(Clearwisdom.net)
Greetings, Revered Master!
Greetings, fellow practitioners!
I started practicing Falun Dafa in August 1994. After traveling 18 years on the path of cultivation, I have come to a deep understanding: Each of the steps we have taken was done under the gracious protection of Master, and we are the most fortunate beings who are walking on the path towards godhood amidst the boundless benevolence of our revered Master. Here, I would like to report to Master and fellow practitioners some of my cultivation experiences.
Obtaining the Fa and cultivating solidly, laying a solid foundation for assisting Master in Fa-rectification
For about half a year before I obtained the Fa, I frequently had difficulty falling asleep at night, pondering hard about the meaning of life. Deep down in my heart, I had the feeling of anxiously yearning for something. One day, by chance, I picked up a book from a colleague's desk. It was China Falun Gong. I opened it on the page with Master demonstrating the second exercise, “Embracing the wheel in front of the head”. All of a sudden, I felt a wave of righteous energy coming over me and I felt light-hearted and refreshed. It was such a pleasant feeling, like I had never experienced before. I said with emotion, “This is something truly righteous!” I sat at the desk and started to read the book with great eagerness. The more I read, the more I felt that this was exactly what I had been searching for.
I followed Master's teaching in studying the Fa,
“Study the Fa and gain the Fa,
Focus on how you study and cultivate,
Let each and every thing
be measured against the Fa.
Only then, with that,
is it actually cultivation.”
(“Solid Cultivation” in Hong Yin)
I truly cultivated my heart. In my interactions with everyday people, I always promote the greatness and the supernormal power of Dafa. Sometimes, when I looked at Master's photo, Master was smiling at me with joy.
Steadfast daily Fa-study and solid cultivation laid a solid foundation for my safeguarding the Fa and validating the Fa later.
Validating the Fa at the detention center
In 1999, the evil Chinese Communist Party (CCP) started to persecute Falun Gong. A few fellow practitioners and I went to Beijing to validate the Fa. We were arrested and sent to a detention center. We refused to wear the prison uniform and refused to recite the regulations. Instead, we recited the Fa and practiced Falun Gong exercises every day. Later, more than 40 practitioners who were detained there also stood up to resist the persecution and together we formed a very strong righteous field. The guards were very scared. Later, each time they found that we were doing the exercises, they would rush into the cell to beat practitioners. I thought at the time, “These practitioners are relatively new. When they are being treated so unfairly and beaten, they might give up practicing.” The next day, while fellow practitioners did the exercises, I stood in front of the door of our cell. I heard the lock of the iron door open with a clang. The guards rushed in. They pushed me aside and started to beat and kick practitioners. I felt very bad that fellow practitioners were being beaten, so I shouted loudly, “Stop beating people! You are violating the law!” The four guards immediately stopped. Then, the head of the detention center rushed towards me. He grabbed hold of my hair and shoved my head hard against the wall. However, I felt as if my head was hitting on soft cotton. I smiled. When he saw this, he let go of me. His hat and his police badge dropped to the ground. He quickly picked them up and ran out. The other guards also followed him and ran off.
At dusk that day, more than ten of us were taken to a large room and, as a form of torture, we were forced to stand all night facing the wall. We recited Master's poems from Hong Yin. With the help and protection from our benevolent Master, we did not feel tired or sleepy at all. The next day, we were again taken to a meeting room. The head of the detention center pounded on the table and shouted, “We must suppress Falun Gong!” I calmly said to him, “By persecuting us, not only are you breaking the law in China, but there are also international conventions that you are not observing and China is a signatory state.” When he heard this he looked like a deflated ball and sank into a chair.
Suddenly, I felt he was so pitiful, so I went on to say with kindness, “You know we are good people. Our belief teaches us to be good people and become even better people. We do not hit back when being hit and we do not swear back when being sworn at. We treat people with kindness and compassion.” The room was very quiet. The head and the other guards were silently listening to me. I talked about the persecution and clarified the truth for some time, until the head of the center suddenly realized what was happening. He shouted, “Take them back! Take them back!” I was the last one to leave the room. The head stopped me, pointed his finger at me and said, “You are extraordinary!”
Keep doing Falun Gong exercises to deter the evil
In the evening on the third day after this incident, a young man said to me quickly, “I'm the cell head here. I will be released in three days. I really admire you! I also realize that Falun Dafa is really good! When I go back, I will look for other Falun Gong practitioners, I want to practice!” He then said, “I did not come here to tell you this. I want to tell you that the city police department phoned and they plan to send you to another detention center and then sentence you to prison. It could happen tonight or tomorrow morning.” With these words, he left quickly.
