(Minghui.org) The new director in my previous company happily agreed to withdraw from the CCP and thanked me again and again. When saying our goodbyes he said: “How learned you are!” He had more knowledge and life experience than me. He was the top leader but he admired me because I have studied and understood the highest science in the universe. Dafa is not a worldly knowledge.
Greetings Master!
Greetings Fellow Practitioners!
Fa-rectification is moving so much faster. It feels like last year's Fahui has just finished and here we are at the start of this year's Fahui. In the past year, practitioners have treasured the time more and spent every minute to save sentient beings so that the old forces would not destroy them. At the same time practitioners have cultivated themselves more diligently. I'd like to share with you my experiences of cultivating this year and how by doing the three things and encouraging each other to improve together, we can walk the path well that Master has meticulously arranged for us.
1. Focus on Studying the Fa Well
I worked in an office and had limited free time. If I slacked off the old forces would easily steal even more time from me. Before I knew it a day would pass where I did nothing in cultivation. So I tried my best to make life simple. We came to this world and stay here only temporarily. We use this environment to cultivate and help Master to rectify the Fa. So we shouldn't be attached to anything in the human world. I would try to finish the necessary work and then I would sit and study the Fa. This way I could have sufficient time to do the three things.
Every day I study Zhuan Falun as well as Master's Fa articles. I study the articles and lectures one by one and I have read them countless times. Every time Master's new article was published, I would read it several times before hand-writing it in my notebook. Whenever I had ten or twenty minutes I would read them again. It’s crucial that we focus deeply when we study the Fa.
I studied the Fa with legs crossed to show my respect for the Fa and Master. At the beginning of my cultivation I couldn't sit with legs crossed for too long before taking them down. As I improved and studied the Fa with a deeper concentration, finally I could read one lecture in full lotus. I found I was more focused when studying the Fa if I sat with legs crossed. I tried to read slowly when I studied to immerse myself in the Fa. I studied the Fa word by word and measured my behavior according to the Fa. I even knew what the punctuation was. I also read Minghui Weekly and finished it by Sunday each week. I also read the Minghui Weekly focused and with legs crossed. Every word was the path that practitioners had walked and was the essence of practitioners' enlightenment shared with us selflessly. So I read them with respect and they encouraged me so much. I found it very effective. I see many of my shortcomings that I was not aware of after reading practitioners' sharing.
2.Try to Save People Around Me
Most of my family members, colleagues and friends have withdrawn from the CCP. A few still haven't. Some of them quit the CCP but didn't quite know the truth.
Master said in “20th Anniversary Fa Teaching,”
“The reality is, in the end, if anything that has been saved or re-formed is not what I want or does not reach my standard, it will have been for naught since it will have to be destroyed.”
If we want to save people, we have to really save them. So I would spend time explaining
the facts about Falun Gong and the unlawful persecution of such good people. Chinese people have been frightened by the many calamities and man-made disasters, so when I clarified the facts to them they felt my sincerity and kindness and they chose to quit the CCP. Yet some still didn't quite know what Falun Gong is nor could they really see the true nature of the CCP. This year when I clarified the truth to them, I didn't urge them to quit the CCP first. Instead I clarified the basic truth to them and told them why heaven will eliminate the CCP. When they understood, they naturally chose to withdraw from the CCP.
I also spent more time clarifying the truth to people who were close to me, like my boss. I had concern in my heart as I’ve been in this organization a few years and didn't know whether he would accept the truth or report me to the police. I hadn’t let go of the attachment of protecting myself and because I didn't quite agree with him in some respects I was reluctant to clarify the facts to him. I knew I was wrong but I was not able to start up any kind of conversation with him. As soon as I finished work, I’d leave immediately. A new practitioner in my company encouraged me to look inwards and I found the attachment of not wanting to overcome it in my heart and that’s why I ignored him. I decided to let go of my attachment and as soon as I let it go, I realized it was really my problem as my boss changed his attitude towards me as well. He put me in a supervisory position, making it easier for me to talk to him. One day when I was studying the Fa, I suddenly realized that I no longer had any concern in my heart and I was his hope to be saved so I must save him. This thought came into my mind but went away quickly. Soon Master gave me an opportunity. One day he talked to me and I had a strong thought to clarify the truth to him. I mentioned Falun Gong to him with ease and dissolved his misunderstanding about Falun Gong due to the CCP's lies. He smiled and agreed to withdraw from the CCP. I was so glad for him.
