Breaking Through Personal Prisons and Progressing with Great Diligence

By a Falun Dafa practitioner from China

(Clearwisdom.net) I had a new understanding recently when I was studying Teacher's poem "Don't Be Sad." I recall many details of my experiences from when I obtained the Fa until now. Teacher's poem "Don't be Sad" reflects a lot on my experiences. I have come to understand that the word "prison" does not just refer to the forced labor camps and jails. In this world where there are many evils, a practitioner seeking salvation needs to break through the personal restraints built around family, society, friends, work, human notions, the communist party's evil culture, personal favors, resentments and sentiments. These are all "prisons" that drag down practitioners' xinxing in this world. There are also resentments and sentiments from different levels in other dimensions that we have accumulated from when we came down to this world. A real practitioner needs to conquer these tests, tribulations, and interfering entities to become free from these many evils. Believing in Teacher and Dafa is the key to whether a practitioner can do well in the process of cultivation.

I am a senior practitioner from a village who obtained the Fa in 1998. After all I have been through, I am so grateful for Teacher's immense compassion and the almighty Fa. In the beginning of the persecution, I did wrongful things against Dafa and Teacher. I did not betray Dafa, however, I sneakily avoided the persecution. Now that I think about it, I greatly resent my behavior. During the first four years of the persecution, I had three serious bone fractures and I could not take care of myself. Evil people and the police frequently broke into my house to harass me, sometimes twice a day. Teacher's compassion and Fa strengthened me through the misery and pain. Practitioners often came to visit me. One time I told a practitioner, "If I cannot practice, I would rather not live. I studied the Fa while I was bedridden as if it was the source of my life. The physical pain and thought karma often jammed my mind and I could not get rid of them. I studied the Fa over and over again and let the Fa cleanse my thoughts and strengthen my main consciousness. I cannot remember when it happened, but the interference suddenly disappeared. I broke through the prison that stopped me from studying the Fa.

I decided I would do the exercises. Leaning against the bed, I stood for seven minutes and my legs turned purple red. It was so painful that I could not keep standing. I sat on the bed to do the sitting meditation. I could not bend my legs together at the same time. Every attempt I made to bend my legs resulted in tremendous pain. Days passed by in attempts, and I eventually crossed my legs! I couldn't stop screaming because of the pain but I refused to straighten my legs. With Teacher's help, I strengthened my righteous thoughts and overcame the pain. Again I tried to do the moving exercises, from a few minutes to an hour. Eventually I could do the second exercise for 80 minutes! Dafa enabled me to stand. I crumbled another prison that prevented me from doing the practice. I eventually could walk without support!

Because of my illnesses, I could not practice with other practitioners. It was very hard not being able to practice with other practitioners to upgrade my "xinxing". Like Teacher said,

"Whether you can let go of ordinary human attachments is a fatal test on your way to becoming a truly extraordinary being. Every disciple who truly cultivates must pass it, for it is the dividing line between a cultivator and an everyday person" ("True Cultivation" from Essentials for Further Advancement).

Letting go of attachments does not happen easily; I could not let go of my attachments for a long time. I became afraid when I heard how practitioners were persecuted, and I was intimidated by the police and government officials' unreasonable harassment. I feared family and friends would force me to give up the practice, and I worried I that I would lose my job and people would not understand me. Not being clear with the Fa principles is just like not having light on the path of cultivation. During the time, I did not want to see anyone but practitioners. I thought of nothing but Zhuan Falun. I closed myself off from non-practitioners and I fell into the trap arranged by the old forces. I wasted precious time that was meant to be used to save sentient beings.

Teacher did not give up on me. He arranged a practitioner to send me his new teachings. It was the turning point of my cultivation. I read the new article over and over again. The Fa principles that I learned from the new article were like numerous sharp swords that crashed the prison that kept me away from validating the Fa. I know now that I must believe in the Fa and listen to Teacher. I had to realize the vows I made as a Fa rectification practitioner, to tell the truth about Dafa and save sentient beings!

I had Dafa in my heart. I walked with my crippled legs to search for predestined sentient beings to tell them the beauty of Dafa, the persecution, the wrongdoings of the evil, and that people all over the world were practicing Dafa. I clarified the truth when I wasn't studying the Fa and when it rained. I considered everyone that I met to have a predestined relationship with me and Dafa. I went many places to clarify the truth: tea shops, schools, stores, and barber shops. When I had gatherings with family or friends, I discussed different topics depending on those I spoke to; I told them about the beauty of Dafa and the evil of the CCP, hoping to wake up their righteous thoughts.

