(Clearwisdom.net) The six of us in our Fa study group conducted a small-scale experience sharing conference. What follows are excerpts from our speeches presented at the conference.
1. I moved to another town in late 1999 and didn't contact the local practitioners much. I was doing Dafa work mainly by myself. I clarified the truth to my relatives, friends, parents of students, and other people I knew. Most of them understood the truth and quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated organizations. In 2005, I began to go out with local practitioners and tell people to quit the CCP. Usually I would recite one or two pages of Zhuan Falun and leave home at around eight o'clock. Despite the fact that I was over 70 years old, I rode a bike to villages with the young practitioners. We went to people's homes to tell them the truth and persuade them to quit the CCP. In the beginning, I was too shy to talk to strangers face-to-face, so I just stood aside and sent forth righteous thoughts. Later, I was able to talk one-to-one, and in the end, I could speak freely with several strangers at the same time. Once at a market, I was talking to an old man who looked like a government official. He was quiet, so I asked him, "What do you do?" He said he worked at a police station. I said, "Police station? My Master also saves people from police stations because he saves you as a person." Then I started telling him the facts about Dafa. Upon hearing the facts, he said, "Please help me to quit the CCP! I would have quit earlier if you had told me this."
My younger sister-in-law's family has a big family banquet every year to which they invite all their relatives and close friends. Among the relatives and friends are many government officials and some police officers, but the majority didn't know about the truth. At the family banquet early this year, I made up my mind to save them. Before it was my turn to speak, I sent forth righteous thoughts to eliminate interference and ask Master to strengthen me. When it was my turn, I first sang the song "Be Saved" composed by Dafa practitioners. Everyone liked it and clapped for me. I started to talk about how practicing Dafa had benefited me and then shared the truth about Dafa. Most of the relatives and friends could understand it. One of my nieces, who was a music teacher, said that the song was very nice and asked me to write it down so that she could play it on the piano. My experience is that our righteous thoughts must be strong when we clarify the truth, and it is better to talk about the issues thoroughly. When encountering problems, think about Master and the Fa, follow the teachings of the Fa, and ask Master to strengthen your righteous thoughts. Actually, the process of truth-clarification is a process of cultivating our hearts--many attachments need to be eliminated, such as fear, validating ourselves instead of the Fa, self-protection, saving face, etc.
2. In the last several years, I have been clarifying the truth among relatives, friends, old schoolmates, and co-workers. Most of them have heard the facts from me and quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations. However, my immediate family was the most difficult because my husband used to be very stubborn and would not believe what I said at all. Now he believes, due to our family's recent experience.
I would like to talk about the magnificence of Dafa by talking about what happened to my daughter. Before, she wouldn't believe the truth about Dafa no matter how much I talked to her. Recently, she gave birth. However, after the delivery, she had a high fever for a long period of time. When she had an injection to help lower the fever in the morning, the fever would come back in the afternoon; if the injection was in the afternoon, the fever would be back in the evening. She had quite a few injections, but none seemed to work to cure the fever. Moreover, she couldn't breastfeed her baby for six hours after each injection, so the baby was crying from hunger. I said to my daughter, "You have seen the changes in me since I began to practice Dafa. Why don't you recite 'Falun Dafa is good' after me?" She nodded, so I said, "Falun Dafa is good, Falun Dafa is the righteous law. Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance are good!" She repeated after me again and again. As she was repeating what I said, her fever disappeared without medication. At that point, all my family members were convinced. Now, Mother and Baby are both very healthy.
I sometimes met people who wouldn't listen to or believe the truth when I tried to persuade them to quit the CCP. Some people would badmouth me, which upset me sometimes. It is not right to get upset, and I know it's not easy to save sentient beings.
3. In the past few years, I have been using various means to clarify the truth. For example, I collected and printed relevant materials from "Minghui Weekly," and mailed them to policemen and others. I also chose particular materials to distribute or mail to intellectuals, students, and people of different religious backgrounds. I have received very positive feedback, and those who initially disliked the materials like them now.
