(Minghui.org)
Greetings, Master! Greetings, fellow practitioners!
I am a military prosecutor, a colonel, serving as director of the legal department in a unit affiliated with the Ministry of National Defense. I'd like to share my cultivation experiences at work.
1. Obtaining the Fa
When I was in middle school, I suffered from chronic stomach problems. Once, due to severe stomach pain, I couldn’t stand up and was confined to bed for two days. In 1990, I was careless when I was paragliding and hit a mountain on a spiral dive. My feet sustained multiple fractures and I broke the ligaments in my left ankle. After three surgeries, the recovery took more than a year. However, my bones still hurt all the time, and I got a headache if I used a fan or air-conditioner. In the summer, I had to wear a thick jacket and a hat to stay in an air-conditioned room. In the winter, my hands and feet were as cold as ice. Although treated with Chinese and Western medicine, my health kept deteriorating. At the time, I was supposed to be happy, because I had just returned from studying abroad, my career was doing well, and I had a good wife and a lovely daughter. However, every day I just felt exhausted and so bitter about my life.
In March 2001, a Chinese medicine doctor who was treating me gave me a book, Zhuan Falun. After reading it, I was in awe that the Master could illustrate the truth of the universe so clearly with such plain language. I excitedly read it several times, often till late at night. I began the nine-day Fa lectures on May 1 in Xindian, Taipei. In the evening after the second day’s class, as I walked home, I suddenly felt that my body was extremely relaxed and all the pain was gone. I understood that Master had gotten rid of it. Looking up into the sky, I silently thanked Master from the bottom of my heart.
2. Cultivation experiences at work
After gaining the Fa, I was eager to tell others about such a good practice. In addition to introducing Dafa and clarifying the truth to people, during the lunch break I did the exercises on a basketball court, which was on the way to the restaurant, so most of my colleagues knew Dafa. As a military prosecutor, I once told a defendant who practiced Daoism about Falun Dafa and gave him a copy of Zhuan Falun when he was in custody. Last year he asked my colleague to tell me that he was very grateful for what I had done. He continues to practice in prison.
After starting the practice, I became more patient during interrogations. Once I interrogated a colonel suspected of making a false travel expense reports and bribery. I listened to him carefully and wrote down his statements. Maybe due to being too stressed, he later hanged himself in the dormitory. In his suicide note, he said I was the most honest prosecutor.
A decade ago drinking alcohol was prevalent in the army. When somebody, especially the superior officers, toasted to you, you had to drink. If not, it would be considered impolite. I drank before I began to practice, so drinking became my first test. Master said,
"The Buddha School does not permit drinking alcohol. Have you ever seen a Buddha carrying a wine container? No. I have said that one might not be able to eat meat, but after one gives up the attachment during cultivation practice among everyday people, it is not a problem for one to eat it again later. After quitting drinking alcohol, however, one should not drink again. Doesn’t a practitioner have gong in the body? Different forms of gong and some supernormal abilities are shown on the surface of your body, and they are all pure. As soon as you drink alcohol, they will all leave the body immediately. In a split second, your body will have nothing left, as they all fear that odor.” (Zhuan Falun)
I thought there was nothing more serious, great, or sacred than practicing Dafa, so I absolutely couldn’t drink anymore. When my superiors toasted me, I quietly explained that, due to practicing Dafa, I didn’t drink. I was so determined that, after a few times, nobody forced me to drink anymore.
Half a year later, I was transferred to the Military Prosecutors Office as chief prosecutor, and served as the head of the administrative division. I always kept to the principle of “placing others ahead of myself” to allocate administrative resources. Once, a printer in another division broke. I told my subordinate to take my printer to their office, because they really needed it in their investigations. In addition, I took every opportunity to clarify the truth. For example, after my colleagues watched a TV news program, I told them that Article 23 of Hong Kong’s Basic Law was actually a piece of legislation used by the evil Communist Party to suppress Falun Gong and human rights. I also invited a professor to speak. As a Dafa disciple, he included some truths about Dafa in his speech.
In 2003, I was transferred to a procurement unit in Washington, DC, as a Legal Officer. Because of too few staff, doing additional work was always expected. I did it according to Zhuan Falun:
"Since studying Falun Dafa, these workers have been coming to work early and going home late. They work very diligently and will do any assignment the boss gives. They also no longer compete for personal gain. " (Zhuan Falun)
When my supervisor asked me to assist in commercial procurement and a lot of extra work, I never refused. One time I told him about the New Tang Dynasty TV New Year's party. He told me that he was busy, but he admired me and my work attitude, and thus gave me the ticket money to donate to NTD.
