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Ascending Step by Step By a Dafa Practitioner in China (Clearwisdom.net) I have been fascinated by the wondrous phenomena of the
universe ever since I was a child. During the years qigong was popular, I
wished that I could learn every one of the various types. One day, while
browsing in a book fair, I found by chance a book with a very nice cover. It was
not expensive, so I bought it and from the moment I started reading, I could not
put it down. I realized that the book contained the Great Law and the Great Way.
Thereafter, I was determined to cultivate through to the end and to return home.
Teacher said, "So the way this Fa has spread has been entirely
heart-to-heart and person-to-person." (Falun Buddha Fa Lectures in the
United States, Teaching the Fa in New York City) My wife, children,
mother-in-law, brother-in-law as well as sister-in-law and her mother began
practicing Falun Dafa one after another. We set up a Fa study group at my home.
My wife and I became assistants of a practice site. Before long, the practice
sites had grown from one to nine and the number of people coming to my house to
study the Fa grew to a group of seventy plus people. I did not feel tired even
though I worked from dawn to dusk. Because of the large number of practitioners,
I purchased Dafa books with my own money so that when people with predestined
relationships came, they would have the books to read right away. I also
gradually added equipment for the practice sites. On my cultivation path I made
blunders or took a roundabout course from time to time. When July 1999 came, I
still had a lot of attachments to let go of.
I still remember that on the morning of July 21, 1999, staff from the
neighbourhood office came to our practice site to investigate us. I was pretty
good at talking, but my legs were trembling during the investigation. After July
20, under enormous pressure, attachments that I had not yet let go of,
especially fear, began to surface. At the time I had a heavy heart and felt
wronged, "We are doing our best to be good people. Why are we treated like
this?"
The Public Security Bureau, the police station, the neighbourhood
administrative office, work units, as well as friends and relatives all came to
talk to me. They asked me to confess my so-called "wrongdoings," hand
in my Falun Dafa books, write a statement guaranteeing not to practice Falun
Gong anymore, and promise not to appeal for Falun Gong. This went on and on
without stop. At the time, I lost contact with other practitioners. All the
media in China were being used to fabricate lies or launch vicious attacks on
Falun Dafa. The country entered a very dark era. Because of my fear, I asked
someone to write a confession for me, handed in a few Dafa books, and even
promised not to practice Falun Gong. In all, I did something that a Dafa
practitioner should have never done. Even now I feel grieved whenever think
about the things I did.
I knew clearly in my heart that I should never waver in my determination to
persistently cultivate Dafa. Later I came to realize that the environment should
not always be like it was so I contacted fellow practitioners and organized a
dozen experience sharing conferences. Through steadily studying the Falun Dafa
books and sharing experiences, all of us improved our understanding of the
principles of the Fa. There were practitioners constantly going to Beijing from
my home and coming back to tell us their experiences in letting go of life and
death. They were very moving. I still remember a practitioner who was from the
countryside. She grabbed my hand and said with tears in her eyes, "I
thought I was the only one who was still practicing Falun Dafa and had never
expected that so many practitioners are practicing. I feel so happy."
Another practitioner who came from a small town in the northern border area
went straight to Beijing for a peaceful appeal right after the experience
sharing. She came back one week later. Although she had lost about 20 kg, she
was in very good spirits. She was arrested in Beijing but did not expose her
identity. She took the lead in starting a hunger strike and holding experience
sharing conferences. Using their wisdom, the practitioners talked to the police
and let them know what had really happened to Falun Dafa practitioners. At last
they were freed with a verdict of "not guilty." However, at that time
I still had very strong fear. Whenever I wanted to exchange experiences with
other practitioners I would usually choose a hotel in the outskirts of town
because I thought that would be safer. One time a practitioner came to my home
to get Teacher's new article. I thought it was the police so I did not open the
door.
With the study of the Falun Dafa books and the sharing experiences I
gradually let go of my fear. During this period of time my home was illegally
searched three times. They confiscated my computer and printer. At first I did
not know we should not cooperate with the evil so I answered every question
raised by the police as best I could. Though it did not bring any losses to my
fellow practitioners, I felt my behavior was not right. As time went by I came
to know what I could do. I was under house arrest at my work unit for two months
and was illegally held at a detention centre for three months.
