(Clearwisdom.net) There are three things that Teacher requires of us: 1) studying the Fa and practicing Falun Gong exercises; 2) Clarifying the truth, and; 3) Sending forth righteous thoughts. These are Teacher's requirements for Falun Gong practitioners in the Fa-rectification period. We shouldn't neglect any of them.
1. Studying the Fa and Practicing Falun Gong Exercises
I study at least one lecture of Zhuan Falun every day. If I run into a sentence I don't understand, I will come back to it and keep contemplating upon it until I develop a good understanding. I have memorized Lunyu, Hong Yin and Hong Yin Vol. II. After I finish sending forth righteous thoughts after midnight and practicing the sitting meditation every day, I will recite Lunyu once. I have never skipped the routine for one day because I aspire to melt into the Fa at every moment.
I don't have a deep understanding of Teacher's new articles, but I know to remember and follow the new articles. I have never had any doubt or suspicion about the Fa. I have a steadfast faith in the Fa and Teacher. Regardless of the severity of the persecution, I have always acted like a Falun Gong practitioner in the Fa-rectification period and assisted Teacher in the secular world.
Once I was taken into police custody for interrogation. Seven policemen sat in front of us, trying to coerce us into renouncing Falun Gong in writing. I told them, "I have started my cultivation practice in Falun Buddha Fa. I shall never waver in my faith. Before I practiced Falun Gong, I was in a different Buddha school. Now I shall cultivate Falun Gong until I attain Buddhahood." They stared at me, completely speechless. After 30 minutes of the interrogation, they looked as though they had realized something. I felt very peaceful when I was taken back to the prison cell.
2. Clarifying the Truth about Falun Gong
Teacher said,
"This is especially so for the Dafa disciples in Mainland China: each must come out and clarify the truth, bringing it to every field and valley, mountain and hill, not omitting a single area where there are people." ("Let Go of Human Attachments and Save the World’s People")
This is what I think: I don't differentiate among people. I clarify the truth about Falun Gong to everyone I encounter with every opportunity I have. Everyone I meet is a sentient being that I am obligated to save. As long as you say "Falun Gong is good" and "Falun Dafa (or Falun Gong) is good" and as long as you agree to withdraw from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), I will help you publish a statement to withdraw from the CCP. I have clarified the truth to shoeshine men on the streets, small business owners, peddlers, and students.
Once a girl distributing promotional materials gave me a flyer about an over-the-counter medicine. She smiled as I accepted the flyer. I told her, "Thanks for giving me a flyer. I will give you some words in return. I told her, '"Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance." Falun Dafa is good.'" After a brief pause, she went into tears. I asked, "What's wrong? Is something bothering you?" She said, "I have been looking for these three words, "Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance" for many years. I am sorry. I didn't follow these words. I was overcome with surprise and joy when you told me these words. Thank you very much." I told her, " "Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance" is the great law of the universe." She said that she understood it perfectly. I asked her to recite these words every day and she will be blessed. I asked if she was a member of the CCP. She said she was a member of the Youth League. I asked if she would like to withdraw from the Youth League and she agreed. This special encounter made me realize more about the significance of truth-clarification that Teacher requires of us.
It is our responsibility to save sentient beings. This is the historic mission that Teacher has bestowed upon us. All the media in China are under the CCP's control. If we Falun Gong practitioners do not clarify the truth to the Chinese people, countless lives in China will miss Teacher's salvation.
3. Sending Forth Righteous Thoughts
Teacher said,
"As a result of the advance of the Fa-rectification and Dafa disciples’ righteous-thought-guided actions, the rotten demons have been destroyed to the extent that too few remain to be of use to them, and so the dark minions are now themselves taking part in the things that the rotten demons have been doing. They are directly persecuting Dafa disciples and interfering with the Fa-rectification." ("Eliminate the Dark Minions With Righteous Thoughts")
This is what I do: I have been sending forth righteous thoughts at the four set times. The effect has been good. I can see each and every word in the formula of sending forth righteous thoughts. I feel a warm current all over my body and my body feels tense when I send forth righteous thoughts. Sometimes there will be interference when I send forth righteous thoughts, but I know to work hard to overcome it. Teacher's formula for sending forth righteous thoughts comes up in my mind frequently. There is a large floor clock that chimes every hour. It reminds me to send forth righteous thoughts around the clock.
