(Clearwisdom.net)

Dear Teacher and fellow practitioners:

I have been practicing Falun Dafa since April 1998. During the past eight years, I have firmly believed in the Fa and Teacher and have been making progress in studying the Fa, doing the exercises, sending forth righteous thoughts, and clarifying the truth to the public.

1. Safeguarding the Fa with Determination under Any Circumstances

Teacher has told us,

I appreciate Teacher's giving me the opportunity to become a Falun Dafa practitioner. The happiest thing in my life is to be a disciple in the Fa-rectification period. Eight years of Fa study and assimilating to the Fa have deeply enlightened me to the understanding that the purpose of a practitioner's existence is to safeguard the Fa. Validating the Fa, clarifying the truth, and saving sentient beings are actions that safeguard the Fa.

I am a clerk in a provincial level government office. I am the only one person there recorded by the 610 Office. In the days when the authorities rampantly slandered Dafa and I was under intense pressure, I often kept in mind Teacher's words,

Orders from the upper levels dictated that government clerks and CCP (Chinese Communist Party) members should not practice Falun Gong. Therefore, my work unit pressured me to stop practicing. My family and relatives, out of fear of me losing my job, also pressured me. At first I felt uneasy but eventually developed determination. With Teacher's Fa in mind, I felt very safe and had absolute faith.

Ever since the persecution started, my smiling and firm-hearted attitude and my upright posture have given my co-workers the impression that "I am not wrong!" Some people who were afraid of getting into trouble dared not to mention Falun Gong around me. When others talked with me about Faun Gong, I told them, "Practicing Falun Gong and being a good person by following 'Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance' is right! Those who prohibit people from practicing are wrong. Having good health through practicing Falun Gong is the best thing, and that is why there are a hundred million Falun Gong practitioners. The dictator who persecutes kind people is wrong! Please do not listen to any deceptive propaganda. History has already given us enough lessons."

Because I have been righteous and fearless, the head of the local CCP committee who is in charge of the Falun Gong issue has never directly contacted me. He simply forwarded the documents to my department and section heads. I told whoever asked me to fill out the forms, "I feel insulted when you ask me to do such things! We have been co-workers for so many years. You know who I am. I would never do anything against my Teacher. Although I understand that you are doing this under pressure, from now on, please do not ask me to do anything that would damage Falun Gong. I will never cooperate with you on this issue! Also, I hope that you don't help them either. If you feel it is hard for you, just ask them to talk to me directly." By having a firm and righteous attitude, nobody came to me for several years. I heard that lower level officers, under pressure, got sick of repeatedly making "guarantee statements" and instead found ways to avoid the issue.

One co-worker told me of an event in 2000. Late one night, a phone call from a member of the CCP committee woke up my boss. He told my boss to call me to see if I had gone to Beijing, because he needed to report to his superiors. My boss replied, "They (husband and wife) are sleeping. Don't force me to do such things just to get a scolding." This story quickly spread in the unit and people thought that [former president] Jiang's regime was insane.

At the end of 2001, I was able to leave my work place and the political environment. I mercifully thank Teacher for offering me a more lenient environment. With Teacher's protection, I walked through those darkest days without wavering.

2. Denouncing the Evil CCP Is to Safeguard the Fa

When the CCP started persecuting Falun Gong, I became disgusted at the CCP and finally decided to resign from the party. For fear of adding pressure to my managers, however, I did not openly mention it.

As the Fa-rectification period advances rapidly, the crimes of the CCP in persecuting Falun Gong have been realized by more and more people. I enlightened to the understanding that to resign from the CCP is to safeguard the Fa. If I am practicing Falun Dafa but am still a member of the CCP and even submitting membership fees to support it to persecute Falun Gong, I am behaving against Truthfulness and Compassion and damaging the Fa. We practitioners should safeguard the Fa.

