By a practitioner in Shandong Province

(Clearwisdom.net) (Continued from Part 1, http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2007/12/9/91982.html)

For outside reasons, our site for producing materials to explain the truth about Falun Gong had to move. After the move, the noise of the machines could be heard very clearly from downstairs even though we closed all the windows and doors. The house we rented was next to the landlord's, and his family members could easily pass through the door between the two courtyards to come into our house. When the landlord asked me if we wanted the door sealed up, I said no because I didn't want to arouse any unnecessary suspicion. Thus, when we were producing the materials upstairs, they could hear the noise if they happened to come into our courtyard.

I was stuck in a difficult situation. It wasn't easy to move equipment from the site, but it wasn't working out in the new location. Practitioners that have worked at material sites understand that it is a lot of trouble to move, especially big material sites, because of all the equipment and supplies. Every move is risky. If this new location didn't work out, we would have to move again.

I couldn't sleep at night. Lying in bed, I felt like crying. Then I thought of Teacher: If there really was a problem with the location, why didn't Teacher give us a sign? I got up and knelt down, holding Zhuan Falun in both hands and saying in my heart to Teacher: "Master, please enlighten me, I don't know what to do now." I opened the book solemnly, and the first word that appeared in front of my eyes was "better!" From Zhuan Falun (Translation Version 2000):

"...better... As long as you go to our exercise sites for practice, it is much better than your treating your own illness. My fashen sit in a circle, and above the exercise site is a shield on which there is a big Falun. A large fashen guards the site above the shield. This site is not an ordinary site, and neither is it a site for an ordinary qigong practice: It is a site for cultivation practice. Many of our practitioners with supernormal abilities have seen that this Falun Dafa site is shielded with red light, and it is red all over."

Reading this paragraph, I enlightened that it was Teacher who had arranged for us to come to this location and that it would work for certain. My sadness and anxiety of a moment before disappeared. The next day we started trying to make the room soundproof. We built a mini room within the room with cardboard boxes and covered it entirely with quilts, and the sound of the working machine could hardly be heard. Our site started producing materials. We often transported large amounts of supplies or printed materials using a car or a truck, but the landlord's family never questioned us about it. We did experience Teacher's safeguarding our material site, just as he said: "My fashen sit in a circle, and above the exercise site is a shield on which there is a big Falun. A large fashen guards the site above the shield." (Zhuan Falun, Translation Version 2000) This site operated for more than a year, during which time we produced a huge number of Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party and large amounts of all kinds of truth clarification materials. That year was our busiest year, and also the year with the fewest number of practitioners working for the site.

When we first moved into this place, the landlord dug a new well in our courtyard for us to get water. The landlord's family also had a well in their courtyard, but the water from that well was very bitter, so they got water from the neighbors' wells. The water from our well was as bitter as from the landlord's well--it was the bitterest water we had ever tasted. However, for the sake of the site's safety, we didn't want to go to the neighbors' courtyard to get better water as they would ask questions when they got familiar with us. In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, we had to drink and use the bitter water.

In the beginning, a disgusting image came into my mind unbidden every time I saw the water being pumped out of the well: there was a dead man's head down there in the well, and the water flowed through the head. This idea made me sick mentally and physically. When I was brushing my teeth in the morning, I felt the water in my mouth get more and more bitter; when I had to drink it, I drank it like I drank my herbal medicine soups before I practiced Falun Gong--holding my breath and pouring it down my throat. Then my stomach felt terrible. I realized that the disgusting idea was not my thought; it must be the interference of the old forces that wanted to keep us from staying at the new location to do our work. So I thought: "Bitter water is not a big deal, the key is the environment." Wasn't the bitter water a trial for our endurance? Wasn't it a good chance for use to improve? Teacher said in Zhuan Falun:

"Because he is unaware of filth, he dares to eat human excrement and drink human urine. I once knew such a person who would eat horse excrement as if it was tasty, though it was frozen very hard. He could suffer hardships that an everyday person would not suffer with a conscious mind."

On the other hand, if that well had produced nice water, the landlord's family would have come to our courtyard to get water several times a day, while we often shared our cultivation experiences during mealtime in the kitchen, which was right beside the well. Thus, good water might have caused us unnecessary trouble.

