(Minghui.org) I began practicing Falun Dafa in 2008. At the time, I was young and talented with a bright future ahead as the director of a large state enterprise.
All that changed in 2014 when I was illegally arrested and lost my job for practicing Falun Dafa. I was detained for over nine months before being handed a suspended sentence in 2015. Throughout this ordeal, no one I met could comprehend why I would give up my position with a guaranteed job security, steady income, and benefits, all for my belief in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.
Master said:
“How should our practitioners treat losses and gains? It is different from ordinary people. What everyday people want is personal gain and how to live well and comfortably. Our practitioners are not this way, but exactly the opposite. We do not seek what everyday people want. Instead, what we get is something everyday people cannot obtain—even though they want to—except through cultivation practice.” (Zhuan Falun, Lecture Four)
How we treat the issue of loss and gain is an issue of enlightenment. Master also said:
“The enlightenment that we actually refer to is a matter of whether in the course of cultivation practice one can enlighten to and accept the Fa taught by the master or the Tao taught by the Taoist master, whether one can treat oneself as a practitioner upon encountering tribulations, and whether one can adhere to the Fa while practicing cultivation.” (Zhuan Falun, Lecture Nine)
After I was released, my relatives and friends were shocked that I was still mentally sound after going through such adversity. As Fa-rectification Dafa disciples, we endure tribulations during this magnificent period that are not a big deal.
A fellow practitioner once said to me, “It looks like Master really wants you to succeed in cultivation!” We should deny any arrangements made by the old forces. When a tribulation occurs, Master will make the most of the situation to help us improve.
Through this ordeal, I made improvements in my character by letting go of the attachment to status, wealth, and sentimentality.
At work, I treated everyone as equals and was friendly and courteous. I handled all personnel matters, such as promotions and dismissals, according to company regulations.
Since I took my status lightly, I was unmoved when faced with losing all of my “privileges.” As the director of my work unit, I did not make my subordinates carry my bags like other directors did. I also instructed my driver to let the security personnel know that they should not open the car door for me.
In China today, it is normal for directors of a business to participate in entertaining or bribing business associates or officials. However, I did not take part in any of that after I began practicing Dafa. I was also never tempted by the hundreds of millions of dollars of annual transactions under my supervision.
The most profound lesson I learned through this ordeal was about my attachment to sentimentality. I have always been the personable type, someone who genuinely got along with everyone and valued friendships. After I was released, however, all the people I had helped and those who had sworn loyalty to me never contacted me. They did not even send well wishes during the Chinese New Year celebrations.
I realized that people did not have high morals and were calculating in their interactions with others. They were indeed very hard to save. I also realized that human emotions are not something we can depend on.
After realizing this, I was no longer disappointed in people. I only felt pity for those who lived or died by the illusions of this world. Not taking human sentiments seriously has in fact been a very liberating and exhilarating experience for me.
Master said:
“If you are free from this sentimentality, nobody can affect you. An everyday person’s mind will be unable to sway you. What takes over in its place is benevolence, which is something more noble.” (Zhuan Falun, Lecture Four)
I used to only read a lecture a day or recite the Fa on my own. After I was released, I read two lectures a day and started memorizing Zhuan Falun in May 2016. I was able to gradually memorize two to three pages a day to about six pages. I am now memorizing the book for the sixth time.
During this time of intense Fa-study, I was able to enlighten continuously to new understandings. I could also sit in the double-lotus position for over an hour, something unimaginable before. The first time that I could actually meditate in the double-lotus position was in the detention center.
When I was detained, I was constantly monitored and was not able to do the exercises. So I then visualized doing the exercises in my mind.
One time, the moment I thought about doing the second exercise, my arms went up by themselves as if propped up by a wheel. This feeling of being supported now occurs every time I do the wheel holding exercise. Another time, when I did the fourth exercise, I felt a strong flow of energy throughout my whole body that I have not been able to experience again. Before, I could only feel warmth in my body.
I knew that Master was encouraging me while I was going through the most agonizing and difficult time. These two experiences gave me the encouragement and resolve to triumph over my tribulation.
Master also encouraged me in a different incident during my detention. I found a magazine in the cell where I was held in solitary confinement. In it was an article titled “Everything is for the Best” and it seemed to have been written specifically for my situation.
When I was illegally sentenced, in my final statement to the judge I said, “I believe all will be proven in time.” After I was released, I mentioned the article in the magazine to a friend. The next day, he brought over two books written by the same author. One of them was called, “ Everything is for the Best” and the other, “All will be Proven in Time.” It was amazing! I truly believe that Master is always watching over every practitioner.
From the changes observed in the cosmos to everything that is happening on earth, things appear to be heading rapidly toward the final conclusion of Fa-rectification. I started to systematically read through all of Master's recent articles in the beginning of 2018 and found that He has been emphasizing since 2004 that we must do well in the little time remaining.
After reading a fellow practitioner's article on the timeframe of the Fa-rectification, it occurred to me that I would not have succeeded as a Fa-rectification disciple according to Master's original arrangements. Many times, Master has emphasized that practitioners need to do well in the three things. This indicated that many practitioners have failed to meet the standard and still have too many human attachments. That may have been the main reason the progress of Fa-rectification has been delayed.
We all need to ask ourselves what we can do about it. It is actually quite simple: We just have to let go of our attachments to time and stop being concerned with whether we can fulfill our vows or consummate.
We must have faith in Master and the Fa, have righteous thoughts and actions and know that everything will work out for the best. Let's strive forward together and make Master proud.