(Clearwisdom.net) In 1996 my health was deteriorating. Each day I had to take five kinds of medicine. Besides the symptoms of my health problems, the side effects of the medication caused me a lot of suffering. I was afraid that if I took all that medicine every day for twenty years, until I was in my fifties, I would die of the side effects instead of having any of my illnesses cured. Whenever I thought about it, I felt hopeless about my life and future.
My life reached a turning point on April 18, 1996, however, and I was unexpectedly saved from my desperate situation. My husband borrowed the book Falun Gong from his friend. I don't know how to express my joy for that book, which was like a spring wind that opened the door of my soul, revealing my true mind, which had been sealed off for a long time. I truly felt:
"Oh how many the years, looking for the master,
Finally the day has arrived to meet him."
("Destined Return for the Holy Fruition" Hong Yin)
That night, after I finished reading the book, I knew it was exactly what I'd been searching for.
While I was reading Falun Gong, Teacher was cleansing my body. The next day I started to practice the exercises, following the illustrated instructions in the book, but my arms were very sore and I couldn't lift them. It was too difficult for me to hold my arms up for even one second, so I made myself a rule that I would practice the exercise for one minute that day, and two minutes the next. On the third day I would remain for three minutes. After one week I felt an inexhaustible strength and for the first time in a long time experienced what it was like to be free of pain. Later in my cultivation I became unwavering in my belief of Dafa and Teacher. Following are some of the stories about how I've validated the Fa.
The First Time I Clarified the Truth About Falun Gong
On July 20, 1999 the CCP started to persecute Falun Gong. It was like the sky was collapsing. I felt that I was going to collapse. I couldn't eat or sleep, wondering why such a good cultivation practice would be forbidden and persecuted. Although I didn't know the reason, I was single-minded--no matter what they said, I would hold onto my beliefs. I wasn't going to let anyone change my mind.
The next day, when I went to the provincial authorities to appeal for Falun Gong, I was called back to attend a conference at my workplace. I was shocked about how Dafa was being slandered, so I clarified the truth to my colleagues, telling them that Falun Gong practitioners are all good people, that Falun Gong has no harmful effects, and how it is beneficial to the nation and the people. I told them that Dafa has no political goals, but those I spoke to said, "If the CCP wishes to eliminate 'counter-revolutionary' elements, you'd be the first one they arrested." At that time, people were all being restrained by the evil. It was hard for them to listen to the truth.
In December 1999, because of my job, I had an opportunity to contact a high-ranking official, and I wanted to tell him that what the media was saying wasn't true. I discussed my plan with my husband, and resolved to tell the official the truth about Falun Gong. I was quite anxious on my way to his home. I was a little bit scared to tell him about those things at our first meeting. I was afraid that he might report us to the police and wondered whether he could accept what I planned to tell him. As he was a high-ranking official, how would I start? At the time I didn't know that I should restrain those bad thoughts. My husband saw through me and said, "Keep a calm mind!" I immediately restrained my imagination; I felt relieved, and recalled Teacher's words from "Huge Exposure": "What's there to fear? My body would still sit there even with my head cut off." ("What was there to fear?" Essentials for Further Advancement) With my righteous thoughts emerging, I felt relieved.
When we arrived at his home, we introduced ourselves to each other. Then I spoke to him in a direct manner about Falun Gong. He said, "Now Falun Gong practitioners go to Tiananmen Square, gather together and make a lot of trouble. The Falun Gong issue has an international origin." He was implying that Falun Gong was an international plot. He also said, "The police can easily recognize Falun Gong practitioners by their appearance. They all wear flat shoes, carry handbags and stare straight ahead." I knew that those false impressions came from the CCP's slanderous and false propaganda about Falun Gong practitioners, so I asked him "Do you think I look like that? We are Falun Gong practitioners!" He was quite surprised by my words and replied, "You practice Falun Gong? You don't look like Falun Gong practitioners." I said, "We are all considered elite employees in our workplaces. Our Teacher taught us how to be good people, to be kind to others, to work hard and not fight with others. How could we gather together and make trouble? Dafa practitioners just go to Beijing to appeal and report the true situation. Those are our civil rights!" I added, "We have more of a right to speak about Falun Gong than anyone else. Falun Dafa has been spreading, and many officers, intellectuals, professors, and graduates are all learning Falun Gong. Could they all be fooled? They never had any beliefs because they went through 'The Great Cultural Revolution.' Do you think it's easy for them to believe in anything?"
