(Clearwisdom.net) I loved to look at the sky and the clouds when I was little and wished that I were a celestial maiden so that I could fly everywhere. When qigong was very popular in China, I not only refused to believe in it but also laughed at it. After I reached age 40, I had all kinds of illnesses, such as stomachaches, headaches, and dizziness. In 1995, I also suffered from a serious herniated lumbar disc. I went to many well-known hospitals in both Jinzhou City and Shenyang City, but I got worse and could not even get out of bed. I could not move a small flower pot or pick up anything from the floor. I had to eat in bed, and I was practically immobile. I brought so much misery to my family that I thought about taking my own life, but what would happen to my young children if I died? I cried every day. Fortunately, I started practicing Falun Dafa at that critical moment.
When I read the book Zhuan Falun, I finished it all at one time. Many of my questions were answered, and I regained hope. And that was how I started to walk on my path of cultivation. Slowly, all my ailments disappeared, and my family members were all very happy that I could go back to work. Many of our local practitioners studied the Fa and did the exercises together. After we studied, shared and looked within, we upgraded our xinxing and moved forward very quickly. We were all immersed in the harmony of Dafa.
In July 1999, Jiang Zemin launched the inhuman and unprecedented persecution of Falun Gong. Every two to three days, there were people from the Public Security Bureau and detention center harassing me at my workplace or home. Because my home was the practice site, they organized a group of people to do a show called " Taking Over the Revolution Battlefield" next to my house. The leader of this event met with karmic retribution and died soon after.
During those days, people were so poisoned by the lies defaming Falun Gong on TV, and they avoided us like the plague. All of our family members felt ashamed and embarrassed. Meanwhile my heart was as heavy as a boulder, but I maintained my faith in Teacher and Dafa and broke out of my confusion. I walked on the path of validating Dafa to save sentient beings. I would like to share with you a few stories of my cultivation and validating Dafa.
1. Replacing the Mentality of Fame with Tolerance
I never wanted to be in a high position. In 1993, without my knowledge, I was promoted to deputy director. I tried very hard to get out of this but could not. After a few years, I was quite used to being addressed as "Director," and I felt pretty good about it. On July 22, 2001, my immediate superiors talked to me about my being a practitioner, and they wanted to demote me if I refused to give it up. Once I heard that, I felt embarrassed at being mistreated. I thought that, even though they had forced this title on me, how could I face other people if I lost it? Suddenly I remembered what was said in "True Cultivation" from Essentials for Further Advancement and realized that I was a truly cultivating Dafa practitioner, and this was a test of my desire for fame. I should have enough tolerance to eliminate that attachment and not let it hold me back.
After I clarified the truth to them, I told them that I would be glad to give up my position and I also would like to withdraw from the Party. They were very shocked and tried to dissuade me. Behind my back, they told others that I was too stubborn to change. I was comfortable with what I had done, but no one could understand what was in a practitioner's heart.
2. Getting Arrested for Being Muddleheaded
In 2002, the persecution of practitioners was reaching its peak. Even visiting another practitioner
or a phone call could result in an arrest. At the time, Teacher published a few articles on the Minghui/Clearwisdom website, but I was too preoccupied with my work to recognize the evil forces, and I let them take advantage of my loophole.
It happened like this. In 2002, several practitioners were arrested, and I was quite stirred and became confused. One morning, I saw a huge red dragon coming toward me before I even got out of bed. I thought that seeing a dragon was a good sign so I was just excited. Therefore I did not use righteous thoughts to eliminate it in time.
At around 8:00 a.m., I was talking to my father quite excitedly about my red dragon, when several police vehicles surrounded our home. Our home was ransacked, and I was taken to a detention center. After a few practitioners were detained, one after the other, we studied the Fa and shared our experiences. Teacher said in "Cleaning Out" in Hong Yin II:
"The dark clouds have passed
yet winds remain fierce
Though the Red Dragon is slain
humans are still confused..."
After I studied the Fa, I suddenly realized that Teacher had told us long ago that the red dragon represented the CCP. I had forgotten that and thought seeing it was a good sign.
