(Clearwisdom.net)
Greetings esteemed Teacher! Greetings fellow practitioners!
Today I want to share my experience working at truth-material production sites and my cultivation.
1. In the winter of 2001, when the evil was still rampant, a material production site in city A (site A) was broken into. Several practitioners were arrested. Because I am familiar with computers, Ms. Liu (all names in this article are aliases) from site A asked me to come and help produce some pictures. I thought this was Teacher's arrangement. I agreed, as I felt the great responsibility and was very honored to be asked to help.
Soon I learned to print photos from the Internet. I wasn't experienced with such a task when I first came to this site. Practitioners woke up at 3 a.m. to exercise, worked for 8 to 9 hours, and studied the Fa in the evening as a group. We had a daily routine, which allowed only 4 to 5 hours of sleep. When I worked during the day, I would fall asleep if my thoughts weren't righteous. For the sake of saving sentient beings, I had to break through this. Gradually I got used to this routine.
I know many truth material production sites were broken into because practitioners got attached to how much work should be done and ignored Fa study and self-improvement. Consequently, I studied the Fa whenever I found time. Printing photos required xinxing cultivation. Fear, tension, anger, impure thoughts, anxiousness, zealotry and wrong motivations, if not corrected in time, would all cause trouble during the printing process. Once trouble occurred, our minds needed to be righteous. Since I paid more attention to cultivation improvement, I had better results in printing pictures and fellow practitioners admired the outcome. I knew that came from the wisdom and ability Dafa had given me. The pictures, which held information that would save sentient beings, would be passed into people's hands and be imprinted into their minds. I was very pleased.
2. One month had gone by. The police broke into another site that was in contact with our site and several practitioners were arrested. For safety reasons, several production sites were moved that night to a temporary location.
Before we found a new location, practitioners shared experiences of going to Beijing to validate the Fa. Most of the practitioners had gone to Beijing several times and passed the tests. I held deep respect for them, their firm belief in Dafa, and unyielding attitude despite the evil persecution. At the time, the commonly held belief among the team members was that it was wrong if a practitioner had never gone to Beijing or he failed to validate the Fa in Beijing. Even if he validated the Fa in Beijing and then did not do well in the practice after he came back, then he should go to Beijing again. I first believed this to be the correct understanding, but then I thought that it was a little extreme. Everyone walked a different path and there shouldn't be a fixed method. Going to Beijing to validate the Fa should come from the practitioners' heart. If one had to go to Beijing when one did not do well in the practice, then going to Beijing to validate the Fa would lose its real meaning and selfish factors may be added in. Of course it would be a xinxing problem if one didn't want to go to Beijing because of fear.
After the sharing, two practitioners and I went to Beijing. All three of us opened and displayed our banners. I was the only one who was arrested because I held the attachments of fear and wished that the Fa-rectification would end soon. I found a way to handle this situation. The police released me within ten hours. After I returned, my mind was not peaceful. I tried to calm down and not think about the arrest. Within a short time the unsettled feeling was gone.
3. Later I taught a practitioner how to print photos from the Internet. As soon as this practitioner was almost ready to work independently, I established a new material production site with Ms. Chen in A city. This site in A city had two computers. We planned to use one to print photos and the other one to print Dafa books and other materials. I became very busy and practitioner Mr. He came to help me. He had excellent computer skills and helped me improve my computer skills a lot. From then on, He and I printed photos and books while Chen was involved with the finishing process.
Not long after I arrived in city A, problems began to appear. I worked previously with Ms. Liu at several big production sites. Over 20 practitioners were arrested and the loss was tremendous. These sites were the main sources for truth-clarifying material for the local and nearby areas. This incident made Dafa work hit rock bottom. The only site that still produced materials in city A was the one I worked at.
At that time, we had just studied Teacher's lecture "Touring North America to Teach the Fa." Ms. Chen sighed with emotion, "Maybe we are safe because we have a great predestined relationship with Teacher." I felt that there was something wrong with what she said and told her, "We better not have this thought. Maybe we do, but it is hard to say. If we think we are safe because of the predestined relationship we have with Teacher, and we become a little complacent, the evil may exploit the gap. Even if we really do, we can't stress it. What Teacher said was the Fa principle, not something we should dwell upon."
However, our site experienced a lot of interference also. I couldn't calm down to study the Fa for a long time and had frequent problems with the hardware. We sent the hardware for repair and didn't print anything for almost ten days. During that time, Ms. Chen and I had a lot of conflicts and I did not look within. I had a problem. Once I saw Chen's shortcomings or when we had disagreements, I discussed it with outside practitioners. I hoped that they would help solve my "problem." Most practitioners in the area knew about Chen, so instead of solving the "problem," our conflict became a frequent topic among practitioners. This worsened the situation between Chen and me.
This incident exposed my weaknesses. I did not pay attention to what I said. I wasn't benevolent enough, and over-emphasized my importance.