So, at the 2004 Chinese New Year, I talked with the head of the CCP branch of our work unit. I asked, if I stopped submitting my membership fee to the CCP, wouldn't I automatically cease being a member of the party? I clarified two points: First, the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners is still ongoing. We never know if something new might happen in the future. Even so, my choice would definitely be Falun Dafa. If I were no longer a CCP member, it could reduce the pressure on them. Second, Falun Dafa practitioners believe in divine beings and heavenly principles, while the CCP promotes atheism. Those two beliefs cannot be practiced at the same time. I must be truthful. I also gave other reasons why my resignation would relieve them of pressure from their superiors. But they did not accept my resignation. Instead, they tried to tempt me with personal gain and benefits, which did not move me at all.

In fact, they still deducted the CCP membership fee from my salary. At the 2005 Chinese New Year, I again mentioned that I did not want my CCP membership fee submitted. They replied that, due to fear of an upper level investigation, they did not dare to report a decrease in the number of CCP members.

Early this year, the so-called "Keeping the CCP Fresh" movement started in our unit. All retired or former members were forced to participate in the "educational" classes that were the first portion of the effort. At that time, Teacher's new articles, "Turning the Wheel Again" and "Turning the Wheel Towards the Human World" were published. I was very clear that as a practitioner, I must resign from the CCP.

I invited local fellow practitioners to send forth righteous thoughts in close proximity to our work unit to eliminate the poisoning of people's minds that were affected by the "Keeping the CCP Fresh" movement. Nobody called me during the first portion. But at the final stage, a CCP group leader told me to submit my report of my experiences in the new "Movement." The leader said I could copy or edit any material to complete the task, and that upper level CCP leaders would check the results in person.

Being under such pressure, I did not know what to do for a while. Surely I could not write it, but I was afraid of causing trouble for my unit. I wondered why this was happening to me, so I looked inward and found my loopholes: I was happy that they did not call me to attend the classes, and I had reduced the intensity of sending forth righteous thoughts. The other reason was that the old forces wanted to test me after I had declared my resignation from the CCP on the Internet.

Teacher said,

I realized that this is an opportunity to clarify the truth, and that not cooperating with the "Keeping the CCP Fresh" movement is to save colleagues. On the surface, they might endure some pressure from upper levels, but it would help their eternal future.

With determined righteous thoughts, I walked the right path. The human mentality should be removed, and tests from the old forces are not acceptable. I first sent forth powerful righteous thoughts together with local practitioners to eliminate the evil CCP spirit. Then I went to the unit and told the CCP group leader, "I have mentioned about resigning from the CCP earlier and I have not personally submitted CCP membership fee for two years. However, you deducted it from my salary. I do not know what this new "Movement" is all about, so how can I just write a false report?! This is against the principles I live by. I have heard that many people have already denounced the CCP on the Internet. This is the will of heaven. It's good for you and others if I do not write a report. You will see it more clearly in the future." He replied, "I won't be able to deal with my boss if you don't write a report. Perhaps you can talk to my boss?" So we went to the department head office, but the supervisor was very busy. I told the group leader, "Since I am no longer working here, it would be a good reason for you to say that you could not find me."

Actually, I had talked with the supervisor several times about quitting the CCP and my reasons for doing so. I gave him my first copy of the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party and the pamphlet "Choosing Your Future." I knew that he was not active in the "Keeping the CCP Fresh" movement. In any event, the CCP's plan to make me submit failed.

In the final stages of the movement, we practitioners send forth righteous thoughts together to eliminate all evil elements and not allow the evaluation team to do its job. I later learned that one evaluation team did not come. Others came but simply had dinner and left. The provincial team showed up but just had a meeting with the managers.

During this time, I sent the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party and instructions on how to access the "Quitting the CCP" website to relevant people and co-workers. With my righteous thoughts I also urged them to quit the CCP.

3. Being Kind to Others Is Also Safeguarding the Fa

In "Teaching the Fa at the 2004 Chicago Conference" Teacher said,

Safeguarding the Fa is the basis for my behavior. In order to validate the Fa, I pay attention to my actions and words, and use my experiences and benefits that I have gained in the practice of Falun Dafa to validate the Fa to people who are in contact with me in daily life and to guard the dignity of the Fa. In rectifying myself while living in this society, I try my best to maintain the good image of a practitioner.

