(Clearwisdom.net)
When the word "believing" is mentioned, every Dafa practitioner will firmly reply, "I believe, otherwise, I would not persist in cultivation." There are, however, various degrees of believing. My understanding is that at a critical moment, such as when conflicts or tribulations arise, our first thought should be: "What does Dafa require of me at this moment? What does Dafa tell me to do?" We should not fall into the ordinary human environment and respond according to the ordinary people's notions, such as using cleverness, wit, or worldly wisdom. In the following sections I provide some of my personal experiences.
1. On a weekend morning in February 2002, it was snowing. Twenty some Dafa practitioners spread the Fa to the public and had an outdoor group exercise. At that time, I did not know how to handle the police. However, whenever I thought that Dafa and Teacher had been slandered, I feared nothing. I peacefully exercised in the field without any fear. After half an hour, I was dragged to my home by a tall, strong, young neighbor. After returning home, I discussed this with fellow practitioners. They said that my xinxing did not meet the criteria because at that time, a common thought was that those who were arrested were those who cultivated well (on that occasion, only those who persisted in finishing the exercise were arrested). Reflecting back now, I found my heart was extremely pure at that moment, which already met the requirement of Dafa. Teacher just wanted my heart, and did not want me to be arrested.In "Rationality" Teacher said,
"Some students suggest that the best practice of cultivation is to get placed into a detention center or a labor camp, or get sentenced to jail in order to validate the Fa. Students, it is not so. Stepping forward to validate the Fa using many different approaches is a magnificent act, but this absolutely does not mean that you have to be arrested by the evil. If that were the case, why would those students who step forward to make appeals demand the release of all those innocent students who have been arrested, detained, sent to labor camps, or sentenced to jail? Getting arrested is not the purpose. Validating Dafa is what's truly magnificent, and it is to validate Dafa that you step forward. Since you step forward, you should try to succeed in validating the Fa--this is the real purpose of stepping forward."
2. I was detained after making an appeal in Beijing in June 2000. When I was being body-searched I thought of Teacher's words, "just by having your heart unaffected you will be able to handle all situations." I was very calm. It was summer time and I had dressed lightly. I had a hand-written copy of "Hongyin" and although the police looked all over, even inside my bra, they did not find the poems. They put me in a chamber with Dafa practitioners that did not have a copy of Hongyin.
In the prison, doing the exercises meant being beaten and verbally abused; I was quite scared at the beginning. In Zhuan Falun Teacher Li said, "To tell you the truth, the entire cultivation process for a practitioner is one of constantly giving up human attachments." Since I knew my fear was an attachment, I had to let go of it. After realizing this, I joined the group exercises. Of all the practitioners who did the exercises, the jail guard beat only me. I knew it was a test and I resisted it with determination. Those males and females relentlessly beat me with rubber batons. But in the end, the female guard sprained her back muscles, and I didn't feel anything. I knew that Teacher bore it for me. Teacher just wanted me to have righteous thoughts and a righteous belief. I encountered several tests in the prison. I got along very well with other inmates. I spread the Fa and clarified the truth to them. Some prison inmates started studying the Fa and some of them saw Master Li's law body. After being kept in prison for 19 days, I was released. The chief of the inmates said, "We shall miss you." This resulted from my thought: Prison was not my cultivation environment, and I was not supposed to be here. At that time, it was the eve of July 20 and nobody was allowed to be released before July 20. In addition, according to a common rule, Dafa practitioners should be imprisoned at least one month. However, I was not restrained by human notions. From then on, no policemen dared to harass me.
3. One summer evening in 2001, several Dafa practitioners gave out truth clarification materials in the local communities. Our activities were reported. The next day, the chief of local police found my husband and my husband's supervisor. The chief wanted to search our house. At that time, I was at work. My husband told me what was happening over the phone. In our house, there were two big pictures of Teacher and the Falun emblem, which can be seen as soon as you enter the house. My husband wanted me to come home and hide them. It would be a pity if the police confiscated them. I firmly told my husband, "They cannot enter our house." My home is only 5 minutes from my workplace, but I didn't go home. At that time, I didn't have any human notions, such as I would be reported, investigated, arrested, etc. I did not even have any thought of "if by any remote chance..." I sent forth righteous thoughts at work, eliminating the evil in other dimensions. As a result, they did not arrest me from work nor ransack my house.
After that day, I was followed for several days. I went to work and came home as usual and the police followed me all the way to my workplace. As long as I could see them, I sent forth righteous thoughts. After several days, they left me alone. Afterwards, I met a policeman face to face on the street. A young fellow in the local community said, "In our workplace, there are some Falun Gong materials." The policeman stared at me, saying, "It's not my business." After this, I told my husband that it was because of Teacher's Fa picture that the police did not come to our house. Teacher was protecting us. If we had hidden the Fa picture, the result would be different.
My cultivation path has not always been smooth; sometimes I did well, but sometimes I didn't. Reflecting back, as long as I stood in the Fa with righteous thoughts and righteous actions, everything turned out well. No matter how big the tribulations are, they can be overcome. While facing the evil, or in everyday life and at work, I have one thought: I am the most righteous. Even though I did not do well in some occasions, I am getting better and better. The evil is not worthy of testing me. I know that this thought comes from the Dafa and it is the most righteous, the best. When it manifests in personal cultivation, it is truly believing in Teacher and truly believing in Dafa.
Most of my fellow practitioners may have had similar experiences as mine. My understanding in some aspects might be restricted by my xinxing and cultivation level. Teacher has taught the Fa quite clearly. I felt the power of true belief during the preceding experiences. In the future, I hope that we will take every step well.
