(Clearwisdom.net) In 1997, when I was 52 years old, I was fortunate to have come across Falun Dafa. During the past 10 years of cultivation, our merciful Teacher has protected us every moment and allowed us to become Falun Dafa practitioners. Now, I truly understood what cultivation is. Teacher told us in Zhuan Falun,
"To tell you the truth, the entire cultivation process for a practitioner is one of constantly giving up human attachments."
When I read the book Zhuan Falun for the first time, my entire view of the world changed instantly. I understood so many things that many people aren't able to understand during their entire lifetimes. I came to understand the purpose of being human. We are here to learn how to go back to our true homes. I put down my thoughts of fame and gain. I understood why people are rich or poor, and that if one takes things that aren't his, he will have to pay them back. I was also able to reduce my jealousy a lot. Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance are the only standards to measure whether a person is good or bad. It took me 52 years in this world to find out what a truly good person is. My pessimism, mistrust, and hatred, which were put upon me by the evil Chinese Communist Party (CCP) are finally gone. Through studying the Fa, I realized that in the past my ideological level was as Teacher stated,
"A wicked person is born of jealousy. Out of selfishness and anger he complains about unfairness towards himself." ("Realms," from Essentials for Further Advancement)
Teacher did so much for us and the only thing our teacher wants from us is that our hearts seek compassion. I want to be a good person and require myself to live with the standards of Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance, studying the Fa and practicing the exercises, getting rid of my karma, and spreading the Fa.
Soon after I started practicing Falun Dafa, all my family members also started to practice, one after the other. We are cultivating ourselves, are we are healthy and happy. Teacher taught us how to be truly good people and how to always think of others. In July 1999, the evil CCP started the senseless persecution of Falun Gong, but we did not change our beliefs. Lies can not cover the truth of the universe. We went to Beijing and used our own experiences to tell the government how good Falun Gong really is. We were validating the Fa and we were doing the most righteous thing. To persevere, we needed to eliminate our human attachments for fame, gain, and sentimentality. The pressure was tremendous. We knew if we went to Beijing, we could face detention, being fined, or even being fired, but we were determined to go. Relatives pressed us not to go, but we clarified the facts to them and they understood. They even bought the tickets for us. On May 13, 2000, there was a sea of people at Tiananmen Square. One could continuously hear everywhere the shouting of "Falun Dafa is Good!" "Happy birthday to Master!" Thousands of practitioners, young and old, were detained at the Tiananmen Police Station. It was our chance to share experiences. We loudly recited "Lun Yu" and Hong Yin. The scene was shocking and encouraged us to follow Teacher more closely on the road of Teacher's Fa-rectification.
After returning, the evil people used their methods and put me in detention, fined me, and tried to force me to give up Falun Gong. Failing to "transform" me, they stopped my retirement payments. But I didn't feel pain in my heart. As a practitioner I'm perfectly healthy. Teacher is here, the Fa is here, and I'm not afraid of anything. Teacher watches over us at all times and takes care of us. We lent 5000 yuan to others in the past and they came to return the money to me. After continuously clarifying the truth to the leaders in my working unit, it took two years, and they finally gave me my retirement pay. After we give up our attachment to material benefits, we do not actually lose any material things. What we lose are our attachments to fame, gain, and sentimentality. After I got my retirement, I kept some of it for my basic living needs and used the rest for validating the Fa. My life is given by the Fa, and our money should be used for the Fa.
Teacher told us to clarify the facts about Falun Gong to those people who were cheated by the terrible lies of the evil. It is our chance to save sentient beings, and it is also a process for us to understand the Fa more and to clean ourselves.
