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Break Through the Barriers, Improve as One Body

August 06, 2006 |  

(Clearwisdom.net)

Greeting Master! Greeting fellow practitioner!

The title of my experience sharing is, "Break Through the Barriers, Improve as One Body".

At the beginning of last March, after the organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners in Sujiatun Secret Concentration Camp was exposed, there were several typical responses among fellow practitioners. Some were waiting for more direct evidence, waiting to be convinced then to decide the next step. Some were led by their emotions, immersed in indignation and sadness. Some were frightened and hence chose to keep silent. Some were frustrated and puzzled.

But, I also saw some practitioners look at this issue and understand it from the principles of the Fa and from the overall standpoint of Fa-rectification. They realized that every issue occurring during the Fa-rectification is related to the projects we are working on as a whole body and as individuals. The concealment and exposure of this extreme, inhuman crime committed by the Chinese Communist Party' is a "celestial phenomenon" moved by the Fa-rectification process. It is also the consequence of the truth clarification efforts of all the Dafa practitioners. Hence to catch up with the progress of the Fa-rectification we should respond as one body.

My field is medical science, and I know the evil nature of the Chinese Communist Party fairly well. At that time, I responded with grief and indignation. Because of my professional background, I made some initial efforts to expose the organ harvesting situation to the western mainstream society. Because of the numbness as a whole body, it didn't move forward. Some fellow practitioners worked very hard on this issue, yet encountered many difficulties during the process. Because we lacked the cooperation as a whole body, gradually a kind of downcast mood developed among practitioners. Sometimes we really felt that it was a trial arranged by the old forces.

Passing through this part of the path and looking back again, I found that one difference between the old force's' arrangement and the Fa-rectification arrangement is our response. After a big incident occurs there must be a decision to keep up with the Fa-rectification's progress, to fill up the "gaps" in our whole body so as to eliminate the barrier, and build a true, seamless one body and validate the Fa in the human world, as opposed to each of us being restricted by the limitations of our own view, to further develop the "gaps", to expand the barriers, and hence to accept the "painstaking cultivation" arranged by the old forces for each of us.

I realized that the 'old forces' characteristic is focusing on our individual cultivation. Therefore, the old forces made the arrangement many years ago; it set up the barriers layer by layer. The barriers between the projects, the barriers between nations, the barriers between living beings. From the "gaps" cracking the "seam", from the "seam" splitting again, it is the cause of the divisions in the one body. This kind of divided environment was arranged by the old forces for the practice of individual cultivation.

But frequently, we'd unconsciously fall into this kind of thinking. After Wang Wenyi's White House incident, some fellow practitioners regarded this as an incident between U.S. fellow practitioners and The Epoch Times. When the Canada Independent Investigation Report came out and it shook everyday society, there were also some practitioners who regarded this as a matter for Canadian practitioners. In the meantime, we also easily allowed such gaps to give us many excuses. For instance, each of us was busy on his or her own projects at hand and thought his/her own project was very important, having no more time to handle other incidents occurring during the Fa-rectification process. In such a divided environment, the notion to protect self would not be easily recognized. In addition, the various notions such as jealousy, helplessness, weariness that we have not gotten rid of during our individual cultivation and the lag in our Fa study, sending forth righteous, and truth clarification--all of these would actually reinforce such gaps in the environment.

We are in each such small gap, as we are practicing, and working on some responsible project. But the key is that our heart is also limited in such a small basket. It's really heart wrenching. As a practitioner, the key is enlightenment. Our heart's capacity and our vision have not expanded, so the overall strength is very difficult to manifest. Therefore, again and again we experience the phenomenon of being unable to keep up, and we even seriously lag behind.

At the end of April, some practitioners suggested that I go to Eastern Europe to attend a Nine Commentaries Forum to expose the wicked party's organ harvesting atrocity from a medical point of view. Based on my medical background and understanding of the chaos surrounding organ transplants, as well as my knowledge of the evil nature of the Chinese Communist Party, I had no doubt about the reality of the party's organ harvesting crime; to do something was another story. There was distance between the thought and the action. Fear of the difficulties was very strong.

One aspect of the barrier was the thought that there are so many "capable" practitioners who could go and give the speech. I am nothing compared to them. I already started to draw an invisible line between which job should be mine and which should belong to others. Some practitioners asked me, "Who asked you to go?" The implication was that it was not arranged by the Dafa association or some main coordinator.

