(Clearwisdom.net) I am a Falun Dafa practitioner who started to practice in 1996. Although I still have many shortcomings and attachments, it is fortunate that I have chosen the path toward godhood, and continue to firmly follow Teacher. Like tens of thousands of other practitioners, I grew up and became mature one step at a time in Dafa, with Teacher's great, merciful and meticulous protection and guidance.
1. Rectifying Myself While Clarifying the Facts in a Forced Labor Camp
In April 2000, I was sent to a forced labor camp for one year. The Chinese Communist Party organized a collective "brainwashing" of Dafa practitioners in July, and put male practitioners from several forced labor camps into one place. As my understanding of the Fa principles was not clear, and my attachment to the pursuit comfort and wanting to go home, in addition to listening to the drivel of "transformed", former practitioners, I wrote the repentance statement. Later, Teacher's article "Eliminate Your Last Attachment(s)" was brought into the forced labor camp, and only then did I realize that I had been deceived, and had left a stain on my cultivation path.
One day after breakfast I was reminded by a fellow practitioner about the repentance statement, and so I tore it off the notice board in the corridor, and just then I bumped into the deputy head. I was indeed a bit nervous, when the deputy head said, "What are you doing?" I had already torn it down and thrown it into the trash. I was called into the guard's room, and questioned about my actions. My answer was, "You originally lied to me and so I wrote it, but I practice Falun Gong and follow Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance. No matter what, everything I wrote was wrong and now I must be truthful, and insist on my belief." The head said, "You have taken the lead on this, have you thought about the consequences? You must be responsible; I must at least extend your term." Afterwards many other practitioners also tore their statements off one by one. Because of this incident, my term was extended by half a year.
At that time, I felt that each day was as long as a year. I recited the Fa when I was forced to sit on a stool every day. I definitely would not have been able to go through this without Dafa in my heart. They arranged for six prisoners to watch me 24 hours a day in three shifts, as a "key target". Whether I ate, slept or went to the toilet, they followed me closely. Then I enlightened to the fact that this created a convenient condition for me to clarify the truth to these people. When Dafa practitioners were all together, we had nobody else to clarify the facts to, so wasn't this giving me the opportunity to speak the truth!
First I explained the truth to the six prisoners who supervised me. I told them of Dafa's beauty and mystery, and the benefits I gained from practicing. I spoke of the grand occasion of Dafa being spread far and wide. Some people did not listen in the beginning, and some people opposed me, so I looked inward to see what I had not done well, but I did not find it. So I began to recite Teacher's Fa, and a section of the Fa came to mind:
"Shan is the manifestation of the nature of the universe at different levels and in different dimensions. It is also the fundamental nature of Great Enlightened Beings. Therefore, a cultivator must cultivate Shan and assimilate to the nature of the universe, Zhen-Shan-Ren. " ("A Brief Explanation of Shan " from Essentials from Further Advancement)
I suddenly understood that my compassion was not enough, and I was not kind enough to them. Teacher also said:
"With your ever-increasing gong potency, the energy scattered from the gong in your body will also be quite powerful. Even if it is not that powerful, an everyday person within your field will still be restrained. Or if you are at home, you will also restrain others, and your family members may be restrained by you. Why is this so? You do not even have to use your mind to do this. This field is one of pure harmony, compassion, and right faith. Therefore, people are unlikely to think of bad things or commit bad deeds. It can have this effect." (Zhuan Falun)
I adjusted my mindset, removed my hatred for the people monitoring me and stopped looking down on them. I treated them with benevolence. Several days later, the environment changed.
I kept explaining the truth to them, and looked after them, saved delicious food from my family for them, and shared with them the principles of being good people. After they understood, they treated me nicely. When I read Teacher's articles, they guarded me. A 17-year-old youth sincerely wanted to learn Dafa with me. He transcribed all the poems in Hong Yin, and memorized many. Another two people said they would certainly learn Dafa when they went home. The supervising prisoners changed, one group after another, and a total of 28 people listened to my truth-clarification. They joked with me, "We have become your protectors." The class leader also phoned his father and told him to practice Falun Gong. They also never asked me to do forced labor, and looked after my daily needs. An ordinary prisoner had kept a hand-written copy of Zhuan Falun from previously detained practitioners, and when I wanted to read, I got it from him.
I also explained the truth to several heads and guards in this brigade, as well as the chief of the administration section, officers and the director of the forced labor camp. One deputy head especially approved of what I said, so he often asked me to go to his office when he was on night shift, and we talked about Falun Gong.
Teacher said in "Drive Out Interference" in Essentials for Further Advancement II:
"When I taught the Fa I told you before about all the problems that might occur during this malicious and destructive examination. It is indeed difficult for those who haven't truly done cultivation to come through this. Now you can see why I've often told you to read the book more, right?! The Fa can break all attachments, the Fa can destroy all evil, the Fa can shatter all lies, and the Fa can strengthen righteous thoughts."
What I enlightened to from this was that no matter the environment, only by studying the Fa well, explaining the truth clearly, not going to extremes, and using one's compassion and kind acts to harmonize Dafa, then Dafa practitioners are able to go through ordeals, validate Dafa well, cultivate themselves well and save sentient beings.
2. Bit by Bit, Taking a Most Righteous Path
In early 2002, when I had been out of the forced labor camp for half a year, my wife passed away. My daughter-in-law was in forced labor camp, so I had to look after my grandson. It was during the time that Changchun practitioners intercepted a TV signal to broadcast truth-clarification programming. They were hunted down, and I was listed as a so-called key figure locally. I escaped arrest with righteous thoughts and Teacher's protection, but became could not return home for twenty months.