In the beginning, when I clarified the truth, I experienced strong anger and chagrin. I knew that Jiang's gang was so ugly and fabricated such terrible lies about such a good practice, slandered our teacher, treated us like criminals when we tried to clarify the truth, and tortured or even killed practitioners. During my truth clarification I showed my anger toward the persecution and I often argued with others about how good we are. Ordinary people did not understand. "You improved your health, alright, but why did you have to fight against the government?" Sometimes people blamed me for giving them a political lecture. After studying the Fa, I realized that I did not think of others. They did not practice Falun Gong, they did not understand the heart of a practitioner, and they did not know Teacher is trying to save them. We only know this because we studied the Fa and continuously listened to Teacher's new lectures, understanding them at different levels. We finally understood who we were and what our duty was. Clarifying the truth is a way of cleaning out the poison in people's minds, so they go together with the Fa of the universe and can be saved. Otherwise they will be weeded out by history. How pitiful are those who do not know the truth. We are here to save them and not to fight with them.
I have gained more compassion as I understand the Fa more. Since 2000, under the local 610 Office instructions, leaders in my work unit often called me and asked me to write a statement promising not to practice Falun Gong. Every time I was there, I recited the poem "Mighty Virtue" from Hong Yin. After 2001, I learned to send forth righteous thoughts. I clarified the truth and told them that Dafa is the most righteous thing and we are all good people. They let me go every time. They used their distorted notions and said, "You can just say that you are not practicing." I replied, "I am practicing." They said you can say you are practicing a different qigong. I told them I am practicing Falun Gong. We cultivate Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance and we do not lie.
One day in 2004, the leaders in my work unit called me to the county 610 Office. About 7 or 8 people were in the room and they said they wanted to know my situation. I kept righteous thoughts and smiled at them. I asked where they are from and I started to tell them how I started the Falun Gong practice, why I insist in doing so, and why I had gone to Beijing. I told them that Jiang's persecution was illegal. I told them that I was treated unfairly - detention, income deduction, and more, but I don't hate anyone for it. I only want to tell the truth to others. Our teacher taught us we should be compassionate to people. My teacher told me that I need to tell other people what I'm doing. Would those people, who are doing evil things, dare to let others know what they are doing? Only from these actions can one see that Dafa is righteous. Meanwhile I told them, as government officials they should be able to distinguish good from bad and not help tyrants to do evil. I talked the whole afternoon. I was the only one talking and all of the others listened quietly. I knew Teacher was helping me the entire time. Teacher gives me the wisdom to clarify the truth with reason. After that, they never asked me again to write a statement promising to quit Dafa.
In late 2004, the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party was published. It completely exposed the nature of the evil party and it announced the demise of the CCP. We started to advise people to quit the CCP and its associated organizations when we clarified the facts. During the process of clarifying the facts and saving sentient beings, I also realized that this is part of our own cultivation. I myself had been deeply harmed by the CCP, because my family was wealthy and we were classified by the CCP as "class enemies." In my heart, I hated the CCP. But with this hatred in my heart, I found I could not succeed in getting others to quit the CCP. On the contrary, people got more scared and said, "The CCP is so cruel. We can't go against it. If we go against the CCP, they will not give us any retirement. How would we live?" In the past, it was true that if the CCP didn't allow you to eat you had nothing to eat. The scary feeling was still there. Through more Fa study, I realized that this was a human attachment. A god will not hate a party in the human world. I gradually eliminated the hatred and I also came to understand that we need to have great compassion when we talk to people. When using our compassion to clarify the truth and ask others to quit the CCP, it is easy for people to listen and accept. If we don't have pure hearts ourselves it will be more difficult. And at that time we should sit down and look inward and find our attachments. It is a part of the cultivation process.
During the eight years of persecution, as Falun Dafa practitioners during the Fa-rectification, we have experienced a lot. It may look unbearable to everyday people. We believe in our Teacher, we believe in the Fa. When we are lost, Teacher tells us what to do from the Fa. When we are validating the Fa, Teacher protects us and danger often disappears. When the evil persecutes our bodies, it is Teacher who endures the pain. Without our Teacher, we wouldn't be where we are today. During this persecution, we are becoming more mature. We will continue to persevere through the last phase of the Fa-rectification.
July 17, 2007
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