(Minghui.org) Master said:
“It is thus all the harder to, while being subjected to ordeals imposed by the old forces, manage to walk the path correctly. And this is even more so for the Dafa disciples in mainland China. For them, amidst the tremendously harsh persecution, every single thought and idea is critical. Whether you’ve done well or not; whether or not you’ve been susceptible to being persecuted; whether or not you’ve handled things correctly and to what degree you have been persecuted—all of this is directly connected to how you have walked your path and how you have thought about things.” (“What is a Dafa Disciple?”)
I used to believe that I understood what Master meant in the above passage until I was sentenced to prison. In that situation, the feeling brought on by my every thought and notion intensified my understanding of the meaning and the weight of what Master was talking about.
My every thought has to be absolutely pure. That purity is the standard required of every practitioner of Falun Dafa (also known as Falun Gong). It will lessen the severity of our trials and tribulations, and help to thoroughly destroy the old force elements.
This article reflects my personal understanding at my current level. If there is anything inappropriate, please point it out to me.
Staying Steadfast and Calm When Faced with Persecution
As I was about to leave for work one morning, several people barged into my home, and someone swiftly cuffed my hands behind my back.
I reminded myself to stay calm. I am a Dafa disciple and must maintain a serene state of mind. I have Master and Dafa on my side. Nobody can touch me! I also sent forth a strong righteous thought to eliminate the old forces in other dimensions.
I tried to think with a clear mind of what attachments I had to have brought this on.
I then remembered that everything is an illusion induced by the old forces. I must deny it. It doesn’t matter where I’ve gone wrong. It doesn’t matter what my loopholes may be. What’s important now is to send forth righteous thoughts and tell the people who have just forced their way into my home about Falun Dafa and the persecution.
I asked myself, “Are you afraid or are you prepared to talk to them?”
I took a look at the people who had barged into my house. The majority of them were young police officers. I gave them all a big smile and asked them to produce their identification, saying at the same time, “Young friends, you know I am not a bad person. Why don’t we all sit down and have a chat.”
One of them brought over a chair for me to sit on. So, while a few of them were busy searching my apartment, the others were listening to what I had to say.
I told them about the goodness of Falun Dafa, about how I have benefited physically and mentally from the practice, and about how my relatives, friends, and colleagues had witnessed Dafa’s miracles that I had experienced. I was sending forth righteous thoughts while I was talking.
I went on to tell them how it was Jiang Zemin the former Chinese leader who launched the defamation and persecution campaign against Falun Gong, and how the practice is spread outside of China and embraced by people all across the globe. Some of them asked questions and I did my best to answer them.
When they took me downstairs, one of the police officers put a jacket over my shoulders while whispering in my ear, “I'll put this on you so that people can't see that your hands are cuffed.”
Remaining Clearheaded When Being Interrogated
I was put through a series of interrogation sessions at the police station. One group of police would yell and scream at me, then another group would take over, feigning friendship, using sweet talk, to try to get some information from me.
Another group tried to trick me, promising that if I cooperate I would be set free right away and could go home to look after my family.
I refused to succumb to any of their deceitful acts, and was determined that I would neither cooperate nor betray my fellow practitioners.
After 30 hours of interrogation, all they got was a pile of unsigned so-called interrogation records and an itemized list of articles that had been removed from my home.
During the entire time I was at the police station, whenever I came across an unfamiliar face, I would tell myself that this is another person that needs to be saved.
I continued to send forth righteous thoughts to eliminate all of the old force factors, and to clean up the environment in the police station.
When they realized that they could not break my spirit, they transferred me to the local detention center. I believed with all my heart that Master and all righteous Gods would be there to watch over me.
I was given a complete physical examination at the detention center. Master arranged for the doctors to find that I had extremely high blood pressure. The doctors advised the officers who brought me there to notify their superiors immediately as the detention center would be reluctant to keep somebody in my condition.
They called their superiors in the police station. The call took at least 15 minutes. The outcome was a decision to enforce my stay at the detention center. I trusted Master and his arrangements and remained unaffected. Perhaps there were sentient beings I had to save there.
