Pure Land

By Mengfei, a Falun Dafa practitioner in China

(Clearwisdom.net) For many years, people have been asking me: "Why learn Falun Gong?"

Atheists think that spiritual belief is something lowbrow, purely imaginary and kind of restrictive. It's not that I personally had this sort of view in the past, but after I finished reading Zhuan Falun, my outlook on the world has changed. I realized that many of my past thoughts were not originally my own, but rather, had been acquired from the environment around me. On the contrary, Zhuan Falun inspires me to ponder questions from the origin of human civilization to the actual situation of humankind. It forces me to start my own thought processes. Later, I found the contents of Zhuan Falun to be very reasonable. I feel that the truth is indeed so, and that the facts are all correct. That was the first time I started to rationally think things over on my own. I also reached this conclusion: it is ignorant and blind to judge something without getting to know it first.

My family tried to persuade me not to practice, asking "Can learning Dafa fill your rice bowl? What goodness do you get out of it? Why not put your energy in to pursuing your personal interests instead?" My father always asks me, "Can Falun Gong make you rich?"

I know what made me firmly believe in Falun Dafa is that it has never taught me to do anything that's not righteous. My original nature had turned me into someone disinterested in fame and success. Had I continued my old way of life, I may have ended up like many others, fighting for my personal goals. Even if I were to have all that others consider "happiness", I would still have to convince myself: life is like this, just follow the trend and do as others do. But nothing would be able to hide the longing and helplessness in my heart.

Zhuan Falun has taught me how to be a proper human being. People should maintain their conscience and face everything in an open and above-board manner, despite the fact that human morality is rapidly declining all around us. After learning Dafa, I am no longer helpless and lost. I will not face my life negatively. Every day of my life now has meaning. Should life just be a process of seeking self-interest and self-indulgence? I know that that kind of life is not what I pursue.

My colleague told me: "You can study other religions. Why must you learn this Falun Gong which the state has outlawed?" Though I never joined any other religions, I had heard of them. If Dafa hadn't opened my mind, I would not have had my personal belief nor started my cultivation. In the past, religion did elevate human morality, but not now. Today, religion has become something secular which can no longer help people improve themselves. Falun Gong is a piece of pure land. I have been in this pure land for over eleven years. So far, I have not found anything unrighteous in it. My heart, my conscience and my observations tell me: only this Dafa could help me to elevate myself. And that is the deepest and original wish from my heart - to return to the true, original self: that is the purpose of human existence.

Those who do not understand Falun Gong say: "Falun Gong is asking people to quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), isn't that getting involved in politics?" Falun Gong teaches people how to cultivate, how to truly improve one's inner self. Cultivation has nothing to do with politics. A person who is deeply involved in politics could never cultivate. But at the same time, a cultivator is a person living in day-to-day life, and politics has permeated into every field of everyday society. Voting is also a part of politics. The wicked CCP and Jiang Zemin persecute Falun Gong with political means similar to what they did in the Great Cultural Revolution. They use political methods to deal with the widely-popular Falun Gong. When Falun Gong practitioners clarify the facts to people, explaining what Falun Gong is, what the CCP is and why the CCP would persecute Falun Gong, the wicked party then fabricates lies using its media mouthpiece, saying that Falun Gong is involved in politics, that Falun Gong does not love China, etc. Actually, the CCP is not China, and Falun Gong has no pursuit of power in this world. Falun Gong practitioners are only trying to explain the facts to people and disclose the crimes that the wicked party has committed against the Chinese people using its political power.

We are not interested in politics. We are clarifying the truth about the persecution and hope to stop this persecution, and at the same time to awaken people's (especially Chinese people's) conscience, so they will no longer be used by the wicked CCP as sacrificial lambs.

Learning Falun Dafa is not for personal gain nor to seek more so-called happiness in this human world. Only selflessness can be eternal. When I eventually understood what selflessness is, I started to understand the beauty of this life. To find the essence of human life, return to the realm without the attachment to self-interest; only the pureness and the righteousness of Dafa can guarantee you that. Falun Gong is a piece of pure land, a truly pure land. It is not something imaginary; it is a pure land which in reality truly exists. One will be moved by this pure land, the softest part of one's heart will be touched, one's conscience will be awakened, one will be more rational and mature, and one's morality will elevate in this pure land.

My friends, these are the words hidden in my heart for so many years. I share them today in the hope that you can understand the truth and have a bright future.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2008/1/17/170489.html

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