One extra benefit of working in Washington, DC, was sending righteous thoughts in front of the Chinese Embassy. The first time I tried to drive there, due to fear, some bad thoughts came to mind: “Will I get lost? I just got here and am unfamiliar with the roads. Forget it! Don’t go!" “Will there be special agents taking pictures of me?” But I immediately realized that it was all interference. With righteous thoughts, I found it. For more than two years in Washington, DC, almost every Saturday afternoon I went to the Chinese Embassy to send righteous thoughts and do the Falun Gong exercises.
As a military officer, participating in activities to protest the Communist Party is very sensitive, but I think it’s entirely righteous and our mission. After my supervisor learned what I did, he advised me not to engage in political activities, lest I get into trouble and ruin my future. I told him about Falun Dafa, the CCP persecution, and that what we did was just to protect human rights and save people. Later, Hu Jintao was shouted at when he was delivering a speech at the White House on April 20, 2006. When my supervisor read about it, he knew the event was associated with Falun Gong and asked me what had happened. I told him in detail about the CCP’s live organ harvesting.
My term of office expired in July 2006. Just as my colleagues always did, I bought three plane tickets for my family from an overseas Chinese travel agency, paid for by government funds. The travel agent later mailed me a commission check for these tickets. It is said in Zhuan Falun, "'I’m a practitioner. How can I go for such a thing? How much de must I give away if I get something that isn’t paid for?'" (Zhuan Falun) So I sent the check back, along with a letter explaining that as a practitioner, I couldn’t take money I hadn't actually earned. I asked that if the fare was lower than shown on the invoice, to please reissue the invoice so that the government would pay less. If it was the agent's profit, I should not take it.
After I returned to Taiwan, many colleagues in America told me that, when I was there, because I resolved the staff conflicts, everyone got along very well, but not after I went back. In fact, I just did things following the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. Master said, “The other day I said that the Buddha-light illuminates everywhere and rectifies all abnormalities.” (Zhuan Falun) This should be the function of a cultivator’s energy field.
My attachment to accomplishments and fame was a great test. The year I was stationed in America, my classmates in Taiwan began their applications for promotion. Going abroad meant I lost that opportunity to be promoted. Three years later when I went back, most of my classmates had been promoted to colonels, but I was still a lieutenant colonel. Others often said to me, “You are so proficient. If you had not been abroad, that title would be yours.” I was upset and jealous. I knew this was my attachment to fame. When this occurred, I always thought of the Fa. Master said,
"But as a practitioner, you are in principle protected by Teacher’s fashen. Others cannot take away what is yours, even if they want to. We therefore believe in following the course of nature. Sometimes, you think that something should be yours, and others also tell you that it is yours. Actually, it is not. You may believe that it is yours, but in the end it is not yours. Through this, it can be seen whether you can give it up. If you cannot let it go, it is an attachment. This method must be used to get rid of your attachment to self-interest. This is the issue." (Zhuan Falun)
After repeatedly studying Master’s Fa, I gradually abandoned the attachment. The impossible then happened—I was promoted to colonel.
Now I decorate my personal office to share Dafa and explain the facts. The characters for Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance in beautiful calligraphy and the painting “The Call of Innocence” are on my wall. There are truth clarification materials and Shen Yun DVDs on the table. Recently, I used the opportunity of providing legal education to integrate the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance into my teaching. This made it possible for over 300 people to learn about Dafa.
3. Summary
Master said,
"I just said, and I have discussed before, that there are Dafa disciples in all professions and in all social strata, and that they are saving sentient beings, validating the Fa, and playing the role of Dafa disciples in all the various professions. And actually, when you manage to, while in the various professions, do well all the things that you ought to do, you are then in fact cultivating. The various professions in the human world are all cultivation sites that are provided to you.” (“Fa Teaching at the 2007 New York Fa Conference”)
Before obtaining the Fa, it really bothered me when my military duties were changed. My duties have changed 19 times in 24 years. After obtaining the Fa, my duties have also varied 9 times in 11 years, but I no longer think it’s a bother. Instead, I take it as an opportunity to tell people about Dafa and the truth. I practice in my work, validating the Fa, saving sentient beings, and I feel very honored to do so.
The above are my experiences from working as a military prosecutor. If there is anything inappropriate, please point it out. Thank you, Master! Thank you, fellow practitioners!