The Process of Clarifying the Truth is the Course of our Fa-Rectification Cultivation (Part II)

2. Clarifying the truth from the standpoint of Dafa, eliminating all evil using righteous thoughts

Teacher has said, "Yet we are still cultivating and still have some last ordinary human attachments. When a problem arises, we have to examine ourselves first to see whether things are right or wrong on our part. If we determine that it is interference or [an attempt to do] damage, when we deal with the specific problem we should try our best to be calm and kind to these people who are at the surface, because when the evil uses people, these people themselves usually aren't aware of it (although those people who are used are usually either people whose thoughts are just bad or people who have bad thoughts arising). As for the interference by evil in other dimensions, we must seriously eradicate it with righteous thoughts" (Fa-Rectification and Cultivation). I was now clearer about what I should do. I invited my parents to a place where we could watch the VCD in order to tell them the truth. Before going, I focused on having a righteous mind: I am responsible for all the righteous factors. In order to save people, every word, action, and thought of mine must conform to Dafa. During the process of clarifying the truth, I must recognize my true self, resolutely eradicate all sentimentality, notions, attachments, etc, and must not speak a single word motivated by these factors. I must purify myself completely. At the same time, for these two living beings before me, I must recognize the evil factors that control them. To their human sides, I must be kind and gentle while clarifying the truth, but as to the evil, I must use righteous thoughts to eradicate it. I am a divine being who is as tall as heaven and incomparably noble, doing the most righteous and sacred thing. On the way to the place, I thought about Teacher's word for exercise five: the heart fills with benevolence and maintain a serene expression.

As soon as I entered the door and saw my parents, all the human stuff overwhelmed me. I again felt resentful and wronged; however, because I was prepared in advance, I did not say a single word. Instead, I just eliminated those bad substances and recited, "To endure with anger, grievance, or tears is the forbearance of an everyday person who is attached to his concerns. To endure completely without anger or grievance is the forbearance of a cultivator [What is Forbearance (Ren)?]." To their greetings, I acknowledged them but did not say a word, because I wanted to be assured that every sentence I spoke would be gentle and benevolent without any impurity. After a little while, my mind calmed down, but I thought I still could not speak. On the surface, it looked like the evil controlled my father to beat me, but in fact, the evil was aimed at Dafa. Dafa is dignified, and even though my parents were being used by the evil, the beating was still wrong. How I could I speak first? I waited for them to apologize, (because they did show some signs of repentance), so I invited them to give their apology.

As expected, my father said, "Do you know why we have come here? My child, you have been gone for so many days, we miss you. We feel regret and in the wrong for beating you." When I saw that their human consciences had emerged, I said, "The purpose of my coming here is not to satisfy your affection for kin, but to tell you the truth, to be responsible for your eternal life." My words were steadfast and peaceful and they shook his heart; he was shocked.

After a short while, his human side appeared to show some doubts. I asked myself what I should do next. Suddenly, I was enlightened to the fact that exposing the evil also includes revealing the evil to the people who are controlled and used by the evil. I called to mind the beating that had caused welts all over my body, and remembered him asking me to wear long sleeves and pants to cover up the signs of his physical abuse. His human side was being used by the evil, but he could not even realize it. I once again broke the silence and asked, "It was not your intention to curse Teacher, Dafa, and beat me, was it?" My father said, "You clearly knew that I didn't want to watch the CD, but you still played the CD." I felt bad hearing this sentence, because it was spoken by the evil, not his human side. (The human will not know that he/she does not want to watch before watching it, much less know about the truth that can save him). I stopped talking -- now that the evil was exposed, I must eliminate it. Hence, I continuously and silently recited the Fa-rectification verse.

I thought that I had found all my problems so that the evil would not be able to take advantage of any gaps. The reason that my father had been used was that he was attached to my education and worried about my safety because of his affection for me. Then, the evil used these two things along with his little knowledge of the truth to impose an evil notion on him. He must have thought, "She cannot go to school because of cultivating Falun Dafa, and is not safe practicing Falun Gong." At the same time, the evil forced the hostile attitude and hatred towards Dafa into his mind, strongly controlling him and not letting him learn the truth. Even when I tried to play the CD for him, the evil was too scared to be eradicated, so it forced him to beat me, to prevent me from playing the CD, and even to curse Teacher and Dafa.

At this moment, I suddenly was enlightened that Teacher expounds upon the Law to save us, to explain the principle of Dafa clearly in order to get rid of our acquired notions and attachments. Teacher even uses modern science to break through our shells. Then, to let my parents understand, I must first eliminate their fundamental barrier plus the evil notion of "cultivating Dafa will make one give up and lose the chance to go to school" which the evil had imposed on them. For example, at first, I made use of his attachment to my education by telling him why I was no longer in school -- it was all because of the evil persecution, and their unknowing cooperation with the evil, which aggravated my persecution. I told him that everything was caused by Jiang Zemin's persecution.

I told my parents that the first time when the brainwashing class was held, my school was afraid of being exposed and did not let the family members know. One student told his relatives, and the school criticized this student. However, when my parents learned about it, they not only did not resist, but also assisted the school in persecuting me and forced me to make a compromise with the school. The second time my school held the brainwashing class, they were openly invited to attend. To the threat of getting expelled from the school, they actually filled out in their names on the application to suspend my schooling which had resulted in my dropping out of school. I told my parents the principle that "One righteous thought will overwhelm a hundred evils." Using the righteous thoughts to resist the evil persecution is truly the right way, and compromising with the evil only serves to make the persecution worse. I also told them some examples of the relatives of Dafa practitioners using righteous thoughts to resist the evil and causing the evil forces to fail.

