(Clearwisdom.net) I have a Master's degree, and I used to be a division leader at a company in China. I have always thought that I was very accomplished according to conventional standards. I obtained the Fa in October 1997 and have been practicing Falun Gong for nine years. The Buddha Law in Zhuan Falun struck me as most profound when I first studied the book. Through my regular Fa study and my genuine cultivation practice of Falun Gong, I have enlightened to the fact that there are different levels of the Fa at different levels of cultivation. I would like to share a few examples. These are all only my own understandings, of course.

1. Treating a Person's Illness versus Purifying a Cultivator's Body

When we clarify the truth about Falun Gong to people, we often get questions regarding sickness karma. People ask, "You practice Falun Gong. Do you go to doctors or hospitals?" To answer this question, I share with them what I have enlightened to from studying the Fa. "Through cultivation practice, a Falun Gong practitioner searches inward when he encounters conflicts. He is required to not fight back when cursed or attacked. Starting from barely restraining himself from bursting out in a rage, to enduring with difficulty, to enduring effortlessly, to enduring conflict with a heartfelt smile, a Falun Gong practitioner will eventually become immune to anger. Wouldn't he become less likely to become ill? Besides, we are also under Teacher's protection. Tell me. How can we possibly get sick?"

Teacher only purifies Falun Gong practitioners' bodies. Teacher does not treat illnesses. At an elementary level of understanding of the Fa, purifying a person's body is a much greater challenge than treating his illness. When a non-cultivator becomes ill and goes to a hospital for medical treatment, he is only treated for the surface illness. Purifying one's body, however, includes both purging the illness at the surface and at the root cause. One's entire body will be purified and the illnesses will be completely gone.

At a higher level of understanding from the Fa, why does Teacher purify only Falun Gong cultivators' bodies and does not do so for non-cultivators? As cultivators, we all know that each person carries both black and white substances. The white substance is called de (virtue) and the black substance is ye (karma). Both substances have been accumulated in each person over countless reincarnations. Teacher only purifies Falun Gong cultivators' bodies because they strive to become better people in all aspects. They refrain from doing bad deeds to avoid generating additional karma. Teacher will remove some of the accumulated karma, leaving the rest for Falun Gong cultivators to endure and remove during the sitting meditation and the process of improving their xinxing. Non-cultivators will have a very difficult time doing it. They do all kinds of things in order to have a better life. They are consumed by their strong attachments to fame, wealth and qing. Their restless contentions generate additional karma. If Teacher were to treat a non-cultivator's illness, the person would still have to pay back his karma. Therefore, he would still become ill.

2. Cultivation Levels and Realms

Through the cultivation practice of Falun Gong, a cultivator continuously enhances his xinxing and gradually purges his notions. He gradually changes from a selfish person into a selfless and altruistic cultivator. As we are removing our attachments to fame, wealth and qing, we are gradually enhancing our cultivation level. When our cultivation reaches the level of Arhat, we reach the state of being a self enlightened being. Its manifestation may be that we will follow the Fa whether our bosses, schoolteachers or elders are present or not and that we will be impervious to any praise or aspiration as long as we know we have not done anything to betray our conscience. When we reach the level of Bodhisattva, our compassion will have come forward, so we will see all the sentient beings suffering and will want to help people start cultivation practice in order to return to their true selves and be forever free from the pain of reincarnation. When we reach the level of the (srivatsa) symbol, we will have attained the level of Tathagata and know why man suffers and why some people become high ranking officials in government while some just scrape by. Each person's fate is in fact arranged by divine beings based on the karma and virtue he has accumulated during his incarnations. When people become ill or suffer, they are paying for the karma they have created in the past. When people attain power in government or become wealthy, they are merely enjoying the virtue they have accumulated for doing good deeds in the past.

3. To Believe or Not to Believe

During our cultivation practice, first we must believe in Teacher and believe in the Fa. When I clarify the truth to people, I often tell them, "Before the radio was invented, if I were to tell an uneducated person that there was something called an electron, he would definitely challenge me to show him an electron. Of course, no one would have been able to produce evidence of electrons before the radio was invented. The uneducated person would have dismissed my claim as complete nonsense or superstition while, in fact, it would be the uneducated person who was ignorant."