Realizing these things, we understood that such suffering was very minor in cultivators' eyes. So I thought, "Even if the water does flow through a dead man's head, I don't need to be concerned about it because I am a Dafa practitioner," and I stopped feeling sick. In that time of more than a year, fellow practitioners and I drank the bitter water. Later on, I couldn't taste the bitterness of the water anymore.

No matter how busy we were at the site, we never missed studying the Fa and sending forth righteous thoughts. We encouraged each other and tried to cultivate ourselves well to keep a pure heart to work for Fa validation. When something went wrong with the machines, we looked within ourselves to see if there were any impure thoughts. We paid particular attention to our mental state when we were producing truth clarification materials--to try to obtain a pure heart beside the machines. Our machines were used a lot during that time to produce large amount of materials, and they worked very smoothly with few problems, and even some minor problems that cropped up disappeared.

In those years, we could feel the old forces watching us. Nevertheless, they weren't able to harm us and our material site because we had Teacher's protection. Once I went to another material site to help them purchase supplies. Passing by a certain house, Practitioner A told me that Practitioner B was going to rent an apartment in that house, but the landlord changed his mind at the last minute even though they had already had an agreement. This situation did not happen once but several times. So A said to B: "It might be because Teacher doesn't want you to live here. You might want to try to rent somewhere else." So he rented a place somewhere else. When I heard this, I felt so grateful to Teacher for his care: that place had been our material production site a few years before, and if those practitioners had rented some rooms in the same place, our site would have been exposed, because Practitioner B was very chatty. Objectively speaking, the more such practitioners know about Dafa work, the more risks they may bring to themselves and other practitioners. In order to protect the material site, Teacher didn't allow them to rent rooms at the same place.

Later, Practitioner B was arrested by the police and became an enemy of Dafa when he was imprisoned at a forced labor camp. As Practitioner A recalled, Practitioner B had insisted on renting rooms at that place because he had seen fellow practitioners working for the material site, and he probably wanted to be near them. His attachments were used by the old forces, so that he had insisted on renting there. Through this incident, I realized that Teacher really has resolved more evil interferences than we can ever know or imagine.

Many practitioners might consider running material sites as the most dangerous work because these sites focus on destroying the evil. Actually I think the opposite--running material sites is the safest work. Because these sites are such a threat to the authorities, they focus on destroying them. Because they are such an important component of Fa validation, however, material sites are specially protected by Teacher and divine beings. The evil may be one foot tall, but the Dao can become thousands of yards tall. Evil can never overcome righteousness. All the material sites that have survived the difficulties and danger in these years are living proof.

To walk well the path of validating the Fa, studying the Fa wholeheartedly is a must. A stable foundation of Fa understanding is the best guarantee of our cultivation in the Fa-Rectification period. At the end of 2005, I started reciting the Fa. From then on, I also started going to bed after finishing sending forth righteous thoughts at midnight. In the beginning, the demon of tiredness interfered with me, trying to stop me. A week later, I made a breakthrough and since then I have been able to stay up after sending forth righteous thoughts at midnight, and I haven't felt tired at all at night.

I paid particular attention to sending forth righteous thoughts, especially when I was working at the material site, and I usually was able to obtain tranquility when I was sending forth righteous thoughts. Through constant Fa study, I enlightened to the idea that sending forth righteous thoughts is already integrated into our cultivation, and it serves as a test for us with regard to our belief in Teacher and the Fa since the existing mighty power is invisible to us. Besides, sending forth righteous thoughts is also a unique cultivation way arranged by Teacher for us to improve, so it is something that we must do every day. In the period of Fa-Rectification, sending forth righteous thoughts is the special cultivation method we need to follow every day. The day that one doesn't send forth righteous thoughts is the day that one doesn't cultivate oneself on this aspect. Those who don't pay attention to sending forth righteous thoughts will regret it in the future.

Teacher said in "Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Vancouver, Canada, in 2003:"

"For cultivators, though, when it comes to raising the requirement on your xinxing and letting go of your attachments, there's absolutely no wiggle room, and the standard can absolutely not be lowered, because we need to be responsible to the future, and to the cosmos and the sentient beings of the future."