During this period, I told myself that I had to look after this young practitioner (my grandson) well, take care his basic needs; sewing, washing, and most importantly Fa study and improving xinxing -- otherwise I would disappoint Teacher on the mission entrusted to me, as this child had come to assimilate to the Fa. My grandson was weak and sickly from birth (he was diagnosed with "congenital mental retardation and congenital heart disease"). We went everywhere to seek well-known doctors and treatments, and spent almost four people's wages on him, with no improvement. When he was four years old, not long after I started practicing in 1996, and our entire family became practitioners. He listened to us reading the Fa, watched us practicing the exercises, and gradually was able to speak, and walk. According to the doctors, the child would not live long, however he miraculously lived. Although he is a "retarded child" in everyday people's eyes, he actually displays many of Dafa's mysteries and miracles. For instance, when we have visitors at home, he knows much earlier, and knows what they are coming for. He can open a locked door without a key, just by simply turning the doorknob, and he knows what is in your mind. In regards to my cultivation state, he would say things like, "three flowers gathering above the head," "big heads, one on top of another, scary," "what other attachment do you have" and so on. If I do not teach him well, then it would truly be my regrettable crime.
In order to help people see the beauty of Dafa, I try my best to dress my grandson neatly. We study the Fa and practice the exercises during the day, and go out to distribute truth-clarification materials and put up posters at night. I tell him not to fight with or curse at other children, and to do good deeds, be a good person, and respect the elderly and others. He is now 15 years old, and I have never heard him curse people. We always consider others, keep the landlord's house clean, tidy and bright. When it snows, I clean the snow before the landlord has to. Neighbors all say that Falun Gong practitioners are good. Since they have a good impression of us, it is easy to make them understand the truth, and also leave them an unforgettable, wonderful memory of Dafa. When I could finally return to my own home, the landlords held my hands and cried, "We've had so many tenants, but nobody is as good as you are. It will impossible to have a good tenant like you again." I told them to remember, "Falun Dafa is good." They said they would always remember.
In the early winter of 2007, I took my grandson for a haircut. The barber found no dandruff in his hair, and said I kept him so clean, even better than a normal child. He asked my grandson, "Is your grandpa good?" My grandson answered, "Grandpa is good, hard to find in heaven or on earth." The barber said, "How come my son does not have such a good grandpa!" Then I said, "Not only does he have a good grandpa, he and his grandpa have a good Teacher; such a good Teacher would be hard to find for thousand of years. My Teacher tells us to be good people and do good deeds in any environment, to always think of others, and become 'selfless, altruistic and righteous enlightened beings.' Even so, this Jiang [Zemin] and the evil party still persecute us, and won't let us be good people. You tell me whether this evil party can do well; it is true that heaven is going to extinguish it. If we are members of its organization and don't withdraw now, won't we fall with it? I urged you to quit the Communist Youth League last year, but you have not done so; shouldn't you quit now?" The barber agreed, and another life has been saved. Teacher said,
"...full of great aspirations while minding minor details. " ("Sage" from Essentials for Further Advancement)
Teacher requires us to be like saints. Dafa practitioners assist Teacher in Fa-rectification, not only wishing to achieve fruit status and complete our mission, but we also need to start with minor matters, and bit by bit, be strict with ourselves at all times, to become the best person in the world. Only then can we leave a good impression of Dafa in the world, and save people.
3. Harmonize the One Body, Purify Oneself
In the second half of 2007, over twenty practitioners in our city were arrested. This caused great losses and difficulties to our truth-clarification and saving sentient beings in our area, and brought a negative impact to their families and to people in general. After sharing with fellow practitioners, we enlightened that we did not expose the local evil sufficiently, did not report to Minghui (the Chinese version of Clearwisdom.net) in time, and the local flyers and materials were not edited for several months, affecting local Fa-rectification progress. I was anxious, and decided to take on the task. Although I am old, I thought, I am a Dafa practitioner, and I can certainly do anything in Fa-rectification with wisdom from Dafa.
Once I had this wish, the opportunity came. One day the coordinator asked if I could edit local flyers. I said, "Let me try." This was how I started editing work. I knew nothing in the beginning, so I asked a practitioner who knew the technology to work with me. With practice, and the practitioner's instructions, and Teacher's strengthening and hints, I can now work independently. It also involves the issue of selecting local information. I must personally go out, investigate and confirm the facts, and include instances of good and evil retribution, persecution cases, facts on crimes committed by the police, relevant personnel's phone numbers and so on. In order to make truth-clarification material truthful, reliable and credible, I must also re-confirm the related local materials from several years ago. This way it can convince people, frighten the evil, and truly have the effect of saving people.
I am also able to cooperate and harmonize the one body, and I do whatever I can. When practitioners have conflicts, and need to change roles at the materials production site, or when things need to get done that others are unwilling to touch, as long as I am asked, I never refuse.
A Dafa practitioner is originally a Dafa particle, and should take the initiative to harmonize within this one body, fix loopholes and enlighten. Only then can this area form an indestructible fortress, an impregnable body, and display its formidable mighty power in saving people. The evil would then be too scared and helpless to persecute.
Most importantly, after practicing for many years, only today do I truly experience the wonderful realm of "selflessness" and of compassion for others - that is regardless of time and space. Before I do anything or encounter any conflict or contradiction, first I think of the Fa, of Teacher, and strive to harmonize what Teacher wants. That is what Fa-rectification period Dafa practitioners must realize and achieve.
After I enlightened to all this, I feel that my space is incomparably light and holy, with a clear and boundless sky. My innermost being only has mercy, and is dignified and outstanding from Fa-rectification practice.
The above is my shallow understanding, please correct me if there are any mistakes.
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