(Clearwisdom.net) I've been practicing Falun Dafa for more than ten years. I usually have a serene expression even when my legs hurt during the sitting meditation. Therefore, many practitioners think that my legs don't hurt. Before we begin the fifth exercise, "Strengthening Divine Powers," we are told to "Relax the entire body, but not too relaxed. Close the eyes lightly. The heart fills with compassion. Assume a peaceful and serene countenance."
In the process of resisting the persecution and saving sentient beings, I have understood the inner meanings of "The heart fills with compassion. Assume a peaceful and serene countenance." While saving sentient beings amidst tribulations, practitioners should have compassion toward people of the world, fellow practitioners, and those who do not know the truth about Falun Gong and have committed sins against it. It is only with a compassionate heart that we can validate the Fa and save sentient beings.
Teacher said, "Everyone in the world was part of my family. Don't acknowledge the old forces' arrangements, and do as much as possible to clarify the truth." ("Explaining the Fa During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference") Then do these people of the world not also include those who do not know the truth and have committed sins against Dafa practitioners? Maybe they were muddled headed or played an evil role under the old forces' arrangements in this life and will eventually be eliminated. Their destiny is truly sad. Aren't Teacher's relatives our relatives? I cannot even remember how many relatives I've had from my past lives, and it is probably a predestined relationship if we meet again in this life! A practitioners' role is to save sentient beings, and we should treasure every encounter. We cannot shoulder the responsibility of saving sentient beings amidst tribulations if we do not have great compassion.
I have been illegally arrested and detained numerous times since the persecution of Falun Gong began on July 20, 1999. But I do not hate the police officers that arrested me and beat me. Some of them asked me if I hated them. I told them calmly that I did not hate them because practitioners do not have enemies and we do not harbor resentment or hatred. Come to think of it, just telling them that was not enough. At the time I did not treat the situation with righteous thoughts. It would have been a more compassionate act had I prevented them from committing wrongdoings with righteous thoughts. Back then I was forbearing more. Recently, many of those who persecuted Dafa practitioners have received retribution. And it is happening more often. I feel something heavy in my heart when I hear such news. I wish they would do some soul-searching and learn from painful lessons. There is truly not much opportunity left.
My father is an intellectual person and has been deeply poisoned by the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) culture. He is an atheist and has become timid and sensitive since the persecution started. His analytical mind has prevented him from learning the truth about Falun Gong. In addition, the defamatory rumors broadcast by the government media made him believe that all my tribulations were the result of practicing Falun Gong. Although he knows that the CCP is no good, he refuses to quit the Party. One time he even claimed that he would die a Party member. I was really affected when I heard that.
My father and I do not have many opportunities to see each other. Therefore, I treasure every moment we are together. I try to conduct myself well and act and speak according the standard of a practitioner so that he can sense the purity and beauty of Dafa. Nevertheless, he refused to quit even after great efforts on my part, and I felt somewhat frustrated and lost. I even thought I would stop clarifying the truth to him. I was discouraged and felt that, since I had tried my best, at least I would not regret it later. After calmly thinking about it, I realized that, as Dafa practitioners, we should conduct ourselves well in society. And our most important role is to validate the Fa. So how can we attach conditions when we validate the Fa? If we give up our path when we encounter difficulties, then aren't we being conditional? Should we stop doing what we are supposed to do when things are difficult? When I looked within I discovered that the attachments to competitiveness, selfishness, and sentimentality are all obstacles to clarifying the truth. If I rid myself of these attachments and replace them with a pure and compassionate heart, then the effect will be better. Later when I clarified the truth, I often reminded myself to first conduct myself well. And when I am with my relatives, I act like a practitioner, strictly following the requirements of Dafa.
Later on, my father said something against Dafa. Tears welled up in my eyes because I was truly worried about the future of his life. At the time, I was not moved. My heart was filled with compassion and I knew I would not stop trying to save him. As long as there is time and opportunity, I will continue to save sentient beings and not give up on any of them. I will use the limited time "to do better, to be more efficient, to have a greater impact, and to save more people." ("Fa Teaching at the U.S. Capital, July 22, 2007") Because of the circumstances, I'm not able to meet my relatives frequently. But as long as I'm able to see them, I clarify the truth to them. And I am glad that they have quit the CCP.
There has been continuous interference on the path of validating the Fa. However, I have coordinated well with fellow practitioners and have safeguarded the operation of the material production site. After years of contact with practitioners, we have been able to establish a material production site and handle other projects. Although there have been continuous tribulations and xinxing conflicts, we have not had disagreements we could not resolve. Everyone knows to follow the Fa and to place importance on "one body," to take a step back and to look inward amidst conflicts, and to yield to others and to put oneself in the other person's shoes. This way, many of our conflicts were easily resolved.
Recently, a practitioner that appeared at a new material site had conflicts with others. This practitioner has had very rough experiences. He was jailed and tortured severely. And the environment of that particular area was not very good, either. The police had been making illegal arrests and practitioners died as a result of the persecution. It was extremely difficult to establish a material site in such circumstances. I shared with him several times and tried to help him to resolve the conflicts with other practitioners. I said to him, "Practitioners should treat each other with compassion. It is not easy to come together to validate Dafa. If we analyze an issue from the other person's point of view and put others before ourselves, then we can coordinate better. If we can all do the same, then things will run smoothly. If we practitioners have barriers amongst ourselves, then the evil elements will take advantage of the loophole. If we coordinate well as one body, then nothing can stop us!" He cried when he heard what I had to say. Things are running smoothly now, and I'm glad I was able to help him overcome the difficulties.
There was a period of time when I was very busy and did not study the Fa as much. As a result, I felt that my xinxing was not as good. One time I had a conflict with a practitioner when we were working on establishing television reception for New Tang Dynasty programming. Although I pretended there was no conflict, my heart was not calm. We wasted a lot of time and the reception equipment malfunctioned. From this incident, I realized that I was not cultivating well and had many deeply rooted attachments--jealousy, wanting to "save face," beating around the bush (a trait of Party culture), and complicated thoughts. In reality, it was because I was afraid of being hurt. The reason why these attachments were so strong was because I was not studying the Fa as much, and the bad human notions were reflected as a result of the attachments.
Teacher has continuously instructed us to study the Fa diligently. In order to validate the Fa and save sentient beings with righteous thoughts, we must study the Fa more. Our steadfast righteous thoughts and compassion to save sentient beings come from the Fa.
