Recollecting the Power of a Pure and Peaceful Heart
July 2, 2003 (Clearwisdom.net) I Decide to Go to Beijing to Appeal I began to practice Falun Dafa right before April 25,1999. At the end of 1999
we learned that Dafa practitioners around the country were going to Beijing to
appeal when fellow Dafa practitioners from other places came to our small town
to share their experiences. They also brought us the experience articles of
fellow practitioners they had downloaded from the Internet. Over the following
two days, I read all of those articles. From the thick stack of articles I
learned the moving deeds of fellow Dafa practitioners who were risking their
lives by going to Beijing to appeal one after another in order to clarify the
truth of Dafa. Often, tears covered my face while I read the articles. At that
moment, I suddenly found that my body was as light as a bird. I felt I was
immersed in and lifted by a powerful energy field even if I was only moving
around or doing Dafa exercises. I decided I would go to Beijing to appeal. I asked myself: why was I going to
Beijing? What was the purpose or what were my motives? I found that my first
motive was that I had only been practicing for a very short time and had not
done well. I learned that there were so many fellow practitioners in Beijing; I
wanted to go there to meet them, and to share experiences with them so I could
improve myself. But I found this motive had selfishness in it, so I discarded
it. I kept on checking myself. Why was it right for me to go to Beijing?
Finally, I got the point--protecting Dafa! The two words "protecting Dafa"
appeared in my mind. Then my thoughts became crystal clear. Yes, I needed no
other reason. I just went to Beijing to protect Dafa. That was right. Then I asked myself: how could I protect Dafa? What could I do? Again my mind
was not clear. I realized that I had learned Dafa for too short a time and my
understanding was superficial. So what should I do? I remembered Teacher's
words: "Sincerity is a prerequisite if you are to rectify your heart." (Falun
Gong). I thought, all right, I would just follow this basic requirement. Think
about nothing, just start off with my purest heart, my smile, and with honesty
as my vanguard. I thought that as long as I have a right mind, teacher would
tell me how to do the work. Later, on the road to Beijing, things happened that somehow surprised me. A
long time later, I finally understood the mysteries of the process. Back then,
while on the train heading north, the only thing on my mind was to sit upright
with dignity. Except for the idea of "protecting Dafa," I eliminated all other
thoughts. At the same time, I kept my natural honesty and smile. I felt I was
fresh, fresh, and energetic like a sprout pushing through the earth. On the trip, there were two moving stories that showed the honest side of
ordinary people to Dafa and Dafa practitioners. Story one As soon as I stepped on the train I met a young man who worked in a
procurator's office. He was intelligent, proud of himself, and had a university
degree. A young fellow Dafa practitioner introduced Dafa to him. But the young
man had heard too many of the lies spread by the government media and was very
aggressive. My fellow practitioner argued with him fiercely. I hoped the young
man could look at the issue from another angle. I knew that arguing did not help
much, but did not know how to get rid of his prejudices. I realize now that I
had not learned Dafa deeply and at that time did not understand what Dafa
practitioners should do from the standpoint of Dafa. But what I did know was that my sincerity and smile should not change. So I
listened to the two of them with a smile. When they talked about the concept of
"universe," their argument reached an impasse. They could not understand each
other or persuade each other because their understandings of the word "universe"
were too far apart. The universe defined by science and the universe understood
by a Dafa practitioner were very different. They each emphasized what they knew,
but did not actually understand each other. I could see that the young man, so proud of his knowledge and intelligence,
was good at debating. If I could approach him from another angle, and shock his
intelligence, he should become interested. Once his mind was opened, things
would be easy. Just then, they stopped arguing about the universe. I asked the young man,
"Do you like intelligence tests?" Then I asked him a question. He easily
answered the question. I said, "You are very smart." He replied coldly: "It was
a simple question." Then I said, "Please draw a circle on a piece of paper, including the center
point, in one continuous line. But the center point can't be connected with any
point on the periphery." He thought about it for a while but could not come up
with a way to do it. Then he focused even more on the problem. "While drawing,
please think in more than one plane," I suggested. He thought about it some more and still felt it was difficult to find a
solution. So he asked for a piece of paper and a pen. After ten minutes of trial
and error, he found a solution. I could see he was surprised by the answer. He
tentatively asked me, "Is it right?" I said, "Yes, but there is more than one
way to do it. It works in a different way. If we make an adjustment to our usual
way of thinking, we find the answer is simple, but the solution is wonderful."
