(Clearwisdom.net) In late 1995, I went to a client's place and we talked about qigong. She asked several questions and I could not answer. She said, "Maybe you can find a copy of Zhuan Falun to read. It explains many things very clearly. I have one copy but I have lent it to someone." I was very excited, as if hearing something I had long been waiting for.
After returning to my hometown, I looked around for Falun Gong practitioners. In that next four or five months, Zhuan Falun was on my mind a lot.
Finally, my efforts paid off. One day in March or April 1996, I saw someone reading by the road. Since I had been looking for Falun Gong books, I went to him and asked, "What kind of book are you reading?" "A Falun Gong book," he replied. I was very excited and asked if I could take a look. He said yes. It was Zhuan Falun. I thus sat there reading the book for two hours and finished half of it, while forgetting his existence and my work. He needed to get the book back, so I asked him where could I obtain such books. He said there was a practice site that met between 6 and 7 a.m. and I could find the book there.
The next morning, I went to the practice site and found more than 10 people exercising there, with books by their side. I thus purchased Zhuan Falun and Explaining the Content of Falun Dafa. After returning home, I read the books three times, and became clear on many things: I have been waiting for this cultivation for hundreds or thousands of years.
This is how I started to practice, and it was actually arranged by Teacher. After that, I went to the practice site on time every day. My wife was surprised: how come a person who was often late for work can now be on time every day? She was a little worried and followed me to the practice site--she wanted to keep an eye on me rather than learn the exercises. Arriving there, she found the practitioners to be a group of very nice people. Maybe because of karmic relationship, she also started to practice. After that, we got up early every day to go to practice together. We encourage each other, and were never stopped by rain or storm. Every evening, we read one lecture of Zhuan Falun. Since Teacher said Fa-study is of the utmost importance, we often joined the group Fa-study once a week.
Teacher said,
"Whether you can let go of ordinary human attachments is a fatal test on your way to becoming a truly extraordinary being. Every disciple who truly cultivates must pass it, for it is the dividing line between a cultivator and an everyday person." ("True Cultivation,"Essentials for Further Advancement)
Three or four months later, I had a tribulation of sickness karma. At that time, I had a stomachache and it was too painful to move. I thought: Teacher asked us to make judgments based on the Fa whenever something comes up. Plus, as a practitioner, the reason behind the pain is that karma needs to be eliminated. So I decided to give up human notions and not consider it as sickness. Teacher has eliminated many bad things for us, and we need to bear the small remaining parts. For three whole days, I could not move. My wife suggested that I go to see a doctor if the pain was unbearable. I said, "I believe in Teacher's words. This is a process of eliminating karma. If I cannot make it and will die, so be it!" She said, "Since you are so determined, how about if I read the Fa to you?" In this way, she started to read the Fa to me, and I fell asleep. After waking up, I went to the bathroom twice. Miraculously, my body was back to normal.
Not long after that, a friend came to me to borrow money for his friend. He said it would be returned within one day. So, without receipt I lent him tens of thousand of yuan--the money that I used to run a small business. I did not hear back from him after that. Soon afterwards, both my wife and I were laid off from work, with no compensation. We could not run the small business, either. Then I remember Teacher's words in Zhuan Falun, "If something is yours, nobody will take it away, and if something isn't yours, you won't be able to get it even by fighting for it." I believe in Teacher's words, and thought maybe I had owed the money in the past and now it is time to pay back; or it could be a test for me to get rid of an attachment. Two months later, my friend gave me some money, and I slowly calmed down. One day, he paid me back the money in full.
Before this tribulation was over, another one came. One day, my child's teacher called me saying my child hurt someone in the sports class, and that student was in the hospital. I went to the hospital and the student was having a CT scan. I said, "I will pay for the cost no matter how much it is." It was indeed expensive. The next day, I bought some fruits and went to the student's home to visit him. After arriving there, it turned out his parents and I had known each other. They were reasonable people, saying their child's medical insurance could cover the medical expense. When looking back, I realized it was indeed a test to see how I reacted throughout this.