For years I have been doing the work a practitioner should do. No matter what happens, I never forgot that I am a practitioner. Of course, sometimes, due to slow enlightenment to the Fa and having not studied the Fa well enough, I have made mistakes. But I corrected my mistakes through Fa-study and sharing experience with fellow practitioners.

People around me all know I am a Falun Gong practitioner. I think it is important that my image represents Falun Gong's image in people's eyes. When I go to Beijing or some place else or do Dafa work, I don't allow people to misunderstand Falun Gong due to my behavior. For example, without asking for a leave of absence, I come back to work on time on Monday no matter what I do on Sunday. So I have won respect from my co-workers and managers.

Fa-rectification work is to save sentient beings. We should come to a balance in our efforts. Everyone who come into contact with us develops their attitude to Falun Dafa based on their attitude to us. Our behavior affects people's opinions, which in turn expand in a bigger circle far beyond our reach. Words from practitioners' family members have a big influence on other people, so I pay close attention to my family's responses. I encourage them to create a peaceful environment, be polite, and apologize when necessary. To be a good family member is also to safeguard the Fa.

Prior to trips, I prepare well and take care of family issues beforehand. If my return is delayed, I try my best to inform them. I treat all lives in contact with me with compassion. I try to contact more people to tell them "Falun Dafa Is Good!" Through my concern and compassion for them, their respect for the Fa will grow in their minds.

Once I heard that a couple from Tianjin City were on their way to visit their hometown and would stay at my parents' place, so I went to my parents' house to help my mother prepare meals for them. I talked with them individually about the situation of the persecution of practitioners in Tianjin. I learned that they didn't know much about Falun Gong and had not read any Falun Dafa materials, so when they came to stay on their way back to Tianjin, I brought some Falun Dafa materials for them to see them off. They were very happy and told my mother, "We need nothing except for the materials Sister gave us." I felt they had come for the truth.

Once I planned to deliver truth clarification materials to a particular village. First, I took gifts with me and paid a visit to my aunt's home in the village. I clarified the truth about Falun Gong and talked about how Falun Dafa has spread in the world to dissolve my aunt's fear. She told me about the practitioners in the village and villagers' responses to Falun Dafa materials. When I was delivering materials, I met with my aunt's daughter. I told her why I practiced Falun Gong, gave her the materials, and told her to remember "Falun Dafa Is Good!" She said, "I trust you. You are such a good cousin. If you think it is right, it should be right."

4. Thinking about Others Is to Safeguard the Fa

Teacher told us,

I realized that while living a normal life in society, practitioners are changing their "selfish" nature, which is inborn in all lives in the old universe. In the process of upgrading one's xinxing level, practitioners think about others first. Thinking about others first in any case is also the natural behavior of diligent practitioners.

For years, I have been helping fellow practitioners in the production of truth clarification materials. I buy and deliver materials, edit pamphlets, and print Falun Dafa books and new articles for fellow practitioners. I also coordinate in setting up Fa-study groups, buy equipment for fellow practitioners to set up home-based materials production sites, and so on. I have been working with fellow practitioners at the materials production site in a single-line contact arrangement. With strong righteous thoughts, good communication, and by looking inward in every situation, we do not have many conflicts and have not left loopholes for the old forces to use against us. For years, we have overcome many difficulties and kept our work running smoothly without suffering economic losses. With cooperation, fellow practitioners pay attention to Fa-study and sending forth righteous thoughts. As a result, we have not experienced persecution directly. Due to my experience of considering others first on the basis of the Fa and considering the safety of fellow practitioners and the Fa first, the power of Dafa reveals the Fa's dignity and solemnity. By creating a good cultivation environment, we are able to move forward steadily and keep mistakes to a minimum. That is also to safeguard the Fa.

Teacher said,

Of course we Falun Dafa practitioners should be the guards of Falun Dafa!