(Minghui.org) In rural China, there was a woman named Yun. She was disabled and needed a cane to walk. She had never gone to school and was illiterate. In today’s society with its declining morality, she was often picked on and bullied. She came across Falun Dafa by chance and experienced the wonders of Dafa after she began practicing. Fellow practitioners treated her with kindness and taught her how to read. Yun gradually became able to read Zhuan Falun (the main book of Falun Dafa) on her own. She also began memorizing Hong Yin.
When the Chinese Communist Party launched a nationwide campaign against Falun Dafa in July 1999, Yun and fellow practitioners went to Beijing to appeal for Dafa, but were arrested. Yun was brutally beaten by the police. She was covered with blood, but she endured the torture and refused to give up her belief.
Upon returning home, she continued to raise awareness of the persecution by posting and distributing informational materials. She has been arrested and tortured many times since, but she has never backed down. Some cadres in the village who had been deceived by the CCP propaganda resented her, but they thought she was a tough one to break.
Yun was arrested again during another truth clarification outing. The village cadres instructed the police to beat her to death. The officers surrounded her holding big clubs thicker than her wrists, and beat her. In no time, the tiny woman was beaten to the ground and could not move. She was dying and thought to herself, “I might not be able to make it this time...” and then she had another thought, “It is worth it for Dafa. I am so fortunate to have obtained Dafa as a disabled person.”
The police officers were tired after fiercely beating her. Seeing that she was about to die, they stopped for a while. At this time, a police officer maliciously said to her, “I’m letting you know that there is an order from above to beat you to death. We will immediately take you to the crematorium after your last breath.”
When she heard this, she knew she was going to die soon. She thought of her daughter (also a Falun Dafa practitioner) and many other fellow practitioners in the same village who were so good and kind. She suddenly changed her mind, “I can't die. Dafa is so good. I have to distribute truth clarifying materials, and I have to let more people know that Dafa is good.” Just after she finished thinking this, she found that she could move and had the strength to get up. She stood up!
When the police saw her getting up, they went even crazier beating her with all their might. Even the big thick club was broken. Yun did not feel the pain. The more they beat her, the more comfortable she felt. The police were scared to death. They called her, “She is Tieguai Lee!” (One of the Eight Immortals in Chinese Folklore)” In the end, they released her and people began to call her “Forever living Tieguai Lee.”
Whenever I think of this story, I am deeply impressed by the greatness of Master's grace and the wonders of Dafa. I am also deeply touched by Yun’s righteous thoughts.
Inspired by the story, I came to an understanding. During the Fa-rectification period, when we cultivate while resisting the persecution, it is not enough to just think that we are a cultivator when being persecuted by the evil forces.
Yun had always viewed herself as a true cultivator and she had passed several tough tests. When the old forces attempted to take her flesh body away, they did not think she could pass the test until she had the thoughts of “I can't die. Dafa is so good, I have to distribute this Falun Dafa information, and I have to let more people know that Dafa is good.” She immediately gained power. A miracle happened. Why?
If the mission of Dafa disciples is to assist Master in rectifying the Fa and saving all sentient beings, then the meaning of our mission is far greater than the Consummation of personal cultivation.
Yun had endured a great deal. But her suffering was still based on her personal cultivation, which aimed to establish and consummate herself. Making arrangements for personal cultivation is what the old forces have been doing, and they have been using the process of “forging enlightened beings” (through tribulations) to establish many enlightened beings in history (including Buddha Shakyamuni and Jesus).
The old forces placed the greatest importance on the personal cultivation of Dafa disciples, and they wanted Dafa disciples to follow a “path of achievement through suffering tribulations.” Therefore, if we still cultivate according to this principle during the period of Fa-rectification, we have unknowingly followed a path arranged by the old forces – failing to reject the old forces in their entirety.
When Yun later realized that she should not die and that she still had to save more sentient beings, this thought was on the basis of “assisting one's Master in Fa-rectification and saving sentient beings” and was in line with the requirement from Master in our Fa-rectification period cultivation.
During the twenty-plus years of resisting the persecution, we have encountered numerous forms of persecution by the evil old forces, which is pervasive and permeates everywhere. Many fellow practitioners including myself have been stumbling along. We truly have to reflect on our mindset now. There are still many fellow practitioners who feel “helpless” or “hopeless” regarding the persecution, who do not know how to negate the old force completely. Perhaps the notion of personal cultivation is blocking them.
This is just my understanding at the current time, please kindly point out shortcomings.
[Editor's note: Views expressed in this article represent the author's own opinions, for which the author is solely responsible. Readers should evaluate the article's merits on their own.]