Teacher said:
"Whenever something happens or whenever a situation comes about, even if it's a minor thing, my first thought is of others, for it's already become natural for me--I just think of others first." ("Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Boston")
I was not even close to this standard. When I talked about someone's mistake, I didn't think of others. I talked as if an adult was talking to a wayward child and I totally ignored that the other person was my senior. If I think of others, why couldn't I think of how others feel? Who doesn't have weaknesses? Do they deserve disrespect when they have weaknesses? I knew my attitude wasn't right but I still held a stubborn thought trying to comfort myself, "It's better to use stronger words! It helps improve her xinxing." That was ridiculous, especially when compared with what Teacher said.
Teacher said,
"I have not only taught you Dafa, but have also left you my demeanor. While working, your tone of voice, your kindheartedness, and your reasoning can change a person's heart, whereas commands never could! If others are not convinced deep down inside but only superficially comply, they will still conduct themselves according to their own will when no one is around to see them." ("Clearheadedness" in Essentials for Further Advancement)
I was not within the Fa, and had always talked in an unfriendly tone, trying to "stop the evil with evil." How had I gone in the opposite direction of the Fa! Besides, why would I expect others to solve my problem? I didn't try to work hard at my problem and had the attachment of relying on others.
A month after the production site in city A was broken into, new production sites were established, though slowly. The work at my site eased up. Practitioner He was very experienced with printing photos. I heard one area was short of people who could print photos and a practitioner asked me to go there. After Chen and He agreed, I left city A.
4. This site was located in a small yard and several ordinary people from other areas lived there. The coordinator initially wanted me and another practitioner to stay there and produce photos. I insisted on working on my own since there were many everyday people there. I thought that it might look weird if we went out infrequently. One time a young girl asked me out of curiosity why I didn't go to work. I told her that I was ill and had come to recuperate. We put the hardware in a closet to reduce the printing noise, so it could barely be heard from outside. Every few days, practitioners would come to get the printed photos for further processing.
I lived there for quite some time, without realizing it. I became less diligent in my Fa study. I couldn't calm down and again held the attachment to qing. I looked for my ex-girlfriend and found that she had found a new boyfriend. I felt lonely, lost, and gloomy after I returned. Then I was a little scared after I heard that we had to register. Within a month and half after arriving there, someone reported me and I was arrested. The police confiscated our equipment, which had cost about 8,000 yuan. I felt ashamed to disappoint practitioners and slow down their Dafa work.
I was released this time without charges because I swallowed something. This was the second time. I thought it would not hurt my body and would just frighten the evil. What I swallowed should just disappear. Initially I didn't think swallowing objects was inappropriate. Later on I read other practitioners' experience sharing and gained a new understanding.
We are Dafa practitioners and our righteous thoughts are mighty. Teacher told us that if we held righteous thought we could immobilize the evil people. How come I didn't listen to Teacher when confronted with danger? I handled the situation just like an ordinary person. Isn't this distrusting the Fa? I should have the will to do things in a supernormal way, instead of using everyday people's methods to solve the problem. If I couldn't be a real practitioner on this particular issue, how would I expect to develop any supernormal ability while I am only a human being? I also discovered that I held a deep hidden thought when I swallow an object. I was afraid of suffering cruel persecution. That was obviously a gap. Once the evil saw this gap, the effect of using this method became limited. What was worse, this conduct was not based on the Fa and actually was self-destructive. It was not appropriate for a Dafa practitioner and gave a negative impression to others.
5. After I was released, I pushed other practitioners to set up computers and printers so I could rebuild a materials production site. One night I had a dream that I was at a construction site. Someone asked me to pull an object up to a certain height. I dragged the rope and ran too fast and missed the given location. I woke up and realized that Teacher was telling me not to rush things. Our site just went through a great loss, and other sites and many other practitioners also suffered a lot of losses and arrests, so I felt it was necessary for me to calm down and find the cause why I was arrested.
I held strong fear at that time. I became scared when I heard car doors slam or footsteps coming upstairs. I was afraid that might be the police.
Teacher said,
"just by having your heart unaffected you will be able to handle all situations." ("Eliminate Your Last Attachment(s)")
and
"Good or evil comes from that instant thought." (Zhuan Falun)
I remembered that when the veteran practitioner was about to fall to the ground in the car accident, she didn't think that anything bad would happen, so she was fine. If she had thought that something might go wrong, then her bones would break. For a practitioner, there is no connection between falling to the ground and breaking bones. But if you think that there is a connection, then you are asking for a broken bone.
Teacher also said,
"As a practitioner, if you always think that it is an illness, you are actually asking for it. If you ask for an illness, it will come inside your body. As a practitioner, your xinxing level should be high. You should not always worry that it is an illness, for this fear of illness is an attachment and it can bring you trouble just the same." (Zhuan Falun)
I was arrested in Beijing because I asked for it! Why would I think that when doing Dafa work the police would come and arrest me? The evil could persecute me because of this notion. It was me who acknowledged the old forces' evil arrangements and by acknowledging it, I allowed the result to be bad. To fundamentally break the evil arrangement is to cut off the notion of the "bad result" by not acknowledging the arrangement.