Through studying the Fa, I realize clearly that doing Dafa work cannot replace improving my xinxing. In order to reach the Fa's requirements, I must work hard on cultivating my heart.

Once I helped a fellow practitioner who had been forced to become homeless to avoid the persecution. I referred him to work at a factory. This practitioner's heart of fear was somewhat strong at that time, and he had some conflicts with other practitioners. I told fellow practitioners about his situation. After that, he looked annoyed whenever I greeted him, and he didn't want to talk to me. I wondered why he was mad at me as I hadn't done anything to harm him. Later on, I learned from someone else that it was because another person had told him what I had said about him. I thought that somebody must have tried to make trouble. The more I thought about it, the angrier I became. Moreover, why would the practitioner whom I had helped when he was in need listen to others so easily? I felt mistreated, thought it was unfair, and even complained.

Through studying the Fa, I eventually learned that conflicts don't happen for no reason. It was time for me to upgrade my xinxing. Instead of thinking how other practitioners had done wrong, I looked within myself and found my attachment of showing-off. Wasn't it true that I tried to prove I was "better" than the other practitioner when I told others about his shortcomings? Wasn't it true I tried to show off when I talked with others about the practitioner's wrongdoing? If I hadn't had these unworthy thoughts, how could I have talked about the practitioner behind his back? If I had truly meant to be good to the practitioner, I should have let him know what I thought about him. In turn, others wouldn't have had the chance to pass on my words to him. The source of the conflict was me, so how could I complain about others? When I realized this, I felt relieved.

When I bumped into that practitioner again, I greeted him heartily and warmly, and he changed his attitude, too, as if nothing had happened between us. After that, we started collaborating in doing Dafa work together. We worked cooperatively for more than a year, during which we spent a lot of time sharing our deep thoughts and cultivation experiences.

Through these years of cultivation since the persecution started, I have truly experienced that no matter what kind of conflicts happen in the society, among ordinary people, or between practitioners, Teacher only wants to see our hearts. As long as we can let go of our attachments and our xinxing improves, the conflicts will resolve themselves.

Teacher said in "Teaching the Fa at the Fa Conference at the U.S. Capital:"

"[you may be thinking,] 'What counts as cultivating?' Well, doing the things that Dafa disciples are supposed to do, such as things that validate the Fa and that save sentient beings, among others, is one's duty-bound responsibility and a part of establishing mighty virtue. But being able to improve yourself is the most crucial. That is because if you don't improve yourself, you won't be able to do any of those things well."

The time for cultivating in the Fa-Rectification period is limited. I often urge myself to study the Fa more and cultivate myself well as Teacher has taught us. However, sometimes I still can't let go of self in conflicts and can't be kind, compassionate, and tolerant. I keep telling myself: "I must do it, I must do it. No matter how others treat me, I should always be compassionate to others wholeheartedly."

The local practitioner that was responsible for receiving truth clarification materials that I delivered was arrested. Not only did we lose a practitioner, but we also lost a place where we could deliver and receive materials. The local coordinator couldn't find a suitable place, so practitioner Ding and I had to do the delivery and receiving work on the street for eight months. Ding wasn't a well known practitioner in our local area, but she did the receiving work at least once, and sometimes twice, a week. Usually there were two big cardboard boxes of materials, more than ten thousand pages in total, and sometimes even more than that. Ding carried on the receiving work quietly, with great responsibility and patience. During those eight months, she didn't have unnecessary words with me like asking me where I was from or where I was heading. Almost every time I arrived at the agreed-upon spot, I found her waiting for me. No matter how long she had been waiting, she always said, "Not too long" when I asked her. I learned from other practitioners afterwards that she sometimes waited for me for one or two hours, but I never saw her impatient. We often did the delivering and receiving in the day, but she was never afraid. Her righteous thoughts and righteous actions that were cultivated from the Fa scared away all the evil. Every time I watched her walk away with the truth clarification materials, I thought of my own shortcomings. For example, sometimes I had a bad temper and became impatient and even used offensive words. Through the years, I really have seen the distance between my cultivation state and that of fellow practitioners who have been quietly carrying on their great missions. It was a miracle that nothing interfered with us even once during those eight months of delivering and receiving truth clarification materials on the streets. It was because of the Fa's divine power and Teacher's mercy.

