(Minghui.org) It has been more than 16 years since I started practicing Falun Dafa in 1997. I experienced a few tribulations before I gradually understood the Fa-principle of “completely negating the old forces' arrangement.” I also understood that “Fa-rectification period Dafa disciples” should not even acknowledge the existence of the old forces or go along with them.
When the persecution first began, I was illegally sentenced to seven years in prison. I thought I was having to endure this huge tribulation because my karma was huge and I hadn't done well. Thus, I was remorseful in prison. Fortunately, revered Master enlightened me and I finally caught up with the progress of Fa-rectification. When we start anew, the first few steps are often unforgettable.
The prison set up a brainwashing "class" to torture practitioners in an effort to "transform" them. I began awakening gradually and started to recall Master's recent writings and recite them. The sense of happiness that I used to have surrounded me once again. I completely ignored the evil surrounding me and announced that all the statements that I had previously made against Dafa were null and void. My announcement was like a clap of thunder in the prison and surprised everyone.
They began torturing me – I was not allowed to sleep for a long time; I was made to stand for a long time; I was kept in handcuffs and verbally abused. All this was done to confuse me so that I wouldn't know if it was day or night. However, I only kept one thought in mind: Dafa is a righteous Fa, and I'm extremely honored to be a Dafa disciple.
In the beginning, I went along with what I was ordered to do, standing or squatting as directed, forgetting Master's words:
“No matter what the situation, do not cooperate with the evil’s demands, orders, or what it instigates. If everyone does this the environment won’t be this way.” (“Dafa Disciples’ Righteous Thoughts are Powerful” in Essentials for Further Advancement II)
For a few days and nights, the inmates punched and kicked me, but I silently endured all of it and did not say a word. When an officer came to ask me about the abuse, I even asked him not to punish them. However, this only encouraged their evil behavior.
I realized later that we should negate this persecution. The evil was using this test to destroy me. I was actually cooperating with the evil to torture myself, so I decided not to cooperate anymore. I refused to wear handcuffs, and more than ten inmates had to pin me down to get the handcuffs on me. I refused to squat, and when they tried to force me, I sat down on the floor.
However, because I hadn't been studying the Fa for a long time, I went home with regrets.
My understanding remained the same when I returned home – I thought that I had had this tribulation because I hadn't cultivated well. My xinxing was not up to par, thus the interference and pressure were still great. I was sent to a forced labor camp a year later.
After I had some understanding about the persecution while I was imprisoned, my righteous thoughts were stronger when the next round of tests came. When an officer talked to me, I said, “I'm not here to be 'reeducated.' I'm here to validate Dafa.” When my thoughts became righteous, I was able to think and act wisely. Other practitioners and I changed the labor camp environment.
Since I wouldn't cooperate, I became a target of criticism. One officer said, “You say that you are a good person, but everyone in your room says bad things about you.” I replied, “What is a good person? Is it conforming to their notions of what a good person is? A good person can restrain evil, promote good, and sacrifice for the truth.”
I recited the Fa and sent forth righteous thoughts in the labor camp. Gradually, I was able to meditate. I recited Master's recent writings twice a day, every day, and I sent forth righteous thoughts. The environment kept changing. I often sat still with my hand in front of me and sent forth righteous thoughts for a long time. I could feel that my body was huge and I entered a state of tranquility at once. Along with sending forth righteous thoughts, I also looked within for my shortcomings.
Once, an officer said in front of me that Falun Gong was a cult. When I corrected her loudly, she looked at me and said, “I can see that you don't have any attachments except an attachment of pursuit.” That shocked me greatly. I searched within carefully and found that I had a very strong, hidden attachment of pursuit. I cared about how people viewed me. I wanted to have a good reputation and I liked to hear praise. I realized that this attachment was not me – it was the dirty substance that was formed in my dimensional field. I disintegrated and removed it and felt relieved.