On the days I go out to do truth-clarification work, I will offer Teacher an incense stick, tell Teacher in front of his photograph that I am going out to do this or that, and humbly ask for his help to reinforce my righteous thoughts.
Righteous thoughts come from the Fa. The more I walk, the more energetic I feel and the more confident and powerful I feel. I have never felt anyone following me. I feel Teacher's Law Body is protecting at all times.
Next I would like to share how I obtained the Fa and some of my experiences in clarifying the truth and fighting the persecution.
I had the good fortune to obtain the Fa in 1997. Before I started the cultivation practice, I had very poor health. My rheumatoid arthritis was so severe that many joints in my body were deformed. For a period of time, I had to rely on my family's care and I couldn't live without medication. Three months after I started practicing Falun Gong, a miracle happen. My blood pressure went down to normal from 170. One day, a friend discovered that all the spots on my face had disappeared. I explained to her that it was Teacher that removed the spots. I was ecstatic and very grateful for what Teacher had done for me. Because of the total health transformation, I became all the more motivated to study the Fa and practice the exercises. Later, an outdoor Falun Gong group practice site was established near my home. I started going to the practice group every night at 7:00 p.m. with my portable stereo. I went to the group practice site to study the Fa and practice the exercises with my fellow practitioners regardless of the weather.
On July 20, 1999, the CCP started to openly persecute Falun Gong. TV, radio, newspapers and sound trucks broadcasting the CCP's hate propaganda against Falun Gong brought darkness to our area. It started to pour. The sky was bombarded with thunderbolts. It felt as though the sky was about to collapse. The CCP government at all levels started to ban Falun Gong intensively and arrested a lot of Falun Gong practitioners all over China. Some practitioners were illegally sentenced to prison and forced labor. Some practitioners were forced to flee from their homes, going into hiding. More and more practitioners went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. Every Chinese citizen knows that only those Chinese people who have suffered from tremendous injustice will risk going to Tiananmen Square to protest against the injustice. We Falun Gong practitioners, too, had no choice but to travel to Beijing and protest at Tiananmen Square against the injustice we have suffered.
On November 23, 2000, I made a decision on my own to go to Tiananmen Square to seek justice for Falun Gong and for Teacher. I had to restore Teacher and Falun Gong's good name. At the time, there were security checkpoints on all the roads to Beijing. It was difficult to make it to the Beijing train station. Back then, I didn't know how to send forth righteous thoughts, but I asked for Teacher's help at all times. As soon as I arrived in Changsha, Hunan Province, I bought a train ticket to Beijing. At the entrance of the platforms, I saw Teacher's photograph on the ground. A policeman shouted, "Everyone has to denounce Falun Gong. Those who step on the photograph will board the train. Those who refuse to step on the photograph will not board the train." The police immediately arrested those individuals who refused to comply. I felt as though a knife had penetrated my heart. How could the police insult my revered Teacher! My heart ached terribly and my eyes were moist with tears. While I was feeling anxious about what to do, a service woman came and asked the policeman, "Is there a waiting room for military personnel and the elderly?" The policeman said yes and pointed her to a direction. I took the opportunity to board the train without stepping on Teacher's photograph.
When the train arrived at the Beijing station, I thought, "Teacher, please help me find a fellow practitioner to go to Tiananmen Square with me." I turned around and saw four people without any luggage in their hands. We looked at each other and immediately knew we were all Falun Gong practitioners. Together we arrived at Tiananmen Square near the monument. There were a lot of policemen there. Some were in uniform and others were disguised in civilian clothes. We knew they had come to arrest Falun Gong practitioners, but we were not afraid at all. The five of us unfurled a large banner with short truth-clarification messages and shouted out loud, "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance is good! Falun Dafa is good!"