The underlying requirement for a cultivator is that he must believe in the existence of deities and Buddhas and believe in the existence of the Buddha Fa. In addition, he must have a predestined relationship with Teacher in order to step onto the path of cultivation practice. However, some people have so much karma that their wisdom is sealed off and separated from the characteristics of the universe. Hence, they do not believe in the existence of deities or Buddhas. As for us cultivators, we gradually enhance our realms and must attain the levels of different enlightened beings through our cultivation practice before we are granted a sacred view of divine beings. Actually divine beings and Buddhas both exist. It is only that their bodies consist of particles many times smaller than molecules. Therefore, human eyes are unable to see them. In fact, ordinary people are not entitled to see them. In other words, divine beings and Buddhas exist whether one believes in them or not.

In order to rule the Chinese people, Mao Zedong and Jiang Zemin forbade people believing in divine beings or Buddhas. Cultivators are apolitical, but their wisdom will continue to increase during their cultivation practice. In that case, the head of the Chinese Communist Party will have difficulty fooling them. Consequently, they will stop at nothing to prevent the Chinese people from believing in divine beings. When people refuse to believe in the existence of divine beings or Buddhas, they won't believe in reincarnation or the law that Heaven will ultimately reward good deeds and punish bad deeds. Hence, people will do bad deeds as long as they can get away with the laws of the human society. This is why corruption is so rampant in the Chinese Communist government and why the morality level in China keeps plummeting.

4. Being Kind and Unkind Yield Different Results

Because I insist on believing in Falun Gong's principles of Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance, I appealed to the State Appeals Office in Beijing on April 25, 1999. In late 2000, I went to Tiananmen Square alone to validate the Fa. The police attacked my head with an electric baton, cracked my head with his radio and grabbed my arms while I was practicing Falun Gong's second exercise. My heart was as peaceful as still water and my head was as clear as an empty space. I didn't have any fear. I heard the noise of an electric baton and then felt a mosquito biting my face. (In actuality, it was Teacher that endured the pain of electric shock for me.) I continued to do the exercise for about three minutes before the police pushed and dragged me into a police car.

Once at Tiananmen Square Police Station, I refused to give the police my name or my address in order to avoid creating trouble for my family or my work organization. After keeping both male and female Falun Gong practitioners in the same cell for the night, the police transferred me to Tongzhou County Public Security Bureau. The police continued to ask our names and addresses. Many fellow Falun Gong practitioners were beaten during the interrogation. I was in a good frame of mind. I was trying to clear the name of Falun Gong and to avoid creating problems for my work organization or my family, so I didn't want to give my name or my address to the police. However, the police did not beat me. I noticed that some fellow practitioners clarified the truth well, but they did it as though they were arguing or trying to win a battle. This might be one of the reasons why the police beat them.

By 5:00 p.m., none of us practitioners had given the police our names. The police then transferred all of us to Tongzhou Detention Center. The police ordered me to sign the detention paper, but I refused and told the police that I had not committed any crimes. Next they separated male and female practitioners because the police told us that they were going to search for dangerous items and asked us to take off our clothes. But in fact, they were just trying to make it easy to attack us with electric batons. There were more women than men among us. I heard some police officers' conversation, "How come the electric batons fail to work sometimes?" I thought, "The electric batons would work only on those Falun Gong practitioners with weak righteous thoughts or with less portions of their body transformed to a divine state. The electric batons would not work on those with strong righteous thoughts or those with more portions of their bodies transformed."

Later, about a dozen of us male practitioners were asked to take off our clothes. Then we were ordered to put our hands over our heads while leaning against a wall in the hallway. The police started attacking us with electric batons. At the time we only knew not to fight back when cursed or attacked. We endured the electric shocks passively and did not know how to resist. I waited for a while, but they did not attack me. Instead, the police put me in a cell with sixteen prison inmates.

As soon as I entered the cell, the prison inmates started to punch and kick me. I was kicked back and forth like a soccer ball. But, I did not feel any pain, just like when I was at Tiananmen Square. I could feel the blows, but I did not have any feeling of pain. After the inmates were done with me, the police made me stand for three consecutive days and nights. They prevented me from sleeping or introducing Falun Gong to the prison inmates. It was in the middle of summer. It was very hot and there was little fresh air in the cell. The prison inmate on the watch even made me wave a fan to cool off the rest of the inmates while they slept. I did not hate anyone. I was in a pleasant frame of mind at all times. I simply felt sorry for them.