The next morning, several police vans parked outside the gate. Fellow practitioners were called out one by one, handcuffed and shoved into vans to be sent to other places. Two practitioners and I were sent to the same place. The policeman in charge of the transfer was the most vicious one at the detention center. He was holding an unopened soft-drink bottle and was about to hit me with it. However, his hand stopped in mid-air. He said to me with respect, “You must be a university graduate.” I said to him, “I practice Falun Gong, but I have not graduated yet!” On the way, I talked to him about Falun Gong. He listened quietly.
We arrived at the detention center just past three o'clock in the afternoon. There were about fifteen or sixteen of us sharing a big wooden board. Master said,
“There’s something I told you before. I said: what is a Buddha? "Tathagata" is what human beings call someone who’s come with the truth and the power to do what he wants, whereas real Buddhas are guardians of the cosmos and are responsible for all righteous elements in the cosmos.” (“Teaching the Fa at the Western U.S. Fa Conference” in Guiding the Voyage)
I thought, “Now that you have brought me here; I have no intention of going back! I will validate the Fa wherever I am!” At 6:00 p.m. that evening, I started to practice the “Falun Standing Stance” exercise. The guard shouted, “Stop practicing Falun Gong!”and he pushed the baton through the small hole in the door. I did not take any notice of him and continued. He opened the door and walked in. I was standing there steadily as if I were a big mountain and no one could move me!
The atmosphere in the cell became tense, and everyone was looking on with fear. The guard walked around me three or four times and asked politely, “So, this is embracing the wheel, right?” With these words he left. A little while later, the head of the detention center rushed in and said to me, “I beg you to stop! I want to keep my job!” I said, “This is the time for us to do the exercises. We are innocent. We have not done anything to harm you.” He felt helpless and left. From then on, at 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., we did the exercises as a group every day. We also had a copy of Zhuan Falun, and the three of us often studied the Fa together.
On the evening of October 1, when we were about to do the exercises, the head of the detention center came to us in a rush. He said,“The mayor and the head of the police department will come for inspection in a little while. I have been kind to you, but they are different. You can practice after they are gone.” I said to him, “Thank you, but our schedule won't be altered under any circumstances.” He was very worried, but there was nothing he could do. He stamped his foot and ran out. Practitioner A and I continued with the exercise. Suddenly, I heard people murmuring nervously, “Here they come, here they come!” I was giving instructions for the exercise, and in between the lines, I added, “Don't move!” I was trying to tell practitioner A not to be bothered. I had my eyes closed at the time and did not see that she was just about to take a step and stop the exercise. When she heard me saying firmly “Don't move!”, it sent a shock wave through her and her fear disappeared. This is what she told me afterwards. She also thanked me for helping her improve. I said to her, “It was Master who was helping you through my mouth.” We heard someone talking outside the cell, “Isn't this Falun Gong they are doing! How can they practice here?!” The head of the detention center said, “Mayor, the B city could not handle them, and that's why they were sent here. They will be sent away again in a few days. Let's just leave them alone, since there is nothing we can do to control them anyway.”
Firmly cultivating in Dafa, miracles happen
At that detention center, we were allowed to go to the toilet twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening; each time we were only allowed three minutes, including washing and brushing our teeth. There were only a certain number of toilets for use, and I did not want to compete with others. So I urinated where the drain was. In less than three minutes, the guard shouted, “Get out! Hurry up!” I tried to find time to relieve myself, but there was never a chance. Three days earlier, I felt like relieving myself, but then the feeling was gone. Until I returned home, for twenty one days, I did not relieve myself, not even once, but I felt absolutely fine.
One afternoon, when we three Dafa practitioners were sharing together, suddenly I felt rather sleepy. I closed my eyes and saw a scene: a stately looking monk was walking on a path in a grove in a mountain. Then Master's poem “Predestination” in Hong Yin came to my mind,
“Clearer is the Awakened One’s mind,
The Fa gained, he travels the secular world,
Long, drawn-out millennia have now passed,
When the predestined time arrives,
the Fa will be fulfilled.”
I immediately woke up. Master said,
“As you know, a Buddha or a God can give up his life for living beings and for the interest of the universe; they can give up anything, and even remain unmoved by it. So if you were taken up to their position, could you be like that?” (“Teaching the Fa at the Western U.S. Fa Conference”)
A question appeared in my mind: “Can you give up your life for the universal truth?” I said firmly in my heart, “Yes, Master, I can!”
I started to recite the Fa silently. I wanted to memorize the Fa and keep it in my heart. My feeling during those few days was: I don't know what will happen. But with Master and the Fa by my side, the future is not uncertain! One night, at around 11:30 p.m., while I was doing the sitting meditation, a guard shouted my name and said, “Pack up your things and come out quickly!” Everyone woke up in shock. The female cell head plucked up her courage and asked, “Where are you going to take her?” The guard replied, “Home!” Everyone was surprised.
(To be continued)
