Safeguarding Dafa with Our Lives and Enlightening in An Impasse

It is much easier to listen to others' experiences than to act.

In the face of benevolence and righteousness, the demons shake.

With no route of retreat, we achieve genuine understanding of Fa with each step forward.

Thus, each fatal test vanishes like a streak of smoke.

In about 4 months of hunger strike in jail, several bodies "made up of" karma paid off the debt for me, and now I'm able to do something for Dafa with all my heart and might again. Realizing the principle and acting on it, we verify the power of Dafa in passing tests. 1. "We're also making use of it [the persecution of Falun Dafa] in perfectly harmonizing our Fa, and establishing boundless virtues for our Fa." (Lecture at the Fa Conference in Singapore). I've been to scores of informal experience-sharing sessions held in other provinces, explaining the truth of "being lost in a maze" to those fellow practitioners who cannot step out, and inspiring them to "take the test." However, in attending these sessions I didn't change my own ways in time, even though Teacher had given me hints, and so I was finally reported and arrested. Of course, I wouldn't cooperate with or give tacit consent to such persecution, and so I went on a hunger strike. "The masses regard food as their heaven" (i.e., as their principal desire). The amount of time spent on a hunger strike is given great importance internationally. Who will care about a prisoner's appeal for justice, if the prisoner does not use the bitterest means to give voice to grievances? Under such special extreme circumstances, if one acted only out of a heart of benevolence, wasn't this protest "an act that harmonizes the Fa at the level of mankind?" The prisoners first swore at me, beat me, and interfered with me. Gradually, some of them, including the jailer, became willing to listen to my talking about the principles of Dafa and revealing the lies broadcast through the news. Some even started to learn the exercises. Though on a hunger and water strike, I was not at all hindered in spreading Dafa and practicing the exercises. Day by day, as I was getting thinner, many policemen and prisoners became kind to me. I was really happy for them. The prosecutor who did the preliminary hearing was quite sympathetic towards the other practitioners. He told me that he couldn't let me off since practitioners who in the past had been involved in a case similar to mine were sent to the labor camp for three years. He intended to shift the blame onto me and to release the local practitioners if I would just tell him my name. On the third day, I recalled what Teacher said, "If I, with the life of Li Hongzhi, can dispel the fear towards these good people, I will go back at once..." So, I told him my name after he promised to release them all. A few days later, the prosecutor asked me for the details of the sessions. Without them, he said that it would be impossible to draw an end to this case and to release the local practitioners. I was quite clear from Teacher's article "A Dialogue with Time" that we were required to "become real Gods." The arrangements made by Gods couldn't be revealed to demons or humans, or else the Fa at that level would be damaged. How could I deal with this situation harmoniously? 2. It is hard to understand the present by reviewing the past, yet, a song pointed out what I should do. In the past I had gone, scores of times, exchanging ideas with practitioners in several cities of different provinces, inspiring fellow practitioners with my own experience and lessons of "stepping forward" in order to eradicate the evil influence of "false articles" on them. And I had been sent to jail. At that time I basically managed not to be trapped in the examination questions, not to be brought along or cooperate with the police and not to implicate others. A few days after going on a hunger strike, I felt that I was almost dying. As a result, I passed the fatal test in less than a week, and the criminal detention became invalid. Since the "prime culprit" was released, prosecution of the case fizzled out. Further sabotage to the Fa was prevented in this matter. Teacher said in Lecture in the Switzerland, "Jesus Christ extricated himself as soon as his flesh body was dropped." Probably, a "me" made up of karma had died, and in dieing paid off my debt with his "life." After I realized and acted on this understanding, principles of a new level were revealed to me. Everyday people and fellow practitioners all saw the power of Dafa through my passing the test while transcending ordinary human way of thinking. This time, though, I couldn't follow the old standards. Then I thought of how Teacher answered the questions raised by reporters in Sydney. How could I act harmoniously? I couldn't figure it out. After I came back to the cell and did meditation, a song named "Say nothing" was being broadcast on TV. " With no words, the state knows me well." was heard. It seemed that I was not allowed to delay or to make a mistake in figuring out what to do. I kindly refused to answer the further inquiries by the police in charge of the preliminary hearing. Later on, I learned that the 20 practitioners were all released. 