In the middle of the night, I thought to myself, "I used to be a division leader at work. Sometimes, I would throw fits at work. At home I talked in a confrontational manner, so my family often complained that I had a bad attitude. In hindsight, Teacher had been trying to give me hints through their mouths in order to help me cultivate kindness and compassion. I was speaking the truth and speaking up for Falun Gong when I shouted out loud, 'Falun Gong is the righteous [Buddha] Fa. My Teacher is innocent.' But I ended up in a detention center suffering from torture. Yet, I do not feel any hatred or regret."

When I first arrived, the head of the inmates forbade me from spreading Falun Gong to the other inmates. I told him peacefully, "I won't talk about Falun Gong if they don't ask me. But if they ask me, I would be treating them with disrespect if I didn't answer their question." I grabbed every opportunity to spread the Fa every time prison inmates asked me about Falun Gong. I answered their questions patiently.

Because I didn't give the police my name, they assigned me a number. I told them my own experiences of cultivation practice. They listened with keen interest. They even called me fondly by the nickname "Falun" that they gave me. Three days later, they granted me three hours of sleep every night. In the daytime, they made me perform labor. When I failed to reach my quota, two prison inmates helped me finish it. On the fifth day, three prison inmates told me that they would come find me to learn the Falun Gong exercises when they completed their prison terms. It was a great feeling of satisfaction.

At the detention center, two inmates were assigned to watch each Falun Gong practitioner to prevent him from practicing the Falun Gong exercises. The local police would attack practitioners with electric batons, punch them, kick them and keep them in the sun for many hours. I felt this was not a place for me, so I told them my name. People from my work organization and the police from my area picked me up and transferred me back to my residential area. They detained me in a warehouse for fifteen days because I refused to guarantee in writing not to practice Falun Gong again. Finally, the police from the political and legal committee told me, "You don't have to guarantee it in writing. Just give me a verbal guarantee and I will release you right away." I shook my head in disagreement. They threatened to fine me 20,000 yuan and fine my work organization 5,000 yuan or they would throw me into a forced labor camp. Out of fear, my family paid the police 2,000 yuan and gave my work organization 3,000 yuan to pay for the fine in exchange for my release.

After I returned home, my work organization told me that I didn't need to go to work any more. Instead, they told me to stay at home for "self-examination." Three months later, my work organization made two decisions to assist in the persecution. One of the decisions was to demote me from a division leader to a department leader. They were preparing to send me off to the new place, but the new place refused to take me because they were afraid to be associated with a Falun Gong practitioner. According to the Chinese Communist Party's regulations, they were supposed to strip me of my membership. Prior to their decision, my office, the discipline committee, and the Party's office repeatedly came and talked to me, asking me to renounce Falun Gong. Each time, I clarified the truth to them and convinced them instead. However, they had no choice but to betray their conscience and ask me to withdraw from the Chinese Communist Party in order to protect their own jobs. At the time I failed to see the true nature of the Chinese Communist Party, so I did not withdraw from it. Finally, they stripped me of my membership. In March 2001, I finally saw through its evil nature and sold all the books written by Marx, Lenin, Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin as recycled waste.

5. Faith and Enlightenment

During Falun Gong practitioners' cultivation experience sharing gatherings, we often talk about the subject of our faith in Teacher and the Fa. After all, our entire cultivation practice is built upon the foundation of our faith in Teacher and the Fa. We cultivate in delusion and are required to reach Consummation through enlightening to the Fa. I understood the meaning of "enlightenment" for the first time back in October 1998, when fellow practitioners and I were watching the videotapes of Teacher's Fa lecture in Jinan. I remember Teacher saying that he was giving Fa lectures to cultivators and he would only purify cultivators' bodies. Teacher added that he does not treat non-cultivators' illnesses and told the critical patients to leave immediately. At the time I thought, "What would happen if this 'dying patient' decided that he is a cultivator and not a patient?" I cheered up right away because I believed that his body would be purified too. However, if he were strongly attached to getting his illness treated, he would have no choice but to leave and continue the suffering of reincarnation. So, this is the feeling of enlightening to the Fa. We arrive at a brand new place and experience a different outcome when we enlighten to the intricate meanings of the Fa.

