By a Falun Dafa practitioner from Xiangbei, Hunan Province

(Clearwisdom.net) I am an older man and a Dafa practitioner. I feel that reading the articles on the Minghui website is quite helpful. Besides being appreciative, I also sincerely feel that the Minghui editors have devoted lots of hard work to the website. Although I have been in the field of education for many years, I am still not very good at writing, plus my human notions always lead me to think that I have not cultivated well and that I have nothing to share. During today's Fa study I suddenly understand that thoughts about "being unable to write," "not liking to write," and "having nothing to write about" are human notions that have blocked and sealed off my wisdom enlightened from Dafa. The more unwilling I was to write, the stronger the blockage became. Therefore, it is only by doing what we fear we cannot that we can make a breakthrough and get rid of the blockage. Isn't the writing a process of discovering one's shortcomings and thereby improving? This is also a means of validating the Fa.

I noticed that some practitioners were unable to break away from their families. Some practitioners took over all the housework for the entire family so as to earn their consent to study the "Fa." Some even wash their daughter-in-law's underwear, socks, and grandson's diapers and do the daily cooking, etc. They start working early in the morning until late in the evening to gain their family members' tacit consent. However, what they get is a tired body and they still must hide to study. This is already tolerating the evil's interference. How can this achieve a Fa study environment?

In the last few years, when the evil persecution was most brutal, some practitioners have been studying the Fa while hiding under the bed covers with a flashlight or by making use of doing farm work in the mountains to study the Fa. This kind of determination, persistence, and devotion cannot be discouraged. However, this is done as a result of fear, it is what the old forces want, and it is following the old forces' arrangement. Cultivation is unconditional. Why is such great Dafa not respected so that one can study the Fa openly? Shouldn't one be able to practice and become a good person? Our standard is "Truth-Compassion-Forbearance." We came to assist Master's Fa rectification and save people, not to obtain humans' pity or sympathy. The ordinary people are the real victims of this persecution. We are the against the persecution. We do not acknowledge the old forces' arrangement and negate it to cultivate ourselves to save all the sentient beings. In this world, everyone came for the Fa.

As a senior as well as a practitioner, family is our practice and work environment. Because our paths and attachments are different, everyone meets with different tribulations. There are no role models. But we do have something in common: There is no shortcut in this cultivation; everyone has to steadfastly cultivate and view oneself as a practitioner.

In my cultivation practice, I also ran across resistance from my family and experienced tribulations and tests. I will give only one example. One night on April 2002, in a dream I saw a big tiger came to my house. It was about 10 feet away from me, standing with its front paws on a small square table, its eyes staring angrily at me. I was not afraid, but after waking up, I couldn't fall sleep for very long time. I knew this was a hint from Master. The evil must want again to persecute me again. At that time I sent forth a thought: You, evil, don't even think of it. My determination to practice is rock-solid, and nothing can make me move. Master said,

"I am rooted in the universe. If anyone can harm you, he or she would be able to harm me. Put simply, that person would be able to harm this universe." ("Lecture One" in Zhuan Falun, March 2000 translation)

No one will be able to persecute the Dafa disciples who are holding righteous thoughts and righteous actions.

I studied the Fa more, kept looking inward, took care with safety concerns and the notion of fear, and rearranged and organized truth clarification materials and books. I clarified the facts again to my family member and told her, "Practicing according to the 'Truth-Compassion-Forbearance' is the most righteous thing in the world. Therefore, we are willing to take the risk to clarify the truth, and it is completely for others' sakes. Moreover, everything we do is legitimate." I told her that "one right suppresses a hundred evils." My family member expressed her understanding and support. This time I was no longer as I was when the persecution just started and I was seized many times due to my notion of fear.

Master said,

"People's different grasps of and comprehension of the Fa lead to different perceptions of the current situation, and all that's happening is targeting different human thoughts. Those who do well will change the environments around them, and those who do poorly will make the environments around them change according to their states of mind. Dafa disciples have different states of mind, so they have different perceptions of the environment, ..." ("Teaching the Fa at the Washington, D.C. Fa Conference, 2002")

I kept on reminder myself with Master's teaching,

"All of you are already aware of the principle of mutual-generation and mutual-inhibition. If you are not afraid, the factor that would make you afraid will cease to exist. This is not to be self-imposed, but is achieved by truly and calmly letting go of it." ("Eliminate Your Last Attachment(s)" in Essentials for Further Advancement II)

Master also told us,

"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." ("Dafa Disciples' Righteous Thoughts are Powerful" in Essentials for Further Advancement II)

I understood the Fa and felt calm in my mind.

