(Minghui.org)
Obtaining the Fa
I was very fond of martial arts and qigong since I was very young. Although I had practiced many different kinds of qigong for many years, my situation was still as Master described,
“With regard to genuine high-level things, the minds of the majority of our qigong practitioners were blank, as they simply did not know them at all.” (Zhuan Falun)
I experienced most of the phenomenon that Master mentioned may happen when one practices qigong. I also experienced my primordial spirit leaving my body, and seeing things in other dimensions. Qigong masters in the past could not explain these phenomenon. I didn't understand anything and I drank excessively and smoked two packs of cigarettes every day, and my complexion did not look good. One day my uncle talked to me about Falun Dafa. While he was talking, from the bottom of my heart I felt that Dafa was very significant, all encompassing, and profound.
He lent me the precious book Zhuan Falun. After I returned to my apartment, I opened the book, and I saw Master's photograph smiling with compassion, and a colorful aura surrounded His image. Shocked and amazed, I hurriedly closed the book. I calmed myself down and then opened Zhuan Falun again, and thought, “Master Li, is what I saw true?” As soon as my thought came out, Master's photograph shone with a golden aura again. I closed the book again. I waited for quite a while before I opened the book the third time. This time I saw Master's gong column rising straight up to the top of the sky. I said in my mind, "Master, from now on I will cultivate in Falun Dafa."
Discarding Attachments
After I started practicing Falun Dafa I learned how serious and important it was to discard attachments. Under the miraculous effects of Dafa, I did not smoke even one cigarette or have one sip of liquor during the three days I was reading Zhuan Falun the first time. I felt no desire at all. I later failed to control myself and indulged myself three times. Afterward my head hurt so much that I felt it was about to crack open. After I drank the last time, in my mind I kept promising Master that I would never drink again. One day afterwards, in my dream someone gave me liquor and said, “This is a true Maotai. Have a taste.” I said, “I practice Falun Dafa now and I have stopped drinking.” After I resolutely gave up drinking I have not taken even one sip of alcohol. In fact, after I discarded this attachment, no one encouraged me to drink. Later in my course of cultivation, many other miracles happened.
I am a chef and I was fairly successful at a young age. However, success brought me the mentality of showing off and I also had a strong competitive mentality. I even didn't want to accept a decision of “no” from my boss. Now whenever I recall how I acted in those days I feel very embarrassed. Those everyday people's mentalities were totally exposed after I started studying the Fa, and I made up my mind to discard all these bad habits. Shortly after I became determined to truly cultivate myself, I experienced significant changes every day and my physical condition greatly improved. My complexion also became healthy and rosy. The apprentice cook assigned to me was very happy. He said about me, “It is really good that he practices Falun Dafa now. He stopped hitting and cursing people.” All my friends and relatives saw the changes in me, and later after the wicked Party started persecuting Falun Dafa, none of my friends or relatives believed the lies which were broadcast on TV.
About two months after I started practicing Falun Dafa, one night as soon as I lay down, I saw through my celestial eye a Taoist master sitting in lotus position floating towards me. He said, "Master Li Hongzhi's Fa is the righteous Fa. Cultivate in It." Then he disappeared. In the morning before I got up, my wife and I both saw Falun rotating on the ceiling.
Standing Firm Against the Persecution
After the persecution started, I was sent to a detention center. In the detention center, all the Dafa practitioners formed a whole body. We studied the Fa together and read five lectures of Zhuan Falun every day. We explained the truth to the other people who were detained there and helped them to see through the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) lies. Some of them started practicing Falun Dafa in the detention center. One college student quietly listened as we read the Fa every day, then after a few days he joined us and started practicing Dafa.
In the detention center, the beauty of Dafa was manifested to the people through the conduct of the Dafa practitioners. The guards there also witnessed the beauty of Truthfulness-Benevolence-Forbearance. None of the practitioners were "transformed." The practitioners formed a group cultivation environment to study the Fa, do the exercises, and clarify the truth to save the people in the evil den.
Witnessing Dafa's Power
A huge steel board which contained slogans slandering Master and Dafa had been hung over the street in a residential area. The was a duty room on one side of the street. Many fellow practitioners had seen the board. Because the board was very big, it was very difficult to remove it. Tens of thousands of people walked by the huge board every day and the board was poisoning people daily. I had the thought that the board should not be left there for even one more day!