A guard came to interview me and took me to an office. I was thinking, “Here is the first person I need to clarify the facts to and I must make good use of the opportunity.”
I immediately sent forth righteous thoughts to clear out the old force factors controlling him. Then, I told him that I would like to have a chat with him. After he asked a few personal questions and recorded the answers, he sat back and waited for me to talk.
I began by telling him about the goodness of Falun Gong, and how it benefits practitioners and society in general. I told him about Jiang Zemin’s attempts to eradicate the practice.
I said, “As a Falun Gong practitioner, I strive to follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance to be a better person. It is wrong to treat me as a criminal. Falun Gong practitioners strive to become better people and thus raise the overall moral standard of society. To lock them up is doing the country and its people a great disservice.”
The guard listened attentively, throwing in a question here and there. I did my best to answer him in a way that he could understand. I sincerely hoped he would choose a bright future for himself.
Time passed very quickly. We had been talking for about half an hour when somebody showed up at the door to find out what was taking so long.
Before I was taken away, I reminded him, “Please try to treat practitioners with kindness and decency because we are all law-abiding citizens who have been wronged, unjustly arrested and detained. Seek me out if and when you are not too busy, and we can chat some more.”
He nodded.
Improving in Cultivation While Being Detained
After only a few hours in the cell, my most direct reaction was the feeling that there were a lot of intense adjustments that I needed to make within myself.
This was not an environment in which I could study the Fa, do the exercises, and hold my hand erect in front of my chest to send forth righteous thoughts.
I realized how much I had not truly cherished such an environment when I had the chance. I made a solemn promise that I would make serious amends as soon as I was free.
I started to thoroughly and sternly deny and eliminate the old forces in other dimensions and made note to clarify the facts whenever an opportunity presented itself. I would try my best to recite whatever Fa passages I could remember whenever and wherever I could. I would also look for ways and means to create an environment whereby I could do the exercises and send forth righteous thoughts.
My mental state must be one of peace and tranquility. That was the top priority if I were to help people learn the truth about Dafa and to quit the Communist Party. However, the biggest obstacle and interference was the many adjustments I had to make to give up my attachments.
The life I lived while being detained, the food I ate, and the things that I could access were all hugely restricted. There was not even another practitioner around. Every day, I was bombarded by having to witness drug dealing, people taking drugs, fights, cursing, stealing, and the like.
My whole being was very much affected and agitated. Through it all, I became fully conscious of my strong attachments to ease and comfort, to looking down at those unfortunate people as lowly and despicable scum, as well as an irresistible urge to be released to return to the life I used to know.
These were all different manifestations of sentimentality that had to be gotten rid of. It took me over two weeks to slowly make the necessary adjustments, physically and mentally. During that time, I experienced the amazing wonder of genuine cultivation practice.
Let me use eating as an example. Initially, a glance at the gritty cornmeal buns would make my stomach turn. I couldn’t bear to look at them, much less swallow them, so I ended up rejecting them altogether. But, when we were served steamed buns made with wheat flour, I would help myself to more than one.
At first, my selective picking and choosing made me think of myself as being quite clever. But I later realized that all eyes in the Three Realms were watching me and looking at me with critical disapproval. What a strong human notion and desire I had!
So I forced myself not to make any distinction and to eat whatever was being served up. To my amazement, after just two days, I couldn’t even tell the difference between the two kinds of buns!
Then there was the issue of my assigned location for sleeping. I was given a spot directly under the ceiling fan. I was constantly fearful my health would suffer with the cold air blowing on me all night and my having to sleep on two thin bed sheets on a damp floor.
I later realized that these were human notions. I walk the divine path, what could hurt me? They might make me give me uncomfortable, but that would be it.
When I adjusted my mindset, a cellmate offered me a cotton jacket that was large enough to be a sleeping mat as well as a bed cover.
The inmate in charge of our cell was a rich playboy of the second generation political elite. He was afraid that I would tell people about Falun Dafa and create trouble for him, so he stipulated that I could not speak to anybody about Dafa or other related topics.