3. I dreamed of how I would look deceased; karma paid off a life. A lot of practitioners had been detained here before, but I was the first who went on a hunger strike. They fed me forcefully by inserting a tube into my stomach. I thought of Teacher's words in Zhuan Falun, "It was not worthwhile to fight with him. Whenever he brought some bad things to me, I would just clean them up. After the clean-up work, I would resume my lectures." I endured the forced feeding peacefully, thinking that having them practice on me is better than their learning how to do it on any future hunger strikers, since force feeding is very dangerous if it is done by someone with no experience. Consequently, they struck my windpipe several times and I struggled to pull the tube out and signed to them to try again. I was very weak, with serious dehydration. On the 9^th day, in my dream, I was making a portrait of the deceased for myself. No kidding! Was it because of the time lag in other dimensions? I thought of the words in the Fa, "Unless you are told how to dismiss it when there is a life-threatening situation..." Would there be real life-threatening situation? Without intake of foods and water, I would die in 7 days? Could I really get rid of the attachment to life and death? I firmly believed that my energy could support my flesh body, and that the deceased body in my dream was a body Teacher made out of my karma to pay off a life, not me myself. In Zhuan Falun. Volume II, Teacher said, "When the flesh body of everyday people was taken away, those numerous troubles would vanish since they could no longer ask for trouble from him." I was not allowed to leave without paying off my debt. A few days after this righteous understanding of the Fa, I was released. I believe I had paid off the debt during my hunger and water strike, and some demons had been rectified by the Fa. It is really "Cultivation depends on the individual himself while the transformation of gong is up to the master." I only had such a wish, a wish to bear and pay off my debt to the maximum extent. In fact, I didn't endure too much. Who knows how much Teacher endured for me in such a big tribulation? The prisoners were greatly shocked since it's the first time they saw somebody being released in such a short time, especially that I actually "broke through." They saw the power of Dafa embodied in me. The jailer said to me when he saw me off, "We respect you because you did what we couldn't. Don't forget to benefit me after you reach consummation." A predestined relationship or a wish must have been fulfilled in this way. "You have to break through, whatever it is." I remember Teacher once said. In achieving genuine understanding, breaking-through the attachment to one's own life must be the fastest. Righteous enlightening and being enlightened in tribulation. This is the 2^nd time that I was detained for no reason in my hometown, and it is amazing to myself that I could bear so much to pass the test of a long hunger strike. 4. Outside: Keep on appealing to the government; Inside: petition through hunger strike everyday. Practitioners out of prisons are safeguarding and verifying Dafa with all types of methods; Practitioners in prisons take up hunger strikes, which is a means of not cooperating with or tacitly approving the persecution. We are appealing to the government everyday! If we do not go on hunger strikes, the pressure on the demons will be much smaller. These days, in each ward there are practitioners on hunger strike. They are putting pressures on demons using their lives everyday. The demons found this little space and tried to resolve the crisis with this method, but in the end they can only seal themselves up. The Chief of the detaining center said: "You want to use your trivial life to fight against the government? Useless. If you die we will say you died of practicing Falun Gong. We can say whatever we want to and our words count!" The Chief policeman said: "If you are an important figure we wouldn't have anything to say. But you are just a small pawn, too far away from being an important figure." The doctor often said: "If you want to have a hunger strike, go