(Clearwisdom.net) I used to suffer from many diseases and had to take medication daily. That was before I began practicing Falun Dafa, which was in April 1996. I had also tried several Qigong methods to cure my illnesses. Since I started practicing Falun Dafa, I have gradually come to realize the purpose of this human existence. Since the persecution started, following the path that Teacher has arranged, I have firmly and smoothly validated Dafa with dignity, saving sentient beings, continuing to the present day.
1. Don't Recognize Old Forces' Arrangements
A Dafa practitioner's path in life is arranged by Teacher. Teacher has arranged the best path for each individual to reach Consummation. In the Fa-rectification period, the paths to be followed by practitioners may be different, but the cultivation goals are the same -- following Teacher in Fa-rectification, practicing and studying the Fa, clarifying the truth to save sentient beings, and sending forth righteous thoughts. We must do the three things well until we reach Consummation and leave an absolutely righteous path for the future human beings.
2. Insist on Outdoor Practice
Jiang's regime framed Falun Gong and banned the practice of the Falun Gong exercises. Even goodhearted people in China will say, "You can practice at home so no one would see you." I came to realize that there is nothing wrong in following the path arranged by Teacher and there is nothing wrong in practicing and cultivating Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance. However, what was wrong was that Jiang's regime had determined to eliminate Falun Gong. Since there is nothing wrong in cultivating and practicing, why keep secret the fact that we practice Falun Gong? After the persecution started, it did not take me too long to come out to practice the exercises outdoors. I insisted on doing the exercises at a park every day, rain or shine, and continue to do so today.
Wherever I travel, I insist on practicing outdoors. During the morning practice, I clarify the truth about Falun Dafa to the people in the park. As a result, they were able to understand that Jiang's persecution is wrong, and some of them even started practicing. In October 2002, my wife began to practice, and both of us started practicing outdoors. In late 2004, my son and grandson also began to practice. Of course, I have encountered interference, but "just by having your heart unaffected you will be able to handle all situations." ("Eliminate Your Last Attachment(s)" in Essentials for Further Advancement II)
3. Frighten the Evil with Righteous Thoughts and Righteous Actions
Since the summer of 2000, I have been making posters with words like "Falun Dafa is Good!" "Falun Dafa is righteous Fa!" and "Falun Dafa is a universal law!" I have posted them on the streets, frightening the evildoers. There were no material production sites at that time, and only a few Dafa flyers available. In spring of 2001, while posting Dafa posters on the streets, someone who did not know the truth of Dafa followed me. I was cornered in a dead end street. I confronted the person and clarified to him the real facts about Dafa. As a result, he was convinced and reminded me to "be careful next time."
In 2001, after the Chinese New Year, my colleagues asked me whether or not I had seen the report of the "Self-immolation" incident on Tiananmen Square. With firm belief in the Fa, I told them that it was a deceptive story made up by Jiang's regime. I said that practitioners are taught not to take lives, not to kill and not to commit suicide. I told them not to trust the reports on the news. Whenever a so-called sensitive date came, such as April 25th (anniversary of the peaceful appeal by 10,000 practitioners at Beijing's Office of Appeals in 1999), July 20th (anniversary of the official beginning of the persecution in 1999), government holidays, Teacher's birthday, etc, often someone would tell me to go somewhere to hide for several days until those days had passed. I then realized the following: the evil is more scared on those so-called sensitive dates, hence more persecution occurred, and hence the more we needed to keep righteous thoughts and righteous actions, stepping forward to clarify the facts, exposing Jiang regime's lies, and saving sentient beings. Therefore, whenever such sensitive dates came, I would go out to distribute Dafa flyers, clarify the facts face to face, and expose the evil's persecution. This frightened the evildoers and helped more people understand the truth of Dafa. With righteous thoughts and righteous actions, I made efforts to create a good environment for clarifying the truth and saving sentient beings. I chose to distribute flyers during daylight hours. With righteous thoughts and righteous actions, I left the materials in the baskets of bicycles I passed, or in the door handles or mail slots of residences I passed.
4. Clarify the Truth Whenever Possible
With my job as a technical consultant, I had chances to meet with various government officials and people from in and out the provinces, especially farmers. This gave me more opportunities to clarify the truth. No matter whom I met at work, at a meeting, during a consultation, at a reception, at my office, at the dinner table, or at the field, I handed them flyers to let more people learn the goodness of Falun Gong. One time, a retired director in a city's Agriculture Department initiated a research institute, and had several of his staff come over for a technical consultation. During the meeting, I told them the facts about Dafa and gave them truth-clarifying tapes. As soon as he understood the real facts about Dafa, he went back and let more people listen to the tape, clarified the truth to them, and himself started practicing Faun Gong.
5. A Righteous Field Frightens the Evil
As a Dafa practitioner, I keep Dafa in my mind and do things according to the Fa. This has created a strong field of righteous thoughts so that all bad things or interferences are eliminated, dissolved or converted to good things.
For example, in July 2004, someone reported our Falun Gong outdoor practice, and 610 Office officials attempted to arrest us. A practitioner heard the news ahead of time and notified me to hide to avoid capture. I realized that the evil could not take control and move me. The next day, I went to the park to practice. On the way to the park, I sent forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the evil dark minions. At the park, I sent forth righteous thoughts again to block any evil acts at the practice site, and dissolved them. Now we still continue practicing outdoors. Similar disturbances had happened in 2002 and 2003. Whenever such an incident occurred, it was caused by the lack of righteous thoughts, by a remaining gap, or because we did not completely negate the old forces' arrangements. Therefore, we have to look inward, improve our "xinxing" and eliminate evil acts.
"Indestructible righteous faith in the cosmos' Truth forms benevolent Dafa disciples' rock-solid, Diamond-Like bodies, it frightens all evil, and the light of Truth it emanates makes the unrighteous elements in all beings' thoughts disintegrate. However strong the righteous thoughts are, that's how great the power is." ("Also in a Few Words" in Essentials for Further Advancement II)