Not until the summer of 2006 did we stop delivering and receiving materials on the streets, thanks to Teacher's help in enlightening us. After that, we started to establish small-scale material sites like flowers blossoming everywhere according to Teacher's requirement. To establish small-scale sites was not only to reduce the heavy workload of big material sites or for the sake of safety; Teacher also required Dafa practitioners to walk our own paths and build our own mighty virtue. Understanding this level of the Fa, we made reasonable arrangements and encouraged more practitioners to set up material sites at home. Although the main material site had carried out many important tasks and had produced large amounts of truth clarification materials, we, as the staff, shouldn't have any attachments or selfish hearts that might keep fellow practitioners from walking their own, Teacher-arranged paths. Otherwise, we would be interfering with the cultivation environment that Teacher arranged for fellow practitioners.

I needed to send some truth clarification materials to a practitioner out of town during the Spring Festival holidays one year. Many people travel during the holiday season, and I had to go to a certain station to take a bus where the security check was particularly strict. All passengers' luggage had to be opened and checked. But I believed that I would be able to send the materials to their destination with Teacher's protection and righteous divine beings' assistance.

I went to the station to check out the situation in advance but discovered that all passengers were gone and the gate was locked, because there were no security staff at all. I learned that, because of conflicts between the local people and the station, the station was no longer in operation. So I got on another bus with my suitcase full of materials. I needed to make a connection, so I got off the first bus and onto the next. Once I got on the second one, I asked the driver when the bus would leave. Before the driver had time to answer me, several passengers in the bus said almost at the same time: "Just waiting for you. We were to leave right after you got on." I sat down, and the driver started the bus immediately. I realized all of this had been arranged by Teacher, and Teacher encouraged me through those what those passengers said. On the way back, I saw the bus station that had been shut down was re-opened and the security staff were back on duty as usual. I heard from someone that the conflicts between the locals and the station were resolved in a few hours after the bus I took had left. When I learned this, I knew it was an encouragement from Teacher once again.

A few day after the Spring Festival, I was transporting more than a thousand truth clarification pamphlets to the practitioners in the same place. Since the security check was still very strict, I knew that only with strong righteous thoughts could I deliver the materials there safely. I kept this thought in my mind: "I was Teacher's disciple, I didn't acknowledge any others and wouldn't accept anything from others." With the righteous thoughts, I arrived at the station and found the security staff gone. I thought it might be because the holiday security check was over. I delivered the materials to the practitioners and came back, noticing that the strict security checks were still gong on.

I shared my experiences of the two trips with fellow practitioners, and tears came to our eyes as we all felt grateful to Teacher. As long as we integrate ourselves into the Fa, let go of attachments and self, Teacher will arrange everything for us, and our paths will be smoother and broader.

Because I have been working at a material site most of the time, although sometimes I have gone to distribute truth clarification materials, I feel that I haven't done enough to clarify the truth to people face-to-face. I feel I am far behind those who have done really well. On some occasions, however, Teacher has arranged for people with predestined relationships to meet me and learn about Falun Gong.