Right away the policemen charged at us. They arrested us and attacked us with stun batons. But the stun baton failed to work. Another policeman said, "Let me check if it is broken." He tested the stun baton and ended up shocking himself and making him jump. I thought, "This is what the villain deserves. This is the heavenly law of instant karmic retribution." The two policemen were furious. They grabbed me and slapped me twice in the face. Then the two of them took my arms. They each grabbed a gold earring from me and put them in their pockets. I looked at them in disapproval and said, "You are the scoundrels that the Chinese Communist Party has bred." Many practitioners suffered brutal beatings. The police pushed, dragged and kicked us into their vehicles. Our faces became terribly bruised and swollen in no time. However, all of us kept shouting, "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance is good! Falun Dafa is good!" After the police rounded up everyone, they transferred some of us to the suburbs and kept others in Beijing. I was sent to Haidian Detention Center, one of the most notorious places for torturing Falun Gong practitioners.
Once in Haidian Detention Center, all of us were stripped naked, regardless of our age. The police frisked us and took our photographs and fingerprints. Next they put us into prison cells and started to interrogate us one by one, trying to find out where we were from and where we worked. I refused to cooperate, so I was slapped twice in the face. My face became swollen and my nose bled profusely. The police beat me to the ground and ordered me to get up and stand still with my knees bent. They asked again where I was from. I told them I descended from heaven. The police went berserk. They ordered drug addicts to beat me to the ground. I thought that I had come to validate the Fa. I must let go of the thought of life and death and I will seek justice. This was a great opportunity to validate the Fa. I told the police, "I will not tell you anything. I want to see your boss. I will not tell you anything until I see your boss." They had no choice but to comply with my demand. Two policemen came. One of them was responsible for recording the conversation. He asked me why I refused to cooperate. I told him, "I have two demands. First, I want a medical examiner to examine my wound. Second, you must not use violence on Falun Gong practitioners." At first, they refused to comply with my demands. I thought, "I have come to validate the Fa. I must expose their crimes to the world."
1. I asked a medical examiner to examine my wound. They gave in and brought in two medical examiners. I asked to put the examination results on file and the police nodded in agreement. First, the examiners checked my legs, which had become swollen all over. In addition, my vulva became swollen and I had blood in my urine. I could not stand or sit and I had difficulty walking. My body was covered with blue and purple bruises. My feet were so swollen that my shoes didn't fit. My face was bruised and swollen. Finally the medical examiners confirmed that all the injuries resulted from beating. The medical examiners asked to give me a shot, but I refused.
2. I demanded the police not to use violence on Falun Gong practitioners again. I demanded the police that from that day forward they must not use violence or order any prisoner to use violence on us. I told them that I shall file a lawsuit against them if they do because they are committing crimes knowingly. The police consented to the demands on the surface and apologized. We even signed an agreement.
That night I tossed and turned. I kept thinking over what had happened. I realized that everything the Chinese Communist Party does is evil. I looked at the wall and saw three small lotus flowers, rotating in clockwise and counterclockwise directions. In one moment, they were white. In the next moment, they were pink and red. They were a sight to behold. When I tried to see them clearly, they disappeared all together. I might be wrong, but I thought they were the representation of "three flowers gathering above the head (sanhua juding)," a manifestation of a cultivation level. Even if it were true, I was not attached to my vision. I was certain, though, that Teacher was encouraging me. Yet I still have a long way to go on the journey of cultivation.
During my illegal imprisonment in Beijing, I clarified the truth to the police and the prison inmates every day. I told them to believe in "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance" and "Falun Dafa (or Falun Gong) is good." The prison inmates were very interested in what I had to say. They befriended me and promised to learn Falun Gong and to become good people once they were released.
On the sixth day, I was released, only to be transferred back to my residence area. I was illegally imprisoned at a local detention facility for over two months before I was transferred and imprisoned in a forced brainwashing center for 45 days. During the imprisonment from November 23, 2000 to April 1, 2001, I never did anything against my conscience.
In October 2003, I was illegally arrested again because a fellow practitioner gave up my name. As a result, I was illegally sentenced to 18 months of forced labor. Because I showed high blood pressure during the initial health check, the forced labor camp refused to take me, so the police transferred me to a brainwashing center. I was asked to repent for practicing Falun Gong, but I told the torturers, "I am a Buddha school cultivator. How can there possibly be anything wrong with cultivating in a Buddha school?" I added, "The Wheel of Law rotates constantly; the Buddha Fa is boundless." Everyone became speechless. Later I was released for medical treatment. I triumphed over the forced brainwashing center, and this was because of the mighty power of the Fa.
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.
