(Clearwisdom.net) I am seventy years old. I began practicing Falun Dafa at the end June 1996. A few of my family members were also practitioners. My daughter-in-law was under surveillance and was illegally imprisoned. She was persecuted until she died. My son was forced become homeless to avoid being persecuted while preparing Dafa materials, and he was recently detained and illegally sentenced. The evil interfered with and finally took away the life of my wife. This persecution is extremely inhuman and has taken the lives of several of my family members. Now only my grandchild and I, the old and the young, are left.
Before July 20, 1999, when the persecution began, we were in a period of personal cultivation. After July 20 we entered the period of cultivation during Fa rectification. When the persecution of Falun Gong first started I did not know what it was all about, and there were many things I did not understand. With the passage of time, I gradually recognized and began to understand the meaning of validating the Fa and Fa rectification cultivation, and I came to understand that this is how we will keep up with Master's Fa rectification.
1. Validating Dafa in BeijingBefore I went to Beijing, I used all my time to study the Fa and rectify my attitude pertaining to my reasons for going to Beijing.
Through experience sharing with other practitioners I realized that the purpose of going to Beijing was not to achieve consummation, but because Dafa was being persecuted. Therefore on June 16, 2000 I took the train to Beijing and arrived at the Office of Appeals on the 18th. Not far from the Office of Appeals, I was stopped and arrested by the police, and taken to the local Beijing police station. They dragged me by my hair and questioned me. Finally deciding that I was not a local person, they let me go. On December 26, 2000 three Dafa practitioners, including myself, again went to Tiananmen Square. I held up a banner with the words, "Falun Dafa is Good," and cried out in a loud voice, "Falun Dafa is good!" Police officers knocked me down and dragged me into a waiting car, and I was driven to a nearby police station. When questioned as to my identity, I told them my name was "Fa particle." Later I was taken to a fenced enclosure behind a courthouse. I saw that many Falun Dafa practitioners were being held there. Following their lead, I began to cry out loudly, "Restore the good name of Master and restore the name of Dafa!" At that time, there were many onlookers beyond the fence who heard our loud cries. They witnessed the righteousness and the heroic spirit of Dafa practitioners validating the Fa.
After some time, a few people from the local Beijing police station came and forced me to go with them. After ascertaining that I was not a local person, they beat me with a plastic rod and then released me. Many days after I returned home, my body was covered with black bruises from this beating.
2. To Save Sentient Beings, To Validate DafaOn February 1, 2002, Master Li said, "In history's present, Dafa has bestowed upon you the mission of saving all sentient beings." ("Congratulatory Statement to the New York Fa Conference") To save sentient beings is the mission of every Dafa practitioner. I understand it is my duty to save sentient beings while clarifying the truth. Dafa practitioners are the only hope to salvage sentient beings, and only Dafa practitioners can save sentient beings. My sense of commitment and responsibility has grown stronger, and my compassion is greater. In order to position myself properly in Fa rectification, saving sentient beings through validating the Fa is now my number one priority. My heart is committed to saving sentient beings. My personal afflictions have disappeared, I have emerged from grief, and my mind has been elevated to a state of calmness and clarity beyond everyday human emotions.
While clarifying the truth I must continue to cultivate myself and upgrade my mind nature (xinxing). Often when I tried to clarify the truth, I became annoyed if the person I was talking to refused to accept the truth. I would no longer want to talk with that person, and I would think to myself, "This person doesn't deserve to be saved." When I met someone who could accept the truth, I would feel great and want to talk more. This showed me that my compassion was shallow. If I were truly led by compassion, I would be able to talk to them patiently regardless of their response, and would not mind making the extra effort to find a better way to explain the truth. We need to cultivate ourselves and lift our mind nature. Sentient being's lives are very difficult to save. The old forces have put sentient beings in a fatal position. Who will save them if Dafa practitioners don't? Since I have this heart to rescue them, I can now tell them the truth in a purer and calmer manner.
