(Minghui.org) I am a farmer in my 80s. In the winter of 1997, my son came to the village with other practitioners to tell us about Falun Dafa (also known as Falun Gong). Fifty-six people in the village began to practice Dafa at that time. Twelve people in my family began to practice, including myself.
I am fortunate to have obtained Dafa at the time when Master Li is spreading Dafa and rectifying the Fa.
The first problem I had after obtaining Dafa was that I had no education and was able to read only a few words in Zhuan Falun. I could not study Master's Dafa. So I wondered, “What can I do?” After a lot of thinking, I finally decided to visit my son to get help from him.
My son had Falun Dafa books, as well as audios and videos of Master teaching the Fa. When my son went to work, I stayed home to listen to the Fa teachings and watch the videos. I tried to be tranquil while studying the Fa, which helped me to memorize the content.
In the evening I joined the group Fa study, which is a format set by Master for practitioners to improve together. I felt there were several advantages to this: 1) Group Fa study generated a stronger energy field, which helped me to achieve tranquility and suppress thought karma; 2) it provided an opportunity to exchange cultivation experiences and help each other; 3) any mistakes I had in reading the Fa were corrected; and 4) it gave me an opportunity to learn new words. After attending the group Fa study, I read Zhuan Falun. Every morning I also went to the exercise site to do the exercises. The assistant there helped me with any incorrect movements.
The busy and fulfilling month of living in the city was over, and there were many achievements. For one, my xinxing had improved. For example, my temperament changed from hot-headed to calm. I also became more tolerant and could deal with problems calmly. After returning to the village, I organized a local group Fa study and began to tell others about Falun Dafa and teach the exercises in the village.
In July 1999, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), under the orders of Jiang Zemin, launched the nationwide persecution of Falun Dafa. One of my family members was heavily sentenced. Two others were sentenced to three years of forced labor. Another one was detained for one month, and one was forced to leave their job. My son and my daughter-in-law died as a result of persecution.
Since my daughter-in-law refused to give up practicing Falun Dafa and spoke the truth about the persecution and the Tiananmen self-immolation hoax to prison guards and workers, she was brutally tortured. Her body became rigid, and she was on the brink of death. The labor camp was afraid that she was going to die there, so they released her.
One day, seven people from the town government and 610 Office came to my home and behaved aggressively. My wife was frightened and trembling. I tried to calm down and send forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the evil in other dimensions, and I asked Master to help me. At that moment Master's Fa appeared in my mind:
“But a person always has to enlighten on his own to what he should do in the face of tribulations. Every time a person improves, the Attainment Status he has validated and enlightened to rises.” (“Path” in Essentials for Further Advancement II)
“The steadfast, righteous thoughts of a cultivator transcend all human understandings, transcend all human thinking, and can never be understood by everyday people. At the same time, they cannot be changed by everyday people, because humans are not able to change Enlightened Beings.” (“Coercion Cannot Change People’s Hearts” in Essentials for Further Advancement II)
I completely denied the evil’s persecution. I had no fear; instead, I was peaceful and reasonable with them.“I can't accept your reasons for not letting me practice Falun Dafa,” I said. “My Master teaches people to be a good and noble.” They left after I explained it clearly to them.
I could calmly face the 610 Office personnel and speak the truth to them because of Master's guidance and help. From then on, no one ever came to harass me. Thank you, Master!
My daughter-in-law passed away two months after returning home from a labor camp. That same year, my son was tortured to death in prison. My family was suffering extreme grief. Deep in my heart there was a feeling of sadness that I couldn't talk about to anyone. I often shed tears.
One evening I read the following Fa quotes to my wife. Master said:
“Some people’s children have died, but they can’t let go of them and talk about how wonderful they were, or they talk about how great their mothers were, but they’ve died. These people grieve their hearts out as if they want to follow their deceased for the rest of their lives. Why don’t you think about it: aren’t they doing this to wear you down? They do this to keep you from living a comfortable life.”
“If you want to cultivate, you have to set aside human emotion.”(Zhuan Falun)
I was shocked when I read this Fa teaching; it awakened me from my nightmares. Master just told me what to do: “Emotion is the stuff of ordinary people. They just live for emotion.” (Zhuan Falun) I had lowered my standards as a practitioner and considered myself as an ordinary person. I was lost in the trap set by the old forces. The old forces were trying to make me lose my will to cultivate Dafa.
The CCP's persecution of Falun Dafa caused me to lose two children. But their real lives didn't die, and they had elevated their levels through Dafa cultivation. I should be proud of them. How could I feel sad for them?
My attachments to that sentiment actually contained resentment and feelings of helplessness over the hurt caused by the persecution, which was passive endurance rather than true endurance. This was also an attachment to be eliminated.
Worldly sentiment is a test for practitioners. After going through these xinxing tests, I gained a better understanding of Master's teaching of “Loss and Gain.”
Master said:
“With attachments left behind, the lightened boats sail swiftly,With a preoccupied human heart, crossing the ocean proves arduous.”(“The Knowing Heart” in Essentials for further Advancement II)
The above account is only part of my cultivation experience and preliminary enlightenment. Fellow practitioners, please kindly point out anything inappropriate.