Another colleague I believed was also hard to deal with. All our colleagues thought that he was the most capable person in our organization. He never listened to anyone and always gave opinions and had strong views. Several years ago before I clarified the truth to my colleagues, they had misunderstandings about Falun Gong owing to the CCP propaganda. He was the one who had been deceived the most. So I didn't clarify the truth to him. He was among the few that I hadn't clarified the truth to. I decided I would leave nobody out. Whoever was my colleague must have a predestined relationship with me. No matter how he behaved now, his knowing side must be eager to learn the truth. I shouldn't select people according to my notions or my taste. Partiality was not compassion. He must be given an opportunity to hear the truth. One afternoon he and I were in a room together. This was a rare opportunity and I knew Master arranged it. I was sending forth righteous thoughts and soon I had the talking points. Our conversation went smoothly. He was no longer the person he used to be. He didn't argue with me and kept nodding his head all the time and listened attentively. He said he had received text messages about Falun Gong. He agreed to withdraw from the CCP at the end of our conversation. Indeed Master had arranged everything for me. As long as we always remember our mission – to save sentient beings – Master will open up our wisdom and arrange everything for us.
3. Returning to My Previous Company to Save Sentient Beings in My Hometown
I was illegally sentenced to three years in prison and lost my job. I had to look for a new job after I was released. In previous years I worked away from my hometown. I was very busy saving sentient beings but my heart turned to help saving beings in my hometown. People in my hometown would all have a predestined relationship with me. I, however, hadn't clarified the truth to them. I had been arrested several times since Dafa’s persecution began in 1999. I went to work in other towns after I came back to Dafa again. I didn't have the opportunity to clarify the truth to them, thus didn't fulfill my responsibility to them.
At the beginning of this year, a family member who wasn’t a practitioner called me and asked if I wanted to come back to my previous workplace. She asked what law had they been able to fire me with? The call reminded me that I’d been unlawfully persecuted when I was fired. It was illegal. How come I acknowledged it? I realized that I should go back to save people in my hometown. Talking about my job was a good reason for me to see them. So I went back to my previous company to visit the new director, whom I hadn’t met.
We talked in a friendly way, and with Master's help, he asked me if I was still practicing Falun Gong. I told him that Falun Gong is indeed very good and I would not give it up, and I told him why and how it is good. I talked about the effective results Falun Gong has on curing diseases and keeping fit and also about how Dafa practitioners cultivate themselves and try to be good people according to the principles of Truth-Compassion-Forbearance. I also said that Dafa practitioners consider others first and are selfless. Only Dafa practitioners can disregard their own self-interest for the benefit of other people. In such severe persecution, Dafa practitioners still think of other people. I asked him where else could he find such selfless people in this world. I told him the story of Jesus being crucified on the cross and compared the persecution of Jesus and his disciples with the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. I explained the Tiananmen immolation hoax to him. He came to understand why the CCP persecutes Falun Gong. Then I told him that Falun Gong is a Buddha's Fa and it cultivates Buddhahood. I told him of the old saying that “you will accumulate great virtue if you feed a monk”.
Thousands upon thousands of practitioners like me had lost their jobs. Some even were beaten into disability while others died as a result of persecution. What crimes the CCP has committed! The CCP has committed heinous crimes and heaven will destroy the CCP. I explained to him the principle of “Good will be rewarded and evil will be punished.” The CCP has done so many bad deeds that Heaven will punish it.