One incident really shook me up. A practitioner told the police after she was
arrested that she had obtained Falun Dafa material from me. The Public Security
Bureau thought they had caught a "big fish." When they arrested me,
they handcuffed my hands to the back of a chair behind my back so I could
neither sit down nor stand up. I was also beaten with a wooden stick and it was
very painful; but my main consciousness remained very clear. I knew I would
never cooperate with the evil's demands or anything that it instigated. At that
time I did not know about sending forth righteous thoughts so in this difficult
situation, I just didn't say anything. The result was that all of a sudden they
stopped the beatings. They said, "Why should we beat you?" so their
attitudes swiftly changed. It was just as our Teacher said in Zhuan Falun,
"you will indeed find: 'After passing the shady willow trees, there will be
bright flowers and another village ahead!'"
Later I read Teacher's new article "Dafa Disciples' Righteous Thoughts
Are Powerful" (Essentials for Further Advancement II). Teacher
wrote,
"Why should you, a Dafa disciple, fear the evil ones when enduring
persecution? The crux of the matter is that you have attachments. If not, do
not endure passively, and face the evil people with righteous thoughts at
all times. No matter what the situation, do not cooperate with the evil's
demands, orders, or what it instigates. If everyone does this the
environment won't be this way."
From this paragraph I enlightened to the fact that the evil did not deserve
to test me because my mind nature was very righteous.
I remember at the end of 2000, many practitioners went to Beijing to appeal.
There was a very fierce struggle in my mind. I even dreamed that someone
described me as a coward. I enlightened to the fact that I must try my best to
validate the Fa, clarify the truth, save sentient beings, and be a qualified Fa-rectification
period Dafa disciple. Although I still had a lot of attachments to let go of, I
was determined to cultivate through to the end. First, I paid for the portable
printers and spare parts for fellow practitioners. When the truth clarification
materials were in short supply I purchased high-speed printers and CD burners,
and used my expertise in computers to do what I should do. I used all my savings
on clarifying the truth. In my workplace there were always tests for my Xinxing
[the nature of the mind or the heart, moral character]. Through the study
of the Dafa books we improved our levels of understanding of the Fa principles
and cooperated more and more harmoniously.
During the past year I have felt more clearly that the evils are becoming
weaker as a whole and the situation is turning for the better. However the evils
are desperately trying to use our omissions to interfere with us. My
understanding is that to understand their true nature is to eliminate them.
However, the prerequisite is for us to have powerful righteous thoughts. This
year I defeated several persecution attempts with righteous thoughts.
For example, last October my work unit tricked me into a brainwashing centre.
I used the opportunity to clarify the truth to the staff there and sent forth
righteous thoughts. I used my wisdom and displayed the fine moral qualities of a
Falun Dafa practitioner. Because several people in my family are practitioners
and my relatives all know the truth about the goodness of Falun Dafa, they
requested my work unit and the "610 Office" [a bureau specifically
created by the Chinese government to persecute Falun Gong. It has absolute power
over each level of administration in the Party, as well as over the political
and judiciary branches] to release me. When the local fellow practitioners
learned the news they all helped by sending forth righteous thoughts. As a
result the evil ended in failure and seven days later I was told that I could go
home. It was just as Teacher said in "Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa
Conference in Philadelphia, USA,"
"Whether it's inside or outside China, all the same, although there
are still a lot of beings who've been misled by the evil's propaganda,
overall, in other dimensions the strength of the evils and the strength of
the righteous are no longer in balance. The strength of the righteous has
tipped the scales in its favour as far as they go. Those evil beings can't
hold up now." "Fa-rectification disciples, the persecution has
already come to this stage, and Dafa has already come to this stage in the
Fa-rectification: what's there for us to still be afraid of? Haven't you
already seen your future very well? So when it comes to those evil beings
and their arrangements, as long as your righteous thoughts are strong enough
you can reject them, repel them, and make them helpless."