Being a practitioner also means improving "xinxing". One day, my neighbor was selling his apartment. Since it was close by and the price was relatively low, I bought it. One evening past 11 p.m. someone knocked at door very hard, screaming. I opened the door, and found it was someone who lived close by. He was drunk and yelling very loudly. I reminded myself that I was a practitioner and should not argue with him. I invited him into the living room, and he said, "I heard you bought the apartment I wanted. You stole it from me." I said, "I can give it to you if you want. Since I already paid for it, you can pay me back." He said he needed several days before being able to pay me. I said, "You can just take the key with you now." He left. At that time, Teacher was helping me, and my heart was very calm. I thought, "I am a practitioner and should not argue with him." But after all, I am the head of the household, and I felt that I had lost face since this happened in front of my family. After returning to the room, I cried. Suddenly, a miracle happened: the big picture of Teacher in the room suddenly became three-dimensional, and was smiling at me. That night, I had difficulty going to sleep, and was sweating a lot. The next day, the headache that bothered me for years got better, and my head was very clear. After that, I saw that person several times and he also asked me for help with some things. I felt uneasy, realizing it was indeed difficult to cultivate xinxing. After some time, something happened to him, and he moved out of the area.
When first starting to practice, I found cultivation to be very difficult. After several tribulations, I paid more attention to Fa-study and had some improvements. When something came along, I would look within to upgrade myself. When xinxing level is increased, the tribulations become easier.
More people joined the practice in 1997. We thus started to have a practice site in my home. We first studied the Fa once a week, and later twice a week. At our practice site, we encouraged each other, and shared understandings; thus we improved rapidly. In addition to group Fa-study, we also study the Fa on our own. We also tried to understand things on the basis of the Fa, and many difficult problems were solved. Later, more and more practitioners started to practice Falun Gong, and several group Fa-study sites were launched. Many of these group Fa-study sites turned into practice sites. My wife was an assistant for a practice site. I bought a tape-recorder, exercise tapes, batteries and chargers so that we could use them at the practice site. Some practitioners have little money, so I took several extra copies of Dafa books for them to read. After the CCP started to persecute Dafa on July 20, 1999, it deceived people saying someone gave financial support for Falun Gong. I thus use these facts to clarify: my home was a practice site and I was a practice site assistant. If there was some kind of so-called financial support, it was the salary from my full-time job.
I was very diligent in cultivation between 1998 and 1999. One afternoon, reading Zhuan Falun with both legs crossed, I saw layers and layers of dimensions being revealed to me. I understood many Dafa principles, as if enlightened. I was very happy. I told my wife about the experience and she was also very happy. Soon afterwards I felt very tired so I took a nap. After waking up, things became normal. I did not have such an extraordinary experience again.
In April 1999, a publication in Tianjin Teacher's College that targets youth published an article to defame Falun Gong. Some practitioners went to the editor's office to clarify the truth, and requested the article to be withdrawn so that people would not be misled. The officials met us, and we told them about the wonders of Dafa, and how we and our families had benefited. The officials said, "We did not know much about this. Thank you for telling us. We plan to withdraw the article, but first we need to get approval from higher officials." Several days later, however, the officials' attitude changed and no action was taken. As a result, more practitioners went there to clarify the truth.
On the afternoon of April 23, many police went to Tianjin Teacher's College. Practitioners were asked to leave unconditionally by a voice over the P.A. system, and the situation was stuck there. Then, someone said it was snowing and we saw Falun rotating in the sky. Some practitioners saw small Falun while others saw big ones. Some practitioners saw Teacher's Fashen, while some saw Teacher's gong body; there were also some who could see nothing. Even passengers on the street called aloud to the police, "Hey, look at the giant Falun in the sky! Why do you police want to bring trouble to yourselves?" After about half an hour, things returned to normal, and the P.A. system came on again. At that time, practitioners joined together to recite Lunyu. Even today, I still remember clearly the touching scene. Soon afterwards, more police arrived and they started to arrest practitioners. Every practitioner was carried by several police out of the entrance. In fact, the police were fearful in their hearts. As the police carried one practitioner by my side, the practitioner spoke aloud, "What are you doing?" The police were shocked, and did not know what to do until quite a while after that. We knew we had done nothing wrong, so we left there and headed to the government office to seek justice. More than forty practitioners were arrested, and we requested their release. This led to the peaceful appeal adjacent to Zhongnanhai on "April 25", 1999.
I read one chapter of Zhuan Falun every day, and read it aloud. Later, I hand transcribed and recited Dafa books including Essentials for Further Advancement and Hong Yin. I also shared my experience with some other practitioners, and they also paid more attention to Fa-study. With the guidance of Dafa, many local practitioners were able to keep up with the Fa-rectification momentum, and did very well in validating the Fa and saving sentient beings. After I was illegally detained, Fa-study was still possible since I keep the Fa in my heart. In this way, I also helped other detained practitioners with Fa-study.
In my understanding, the process of cultivation is a process for us to study the Fa, follow the Fa and fundamentally let go of human notions. We need to prevent being contaminated by the Chinese Communist Party culture; we also need to get rid of attachments and strengthen our righteous thoughts.
March 21, 2007