I told him what Teacher said in Zhuan Falun,
"I'm also going to tell you this: what's inside this book of mine combines the Law I taught in several classes. All of it is my words, every sentence is my words, and they were transcribed from the tape recordings word by word, and copied down word by word. It was done with the help of my disciples and students. They transcribed my words from the recordings, and then I revised the book over and over again. All of this is my Law--what I teach is just this one Law." (Zhuan Falun)
Then I gave him an example from a fellow practitioner's experience. She was a veteran practitioner who had attended Teacher's lecture series, and helped out with the task of transcribing Teacher's lectures, but because she often missed words, she decided to help in other ways instead. When the official propaganda that Zhuan Falun wasn't written by Mr. Li Hongzhi was spread, she decided to go to the Appeals Office of the State Council in Beijing to tell them the true situation. How could you say that she was making trouble? But there were many police officers there, and they detained her and forced her to "confess" that it was wrong to go to Beijing anyway.
The official listened silently. It was apparent that he was having a change of heart. I asked him "You're a leader, do you think what she did was wrong? Wouldn't you have done the same thing in her situation?" When a person's knowing side is inspired and motivated, he often speaks in a kindly manner. He said, "I would, after first considering whether others could accept my way of handling the matter." Apparently, he was able to grasp the truth about Falun Gong. We spoke for quite some time, and ended out conversation amicably.
On the way home I was struck with severe pain in my head. I thought it might because something bad had been eliminated from my body during the process of clarifying the truth. In this way I came to understand these words from the Fa,
"People think that the renowned persons, scholars, and different sorts of experts in human society are great. In fact, they are all really insignificant, for they are everyday people." ("What is Wisdom," Essentials for Further Advancement)
The reason I had regarded him as a high-ranking official was because I hadn't been considering it from the perspective of the Fa; instead I was looking through an ordinary person's notions. I'd regarded him as great, making myself very small.
I also learned not to accept bad thoughts unquestioningly when they appeared, and I realized I should reject them. This is cultivation: when a thought emerges, judge it by the Fa and eliminate it if it's incorrect. This was the first time I directly clarified the truth face to face, which was a way to validate the Fa.
Successfully Breaking Up the Old Force Arrangements
After March 5, 2002, when practitioners in Changchun broadcast the truth about the Tiananmen self-immolation incident on TV, the people began to awaken and the evil was very frightened. The CCP began a frenzied round of arrests.
One night around seven o'clock a practitioner called and told me that the police had just left her home, saying they were going to go to my house, and some other disciple's homes. As I hung up the phone my heart was pounding. I didn't know what to do, believing the police were coming to arrest us. Despite the pressure, I discussed they situation with my husband and we decided to send forth righteous thoughts every 15 minutes.
While I was sitting there trying to send forth righteous thoughts, I wondered what I should do if they came. I could almost hear them pounding on the door. Would they come or not? Many thoughts emerged. My first attempt at sending forth righteous thoughts under those circumstances was quite unsteady. The second time was better, though I still wasn't tranquil.
How could I go on like this? If I kept on thinking about it, wasn't I asking for it? Teacher said in Zhuan Falun,
"If you think too much about them you're attached. If you dwell on them, aren't you attached and seeking them?"