ahead. But at least you can drink some water." Their words made me realize that as a particle of DaFa, our enduring more tribulations is to put pressure on demons to the greatest extent! Based on the "inter-generation and inter-inhibition" principle, no matter how strong the evil is, there should be even greater amount of positive elements and benevolent forces to restrain the demons. Possibly because hunger strikes were very common, the detaining center kept on reporting their difficulties to the higher-level officials. As a result, the government would take down the words of all practitioners on strike, asking them about the reasons for the hunger strike and the means for solving the problem. Then these reports are sent to the higher-level officials. Phenomena that generally appear in society might also be a part of the cosmic changes. As the particles that are transformed in the cosmic changes, we appeal for DaFa, for Master and for practitioners. It must put great pressure on the demons. Everybody will be shaken by the fact that people are appealing with their lives. The demons' hypocrisy and brutality are the result of their shock. Whenever we reach the standard of DaFa on a certain level, the demons on that level will be eliminated. Maybe the demons can do nothing anymore, maybe they are very scared and so they use hypocrisy and brutality to cover their fear. 5.Gain nothing when pursuing; obtain no righteous enlightenment if the heart is attached to something. "Master, I am willing to pay back what I have owed as much as I can. Please put the karma on me. I hope I can get out of here earlier to assist the Master to rectify the Fa." "Master, I want to go out to suffer more hardships as soon as possible. The hardships here can not move me at all." I don't know how many times I have begged in these ways. According to the Chief policeman I would be released in a few days. However, on that day, it was a fellow practitioner next door who was released instead of me. For quite a few days, I spent all my time in the disappointment of hope vanishing. I had never felt so sad before. However, when I calmed down, I realized that my heart of pursuit was too strong. The distressed experience made me truly understand what the Fa says: "the Master told him not to pursue, not to pursue. But he just did not believe, so he kept on pursuing. In the end he got the opposite of what he wanted." The path is arranged by the Master so we cannot arrange it by ourselves. "Release me or not to release me," why should my heart be moved? Because I am stillattached to it, which means I have not reached the higher level. The Master said in the Lecture in the Switzerland, " I can release myself because I am not attached to it." This time, I might have to cultivate to surpass a certain level in order to release myself from the inexorable doom. But how should I cultivate? 6. Going forward in tribulation and transformed invisibly. Shackles and infusion do not affect my practice. One day I saw the air get into the infusion tube, but I believed that no problem will happen to me. In my dream, another space appeared. The demon changed into a nurse and instilled air fiercely into my blood vessel. I paid the debt of another life. I gradually became accustomed to the forced feeding. I recited Fa and practiced everyday. The scenes in my dream encouraged me: elementary school - middle school - college - graduate student. I am progressing rapidly from one level to another. The sheriff began to control me more tightly and I could only practice once a day when I found time. Other practitioners can establish a good environment and practice openly, but for me it is difficult. I realized after several days that fundamentally I feared being fettered and not being able to move; I don't want to undergo the suffering. Would I compromise with the sheriff by practicing secretly? No. I made up my mind to go through this tribulation. As a consequence, my feet were locked onto one end of the bed and my hand locked onto the other end, only leaving one hand free for infusion and going to the bathroom. Surprisingly, my original concept that I might not sustain such tortures was removed. It is exactly "cultivating by doing". The rational understanding is obtained only after one is really able to do it. In "Demonic Interference in Cultivation" in Zhuan Falun, Teacher says: "this is the simplest form of interference, and it can achieve the goal of stopping your qigong practice. If you practice qigong and obtain the Tao, what about those unpaid debts you owe others? They will not allow it, and so they will not let you practice qigong." I realized this interference is the tribulation at a certain level.