My father suddenly understood, "We were wrong, the school has been doing dirty business and is afraid of being exposed!" I said, "Yes! Otherwise, when I was forced to leave the school, why was I not allowed to contact my schoolmates, and why did my school even ask people to follow me while I was packing up? If the school was open and aboveboard, what would it be afraid of?"

After bluntly pointing out the true colors of the evil, my father suddenly became clearer. At the same time, I told him on the basis of Dafa that the police stations are enforcing the law while violating the law persecuting Dafa practitioners, and that it was because my parents themselves who cooperate with the evil that I was forced to leave home to avoid further persecution.

In fact, while clarifying the truth in the past, I myself was not even clear from the standpoint of Dafa about the meaning of the persecution--that is, why they were wrong--and I was not able to draw a clear distinction between righteousness and evil. As Teacher said, "Yet the layers upon layers of beings in the immense cosmos don't feel the evilness of all these evils taking place. This is because all beings have been becoming warped" (Master Li Hongzhi's Lecture at the Great Lakes Conference in North America). Later, I purified myself, truly measured everything according to Dafa and became clear on many more things. I would not accept even a bit of persecution against me. I would be clear at a glance on many issues, what is good, what is bad, what is kind, what is evil, what is righteous and what is corrupt. "It [the Buddha Fa] can genuinely distinguish between good and evil, right and wrong, and establish the right view by eradicating all fallacies" (On Buddha Law). "The Fa can reveal all attachments, the Fa can eradicate all evils, the Fa can expose and dispel all lies, and the Fa can strengthen righteous thoughts" (Deter Interference). By following the Fa as Teacher, all can be revealed. When I tell what I clearly see through to everyday people, they will also naturally become clear.

My father soon understood that they had been wrong! By now, he knew that all wrongdoing was caused by the evil persecution; he even understood that it was because they did not know the truth and therefore were being used to worsen the persecution against me. This eliminated one of his fundamental obstructions.

He said at once, "You are always like this, we all worry about your safety!" He then asked me to go a step further to talk more about Dafa and explain the more profound principles to him. Little by little, I explained to him that when Dafa practitioners' minds are right, the evil is not able to hurt them. Whether or not it's safe cannot be determined by looking at the surface, we must check to see if our minds are right. I told him of the heroic acts of some Dafa practitioners who used righteous thoughts to eradicate the evil. I spoke of those who got out of the evil's dens by using supernormal capabilities and of those who used wisdom to free themselves from the evil's tracking--all in order to validate the greatness of Dafa to him.

He had never heard such miraculous stories before and was entranced; he even stopped my mother's interruption, saying, "Don't say anymore to her, what you said does not work on her. Let her continue, she is doing well." But in a moment, he said again, "What if something happens?" I remained calm; I simply told him, after I was clear on the principle of Dafa, "There is no contingency. I absolutely do not accept the evil persecution of me. Dafa governs everything, so there will be no problem if your mind is upright. You should also not think about it -- thinking about it is as good as asking for it. If people all use righteous thoughts to treat the evil and keep righteous thoughts in mind, the evil will have no place to roam." He was clear and said, "Then we will not even think about it."

I continued to clarify the truth to him and expose the evil by telling him my own experiences during the process of validating Dafa, the persecutions I suffered and the situation of the spreading of Dafa. He continued to listen, and when my words conformed to Dafa, he was entranced; but if I was a little bit off, he would frown. During this process, I also constantly corrected myself. If we conform to Dafa and we really take the stand on the basis of Dafa the mighty virtue of Dafa will be manifested through us. "If every one of you can understand the Fa from the depths of your mind, that will truly be the manifestation of the Fa whose power knows no boundary -- the reappearance of the mighty Buddha Fa in the human world!" (Cautionary Advice)

I was thinking while talking that no matter how much I talked about, it would not be as vivid and clear as watching the two CDs, so I needed to get him to watch the CDs. But, he had the obstacle of human's "face-saving" and refused to watch. I was patient and continued to talk. Each time when he was entranced in listening, I stopped at the key place and told him that it was clearer on the CDs. I wanted to arouse his curiosity to make him watch. During this process, I developed complacency mixed with pursuit. He was controlled again and said, "Don't always talk about the CDs, I don't want to watch right now." I was awakened immediately and eliminated these attachments right away. I spoke with the force of justice, "I will never beg you to watch. Dafa is majestic, and whether or not you watch the truth, it is up to you." Then, I constantly corrected my mind and continued to clarify the truth. But, when it came to the key place, I still stopped talking which hinted to my father that if he wanted to know, he could watch it for himself, but I had my right not to tell.

Finally, his true self, longing for the truth, defeated the evil and the so-called "face-saving" human mentality. He asked himself, "Should we watch the CDs?" The two CDs were more than two hours long and we watched them all. While we were watching, he constantly said, "The truth is this, I have always thought..." "It is so!" and "Now I understand." I also continued to eradicate the evil that controlled him. While he was talking, the evil was eliminated little by little. It was already 2:00 a.m. when we finished watching. My father then went to sleep.

(To be Continued)