He was thinking while I was talking. His pride disappeared and his mind opened
naturally. Then I said, "You indicated that you do not understand why we appeal when you
were talking with my fellow practitioner a while ago, and said that you thought
that it was a useless tragedy. But we think differently. Just like the problem
you just solved. If you look at the same problem from a different angle, the
answer is different or even totally opposite. We do not think appealing is a
tragedy. We do not even consider whether or not the appeal will be a success, we
want to do it. We just go to do it." He was listening and although he doubted some of what I said, he was
interested. At least he had a partial understanding of why we appeal, and his
face showed more respect. At that moment, a sentence burst out of my mouth,
"Doing nothing is doing everything." His eyes sparkled on hearing these words.
He quickly asked, "You also know this expression? So tell me what it means to
you." I was wondering why I said those words, and I did not know how to explain
the meaning of the sentence my brain was completely blank. He had asked so eagerly, yet I had no answer. I felt a little embarrassed.
But I realized that if I do not know, then I do not know, no need to cover
myself. He said with disappointment, "Actually you also do not know it." He
looked downward and became silent. But after a short while, he started talking with us again. Surprisingly, he
looked like another person. Sincerity and a smile were on his face; he talked
with respect instead of pride and aggression. He said: "It's interesting to talk
with you. I feel lucky to have met you. I hope we keep in contact. I love many
things, have read Western philosophy, Eastern Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucius'
books. It's been interesting talking with you today." His face was full of
excitement. Then he carefully wrote down his address and handed it to us. We
exchanged addresses with him, and became good friends. Later he could understand
our talking with kindness. We needed to transfer to another train and had to
part from him. He shook hands with us and said, "I wish you success! Take care!"
We were moved by his sincerity and said, "Thanks!" Story Two The second story happened while I was being taken back home from Beijing. A
fellow practitioner and I were sent to the on-duty office of a railway station
to wait for a local police car to pick us up. Back then, we did not realize that
we should not be detained by evils. In my mind, I was bighearted and not afraid
of being detained. The first evening after we were sent to the on-duty office,
cold, hunger and fatigue agonized us both. Then I had an idea: I am not scared
even if I am forced to sit until I die! So I sat there upright and without
moving. The night was gone, my mind became very clear and my body felt light and
I was very happy. The sun rose. One of the guards was called to take us to buy breakfast. He
took me out first. My mind was peaceful and I didn't feel like talking. I just
followed him with a smile. He asked where I was from. I told him. He became
happy and said, "We are from the same place." His hometown is only tens of
kilometers away. "You...", he couldn't continue talking, so he just shook his
head. Compassion, respect, sorrow for not being able to help, and anxiety all
showed on his face. I was still smiling and not talking. When we got to a small
restaurant inside the railway station, I ordered a bowl of porridge. But he
ordered some steamed stuffed buns for me and said he had already eaten. I did
not want to refuse his kindness and started eating. I saw him bow his head and
sigh. After I finished and went to pay the bill, he came over and tried to pay
the bill for me. I insisted on paying. He shouted to the manager, "Do not accept
her money, take mine! Otherwise, I won't come here again!" So the boss took his
money. Walking out of the restaurant, I felt sorry I had let him pay the bill and
wanted to return the money to him. He shouted at me while almost crying, "You
are a good person, I know you are good-hearted..." Surprised, I raised my head
and saw he was wiping tears with the back of his hand, and his eyes were red. I
was moved and also surprised! I did not understand why he thought I was so
goodhearted. In such a short time and I just said a few words to him, why did he
have this opinion of me? Finally, I did not give him the money because doing so
would have hurt his feelings. In the process of that Fa-protection trip, many other miraculous things
occurred. Inside that process, I did not know it was Teacher who was giving us
wisdom. I did not know it was the power of righteous thoughts, and I did not
know the sacredness of what we had done. Now, I clearly understand that as long
as we keep a righteous and clean mind, even though we do not know the high level
Dafa, Teacher will still arrange everything for us in the best way. The key
point is that we keep a pure and steady heart. Reviewing that memory now, my understanding of the issue is totally different
from before. In the process, I felt the miraculous effects of clarifying the
truth of Dafa to people. I have shared how I experienced the power of a pure,
righteous, and truthful mind, as an encouragement to my fellow Dafa
practitioners and myself. Posting date: 7/9/2003 |