Not long ago, during the restructuring of my work unit I kept righteous
thoughts, took a correct attitude, and did not fight for positions with others.
The result was that I returned to my original job, which provided me the
opportunity to contact more people with predestined relationships and gave me an
increase in pay. At the same time, I displayed the qualities of a Dafa
practitioner to my colleagues. In the process of examination and appraisal, the
key leaders took a clear cut stand and resolutely rejected the attempts of one
or two members of the appraisal group to use the Falun Gong issue to prevent me
from taking part in the examination and appraisal. From this incident I realized
that as a practitioner, how well I dealt with my work, family, the relations
between colleagues and relatives and other society related issues would be the
key in deciding how much good I could embody in Dafa to make everything perfect
and spread the Fa. Our Teacher said in "Teaching the Fa at the 2001 Canada
Fa Conference" (Guiding the Voyage),
"I know that you've all worked so hard. You have to work and you
have to study, you have your family life and social activities, and at the
same time you have to take care of your family, do a good job at work, and
you have to study the Fa well and do the exercises well, and what's more,
you have to clarify the truth. It is hard! It's pretty hard both time-wise
and financially. It's hard, so your mighty virtue is displayed; it's hard,
and so it's a good opportunity to establish your mighty virtue. Remarkable!
Since you are cultivators even though it's hard you should do even
better."
I must do well those things I had not done so well in the past, make up all
the omissions I had, and do a good job in the things everyday people do to
embody Dafa to make everything perfect at the everyday people's level. The key
to all this is to squeeze enough time to study the Fa, practice the exercises,
send forth righteous thoughts, and do even better in clarifying the truth.
I was an assistant, so I know a lot of practitioners. A good number of them
still have not stepped forward. I thought after all they had cultivated before
so they should not miss this golden opportunity that doesn't occur in tens of
millions of years. Because of this though, our Teacher arranged it so I had
plenty of opportunities to "bump into" them. I tried my best to tell
them the development of Falun Dafa both at home and abroad and inspire them
according to their actual conditions. To those who are firm in cultivation, they
will be guaranteed to receive articles published on the Clearwisdom website as
soon as possible, and to those who want to clarify the truth I will have the
materials ready for them.
Two days ago I dreamed that I was attending an experience sharing conference.
The venue was very large, yet only a third of the seats were occupied. When I
woke up I enlightened that the reason the seats were not filled up was that a
lot of practitioners around us still need our support. We must cherish the
period of time before the Fa rectification comes to this human world.
Though I still have a lot attachments and have a long way to go when compared
to those who are cultivating diligently, I will try my best to get rid of my
shortcomings and study the Fa more, send forth the righteous thoughts more, keep
up with our Teacher's Fa-rectification process, and progress all the time on the
journey home.
I will take this opportunity to express by gratitude for the infinite mercy
of our Teacher who has, again and again, pointed the way for us to go forward
and corrected our deviations; has time and again strengthened me to help me
through difficulties; and who has displayed wonders and headed off disasters. I
also thank Minghui Net for its timely reports on the spreading and the
development of the Fa both inside and outside China, as well as the course of
the Fa rectification. Every article is like a Fa experience sharing from which I
can see my shortcomings and the differences. I also thank the fellow
practitioners around me. They have given me selfless help whenever I suffered
from tribulations and an environment for me to go forward.
This is my personal experience. Please be compassionate enough to give your
opinions.
Editors' note: The process of setting up and then gradual maturing of the
Minghui/Clearwisdom sites, the concerted perseverance of the Dafa practitioners
inside and outside China, and the steady existence of Minghui Net, bear witness
to the Dafa practitioners around the world validating the Fa with the Teacher,
persevering in cultivation, and selflessly clarifying the truth to save sentient
beings. We would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to all
the Dafa practitioners who have sent in articles since the website was launched
in June 1999. We thank those practitioners in China who risked being arrested
and sentenced to prison, or being sent to a forced labour camp, or having their
families torn apart or killed, and who have broken through all kinds of
obstacles. "Strive forward together, a bright future lies ahead."
("In Harmony With the Fa", Hong Yin)
Posting date: 1/19/2003 |