How can handicapped people with only one hand or without legs practice? I can still sit on the bed and so I did the sitting meditation like a handicapped person. Later my arms and legs were almost pulled straight by the shackles. How miserable the demon is! It does not know what it is doing. In "Falun Dafa Explication" it says: "The Gong is being transformed during setting meditation, practice,

suffering, and tribulation. The Gong of different levels is also growing

when Xinxing is improving." It is more wonderful in invisible transformation.

The hospital did not open the shackle until they changed the bed sheets. It was

so precious to have even 5-6 minutes of free time for practice. After that I was again pressed down and fettered to the bed. I spent the hot summer in this way. After 63 days of storm and lightning, the fetters were removed. I had passed this test.

Using rationality and facts to prove Fa, my heart is not stuck in tribulations any more. "When you can behave calmly or meet the standards in different levels, it is enough for you to pass the test". (Tao Fa).

7. An elementary school student in the new level. I was to be sent to the labor camp, but was not accepted. In the pre-trial, a custody ticket was sent to me, which means a sentence of 3-7 years. I read it calmly and was not moved. I believed the power of Dafa. I believed that I will not die in the demon's cave and that I will be able to get out of the control of demons. In the chapter in Zhuan Falun " People with Great Inborn Quality", when talking about how situations arise in which people cannot sustain the suffering, Teacher says, " An ordinary person cannot stand suffering such hardships and will think 'What am I living for? Why don't I find a rope to hang myself and put an end to everything?'" I believed that I could endure. With a correct understanding of the Fa, I can overcome the difficulties if I can improve myself. I must go in the right way. It seems that the standard is now higher than before. It is not OK even if I have paid the debts of several lives. It seems that I must serve out the sentence of the court. It will take at least 3 months to go through. The sentence can be implemented outside the prison. Master Li hinted to me through the mouths of other prisoners, " If you stop half way you will waste all your previous efforts". I recalled the dream in the early morning: I entered the Imperial Palace with lots of elementary school students around me. A teacher told me that the talent center was located inside. Previously when the scenes in dreams were schools, the dream would give me a hint about my progress. This time it is in the Imperial Place, displaying a totally new level: You are still an elementary school student, but can be cultivated to be a "talent." Telling me that " the talent center is located inside" means that I cannot go upwards unless I cultivate my heart. 8. Verifying Dafa using reason and facts; awakening people's conscience with our life I became emaciated day by day. My whole body, even the eyeballs were sallow. Kind people were moved. I thought that forced feeding with intubations were actually cooperating with my hunger-strike petition. On the second day of the hunger strike, I introduced DaFa to a senior nurse simply. She replied to me publicly: "Since it is really good, you can practice when the police do not see you." The jailer also felt it strange and said: " It's really strange. Almost all Falun Dafa practitioners sent here are high level intellectuals. I have sent away so many university students and graduate students on a hunger strike! None of them believe the propaganda of the government and yield. It looks as though there must be something deep in Falun Gong." The instructor said: "He has been on a hunger and water strike for such a long time, but he still keeps the clear head and high spirits! It appears that Falun Gong is not ordinary." A prisoner who was arrested for an unjust charge said: "What kind of spirit is this? Which member of the Communist Party can do it nowadays? I have believed in communism my whole life, now I will not believe in it anymore. I should study Falun Gong conscientiously." Since the policemen knew that I was quite rational, they trusted me. They presented my petition to the upper level officials and asked me to give lectures to prisoners. Doctors and nurses all said: "This 'Falun Gong' is very good." Prisoners asked me to tell them stories everyday. So I told them the idioms related to Dafa and stories about accumulating virtues and cultivating moral character, in which the principles of Dafa are reflected. I spread Dafa flexibly and always cared for prisoners. With time going on, prisoners addressed me respectfully as their "head." Many doctors said, "If you stay on hunger strike, you will be disabled even if you do not die, with intestine and stomach diseases all your life, having a totally ulcerated esophagus and being in pain for your whole life. Now you keep running a low fever all day with the organs withered, secretion and swallowing functions degraded..." I thought that what the doctors reported would only be so for ordinary persons. The parts in my body, which had already accomplished consummation, were intact. Each cell in this dimension was suffering and becoming emaciated; possibly the "me"s in different dimensions were on hunger strike, too, bearing double hardships. However, nobody could believe that I recovered the normal diet in the same day that I started to eat. The speed of recovery was inconceivable. There were not any consequences to four months' intubations and forced feeding. In front of facts, people have to confess, "Falun Gong is really miraculous." 