I remember one experience clearly. I was on a bus to somewhere and the bus ran out of gas on the road, so the driver had to go several miles away to buy gasoline. While the passengers were waiting, they talked about the chaos in society nowadays. This made me think that the bus running out of gas was not a random incident, but a good chance for me to clarify the truth to these people, so I started talking offhandedly: "If everyone practiced 'Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance' like Falun Gong practitioners, society would be better." Except for the few already off the bus, the rest all became quiet and listened. My seat was at the very back of the bus, and I talked loud enough for everyone to hear me. Using a third person's perspective, I talked about how Falun Gong taught people to be good people, how people had regained their health through practicing Falun Gong, why Jiang's regime persecuted practitioners, and the truth about the staged self-immolation on Tiananmen Square. No one questioned anything when I was talking but listened quietly. When I was done, two young men stood up from the front seats and said that Falun Gong was simply teaching people to be good and the self-immolation incident was totally fake. I was so happy for them. Then I went on and asked: "The saying 'Good is rewarded with good, and evil is rewarded with evil' started in ancient times. Do you believe the saying?" Some said "Yes." I continued: "Falun Gong is teaching people to follow the standard of 'Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance,' and those who follow this will be rewarded with good. As long as one believes in 'Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance' and always keeps in mind that Falun Dafa is good, one will have good fortune. It will benefit one's physical health as well. Divine beings will protect you if you keep in mind 'Falun Dafa is good' when you are in deep water or encounter hardships." The passengers were very happy to hear this, and some were nodding their heads. A Muslim couple among the passengers was listening to me, and the woman asked: "Is it okay that I just recite it silently in my heart instead of saying it out loud?" I replied: "Yes, as long as you are sincere." And the man said: "We are Muslim and not allowed to believe in other [spiritual beliefs]. What should I do?" The woman said to him: "You can just say it in your heart. No one else will know." He nodded and smiled. I asked a young man sitting beside me: "Do you remember what I said?" He nodded yes seriously.

I knew that it was Teacher who had enlightened me so that I could be calm and eloquent when I clarified the truth to them. When I had finished, the driver was back with the gasoline. I was happy that Teacher had arranged for so many people to know about the truth. When I was getting off the bus at my stop, many passengers watched me with gratitude. An elderly gentleman was watching me with a smile while I got off the bus, so I talked to him: "Sir, do you remember what I said?" He held my hand and said: "Good! Good!"

More and more family material sites are being established as needed, and my workload at the main site is getting lighter, so I often go to distribute truth clarification materials with fellow practitioners to the remote countryside. We bring materials containing information about Falun Gong and quiting the CCP organizations, such as copies of "Minghui Weekly," pamphlets, copies of the Nine Commentaries on Communist Party, and stickers with truth clarification information, to people living in remote areas. We also bring markers with us so that we can write statements like "Falun Dafa is good" or "Withdraw from the CCP Organizations" on power poles on the way. Usually we can write many of these statements in one night. Using markers like this has some advantages: it's convenient and energy saving and doesn't require materials. So without waiting for or depending on other practitioners' help, one can "produce materials" with a single marker.

In the process of validating the Fa and saving sentient beings, sometimes we think that carrying out certain tasks are easy, and that with a little effort, we see an abundance of positive results. Actually, is there any single thing, minor or major, that is done without Teacher's aid? Is there one single achievement without Teacher behind it? Ultimately speaking, is there a single thing that isn't done by Teacher?

In this period of time to validate the Fa, I gradually learned that some practitioners and I had formed predestined relationships from past lives. It was Teacher who opened my memories of the past times, so Teacher must want me to value the precious cultivation relationships with these practitioners. Especially at the last stage [of the Fa-Rectification period], we should encourage each other to do the three things well and go home with Teacher, so we will not be unworthy of our predestined relationships and the glorious mission of assisting Teacher to rectify the Fa.

We have gone through many reincarnations. The predestined relationships between fellow practitioners are all rooted in the stem of Dafa. It is the most splendid thing that we are able to become Dafa practitioners and assist Teacher to rectify the Fa. Our lives come from Dafa and what we have has been given by Teacher. The highest meaning of our lives in this lifetime is to cultivate Dafa and validate Dafa, integrate our lives into the Fa, and upgrade in the process of validating the Fa. In the end, we will fulfill our prehistorical oaths!

I have experienced the magnificent mercy of Teacher and the sanctity of Dafa every day in the past years of validating the Fa. The above are but a few among numerous experiences, many of which I can't recall at this moment, and there are still many more miraculous incidents that I haven't written down. In these years, every time I think about the merciful salvation of Teacher and that I am a life made by Dafa, I can't help crying. Which words or ways can I use to express my gratitude to Teacher and Dafa? It would be too small of a piece of paper even if I could use the sky to write on, and it would be too little ink if I could use all the water in all the seas to write with.

Thank you, Master! Heshi to Master once more!

Posting date: 12/10/2007
Original article date: 12/10/2007
Category: Practitioners' Insights
Translated on 11/14/2007
Chinese version available at http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2007/11/1/164606.html