I took part in this project relatively early. My capability was very limited, yet I did know the whole situation very well. I couldn't push it back. The old forces in the small environment arranged many excuses for me to reject going. Such excuses came up one after another.

Another aspect of the barrier were certain thoughts. I'd have to spend lots of money and be away from my home. I wouldn't be able to eat and rest well. It wouldn't be as comfortable as staying at home. I could still clarify the truth without taking this trip. These were the attachment blocking me. I even saw the obvious attachment of seeking comfort, even in my way to validate the Fa. But I knew in general that I couldn't use that as an excuse; I had to have a different excuse. Therefore, I told the contact practitioner, "If I can make the arrangements at work, I'll go."

I knew I was usually very busy at work. That seemed like a very reasonable excuse. I could recall what is stated in the Fa, that I' needed to conform to the everyday people's condition to practice. Nobody would be able to blame me. I have to do my duty and regular job well and not do something extreme and so forth. I prepared "the Fa items" for myself to use.

However, 'I didn't expect that after I just briefly talked to my boss and colleagues about the facts of the wicked CCP's organ harvesting, my boss would quickly agree to let me go. All of my colleagues were cooperative and re-arranged their work schedules. And a task that was supposed to be done within that week was postponed.

In the end, I didn't have any excuse not to go. My mind calmed down. "Do I still want an excuse?" I had come up with so many excuses, 'not caring about the things that needed to be done from the overall picture. Did I think about how urgent this matter was? What significance it would have? If each one of us used excuses to get away, what kind of practice would that be? We would be arranging our practice path for self rather than to cultivate away the selfishness.

When I was complaining about the "gaps" in the one body, wasn't I also trying to maintain the gaps in a roundabout manner?

I need to break through such barriers and put "self" into the process of Fa-rectification. I need to differentiate the false-self, surrounded by the various human notions, from the true-self wishing to assist the Fa-rectification., cultivating myself well during the battle between righteousness and evil. That would also fill the "gap" of the whole body. I knew that all these arrangements weren't a coincidence. If I still hesitated, I would be ashamed to accept Master's merciful salvation and ashamed to bear the title of Dafa disciple.

Within one week's time, we planned to go to Poland, Austria, and Ukraine. I had to prepare what and how to give the talk at the forum. Several practitioners provided the source material they had collected. I eliminated the interference and concentrated with my energy to get these necessary things done in two days. I started to make the slide show to expose the organ harvesting crime. It had very good results during this trip to Eastern Europe for truth clarification. During those two days, my office was extraordinarily peaceful. Very few people came to interrupt me.

But my heart wasn't stable. The xinxing problems came. Some conflicts unexpectedly occurred at work. A fellow practitioner who is also a colleague suddenly got our "gap" enlarged. We became not so cooperative as we had been in our work. My heart was stirred up and I wasn't able to maintain tranquility during the meditation. My mood was once so depressed that I again started thinking about not going to Eastern Europe. Obviously, breaking through the barrier wasn't as easy as just thinking of the idea, it was itself part of the Fa-rectification process.

After repeatedly reading "A Calm Mind" in the Ninth Talk of Zhuan Falun, I realized that this was an omission in my personal cultivation, and it emerged when Fa rectification required me to ascend. If I didn't give up all kinds of attachments and desires, if I didn't look inward, I would not be able to step out of my current realm and would be isolated and restrained in the small "me" and would not reach the requirement of Teacher and Fa rectification cultivation. If I stayed trapped within my personal troubles and took care of everything in my life before I cultivated, if I improved myself before I validated the Fa, that would be a child's game and not assisting Teacher to rectify the Fa.

For me, the trip to Eastern Europe was to completely discard many of my attachments through cultivation and closely keep up with Fa rectification. This was walking the cultivation path arranged by Teacher and I absolutely could not let down Teacher's efforts in arranging for my improvement. I couldn't afford to not walk the path well.

Moreover, I realized that this cultivation and improvement began the moment when the idea about a trip to Eastern Europe was put before me. Everything, including the subsequent mental struggle, changing my mind, and xinxing tests at work naturally fit into Fa rectification cultivation.

Because my main point was to break through isolation set up by the old force, by this time my attitude toward personal attachments was different. I must actively expand my heart' instead of being forced to expand it.

Like a student about to face the final exam, I set off on the trip to clarify the truth in Eastern Europe after much preparation work. Due to time restraints, I will not restate the details and I'll only share several things that stood out to me.