9. When the final exam came, my heart was not stuck in it anymore. The prison started to make arrangements for my "funeral affairs": videotaping, putting down the words of prisoners around me so that they could have testimony to absolve them from guilt in case I should die. The director of the prison said, " If you keep on hunger strike, after your family comes, we can produce a news program to rebuke Dafa." I thought in that case, I would give you an answer with my fresh blood. No matter how bewildered my family was, they would understand at that time it's the result of the compulsion of the government. I wouldn't be utilized by them. Finally it turned out this was just a test and I passed it. The court sentenced me 3 to 7 years of imprisonment. I dismissed it with a light smile. I knew this was telling me that I needed to pay more to break through this fatal pass. In the end, the court verdict said due to my good attitude and light crime, I was released. The righteous thought that I should not implicate other people obstructed further investigation of several cases and dissolved the arrogance of the devil with benevolence and calmness and aroused mercy from their hearts. Was this what they meant by "good attitude"? There was no happiness after the "victory," no gladness at obtaining freedom, no pleasure at seeing my family. "If possessing and not possessing are the same to you, you have passed the test." (Lecture at the First Conference in North America) I found my heart was not stuck in an issue anymore. If you are not in the principle of "inter-generation and inter-inhibition", you will not be restricted by it anymore. This is the "freedom" of Gods while human's "freedom" is actually "non-freedom." In Teacher's article, "Some Thoughts of Mine" said: "It should be known that once a person learns the truth and the genuine meaning of life's existence, he will not regret giving up his life for that. Do not take our hearts of compassion and great tolerance as fear, so as to double the efforts [against us] recklessly". I realized that maybe under special extreme circumstances at least, higher requirements are needed for eliminating the attachment to life and death. I realized this gradually through genuine practice of Dafa. I never knew that I had such strong endurance ability. If I had known from the beginning that the tribulation was so big, I am afraid that I would have been scared and couldn't bestir myself and cultivate diligently. However, Teacher had me endure the tribulations step by step. The volume of my endurance ability increased gradually. The desire for freedom was extinguished every time after I passed a test and finally I reached the standard that "the heart is not stuck in it." Actually it was not as hard as I imagined. It was my mentality that intimidated me. It is also mentioned in the Fa that, "one's thought can form an illusion... Later it will really form a concept and form a misconception... Actually it will not [matter at all], it will not take effect." Either passive endurance or "enlightening" along an evil path cannot make you pass tests and can even produce karma. We are not suffering tribulations simply for eliminating karma, but for enlightening to the principles of the Fa. At each crucial moment, Teacher hinted to me through the forms of ordinary people so as to prevent me from increasing the tribulation myself. My celestial eyes are closed, therefore Teacher hinted to me in my dreams. I saw in each level someone fell down, in each level someone turned from the main road going upward to some flat paths. We must pay if we want go upward! Sometimes there was no way at all. I saw myself open up a path with hands and feet arduously. By and by, I saw a great monument of pioneers. While behind me, someone whose face was not clear had built a level road far-reaching. Is that the history of my cultivation? As a disciple, do I deserve Teacher's teaching? Tribulations are talked of in the Fa, "...In order to improve your Xinxing we utilize them, all of them you can pass. Only if you raise your Xinxing, you will be able to pass it, unless you don't want to. If you want to, you will pass it." At the crucial moment, you have doubts about Dafa, isn't that the problem at the root? Perhaps my present endurance ability is limited at this point. No matter what I did before, if I remain stagnate and do not follow up the progress of Fa-rectification, it will be in vain. The cultivation time may come to an end at anytime. As long as the truth has not been revealed yet, the opportunities are waiting for us to cultivate diligently and valiantly.