(Clearwisdom.net) Greetings, Revered Master! Greetings, fellow practitioners!
First I would like to express my gratitude to Master for giving me the opportunity to participate in this Internet-based experience sharing conference. I did not participate in the first two Internet-based conferences. I didn't even consider writing at the time of the first conference. At the time of the second conference, I thought it was just for the practitioners who had cultivated well, and had nothing to do with me. I thought that I had not cultivated well and therefore had nothing to write about. Through Fa study and reading experience sharing articles on "Minghui Weekly," I changed my wrong understanding. The practitioners who cultivated well can write about their experiences, and that can help more practitioners elevate their levels. On the other hand, if I write down my understandings at my realm and expose my shortcomings, isn't this also a process of dissolving the evil and cultivating? Having come to this view, I began to contemplate submitting an article to this conference. Finally, just before the deadline, I picked up the pen and started writing.
I began practicing Falun Dafa in March 1998. As soon as I started, I studied the Fa and did the exercises in great earnest, as if driven by hunger and thirst. I was also patient in teaching new practitioners the exercises, helping them with the books, and promoting the practice. However, I was not very strict with myself when it came to xinxing cultivation. Just as Master said in "A Dialog with Time,"
"And the most outstanding evidence of that is that they always compare themselves with humans and with their own past, but fail to examine themselves with the requirements of the Fa at different levels." (Essentials for Further Advancement, "A Dialog with Time")
I thought I was better than before, or better than certain practitioners, and was satisfied with it. However, I did not examine myself with the requirements of the Fa at different levels.
On July 20, 1999, the evil came suddenly and overshadowed everything. We planned to go to Beijing on July 21 to validate the Fa. The night of July 20, however, the police came to look for several local assistants, including me. At 1 a.m. on July 21, when they tried to send us to the detention center, there was no bus left. Since the detention center was far away, they let us go home. They told us to report to the police the next morning. The next day, instead of walking my path of validating the Fa, I complied with the police's request and reported to them.
After that, because we lost the environment to study the Fa and do the exercises in a group, I slacked off in my cultivation. I only just managed to study the Fa and do the exercises every day. At work and at home, whenever I had some time, I would read the book. I could finish Zhuan Falun from start to finish in two or three days. Sometimes I could finish it in a day and a half. I didn't know to do anything else, and was in a state of passiveness and numbness. Because our area is very isolated, after July 20, we had no contact with the practitioners from other areas, and did not know what was happening elsewhere. I also thought about writing to the central government to tell them that Falun Gong was not what was portrayed on TV. When I got together with fellow practitioners, we talked about how wonderful it would be if all Dafa practitioners went to Beijing to validate the Fa. However, I only thought and talked about it, but did not take any action.
In February 2000, a local practitioner visited another area and brought back some truth-clarification materials. This was a big shock to me. Practitioners from other areas were already validating the Fa, but I was only sitting at home, thinking and talking about it, waiting, and watching. After I read the materials, I could not sit still any longer. Right then, about 20 of us decided to go to Beijing the next day to validate the Fa. That evening, a family member of one of the practitioners informed the police, and the police came in full force and arrested dozens of practitioners. Four of us were sent to labor camps.
At the labor camp, we had to face the persecution daily. Every moment, we needed to clarify the truth, validate the Fa, and resist the persecution. On the walls of the hallway in my prison division, there were 12 posters slandering Master and Dafa. I was disturbed having to see them every day. Every time I walked down the hallway, I looked down. I realized it was a shame for me, a Dafa disciple, to allow these evil things to be hung in front of my eyes! I thought for a long time about how to get rid of them without being found out. I lay in bed sleeplessly, searching for a solution. I tried a few ways but did not succeed.
Then I suddenly came to an understanding: why did I want to use supernormal capabilities and take detours? Why don't I validate the Fa? When I searched inside, didn't I have an attachment to fear? I was afraid of further persecution. When Master and the Fa were being slandered, I didn't step forward to guard the Fa; my first thought was to protect myself from being persecuted. What a selfish, ugly mentality! When I improved my understanding, I shared with some other practitioners, and they all agreed. I wrote a letter to the prison guards to clarify the truth and encouraged them to be kind. I also asked them to take down the posters within three days. If they didn't, we would take action. Three days passed, and they did not have any intention of taking down the posters. On the morning of the fourth day, as soon as we awoke, we dashed out and tore apart the posters before the authorities were able to realize what happened.
It was like we poked a hole in a hornet's nest. The guards called their superiors and told us that we would not go to work that day. Someone from higher-up was going to handle us. At about 8 a.m., people from the higher authority came and called for a meeting. However, under the protection of our compassionate Master, nothing happened. What we did greatly shook the evil and weakened their power.