Auschwitz is a small town four hours drive away from Warsaw, Poland. Today, it stands for many things: evil, history, and the vow "never again". Here, we saw the concentration camp and the crematorium the Nazis used to kill Jews. Thinking that history is now repeating itself and the horrific crime of harvesting of living Falun Gong practitioners' organs is still taking place, we felt angry and sad. I also felt great responsibility because many people in the world do not yet know the truth.

There are not many Dafa practitioners in Poland, and they need more manpower during activities. We heard that they were going to hold a Nine Commentaries forum at Auschwitz concentration camp to expose the wicked Party's atrocity of harvesting living organs. More than ten practitioners came to help from Israel, Romania, and Germany. Due to language barriers, however, they could not help us with the things we most needed help with, which was contacting the outside. They placed heavy emphasis on sending forth righteous thoughts. They followed us wherever we went, and when we clarified the truth to the Polish parliament, they sat in a nearby coffee shop to send forth righteous thoughts to help us.

While in Ukraine, practitioners from Russia took a 20-hour train ride to come and help us. They were so young and energetic, and their hearts toward Dafa were so pure. For several nights, they squeezed in a practitioner's home and they cherished every second they had to share experiences with practitioners from North America.

During this long trip, I really learned the meaning of, "When disciples have ample righteous thoughts, Master has the power to turn back the tide." ("The Master-Disciple Bond," Hong Yin II) It's easy to keep righteous thoughts when one is well-fed and well rested, but it's a reflection of one's xinxing to maintain powerful righteous thoughts when one is tired. Ukraine was our last stop, and everyone looked tired. We heard that we couldn't get in touch with the local media, and we felt powerless. On a layover to Kiev, however, several people with large cameras were also waiting for the plane. I saw them a long time ago but I didn't do anything. Six-year-old Fadu urged us to hurry up and clarify the truth, and she stood on the side and passed truth clarification materials. It turned out they were reporters and a camera crew from the largest TV station in Ukraine, and their boarding time was delayed by 30 minutes. They paid close attention when we clarified the truth. On the next day, they reported on the Nine Commentaries Forum and conducted an interview of young Fadu and her mother.

Although I had mentally braced myself for a difficult experience, the poor living conditions still exceeded my imagination. We often ate only one decent meal a day after a whole day of activities. Later, we learned that practitioners from Poland and Ukraine didn't have much money, and they had to use their own money on truth-clarifying media and various activities. They were very frugal, and spending money at a restaurant was a huge burden for them. Usually, an apple and a piece of bread served as their meal. We practitioners from Washington DC didn't know about it, and we waited for the local practitioners to go to a restaurant to "reward" ourselves. After a long wait, however, no one mentioned anything about going to a restaurant even after the activities had finished. Those of us from Washington DC often clarified the truth in the Chinese community, and activities in the Chinese community often included lunches or dinners, and we jokingly called ourselves "members of a dinner club", and now we were without a dinner. I took only one hot bath in seven days until I returned to DC, and I was on my period during the week. I had never gone through anything like it.

It not only helped us get rid of our pursuit of comfort, but the fact that practitioners in Eastern Europe consistently clarified the truth despite the difficulties really touched me. They often have to save money for a whole year in order to afford a trip to a Fa conference. Practitioners who don't understand English or Chinese don't have access to Teacher's articles until much later. In contrast, practitioners in North America enjoy far superior conditions in every regard, so we must do even better.

The independent investigation report has come out in Canada, and the World Transplant Congress is meeting in Boston. We have the tools and the opportunities to clarify the truth; it all depends on what we do. Our hearts must go out as much as our actions. More than 5,000 people are experts, scholars and organizers who work in the field of organ transplant from all over the world. Usually, because of various isolations in the human world set up by the old forces, we only get to see their secretary or assistant, but we don't know how many of them have directly or indirectly participated in the crimes of the wicked Party. Now, they are coming to us to hear the truth, it's a great opportunity for them to be saved! We are not against ordinary people's organ transplant technology; we are only exposing the wicked Party's use of this technology to commit genocide. As long as we do it with the heart to benevolently rescue sentient beings, even if we don't have any medical background, the wisdom that comes from the Fa will let us know how to clarify the truth well and in a rational manner.

Above is my personal understanding, please benevolently point out anything inappropriate. I want to end this article by sharing Teacher's "For the Good of the World"

Make clear the truth,
and drive off foul spirits.
Spread widely the Nine Commentaries,
and the wicked Party shall fade.
With righteous thoughts,
save the world's people.
I just don't believe their consciences
are irretrievably lost.

Thank you, Teacher! Thank you, fellow practitioners!