Because of my faith and my enlightenment quality, I gradually purged a lot of attachments to fame, self-interest and qing. In December 1999, I was subjected to severe public criticism at the provincial professional conference with the adjunct of the Chinese Communist Party's hate propaganda against Falun Gong. It was extremely insulting, but I smiled throughout the session. I gladly accepted the virtue they were giving me by insulting me. That night I practiced the sitting meditation for an hour without feeling any pain. I realized that a cultivator's gong is as high as the level of his "xinxing".

Because my bosses failed to persuade me to give up Falun Gong, they deceived me into going to a brainwashing center in 2000. After I was released from the brainwashing center, I continued to practice Falun Gong's standing exercises and sitting meditation. My family didn't understand the facts about Falun Gong and was anxious to make me stop practicing Falun Gong. Therefore, they hit my head with a stainless steel cup while I was practicing the sitting meditation. The blood soaked my shirt and splashed onto the leather sofa, but I did not move or stop. After I finished practicing the sitting meditation, I didn't hold any grudge against my family. But, I felt sorry that they had been dragged into this because of the evil Chinese Communist Party's policy of guilt by association. I decided that I should ask to take a few days off work because of my injury. I changed my clothes and walked to a nearby hospital while putting pressure on the wound. The doctor dressed the wound and wrapped up my head. He prescribed an anti-tetanus serum and an anti-inflammatory drug, but I told him that I would do it myself at work. After I returned home, I didn't take them and simply put them away. I lied for the very first time since I started practicing Falun Gong when I asked for a few days off. I told my boss that I had injured my head by accident. After three days, I returned to work. My family stopped interfering with my Falun Gong practice because they realized that I was protected by it.

In 2005, several elderly practitioners started to feel unwell. An elderly Falun Gong assistant even became paralyzed from the waist down. Of course, most of them enlightened to the fact that these were caused by rotten demons, so they prevailed over these tribulations quickly. One day when I walked out of the elevator, I suddenly lost the feeling and use of my left leg. I immediately remembered that I am a Falun Gong disciple and should not be subjected to this persecution. The problem disappeared in a few seconds. It is true that a cultivator's one thought can determine a good or a bad outcome depending on his enlightenment quality.

6. Foundation and Outcome

Although I obtained the Fa relatively late, I treasure the opportunity of cultivation practice very much. I enlightened to the following parts of Teacher's Fa: transforming my concepts; no loss, no gain; a cultivator's gong is as high as the level of his xinxing; foundation and outcome; cultivation and practice; life and death; non-omission and emptiness, etc.

On April 25, 1999 I went to the State Appeals Office in Beijing to ask the government to release those Falun Gong practitioners arrested in Tianjin. After I returned, my boss asked to see me. I explained to him, "According to the Chinese Constitution, every Chinese citizen has a right to appeal and has the freedom of religion and spiritual belief. According to the Chinese Communist Party's regulations, every member has the right to report a problem to the central government directly. I didn't do anything wrong by appealing to the State Appeals Office in Beijing. It is precisely because we trust the government that we decided to go to Beijing and explain to them the truth about Falun Gong. The police have been watching and interfering with us when Falun Gong practitioners practice the Falun Gong exercises together at public parks all over China. Besides, although the police arrested practitioners in Tianjin, they ignored our plea when we tried to talk to the government in Tianjin. We were told by Tianjin police to go to Beijing in order to settle the problem in Tianjin." My boss agreed with me and left me alone. However, the cultivation environment all over China was very difficult.

Before the Chinese Communist Party started to openly persecute Falun Gong on July 20 that year, several veteran Falun Gong practitioners and I went to several group Fa study sites to share our cultivation experiences in the city. One time we went to a county with a large population of Falun Gong practitioners. When we got there, the county police, sports committee members and staff members from the education bureau in civilian clothes surrounded the courtyard of the house where the group Fa study was held. Several practitioners and I calmly walked out of their siege. However, two fellow practitioners that traveled with us were arrested. We decided to split into two groups. One group went to contact the main assistance center to ask for help. The other went to the county appeals office to appeal for our arrested practitioners. A female practitioner and I went to the county appeals office and told them that they should release our practitioners or the rest of the practitioners in our city would come within two hours to reason with them. Because we didn't have any attachment to fear at the time, they agreed to release all the arrested practitioners right away. We only thought of the safety of our fellow practitioners and believed that we must improve our cultivation together. The foundation of our action was not selfish. That is the reason why the outcome was good.