I thought I really was asking for it. Furthermore, in the article "What Are Supernormal Abilities" Teacher said,
"An inadequate state of mind-such as fearing the evil, wavering in your thoughts when you use your supernormal abilities, or doubting whether they will work-can affect or interfere with the outcome of the supernormal abilities." ("What Are Supernormal Abilities", Essentials for Further Advancement II)
When I realized this I was relieved and was able to steady my nerves. Then my righteous thoughts became powerful, and I knew the evil couldn't enter our home and seize us. We sent forth righteous thoughts again and again as time passed, and we kept it up the next day. Consequently, what at first seemed a forgone conclusion changed as the old forces' arrangement was eliminated by the strength and solidity of our righteous thoughts.
Through the event I awakened to deeper understandings about what cultivation during Fa-rectification is, how everything in human society is illusory, that stronger righteous thoughts have more power, what it is to deny the old forces and how to deny them, and many more Fa-truths, such as
"The Fa can break all attachments, the Fa can destroy all evil, the Fa can shatter all lies, and the Fa can strengthen righteous thoughts." ("Drive Out Interference", Essentials for Further Advancement II)
Because of what I learned I've used righteous thoughts many times to eliminate old force arrangements during my cultivation, and I've gained a deeper understanding of
A Regretful Event
I would also like to share a lesson I learned. One day I went shopping. When I went to lunch I met a middle-aged woman who sat across from me, and as we waited for our meals we struck up a conversation. She said, "I'm sick and unemployed. Life is hard, and I have no money for the doctor, so I'm shopping for cheaper medicine." Thinking it was a good opportunity to clarify the truth, I told her she ought to learn Falun Dafa, which can relieve illnesses and improve health, and I also told her the truth about the persecution.
She said, "You're the third Falun Gong practitioner I've met. The first one told me about the persecution, the second one also spoke about the persecution and gave me a CD, though it didn't work, and you're the third." She wondered aloud, "Whom should I learn from?" I said, "Are there any practitioners near your home?" She said, "There used to be one, but I haven't seen him since he was arrested." I knew she had the chance to obtain the Fa, so I told her that she was bound to learn if she wanted to.
I knew there had to be a reason we'd met, some reason she'd met three Dafa practitioners. I believed it was Master's careful arrangement to have me help her obtain the Fa, practice the exercises, and read the books, but my fear, my wish to just let her know the truth, and my other incorrect thoughts made me forget my principles and miss the opportunity.
On my way home I looked within and saw many attachments. In "Teaching the Fa at the Washington, D.C. International Fa Conference" Master said,
"So in today's world, we can't not be responsible for other sentient beings, we can't not be responsible for other sentient beings' obtaining the Fa in the future, and we can't not lay a foundation for other sentient beings to obtain the Fa in the future, because they could well be beings from your system." ("Teaching the Fa at the Washington, D.C. International Fa Conference", Guiding the Voyage)
So according to the Fa, wasn't I responsible for Dafa and sentient beings? I felt ashamed because I was only thinking about myself. The event taught me a great lesson. I regretted missing a chance to help someone obtain the Fa because of my attachments, and I wanted to tell other practitioners to avoid making the same mistake. Don't let personal attachments and thoughts hinder you and cause you regrets in your path of cultivation.
In the article, "Let Go of Human Attachments and Save the World's People" Teacher said,
"For a Fa-rectification period Dafa disciple, personal liberation is not the goal of cultivation: when you came, saving sentient beings was your great aspiration, and that is the responsibility and mission history has bestowed upon you in Fa-rectification."
He also said,
"And as for people who want to learn the practice after you clarify the truth, you should arrange for them to study the Fa and learn the exercises as soon as possible. They are the next group of disciples who will cultivate."
The Fa is clear. We should take the Fa as our teacher in cultivation and become an unselfish, righteous enlightened being. Never leave regrets in the path of cultivation.
How many "firsts" are there on the path of cultivation? No matter what our experiences or lessons, they are the stairs we climb during our cultivation. I'm surrounded by many Dafa disciples who are doing very well. Every time I see how well they are doing I'm encouraged, and it helps me find my attachments. Now that we are closer to the end we should proceed more steadily.
The above is my cultivation experience. Please kindly note anything incorrect.
