(Clearwisdom.net) Looking back at my cultivation path of over ten years, I have experienced bitterness and sweetness. It's just like Teacher said in Zhuan Falun,
"To tell you the truth, the entire cultivation process for a practitioner is one of constantly giving up human attachments." ("Genuinely Guiding People Toward High Levels," Lecture One, Zhuan Falun, 2000 translation)
Strictly Adhering to the Fa to Better Validate the Fa
Teacher said in "Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Boston,"
"You are cultivators, whose conduct is [supposed to be] pure and righteous. There are so many people who think you're great just by having seen how you act. If we don't pay attention to our own behavior in our daily lives, everyday people will see our actions and, since they can't get to know you at a deep level such as by studying the Fa, they will just look at how you act. And it's possible that one sentence or one action of yours will make them unsavable or create a bad impression of Dafa."
Since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began its persecution of Falun Gong in 1999, my company has transferred me to a different area three times. Whenever I arrive at a new place, I strictly require that my every sentence and action reflects the proper image of a practitioner. In that way, people can see the wonderfulness of Falun Dafa.
I have helped many people clear their misunderstandings of Dafa by clarifying the truth of Falun Gong and the persecution, giving them truth-clarification VCDs, or inviting them to watch the VCDs at my home. One of my colleagues who is not a practitioner knew Falun Dafa is good and often helped me make truth-clarification pamphlets. Furthermore, when someone denounced the practice, she would say, "That's not true. The practitioner in our office is very good. How nice it would be if everyone behaved like her." My cultivation environment eventually became better and better, and my work became easier to do. My managers and co-workers had a good impression of Falun Gong.
I was later reassigned to a place far away after someone reported me to the police because I told people the true situation of Falun Gong. The manager there was asked to "pay special attention" to me. He thus monitored me so that I would not go out in the evening to distribute truth-clarification materials. After I told him several times about the crimes of the CCP, the persecution and what Falun Gong really is, and he became satisfied with my work, he stopped monitoring me. Just as Teacher says,
"Those who do well will change the environments around them, and those who do poorly will make the environments around them change according to their states of mind." ("Teaching the Fa at the Washington, D.C. Fa Conference")
Letting Go of Human Attachments and Clarifying the Truth
Clarifying the truth face-to-face is also a process of eliminating human attachments. When I first started doing it, I had many human notions. I labeled people as "can be saved" and "can't be saved," and I only clarified the truth to those who I thought "can be saved." However, this was not effective.
I remember how easy it was to clarify the truth after I was transferred to the far away place. It was because I didn't know anyone there. But it was still difficult to talk to my colleagues. After I clarified the truth to the colleagues who I thought were "savable," some of them decided to quit the CCP. Yet, some didn't. All of them told me not to talk to a certain co-worker because he was very sinister and said bad things about me to our director. Therefore, I didn't clarify the truth to him. Even when I wanted to avoid him, he sometimes asked me some sensitive questions. I then became even more cautious around him. This situation continued until one day when he spent his spare time fixing a mistake that I created at work.
At that moment, I thought that I should not use any human notions to measure if a person is savable or not. Teacher said,
"If someone says that you are good, you may not really be good. If someone says that you are bad, you may not really be bad. This is because the criteria that evaluate good and bad are distorted." ("Upgrading Xinxing," Lecture Four, Zhuan Falun, 2000 translation).
A God does not only judge a person from his current life, but takes into consideration all the other lives of that the person as well. Though I couldn't see them all, didn't Teacher ask us to "...to attain the righteous Enlightenment of selflessness and altruism." ("Non-omission in Buddha-Nature" from Essentials for Further Advancement) and "...keep the interests of others in mind in all situations." ("Lecture at the First Conference in North America")? Wasn't I selfish? Didn't I have an attachment to fear?
That night, I brought some gifts to that co-worker's home. He asked, "Elder sister, why are you bringing me gifts?" I said, "I haven't told you the facts about Falun Gong for so long, I am sorry!" After I clarified the truth to his family, he, his wife and their child all quit the CCP and asked for a Falun Dafa amulet. In our company, no one dared to hang their Dafa amulet in their cars, but he did! I learned that we should never use human notions when clarifying the truth. If someone's future depends on me, and I don't do it because of my own selfishness, what a crime that would be!
"When Disciples Have Ample Righteous Thoughts, Master Has the Power to Turn Back the Tide" ("The Master-Disciple Bond," Hong Yin Volume II)
In 2000, I went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. As a result, my company punished me by putting me on a one year probation, during which time I could be fired if I didn't do what they wanted me to do. In addition, I was only given basic living expenses, while my salary was withheld for the entire year.
After the probation was over, my company asked me to write a guarantee statement promising to stop practicing Falun Gong, or they would fire me. My family, friends and managers all pressured me, however I refused to comply with their order. This situation continued for six months. Every day my husband pressured me. I thought of leaving home to avoid further harassment. I asked myself, "Can't you bear it any more? Isn't it 'Each and every barrier must be broken through' ("Tempering the Will" from Hong Yin)?" Later my husband asked someone to write a guarantee statement for me and handed it in. The human resources director came to me and asked, "Did you write this?" I told him I didn't and took it back. My husband became furious and said, "All my efforts these days were destroyed by your simple 'No'!" He begged me, "They will come tomorrow. Can't you just comply with them?"
Before I went to sleep that night, I picked up one of Teacher's articles, "Path" from Essentials for Further Advancement II. A few lines caught my eye,
"Cultivation is hard. It's hard in that even when a terrible calamity strikes, even when evil madly persecutes, and even when your life is at stake, you still have to be able to steadfastly continue on your path of cultivation without letting anything in human society interfere with the steps you take on your path of cultivation."
These words were just for me. I can't describe my gratitude to Teacher. I thanked Teacher and silently said, "Teacher, I only listen to you. I will not comply with them." Nobody came to me the next day. Shortly after, my salary was approved to resume.
Sometimes when I am not diligent, I have bad thoughts. Actually, that is the result of not studying the Fa enough. Especially when I distributed truth-clarification materials at night, the evil took advantage of my gaps and created difficulties for me if I had unrighteous thoughts. This occurred several times, and each time I was able to escape safely with Teacher's help. When I maintain a pure mind and only think of the Fa and Teacher, nothing can stop me.
In the future I will cherish everything that Teacher gives us to complete my historical mission and save more sentient beings.
October 27, 2008
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