I realize that in order to do well, we need to use our hearts in clarifying the truth and saving sentient beings. The Fa is always primary, and saving sentient beings is our main job. Time is precious. Master said that our greatest mission is to save sentient beings, so we need to seize the time to study the Fa well and cultivate ourselves in order to better save sentient beings.
4. My family's financial situation was poor during the last several years, and I lost money in either farming or doing business. In the beginning, I thought that was arranged to help me eliminate my attachment to money, so I just accepted it as what it was.
Eventually, through studying the Fa, I realized that it was a form of persecution by the old forces, as the CCP has been persecuting practitioners by trying to ruin Falun Gong's reputation with lies, destroying practitioners' finances, and eliminating them. We must not acknowledge this. I sent forth righteous thoughts to remove the financial persecution that the old forces placed on me and to deny the arrangements of the old forces. Although I had my own attachments, the old forces did not have the right to persecute me. I wanted to walk the path that Master had arranged for me and do the three things well in the Fa-rectification period. Then there were changes in my family's situation. My husband received the biggest raise at his work place, my son found a job without our spending any money buying gifts for relevant personnel, and I started a business with a relative, which has been going well. My family's financial situation is much better now.
I was imprisoned at a forced labor camp a few years ago, and my family was terribly affected at that time. They prevented me from doing Dafa work for fear of my being persecuted again, but I tried my best to do Dafa work. Through these years of effort, my family members have changed a lot. Not only have they ceased to obstruct me, but they sometimes help me distribute truth-clarifying materials. I tried to persuade my son to quit the Youth League (a CCP organization for young people up to 28 years old) and he wouldn't until recently.
5. The present time is not a period of personal cultivation for Dafa disciples, rather, it is the Fa-rectification period. We need to assist Master in Fa-Rectification and do the three things well. Cultivating self in the process of saving sentient beings, we should have good control of our own thoughts. Even the slightest thought going astray may cause unnecessary trouble. Recently, I was trying to pass the most difficult trial of my xinxing since the persecution started in 1999 - escaping my "imaginary prison."
When the persecution started, I was not afraid of any torture, thinking imprisonment could help me cultivate to a high level. Due to my unclear understandings of the Fa and acknowledgment of the old forces' arrangements, I was persecuted severely in a detention center and then a forced labor camp. Later, I studied the Fa wholeheartedly and denied the old forces' arrangements, so that I was able to catch up with the Fa validation process and do the three things righteously without fear. However, my heart of fear was growing, as was the heart of suspicion. I felt as if police officers or police cars were watching me all the time, knowing that my name was on the police black list. Thus, I set up an "imaginary prison" for myself.
Fellow practitioners noticed this and asked me, "Didn't you cause this yourself?" I admitted that there was something wrong with me, which was very much like breeding demonic thoughts. I recalled Master's words, "The Fa can break all attachments, the Fa can destroy all evil, the Fa can shatter all lies, and the Fa can strengthen righteous thoughts." ("Drive Out Interference," Essentials for Further Advancement II) I realized that I had been spending more time on Dafa work and less time on Fa study. The evil seized the loophole to interfere with me. Thus, I tried to spend more time on studying the Fa and looking inward. I studied Guiding the Voyage, "Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Philadelphia, U.S.A.," and the "Fa-Lecture During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference." When I looked inward, I found that my heart of fear on the surface was caused by the heart of selfishness and wanting to protect myself. These attachments needed to be removed. I joined the group study (before, I rarely participated in group study for various reasons) and kept an eye on my thoughts, even the slightest thoughts in daily life. I cleansed the energy field around me and kept the interfering evil factors away. Trying to walk my path well, I also sent more righteous thoughts and clarified the truth to save sentient beings rationally. The process of Fa-rectification has its own speed; we should not continue at our old pace but catch up with Master's steps.
Through this experience sharing, we all feel like we've truly improved in the Fa and made breakthroughs in cultivation. We agree that we should not just remain at the starting point but be more diligent. Now is the last critical phase of Fa-rectification, and every minute is precious. In order to fulfill our oaths from previous lifetimes, we must do the three things well: study the Fa well, send forth righteous thoughts, and save sentient beings.
Please point out anything not in line with the Fa.
May 16, 2008