Once I was at a neighboring town telling around20 people the truth of Dafa, when two police drove by and found out what I was doing. They approached me. The group I was informing started to worry for me. I had strong righteous thoughts and I wanted to save the policemen. I walked toward them and smiled, "It is illegal to suppress Falun Gong..." Before I could finished, they hushed me, "It's not suppression, it's transformation." I told them it was not only suppression but it also involved torture. I told them about the healing power of Dafa and the principles of being a good person. "Remember Falun Dafa is good and you will be blessed," I said. They said nothing and left. I know Teacher helped to eliminate the evil elements behind the policemen. Perhaps these two policemen would be saved.

Last summer, a practitioner told me that the head of the village broadcast a speech defaming Dafa. I went to meet the village head the same day and warned him not to commit crimes against Dafa again. Later there were fliers posted on the streets defaming Dafa. I delivered truth materials to the village commissioners and secretary. They scolded me and were rude. Afterwards, there were signs on the street defaming me. Someone even told me to be careful because there were police showing up near my place at night. I had to destroy this prison. The local practitioners sent righteous thoughts for me to stop the evil from using the police to commit crimes against Dafa. In the meantime, I brought the village officials pamphlets reporting cases of retribution of those who persecuted Dafa. The officials awakened in front of the truth, and some of them even withdrew from the CCP.

The head of the local police broke into my house on August 1, 2006. I was not scared. I sent righteous thoughts to eliminate the evil elements behind him and at the same time I asked him to sit down to have some watermelon. I told him, "You look like a good person. Good people are blessed." Before he could say anything, I told him how all my illnesses were healed by practicing Falun Dafa. Under the energy of my pure righteous thoughts, he stared at Teacher's picture, had two slices of watermelon, and thanked me before he left.

The evil forces have always attempted to create difficulty for me on my path towards helping Teacher validate the Fa and save sentient beings. With Teacher's compassionate help, I have vanquished all of the prisons that the evils have set-up to stop me from clarifying the truth. Once I fell on my way home and broke my right arm. I continued to study the Fa and exercise and do the three things diligently. I quickly recovered. Two summers ago, I went to a neighboring village to clarify the truth and help a person to obtain the Fa. I was sitting on her bed. As I got off the bed, I fell and sustained a bone fracture in my leg. I immediately sent strong righteous thoughts, "I'm a Dafa practitioner and am doing the most divine thing. I do what Teacher says and no one can test me!" I eliminated the evils and gradually stood up without help. I walked about two miles home. I saw that my fracture site was very swollen with bruises. I did not feel any pain when I walked home. That was the miracle of righteous thoughts that crumbled the evil's prison. The next several days I still went out to clarify the truth. The third day I was fully recovered. I thank Teacher for his compassionate care.

The Fa rectification process is approaching the end. Part of the reason the process isn't over yet is to give chances to the practitioners who haven't stepped forward to validate the Fa. As I look inward, there are still many things that I did not do well. I sometimes threw food or bowls of rice because I couldn't stand my family scolding me. I had zealotry when my family compromised after I went on a hunger strike for three days to show my determination to practice. Through studying the Fa, I gradually corrected myself. I sent righteous thoughts to help practitioners who were persecuted. When I came across those who treated me and Dafa unjustly, I tried to tell them the truth with Dafa's compassion and without human sentiment. I looked inward for attachments when a practitioner mistreated me. We must treat practitioners with pure hearts and forgiveness to improve as one body and validate the almighty Fa.

To harmonize our family and environment, we have to do everything based on the Fa. This way we can save more sentient beings and all of the old forces' prisons will disappear. Our xinxing will improve and we will have a new level of respect for Teacher and the Fa. A person full of karma cannot eliminate anything without Teacher's salvation. Practitioners' saving sentient beings is a manifestation of Dafa's compassion in the human world.

Fellow practitioners, in this short history of magnificence, the cosmos and universes are being recreated. Teacher let us become Fa rectification practitioners. With this honor and the mighty virtue that we accumulate and preserve, how can we live up to Teacher's compassionate salvation if we don't progress diligently on the path of helping Teacher to rectify the Fa?

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2007/1/8/146369.html

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