(Clearwisdom.net) It's been eight years since Teacher put forward "the three things" (to study the Fa, send forth righteous thoughts and clarify the truth) in "Fa-Lecture at the Conference in Florida, U.S.A." on December 29, 2001. The three things have become the tools of practitioners to rectify the Fa, safeguard the Fa, cultivate ourselves, reach consummation, expose the lies, stop the persecution, and save sentient beings. Teacher has also emphasized the importance of practitioners doing the three things well in many other lectures. It has also been proven through practical experience that the most efficient way of cultivating ourselves is doing "the three things" well according to Master's request. Therefore, doing the three things has become the things that I must do every day.
I started practicing Falun Gong in 1996. My wife did the same. However, she passed away in 2001 after she was forced to denounce Falun Gong. I have several sons, daughters-in-law, and grandchildren. Even though they do not practice, they don't inhibit my practice either. I am retired already. Every day I do the three things with all my heart, except for the time I spend taking care of everyday chores.
Fa-Study Is the Key and Guarantee of Doing the Three Things Well
During Fa-study, my emphasis is on reading Zhuan Falun over and over. I normally read through it every three days to a week. Then, every six months, I'll spend a month reading through the other Fa lectures. Whenever there is a new lecture, I will read it at least three times. I start my morning exercise at 3:50 a.m. and send forth righteous thoughts afterward. I do that every day.
I use the whole afternoon to study the Fa. I go out in the morning, get truth-clarification materials, hand out truth-clarifying materials, clarify the truth face to face or hand out Shen Yun DVDs. In the evening, I read a great variety of materials, including Minghui Weekly, Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party, experience sharing articles and others.
Teacher has always said that we must make Fa-study a priority, and that no matter how busy we are, we have to study the Fa. Studying the Fa well is extremely important for each practitioner. We are here not only for our own personal Consummation, we also shoulder the monumental mission of saving sentient beings.
During this overwhelming persecution, the poisoned sentient beings have mostly come from high levels and were lords or kings from different cosmic bodies who came to obtain the Fa. They represent gigantic cosmic bodies and gigantic groups of beings. We are Fa-rectification period Dafa disciples and coexist with the Fa-rectification period. Dafa has bestowed upon us magnificent responsibilities and missions to save those beings. In order to fulfill our missions well, it's extremely important that we study the Fa well.
Making a Priority of Clarifying the Truth
If the people we are saving came from high levels and were gods, lords and kings from gigantic cosmic bodies, then they represent gigantic cosmic bodies and gigantic groups of beings. What kind of mighty virtue are we talking about? It is a Dafa practitioner's honor. Therefore, clarifying the truth and saving the sentient beings becomes something that we must do every day.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began to persecute Falun Gong on July 20, 1999, I immediately started telling people that it is not wrong to cultivate Dafa and follow the principle of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. I also exposed the CCP's lies and propaganda.
In fact, the CCP has spared no expense in creating hate propaganda against Falun Gong and in suppressing Falun Gong. People fell prey to the CCP's hateful propaganda, it was like evil was everywhere. The good thing is that I have the Fa in my heart, so I am not fooled by the lies. I have used a variety of ways to tell people that Dafa is good and righteous and that the persecution is forced upon them. Things finally turned better.
Since the Nine Commentaries was published, the CCP didn't dare to say a word about it for the past five years. Because those were just facts. It exposed the CCP's political propaganda of its "great, glorious and righteous" image. Most Chinese people have suffered greatly under the CCP's rule. Once we mention to them how evil the CCP is, many of them want it to collapse. A few people are either afraid or deeply poisoned; they don't want to hear any bad things about the CCP.
Since July 20, 1999, I have been arrested and sentenced many times and imprisoned for several years. I know many prisoners and guards, and I have clarified the truth to them. These people have interacted with many Dafa disciples and know we are good people. They know I am innocent and the majority of them are willing to listen to me.
Dafa became even more popular when we started to distribute Shen Yun DVDs face to face in 2007. I distribute about 50 - 60 DVDs per week. I take advantage of all the opportunities I get. For instance, I give DVDs to anyone who offers his/her seat to me or any other person in need on a bus. When I go to parks, I talk to people who have children. I give a DVD to them if the little one calls me grandpa. There are also situations like asking directions, group dance, etc. Whenever I see a person who is willing to help others, I always give him/her a DVD. People love to take fine DVDs, especially Shen Yun DVDs. When clarifying the truth face to face, I normally get along well with people who are about my age. It is also fairly easy to clarify the truth to the college students.
Some people are hard to clarify the truth to. I have an old friend who was in the same industry as me. He and his wife are both party members. Every time I visited them, we didn't get along. Finally I wrote them a letter and clarified the truth in the letter. Both of them understood the truth and quit the CCP after reading the letter.
One of my professors was the same. He was the head of a college and knew that the CCP is hopeless. When we asked him to quit the CCP, he said he didn't believe in gods. He quit the CCP only after he finished reading the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party.
One of my grandsons agreed to quit the CCP. But he didn't believe in the divine since he had been educated by the CCP's atheism from elementary school through college. I also wrote him a letter. In the letter I told him that most Chinese had faith in gods before the CCP took control. Once the CCP had control, they only promoted atheism and didn't allow any religious belief. I also reminded him that he saw our health improvement and spiritual uplifting from the practice. Having belief is good for the people and society. He read the letter seriously and I was gratified.
Sending Forth Righteous Thoughts
Every day, I send forth righteous thoughts four times a day as required. I also do it when on a bus or walking or whenever I have time. During a certain period, I felt nothing when I sent righteous thoughts and I did not do it well.
Master said,
"Let me tell you, all those who remain and that can persecute Dafa and Dafa disciples are due to our students themselves. Students who haven't taken sending forth righteous thoughts seriously: the evil in the dimensions that you are supposed to shoulder and be responsible for has not been eliminated. That's the cause. So you must take sending forth righteous thoughts seriously. No matter whether you think you have the ability or not, you should do it. What you eliminate from your own mind are ones which have an effect within the expanse of your own body; at the same time, you need to eliminate the external ones, which are directly related to the dimensions you're in. If you don't eliminate them, then they not only persecute you and restrain you, but also persecute other students, other Dafa disciples." (Fa-Lecture at the Conference in Florida, U.S.A. )
This made me realize the importance of sending forth righteous thoughts. I take sending forth righteous thoughts more seriously. Now I am more relaxed and feel a strong energy field when I am sending forth righteous thoughts.
In the meantime, I also cooperate with several fellow practitioners and we do the three things together. We also helped several other practitioners come back to Dafa cultivation. During this short period of Fa-rectification, we should cultivate ourselves well and save more sentient beings.
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