At the detention center, Teacher not only protected us but also helped us to enlighten. We understood that since we were there, we should not forget the responsibilities of being Dafa practitioners. Whenever we had the time, we recited the Fa together. At the beginning it was only a few minutes at a time, later it became an hour. We did it once in the morning and once in the afternoon. In addition to that we did the exercises and clarified the truth to the guards. We were actually quite busy!
Later, we realized that the detention center was not a place for us and that we should be doing things outside. With that righteous thought plus Teacher's compassion, we had an opportunity a few days later, and we all left and merged into the wave of validating Dafa.
3. Grasping a Golden Opportunity and Saving Sentient Beings
After the tsunami in South Asia, our workplace was celebrating the Chinese New Year, and we were going to invite all the retired Party members and workers. I realized an opportunity like this was rare and I asked Teacher to assist me in clarifying the truth and saving sentient beings.
After the thought appeared, the celebration started. A few people sang their songs, and the Party Secretary also recommended that I sing.
I was very happy and picked up the microphone at the podium. I told them that I was a Dafa practitioner and I would sing a Dafa song. I also told them how Dafa had spread all over the world and of the persecution of practitioners. I explained why they ran the risk of being arrested, being beaten, or even being persecuted to death while clarifying the truth. It was because we wanted people to know the truth and be saved like those who survived the tsunami.
I then sang the song "Be Saved."
Many people who understood the truth wept after hearing the song. However, there were two people who reported me to the head of the Public Security Bureau and the 610 Office. Officials at the Public Security Bureau wanted me arrested, but I had very strong righteous thoughts and was thinking that I was a Dafa practitioner, that what I did was the most righteous thing, and that no one was qualified to persecute me. As that thought appeared, the evil forces began to disintegrate. When I sent forth righteous thoughts, I saw the tail of the red dragon drop off and one of those two people who had reported me fell down. Six months later, one of them indeed died of cancer. Many people knew then that harming Dafa practitioners would meet with karmic retribution.
4. Demonic Interference Due to Unrighteous Thoughts
At the beginning of the persecution, practitioners used many different methods to clarify the truth, including distributing flyers, posting materials, writing phrases, and hanging banners. I did the same, but with a lot of fear. Once a practitioner and I were making banners in my home, and I could not control my fear. We said, "Let's hope the police won't be there." Within ten minutes, the doorbell rang, and I saw the police outside the door. My home was just ten minutes away from the police station, and there they were. Several policemen knocked on the door, but we did not open it. Someone then asked, "Is anyone home?" One person said, "Of course, someone just walked in." The police knocked on the door again, and we sent righteous thoughts and asked them to go away. They left soon after.
It is not difficult to see how important our instantaneous thoughts are. When we asked them to come, they did. When we asked them to go away, they were gone.
5. Letting Go of Human Notions and Saving Sentient Beings
During the time we distributed the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party and persuaded people to quit the Party and it's affiliates, several practitioners in our work unit and I joined forces. We started with our relatives and friends. It was not easy at the beginning. Because of our continuous effort, now about 95 percent of the people in our work unit have quit the Party.
My next door neighbor has an explosive temper. Often she is out of control. Many times I wanted to approach her but was afraid. I had not seen her for a while and heard later that she had been in a car accident. I just wanted to save her, and I became quite brave. After I talked to her, she quit immediately. We surely cannot depend on our human notions to save people.
During the past several years, I jave validated Dafa, clarified the truth, and saved a lot of people. I was under the protection of Teacher's compassion, and often dangerous situations turned into harmless ones. As a result, many people were saved and knew the truth. Often Teacher encouraged me in my dreams and let me see some of the dry twigs on the ground turn into hundreds of flowers. I am bowing to Teacher with a Heshi, and I am grateful for Teacher's compassionate salvation.
Deep down in my heart, I know that what I have done is far from meeting the requirements of Dafa and also far behind other genuine practitioners. I also have a lot of human notions. For all those reasons, I chose a name, "Pure and Clean," to remind myself to purify my thoughts, eliminate my human notions, and do the three things well. I need to move forward diligently on the path to godhood and be steadfast until the end for the rest of my journey, no matter how difficult that is. Only by doing that will I not let Teacher down.