On the fifth day after that dream, my son, who had been monitoring me, returned home. (The authorities controlling my son's job had coerced him to monitor me.) He said, "Tomorrow morning at 8 o'clock, there will be a meeting about Falun Gong at the school. Several levels of the county leadership will attend. You should say you didn't practice. It's no problem if you practice at home." I said to him with a smile, "I am practicing Truth-Compassion-Forbearance openly and with dignity. Why should I be afraid? " Unexpectedly, he became completely irrational. He grabbed my copy of Zhuan Falun from my hand, ran into the kitchen, and stuck a knife right into the table, making quite a noise. He boasted that he would kill me. At that time, I held my palm straight, sending forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the evil factors behind him. He immediately stood stock still. I calmly said to him, "Dafa gave me a second life. You know the changes in my body. Falun Gong not only can improve a person's health, but more importantly, it teaches one to be a good person. It is cultivation, so there will be evil interference and tests. I became a good person according to the standard of Truth-Compassion-Forbearance. Moreover, I am your father--how can you treat your father like this? You need to calm down. You didn't behave like this before." He turned around and said, "Okay, it's up to you. I am just afraid that you won't be able to withstand the suffering and persecution."

Initially I didn't plan to attend the meeting, but I thought I should not avoid the issue, but face it head on. "This could be my good opportunity to validate the Fa," I thought. I went to the meeting in a happy and dignified frame of mind. At the meeting I told of my experience: I am a nearly 70-year-old person. I started working in the 1950s. In 1986 I had several strokes. I was diagnosed with tuberculosis, tachycardia, high blood pressure, hepatitis B, severe neurosis, and an ulcer with frequent bleeding. I had five surgeries, which didn't help but did cause serious anemia. I was extremely weak and it wasn't really worth living. In that hopeless situation, many colleagues convinced me to practice Taichi and other qigong methods, but they didn't help much. With no other alternative, I went to the temple to lead a pious life. I started to write my will and final instructions for my family. In 1995, I happened to get a copy of Zhuan Falun. I began to understand the true significance of being a person and the cause of my lingering illnesses. I strictly followed the standard of "Truth-Compassion-Forbearance." All my sicknesses vanished into thing air within one month. I felt the joy of not being sick anymore. I am only one of the 100 million Falun Gong practitioners. Every genuine practitioner follows the standard of "Truth-Compassion-Forbearance" to be a good person. The social and moral standard elevated during the years when Falun Gong was being spread. It is beneficial to the citizens and the nation. It has a hundred benefits with not one harm. The Jiang Zemin regime's ruthless persecution cannot be understood. You try to force us to "transform". What should I "transform" into? How could you have a person abandon goodness to become wicked? I am 70 years old. I have only two requests: First, I want to have a practice environment. Second, I want the county leadership as a witness that I want to sever my relationship from my son, who cannot distinguish righteousness from evil, good from bad; has no regard for his elders or his superiors; gave away honor for profit; has become hostile toward and is monitoring his father. Or you [here I referred to my son] may post an announcement in the daily newspaper that you are unable to persuade your father not to practice "Truth-Compassion-Forbearance," and you do not want to be involved or have your failure impact your job.

After hearing my words, one leader said, "You persist in practicing Falun Gong. Do you still want your retirement pension?" I said, "I worked for my retirement pension for more than 30 years. It is not a gift."

One right suppresses a hundred evils. After the meeting, not only did my pension continue, but also the previously withheld amount was repaid to me. Also, my son got rid of the evil control and manipulation and became understanding and supportive of my practice.

Afterwards I realized the in-depth meaning of being a good person in the role of a family member. It should not be just to keep the peace on the surface and be so caring that one constantly gives in and tolerates everything. As a practitioner one must stand at a very high level to view the issue and must not fear offending someone. We should be clear about what it is that other people need most from us. We must touch a person's kindness, re-awaken his dust-laden memory, tell him the true meaning of his coming to this world. Don't let our fears subject us to tribulations for long periods of time, because this can cause our relatives to be used by the evil factors to interfere with Fa-rectification and they can lose the opportunity to be saved.

This is my personal experience. Please point out anything improper.

Oct. 1, 2006

Posting date: 11/7/2006
Original article date: 11/7/2006
Category: Practitioners' Insights
Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2006/10/23/139151.html

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