I sent forth righteous thoughts and looked for opportunities to speak to him in person.
With much effort, my environment slowly improved and I was able to speak to many people, although only three of them agreed to quit the CCP. Still, several of them expressed an interest in finding out more about Falun Gong after they were released.
About half a month later, I had learned to look inward. Whenever I came across anything adverse, I would seriously look within to try and uncover the root cause. Gradually, I was able to let go of a lot of attachments and human notions.
Every time I gained a little clarity, I could feel my attachments dissipate and my xinxing elevate. That was a feeling I had never experienced before.
In the environment of the detention center, I truly appreciated Master’s care and immense compassion.
Reflecting on Cultivation
When Dafa practitioners get out of detention there is a need to rationally reflect, summarize, and analyze different happenings that tested our xinxing. This process is important to deepen our own understanding of the Fa principles, and our prehistoric vows to assist Master in Fa-rectification.
I congratulated myself for having let go of many desires and human notions. The entanglements of human emotions, however, had still given me a hard time. Those feelings of sentimentality between mother and child, and between husband and wife were hard to give up. The attachments to comfort, to certain food preferences, and all kinds of pursuits, which are all within the boundary of human sentimentality.
I am more and more aware that human sentimentality is at the root of human anguish. Slowly, I found clarity about some issues and realized that sentimentality is a substance that only exists in the Three Realms. It is a path through which people can enjoy blessings. It is also a carrier used by higher beings to reduce people’s karma.
Human Emotions
When people experience pleasure in human emotions they are reaping the benefit of their own virtue. When people feel suppressed by human emotions they are paying for past debts and reducing their karma.
From the moment we are born we are accumulating human emotions. The more we accumulate the harder it makes our lives.
For example, the more we indulge in comfort, the more we will seek comfort and the more we will feel empty and unsatisfied. The more we indulge in sentimentality to family and friends, and even affection toward fellow practitioners, the more we will be entangled in their joy, sorrow, pain, anguish, worries, and fear.
Dafa practitioners can rectify themselves relatively easily if we can see clearly what is going on and where we have gone wrong. If we do, the old forces will have no excuse to interfere with us. The hearts of genuine cultivators are out of reach from the old forces. When we rectify ourselves, we can take on any tribulation.
I still remember vividly my mental state of absolute calmness when, out of the blue, I received my notice of release and walked out of the detention center. There was absolutely no feeling of excitement or elation. I was able to feel no emotion because I had finally got rid of my attachment to pursuit.
At the beginning of my detention, my daily thoughts were filled with the hope of being released. But I was able to come to realize that it was a strong attachment to pursuit, so I kept telling myself, “I don’t want such pursuit! Since I’m here, I’ll seek nothing except to take advantage of every moment to clarify the facts and save as many people as I can.”
We must rectify our every thought and action in accordance with Dafa, including all forms of persecution imposed by the old forces, and interference such as sickness karma, family discord, societal pressure, and other issues.
One aspect that requires our particular attention is our tendency to relax and slack off after we have successfully extracted ourselves from different forms of persecution and interference.
We must be fully aware that, as long as the old forces have not been completely eliminated, it will continue to attack our weakened thoughts and actions.
When we find ourselves repeatedly undergoing different forms of persecution and interference, we should consider our own contribution to our tribulations and hurry to seriously rectify ourselves within the Fa.
We must be clear that, under the watchful eye of the old forces, if we indulge in any human notion or attachment, we are putting ourselves in danger.
Rectifying ourselves and making our every thought and notion pure will facilitate the necessary support from Master and all righteous Gods. That is the most favorable means to deny and eliminate the old forces and all its factors.
If we are still worried that we will not be strong enough to withstand the immense weight of the old forces, let us rest assured that, no matter how strenuous and vicious the attacks, no matter how beyond our human strength and capability, Master will see to it that we come to no real harm, provided we genuinely trust the Fa principles and completely deny the old forces.
Thank you, Master! Thank you, fellow practitioners!
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Category: Improving Oneself