I briefly explained the political campaigns the CCP had staged since it came to power and how many people had died as a result of its persecution. Dafa practitioners are benevolent. In spite of the risks of being arrested and losing everything, they step forward to clarify the truth to people and let them know that Heaven is going to eliminate the CCP and people who withdraw from the CCP will be safe. It is the ultimate compassion. He kept nodding his head. I said to him that since there were only two of us here, I hoped he'd withdraw from the CCP. It was pretty safe. He happily agreed and thanked me again and again. He saw me off downstairs and said: “How learned you are!” He had more knowledge and life experience than me. He was the top leader in the company but he admired me because I have learned the high level science of the universal Fa. The Buddha Fa is not a worldly science.
All of my wisdom comes from the Fa. Before I practiced Falun Gong, I was very shy and didn't talk much to my peers, let alone to my boss. On that same day I went to one of my colleagues' home and clarified the truth to her whole family.
I will continue walking on this path.
4. Letting Go of Myself and Breaking Through Humanness
Recently I realized what selfishness is. If we cannot let go of our perceived selves, we will not break through our humanness and forever stay in the human realm. Even if we have done a lot of Dafa work, we still end up in vain if we cannot let go of ourselves because it is still only human beings doing Dafa work. I realized this Fa principle after a sharing with some practitioners and know how to let go of myself now.
In this special historic period when the universe is being renewed, the old forces have made a series of arrangements to get rid of beings that they think are unqualified or not worthy of remaining so as to protect themselves. The old forces do this for their own sake.
Master has come to this world with the ultimate truth to save beings in the universe. To harmonize what Master wants is the most benevolent action. Master requires us to become beings who always consider others first and are selfless. So whatever we do, we must think of others first. We must cultivate ourselves and become beings that can sacrifice our selves for the interests of other beings. Until then we are not worthy of entering into the future. For example when we send forth righteous thoughts, if our purpose is to protect ourselves from being persecuted or to rescue our practitioners from being persecuted, to a certain degree, we are still being selfish and unknowingly agree with the understanding of the old forces. When sending forth righteous thoughts, if our thoughts are to eliminate those factors around sentient beings that are arranged to interfere with the Fa rectification so as to not commit crimes against Dafa, they will then be saved, as we are on a higher understanding and showing a deeper compassion. When validating the Fa, if our purpose is for other beings, we will succeed in doing everything because we comply with the Fa principles; thus the old forces dare not interfere with.
I had a hidden show-off mentality in whatever I did. Sometimes it was hidden in a very sneaky way. Other people might not notice it but I knew it. Whenever I had completed something, I always spoke about it. Sometimes I tried not to mention it but in my heart I still wanted to show it off. But as soon as I showed off, I would feel regret immediately. Sometimes I managed to not show it but my show-off mentality was still there. Now I’ve realized that if I did something successfully, it was because I complied with the Fa principles and it was a manifestation of the Fa power in this human world. What could I do without the Fa and without Master's Fa power strengthening me? For example, my experience-sharing article was published on the Minghui website. This was not because of my capability. My sharing was just my understanding of the Fa at my level and was to validate the Fa, to help improve along with fellow practitioners, to suppress the evil and to help Master in the Fa rectification period. I am only a tiny particle of the universe. When I didn't have any thought of myself, my show-off mentality and complacency didn't even exist.
Another attachment I had was when other people pointed out my shortcomings, I felt unconvinced in my heart or immediately argued with them, or explained to them the situation, or pointed out other people's attachments to attack them instead. These were all signs of not letting go of self. One day a practitioner asked me if I was jealous. I replied “No” immediately without thinking. I denied it before I’d even started to look within. This was self-protection to avoid my attachment being exposed. When I cooled down and looked within, I found that indeed I did have jealousy. I’d almost missed out on that opportunity to improve myself. In these situations I should realize that this practitioner did this for my benefit and I should thank her. I should accept her words and look within carefully.
If every practitioner pays attention to letting go of self, we won't have any conflicts or hold onto our own opinions. This emits the manifestation of selflessness. Being selfless is in line with the Fa, so the old forces would not dare to persecute us and the persecution would end then. So let's do our share of whatever we should do so as to end the persecution sooner.
Please point out anything inappropriate.