While clarifying the truth to people, we need to identify where their misunderstandings lie and address them specifically. When I first began I spoke casually according to my own understandings, and often failed to address the incorrect understandings of those to whom I spoke. In this way clarifying the truth became a formality. Becoming aware of this has allowed me to see that my sense of commitment and responsibility was not strong enough. Now, when clarifying the truth to people, I focus on finding and addressing their misunderstandings, and I invite them to ask questions, which I specifically answer. The effect is much better.
One person I spoke to told me, "Falun Gong is an evil cult."
In response I told the person, "Contrary to what has been publicized, neither the National People's Congress nor China's two highest courts have made this declaration that Falun Gong is an evil cult. These are statements made by editorials in the People's Daily (China's state controlled newspaper), which were authored and brought out under the authority of Jiang Zemin. Editorials from the People's Daily are only articles, they are not the law. Although Jiang Zemin was Chairman of the country, according to the constitution, the Chairman does not have the authority to dictate the law. If he declared Falun Gong illegal, he has exceeded his authority and has violated the constitution. The persecution of Falun Gong does not have any legal basis according to the constitution." Hearing these words he no longer had an incorrect understanding.
In clarifying the truth we should use a variety of methods. When I first began clarifying the truth, I used only one format, and because I was very rigid in my way of thinking, I tended to go to extremes. Now I find the effect is better if I incorporate different ways of explaining the truth, so now I also distribute flyers and small booklets, and send letters to people. I clarify the truth to my acquaintances and I also talk to strangers. After becoming acquainted, I find I can speak comfortably with nearly anyone. When I returned to my hometown to clarify the truth, I briefly told them the truth at the dinner table. House by house I visited my neighbors to clarify the truth, and in so doing, a half a day would pass very quickly. The topics of discussion should be loose, but they should emphasize the truth, and should be used to pinpoint people's inaccurate understandings in order to fully clarify the facts to them.
We should search out different ways to clarify the truth. Because one of my close relatives was persecuted to death, I filed a lawsuit and hired an attorney. I went to my attorney's law firm to clarify the truth. In the beginning, my main focus was unclear to me: should I concentrate on filing the lawsuit or on clarifying the truth? Through Fa study, I understood that working to end the persecution and clarifying the truth were tied together. I went to other law firms to clarify the truth to them, simply explaining to them how Jiang Zemin's persecution of Falun Gong is in total violation of the constitution. To expose those who carry out the persecution as criminals, I explained that they shielded themselves behind laws that were unconstitutional, and therefore invalid. And the reality was that they did not execute the law in a legal way, and only enforced laws which were in fact illegal. The laws they had enacted in order to persecute Falun Gong have no legal basis whatsoever. I also told them the truth about the persecution and the truth about Falun Gong, enabling them to distinguish between right and wrong, and to see for themselves the evil nature of the persecution.
Among attorneys, some are able to understand the truth from the perspective of the law. They know that the suppression and persecution of Falun Gong is illegal. Some attorneys do not understand the truth and cannot see that the persecution is illegal. I was in a law firm where they said Falun Gong is an evil cult, and the National People's Congress with legislative measures has already ruled on the nature of Falun Gong, and that it has also been ruled on by the two highest courts in the land.. I told them that this was not true. They did not believe me. Seeing a judicial book on the table, I turned to a page and showed them. None of them were able to respond. There was also an attorney who said that Falun Gong practitioners belonged to a different category than other citizens and could not be treated equally under the law, which is a statement unsubstantiated by the Constitution of China. We really need to clarify the truth to members of the judiciary and other legal personnel. I have already begun to clarify the truth to them one by one.
Through this process I realized that when we clarify the truth, save sentient beings, and validate the Fa, we will discover many things that we need to get rid of, and through the experience we can cultivate ourselves better and elevate ourselves.
September 15, 2004
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