At the end of 2001, because five guards beat a Falun Gong practitioner, all the female prisoners went on a hunger strike to protest. About 70 people participated. The news shocked the leaders in Beijing. Four people from the Inner Mongolia Labor Re-Education Bureau came to direct the persecution against Falun Gong. They listed a few "crimes" of mine: leading a hunger strike, leading a strike, and others. My prison term was going to be extended for another three months. I did not accept the persecution, and took this opportunity to clarify the truth to save them. I wrote a letter to the leaders of the division. As a result, my prison term was not extended. This experience of validating the Fa and resisting the persecution demonstrates the power of truth-clarification.
In May 2002, the evil guards began another round of comprehensive and irrational persecution. They called it "100 percent transformation." Everyone had to pass it. The guards openly said at large-scale meetings that they would do whatever it might take to achieve their goals. When the practitioners discussed it amongst ourselves, we recalled Master's words, "Wherever a problem arises, that's where you need to clarify the facts." ("Teaching and Explaining the Fa at the Metropolitan New York Fa Conference") Everyone was mobilized. We tried our best to clarify the facts face-to-face, and wrote to various departments. When clarifying the truth and calling on their consciences, we also exposed the persecution. I went with another practitioner to the head guard in charge of our division to clarify the truth. I also wrote a letter to the warden to clarify the truth and expose the evil. Two days later, the guards called me into their office. They said, "You've been talking to us and writing to our boss. This is evidence against you. We have decided that you are the leader and our main target. You won't be able to run away." I told them, "It's impossible to force me to 'transform.' I wrote the letters to save you." That night, I dreamed that Master protected me again. From this, I again realized,
"When disciples have ample righteous thoughts Master has the power to turn back the tide." (Hong Yin II, "The Master- Disciple Bond")
In the labor camp, because we were faced with the persecution every day, we were alert to the Fa-rectification and resisting the persecution. We have made some contributions in this regard, but what we did was far from the requirements of the Fa.
When I returned home, I saw that many local practitioners had not kept up with Master's Fa-rectification process; some only read the books at home, some almost stopped practicing, and some had enlightened on an evil path. Almost no one was clarifying the facts. The practitioners did not read Master's new articles or the sharing among practitioners on Clearwisdom.net. They had no idea how Fa-rectification had progressed. I was saddened to see this. The Fa-rectification was going forward very quickly, but in our local area, almost no one was validating the Fa. There was no "one body," righteous thoughts, or saving sentient beings to speak of.
Facing such conditions, I studied the Fa diligently and let the Fa guide me. At the same time, I traveled around to encourage fellow practitioners to study the Fa, do the exercises, and send forth righteous thoughts. Only then could we improve as a whole, save sentient beings, and play the role of Dafa disciples. The sentient beings in our area were ours to save. This was our responsibility and mission. First of all, I had to coordinate us as a group. Once the group was established, we were able to do things better. With Master's support, the overall cultivation state in our region was elevated. Our work in validating the Fa and resisting the persecution was also drastically improved.
In 2004, a practitioner went to Tiananmen Square to do the exercises and was arrested and detained at the local detention center. After I heard it, I felt helpless. That evening, I read Minghui Weekly, and there was an article about how the practitioners used their righteous thoughts and righteous actions to go to the police to clarify the truth and rescue fellow practitioners. I thought about how well they did and how poorly I did, and the great contrast between us.
The next morning, I had another thought: we are both Master's disciples, and I can do what other disciples can do. Once I had this righteous thought, I went to look for another practitioner. The two of us went to the 610 Office at the municipal police department to clarify the truth. We talked about the persecution against Falun Gong by the Chinese Communist Party and its local agencies and about the persecution we suffered at the labor camps. We asked them to release the practitioners. Soon, many practitioners improved their understandings on the Fa, and they stepped forward to clarify the truth to people face-to-face, and distribute the Nine Commentaries and truth-clarification materials.
In April 2005, four policemen broke into my home. They didn't say anything and just started raiding my home. At first I was a little nervous. Then I thought, "Master is here and the Fa is here. What am I so afraid of?" I asked for Master's help so that they could not take away any truth-clarification material. Indeed, they looked for over two hours, but did not even find a piece of paper with truth-clarification content. They left dispirited.
I have been on the path of cultivation for nine years, with no shortage of trials and falls. Right now, my most fundamental understanding is that the tribulations are actually tests for us on our faith in the Fa and Master. We are worthy of being called Dafa disciples if we truly treat ourselves as Dafa disciples, do well the three things Master arranged, take the Fa as the teacher, use the standards of the Fa to measure ourselves, fulfill the responsibilities of a Fa-rectification period Dafa disciple, walk well the path that Master arranged for us, and fully negate all arrangements by the old forces.
