager, "Do not accept her money, take mine! Otherwise, I won't come here again!" So the boss took his money.
Walking out of the restaurant, I felt sorry I had let him pay the bill and wanted to return the money to him. He shouted at me while almost crying, "You are a good person, I know you are good-hearted..." Surprised, I raised my head and saw he was wiping tears with the back of his hand, and his eyes were red. I was moved and also surprised! I did not understand why he thought I was so goodhearted. In such a short time and I just said a few words to him, why did he have this opinion of me? Finally, I did not give him the money because doing so would have hurt his feelings.
In the process of that Fa-protection trip, many other miraculous things occurred. Inside that process, I did not know it was Teacher who was giving us wisdom. I did not know it was the power of righteous thoughts, and I did not know the sacredness of what we had done. Now, I clearly understand that as long as we keep a righteous and clean mind, even though we do not know the high level Dafa, Teacher will still arrange everything for us in the best way. The key point is that we keep a pure and steady heart.
Reviewing that memory now, my understanding of the issue is totally different from before. In the process, I felt the miraculous effects of clarifying the truth of Dafa to people. I have shared how I experienced the power of a pure, righteous, and truthful mind, as an encouragement to my fellow Dafa practitioners and myself.
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