After the situation became tense, I could no longer afford to host experience sharing at my own home because my family would be upset. Hence, several veteran practitioners and I agreed to meet on the street corner. Sometimes a police car would be standing less than twenty meters away. We didn't have any attachment to fear. Because we stood in a circle, together we could see what was happening all around us without having to turn our heads every once in a while. It was quite safe. I often hung banners with truth-clarification messages at intersections and posted truth-clarification materials on the streets. Utility poles, bus stops and bulletin boards on the streets are good places to post truth-clarification materials. I did it mostly during the day. Because of our strong righteous thoughts and a good foundation of saving sentient beings, we have never been arrested. It is my experience that the truth-clarification materials lasted longer when I posted them with righteous thoughts. Otherwise, they would be removed quickly.

We have had a few close calls, but we were never arrested. Sometimes several people would walk from different directions towards the utility pole immediately after we had just posted truth-clarification materials on it. It looked as though they were special agents trying to arrest us. However, we had strong righteous thoughts. We didn't run or panic. We were very calm and nothing happened. Once I posted truth-clarification messages on the utility poles alone. A police car on patrol suddenly raced over and stopped in front of me. I didn't run, but I thought, "I am done for." I immediately rectified this bad thought and told myself not to move. I stood there for about three minutes and left without any trouble.

7. Thinking of Others First; Being Altruistic and Selfless; Saving Sentient Beings

I work in the Chinese government, so most of the people I meet all day long are officials of the Chinese Communist Party. For the sake of their personal safety, I clarify the truth to one person at a time. Some of them have accepted what I told them, but others debated with me vehemently. I am never anxious or excited when they debate with me. I talk to them out of kindness and compassion. I talk to them for their own good and address their questions well. In the end, they no longer have any doubt and are very thankful to me. They would never sell me out.

In my eyes, top-level Chinese Communist Party officials, my family and relatives, my colleagues, and everyone else are all sentient beings that I should save. During the personal cultivation period, I quit smoking, drinking and dancing. I also stopped accepting gifts. Nowadays, I try to reach them with every opportunity I have and clarify the truth to them. The outcomes have been very good. Female entertainers at nightclubs quit working there. Masseuses stopped doing filthy work. Local government officials accepted the truth. Some of them have withdrawn from the Chinese Communist Party and its affiliated organizations, but others decided to watch and see how things develop for a while.

I have clarified the truth to the provincial Discipline Committee, Public Security Bureau, government officials at the financial administration, county heads, bureau heads, township mayors, PhD's, senior engineers, car repairmen, laborers, police chiefs, and secretaries of the Chinese Communist Party's political and legal committees. Time permitting, I would clarify the truth more thoroughly. If I don't have much time, I would talk about the most fundamental points. Sometimes when I meet people from outside organizations at the elevator, I tell them, "Hello. It is a predestined relationship that we meet today. Please remember Falun Gong is good. The news reports about Falun Gong are completely false."

Once, an elderly lady was standing outside of my work building. She asked me the name of the manager of a division. I couldn't remember off the top of my head, so I decided to check his name for her. She told me, "I have met a kindhearted person today." I replied, "I am a Falun Gong practitioner. All the Falun Gong practitioners would respond the same way." I started to clarify the truth to her. Later she told me that the head of my division was her classmate. I told her, "Although your old classmate demoted me from the position of a division head, I do not hold any grudge against him." She said she wanted to learn Falun Gong from me, so I left her with my name and telephone number.

When we clarify the truth, it is necessary to take safety precautions. As long as we remember to keep the Fa at heart, think of others when we encounter a situation, be altruistic and selfless and try to save sentient beings whole-heartedly, no one will be able to stop us.

When I went on a business trip to a county, I clarified the truth to everyone I met. For the first time, I clarified the truth to a group of people. One time, staff members of this division, secretary, chairman, deputy chairman and the police chief treated me for a dinner. I started to clarify the truth about Falun Gong to everyone at the banquet table. Finally the police chief declared at the table, "Falun Gong is good." It was a very satisfactory feeling to know that so many government officials have been saved.

This concludes my humble sharing of some of my cultivation experiences. The great way is formless. There is no role model in cultivation practice. Please kindly correct me if there is anything inappropriate in my understanding.