Thinking that the evil persecution can improve practitioners' xinxing and mighty virtue and thinking the evil can do bad things is as if one acknowledges the old forces' arrangements. Even thinking about "not acknowledging the evil arrangements" all day long is acknowledging it. I finally understood what Teacher said about not acknowledging the evil's struggle while it's dying, nor the existence of evil itself.
Practitioners should know that the evil does not have the right to affect me, the evil cannot affect me at all, and that I should never even think that the evil can affect me. Besides these three points, I also realized that how to break the evil's arrangements cannot be our major concern. That's not the goal of our practice. Our goal is to validate the Fa, clarify the truth and save sentient beings. For example, distributing the flyers doesn't involve the issue of whether the evil will interfere. Even if we have this thought, as long as we are not afraid and not attached to it, there will not be a problem. The evil will disappear if we ignore it. Also, I think when we send righteous thoughts to stop the evil from arresting us, we shouldn't have the strong notion that we are in danger and that's why we are sending righteous thoughts. We should think, even if I don't send righteous thoughts, the evil cannot touch me, and that the evil is garbage and I am cleaning the garbage by sending righteous thoughts.
However, we live in an environment in which the old forces had already arranged something. They will force something upon us. Also, sometimes we may have a gap we don't realize and we may acknowledge their arrangement unknowingly. We have to be careful, but at the same time we can't be too attached to the fact. Some safety measures are necessary! Therefore, we shouldn't leave any room for the evil to interfere, even in this human dimension. For example, we have to think of others' safety and not just presume that everything is fine. If one thinks that one's cell phone is safe but other practitioners believe that one needs a new cell phone, then one has to think of other practitioners' safety and get a new cell phone. Otherwise, the evil may catch one's attachment and cause a great loss to the Dafa work and practitioners' lives. Taking safety measures is necessary. We should not hold attachments when we do it and after it's done, we should stop worrying about it.
When we find that a practitioner acknowledges the old forces' arrangements, and that he can't or is unwilling to change this, we might feel that there is nothing we can do to help him. In fact, we still should deny the old forces' arrangements for that practitioner because the evil is not qualified to test him, even though he has gaps. We shouldn't think something bad will happen to this practitioner. The righteous field from other practitioners may eliminate the evil and minimize the persecution against this practitioner. If something like this happens to a practitioner at the production site, the first thing to do is to help this practitioner calm down and study the Fa, for this practitioner is not diligent and may harm Dafa work. To be responsible for the Fa, some preventive measures need to be taken.
Teacher said,
"as Dafa disciples, though, and I can tell you that this is in fact because you've neglected Fa-study. The reason is, your surface, which is still assimilating to the Fa, needs to be constantly improved, and as you constantly improve, the things that you need to cultivate away have to be arranged for. Every realm has its own state of being. If you remain stagnant, you definitely won't be able to keep up with the Fa-rectification." ("Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Boston")
Not acknowledging the evil arrangements is not just mere words. Mind and matter are of one nature. The thoughts acknowledging the evil arrangements are matters that, if we don't study the Fa well or have strong righteous thoughts, are hard to get rid of. If anyone is often scared, a matter will form from the fear. When this man realized that he shouldn't be scared, no matter how he tried to suppress the feeling, at a certain level, he is still scared, for the matter formed from fear will not disappear in a split second. When we really study the Fa well and calmly, once the feeling of fear emerges, we can catch it and clearly know this does not come from out true selves. This way, we see the fear itself clearly and can easily eliminate it. Once fear does not dominate us, the evil can't use it to interfere with us. Of course the evil can persecute us in some other form. If we want to walk the path Teacher arranged for us, we have to follow Teacher's instructions and do everything well.
6. A few years ago, a female practitioner was having a hard time denying the evil arrangements. She would think Teacher was hinting to her that she should move if anything that did not look right happened. A light bulb going out would cause her to think, "Oh, our energy field is not pure and something is going to happen," and she would move the production site. She then couldn't find a place to stay and realized there was nothing wrong with the place she used to live in and thus moved back. This happened 3 or 4 times. Eventually she acknowledged the evil's arrangements and that caused interference in her Dafa work, because the evil had discovered her gap.
Teacher said,
"Dafa disciples have different states of mind, so they have different perceptions of the environment, and that's why the way each person acts is different. The true situation, as I see it, is that the evil old forces want to do what they want to. To do well is to not walk down the path arranged by the old forces; the goal is to not allow the old forces to take advantage of your gaps." ("2002 Teaching the Fa at the Washington, D.C. Fa Conference")
As long as our minds are calm and not moved by anything that happens on the surface and we do what we have to do, the unstable factors that interfere with us will disintegrate.
After I was enlightened to the Fa principle of breaking the evil's arrangements, I quickly recognized many similar situations. For example, when I send righteous thoughts or do the exercises, there were often mosquitoes trying to bite me. So I tried to ignore the existence of the mosquitoes when they came to me. It worked. The mosquitoes would fly around me or land on me but would not bite me. Also, there are levels in our cultivation. We may pass a test today but tomorrow there will be a similar test at a different level. So it is important that we hold on to what we have enlightened to and do well.