Two other fellow practitioner and I had a plan. One night after 10:00 p.m. we went to the board. One of us sent righteous thoughts towards the duty room. The other two tied an ink-soaked towel to a long rod and smeared the slogans with the towel. The next day I saw that the persecutors had washed away the ink with a fire hose. That night we smeared the slogans again with red paint. However, the following day I saw that board had been repainted with red paint and sprayed again with the evil slogans. That night we planned to burn the board using a towel soaked with gasoline. When we got near the board, we first hid our tools in the roadside grass and then went to the board to take a look. It was strange that all the lights near the board were turned off, including the street lights. I felt something was wrong when we got under the board. I said in low voice, “We can't do it now. Let's go back.” I then saw seven to eight people hiding nearby. One of them said, “Do we grab them now?” Another voice said, “Wait a minute.” So we walked back as if we had planned nothing. When we looked back after we walked some distance away, we saw the street lights were all back on. We then realized that the evildoers were hiding there trying to catch us.
After we got back home, we shared our thoughts about what had happened over those several days. We came to understand that we were only doing things with an everyday person's mentality and thus what we did was not based on the Fa. We should have paid attention to eliminating the evil in other dimensions which was the reason why the slogans remained. We searched inward for the reason why this had happened and we kept sending righteous thoughts with determination to eliminate the evil in other dimensions.
On the fourth night, after we sent righteous thoughts at midnight, we went to the board again. I sent righteous thoughts towards the personnel on duty and the other two fellow practitioners smeared over the slogans with black paint. When the fellow practitioners were about finished smearing, a police car hiding in the dark suddenly turned on its siren. I walked towards the police car, with one hand pushing my bicycle and my other hand upright to send righteous thoughts. There was one officer in the car. When he saw me walking towards him, he held onto the wheel, looked at me with a panicked look, and sat motionless. Meanwhile the fellow practitioners had finished smearing the sign. I kept stalling the police officer in the car for a while and then suddenly realized that the fellow practitioners had left. I thought, “Why am I staying here?” Then I rode off on my bike and returned home safely.
Above the duty office of a parking lot was another banner slandering Dafa. A fellow practitioner and I carried a ladder to the back side of the building and I climbed up the ladder to the banner. I found that the banner was hung with a thick steel cable. I could not cut it with a knife and I could not pull it down. Vehicles drove by under it. I anxiously cried out in my mind, “Master, please give me divine strength, I want to pull it down!” Suddenly I felt that I had mighty strength and I pulled the steel wire and the banner down. I even broke the brick that the wire was attached to.
During those years, the persecution was rampant in our region and several of these kinds of banners were hung, but we were able to remove every one of them in our local area. At that time all we had in mind was to defend Master and Dafa's dignity. With this sincere wish, we felt Master's compassionate protection and the boundless power of Dafa.
Witnessing the Boundless Compassion of Dafa
After I was released from the detention center my first job was in an organization's cafeteria. The chef there made everything difficult for me. I strictly conducted myself following the principles of the Fa, as a true practitioner. I firmly believe that only by cultivating ourselves well we can move people and show them the beauty of Dafa. Only then can we save the people around us when we clarify the truth. Nine days after I started working there, the chef was moved. He said, “Your technique is so good and you don't even smoke or drink. I have never seen a person like you.” I then started telling him the facts about the CCP's persecution of practitioners. He listened to me attentively and said sincerely, “If I hadn't met you, how would I have learned the truth? Now I know that Falun Gong is good!" Several days later I had a dream. Far away there was a multicolored dragon in the sky. As time went on, the dragon became less and less colorful and in the end it became a small dragon covered with mud. This chef's last name is Long (Chinese for dragon). Through this experience I realized that all sentient beings came here for a reason and they are waiting for us to save them.
A friend of mine invited a government official to a dinner. The official's two cell phones kept ringing and we didn't have any chance to talk. I thought that he might have to leave soon and I needed to find an opportunity to clarify the truth to him. As soon as I had that thought, his phones stopped ringing. I told him the facts about Falun Gong and the persecution for more than an hour. He listened attentively and asked questions from time to time. At the end he straightened his back and said, “Wow! The Chinese Communist Party persecutes Falun Gong in such a terrible way! Help me to withdraw from the CCP, and thank you very much!” He then stood up and shook hands with me. On the way back after the dinner, my friend said, “Dafa is miraculous! When you started talking about Falun Dafa, his phone stopped ringing!”
Conclusion
I've had countless up and downs during my 17 years of cultivation. Many times, I've also experienced the miraculous power of Dafa. Looking back over my cultivation experiences, I understand that I've been able to continue cultivating until today all because of Master's compassionate protection. Having benefited tremendously from Dafa, I will do the three things well and complete my prehistoric vow!