When I first came to the labor camp, the inmates assigned to monitor me would not let me close my eyes. I obeyed but felt uncomfortable: “Why must I listen to them?” I discovered that I had the attachment of fear, that I feared how they would deal with me. It was the fear substance in my body and I needed to remove it completely. “If you can let go of life and death, you’re a God; if you can’t let go of life and death, you’re a human.”(“Teaching the Fa in New York City” in Lectures in the United States)
When I stopped cooperating with them, things loosened up, and no one bothered me. I realized that all the persecution was brought on by my attachments. Master said,
“As I've said, everything that happens today in the ordinary society is the result of Dafa disciples' thoughts.” (“Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Philadelphia, U.S.A.”)
Because my thoughts and actions were righteous, I was released a few months early.
Having been persecuted twice, I still did not negate the persecution completely and even thought that these tribulations were a good opportunity for me to cultivate. Because there were loopholes in my understanding of the Fa principles, I was once again arrested for clarifying the truth and taken to the brainwashing center.
The police were very arrogant when I was first admitted to the brainwashing center. It made me sad, but I realized there wasn't time to indulge in feeling bad or pitying myself. I quickly looked for my loopholes and sent a thought at the same time: "Disintegrate all evil beings and factors that interfere with me."
The evil directed itself at my attachments and continued to find new ways to persecute me. Once day, I suddenly sent out a strong thought, “Only walk the path arranged by Master. I don't want any other arrangements and won't acknowledge them.” As I sent out this thought, I finally had a clearer understanding of the Fa-principle. I was finally able to completely negate this persecution based on the Fa.
Master said:
“We negate even the very emergence of the old forces and everything that they've arranged; we don't even acknowledge their existence. We're fundamentally negating all of their things, and all of, and only, the things you do while negating and getting rid of them is mighty-virtue. It's not that you're cultivating amidst the ordeals they created. Rather, you are to walk your own path well while not acknowledging them, not even acknowledging the elimination of their ordeals' manifestations.” (“Teaching the Fa at the 2004 Chicago Conference”)
Although I knew this Fa-principle, I only understood it at the surface and didn't have a thorough understanding of it.
Master wants all sentient beings to rectify themselves in Dafa and be saved, and not acknowledge the existence of the persecution. Thus, I decided to use my righteous thoughts to negate this persecution. I used a large amount of the “benevolently resolved” Fa and enlarged “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good,” then sent it to the brainwashing center's dimensional field and its surroundings. I thought: "Those that can be benevolently resolved will be benevolently resolved."
At the same time, I used my divine power of the Buddha Fa and completely eliminated those totally bad beings that could no longer be saved. Once my righteous thoughts went out, the surrounding dimensional field became clear, and I could often see big, bright lotus flowers and a god of Thunder, even though my third eye is not open.
The evil continued to create many false appearances to make me feel that I'd be sent to prison straightaway. I ignored everything and thought that this was a good opportunity to send forth righteous thoughts. They tried to prevent me from sleeping by making me stand. I thought: "No matter what they do to me, I'll sleep if I want to." I didn't cooperate when they beat me--I wouldn't let them touch me. I screamed and shouted and didn't allow them to torture me. Later, they assigned someone to watch over me 24 hours a day. He soon stopped bothering me.
After I kept sending righteous thoughts, the environment slowly changed. My energy field often surrounded the brainwashing session and the tactics that the evil used were canceled out, one by one. The brainwashing session disintegrated very quickly and I was released.
Master enlightened me when I read His recent writings at home: Because I acknowledged the old Fa-principles, tribulations had to be endured in cultivation. This happened because I did not study the Fa sufficiently. I have finally understood the Fa of “completely negating the old forces arrangement.” It was because I did not understand the Fa-principles clearly that I took a big detour and I suffered a lot. Fortunately, I have finally overcome this tremendous tribulation.
I'm writing this to share with those practitioners who are still in tribulation. The persecution is still going on and practitioners are being arrested all over the country. Only when we are strict with ourselves and walk the path arranged by Master will no one be qualified to persecute us.