(Clearwisdom.net) I would like to share my experience in the practice with fellow practitioners.
1. Studying the Teachings Well is the Fundamental Guarantee of Passing Tests
Teacher said in Essentials for Further Advancement II "Drive Out Interference,"
"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."
In Essentials for Further Advancement II "A Message,"
"As a Dafa disciple, in order to do Fa-rectification things well and to consummate everything of yours well, you need to study the Fa a lot. No matter how busy you are, you cannot skip Fa-study. This is what can best ensure your reaching Consummation."
In Teaching and Explaining the Fa at the Metropolitan New York Fa Conference,
"Since you're Dafa disciples you can't dissociate yourselves from the Fa when you do things. You're still continually changing this most surface part that hasn't changed. That's why you can't go without studying the Fa. You must study the Fa well. In the process of studying the Fa you'll be able to keep clearing away bad elements in yourself, changing the last bit of stuff you have that hasn't yet been changed. Why did I always use to tell you so emphatically to study the Fa, study the Fa, and study the Fa well? Because it's of utmost importance."
I started learning Falun Dafa in 1996, and Fa study has become a part of my life. I feel that something is missing if I don't study the Fa. My daughter was impressed with my persistence in studying the Fa.
I can't see anything with my third eye and have no supernormal abilities. My steadfast belief in the practice and my righteous thoughts come solely from studying the Fa. After the persecution started in 1999, whenever I came across tribulations and tests, my faith remained firm and I always used the teachings as my guidance in judging right from wrong.
My experience tells me that a practitioner can only improve his character and maintain righteous thoughts when he persists in studying the Fa. A month after I began practicing Falun Dafa, one night I had severe abdominal pain. I realized that it was Teacher helping me to eliminate karma and I needed to endure the pain, but I needed to take over a new position the next day and didn't want my colleagues to think ill of Falun Dafa, since they all knew that I was a practitioner. I asked Teacher what I should do. A few hours later my stomach stopped hurting and I was perfectly healthy the next day. I believed Teacher removed my chronic illness because I have never had abdominal pain since.
When my wife had just began practicing Falun Dafa, she focused on doing the exercises and didn't study the teachings.
Teacher said in Zhuan Falun Lecture Six,
"It is usually believed that cultivation insanity has several forms. What I just mentioned is also one of its forms. Because one's mind is not righteous, one incurs spirit or animal possession and has various mentalities such as pursuing some qigong state to show off. Some people go right after supernormal abilities or have practiced sham qigong. When they practice qigong, they are used to abandoning their Main Consciousness. They lose their awareness of everything and give away their bodies to others. They become mentally disoriented and let their bodies be dictated by their Assistant Consciousness or foreign messages. They exhibit some strange behavior. Such a person will jump out of a building or dive into water if he is told to do so. He himself will not even want to live and will give away his body to others. This is not cultivation insanity, but it is going astray in qigong practice, and it is caused by one's acting that way intentionally at the beginning. Many people think that swinging their bodies around unconsciously is qigong practice. Actually, if one really practices qigong in this state, it can lead to serious consequences. That is not qigong practice, but a result of everyday people's attachments and pursuits."
In May 1997, my wife created her own movements when she did the exercises, and later thought that she saw Teacher's image telling her what to do. At times she talked nonsense and eventually seemed possessed. She caused damage to Falun Dafa's reputation. I asked many practitioners to come to our home to study the Fa with her several times, but she complained that I shouldn't have so many people come over. Practitioners then stopped coming by. My wife's situation caused me tremendous pressure. Through studying the Fa, I realized that it was not a coincidence. It was a demonic interference to prevent me and my wife from practicing Falun Dafa, and to test whether I had faith in Teacher and the Fa.
I believed that the only thing I could do to help my wife was to have faith in Teacher and the Fa. During that time, I had my wife watch Teacher's lecture videos or listen to the audio tapes every day. One day I read Zhuan Falun to her for several hours, until midnight. She finally regained her main consciousness. She cried and thanked me for saving her. I told her it was Teacher and the Fa. She knelt down in front of Teacher's photo and told Teacher that she still wanted to practice Falun Dafa. Soon she became normal and has continued practicing to this day. We witnessed Falun Dafa's miracles.
Through this experience, I understood the solemnity of the practice and the importance of group study.
In 2005, my wife became very ill. She had violent abdominal pain and vomited constantly. She couldn't eat or drink for three weeks, and became very weak and emaciated. My son wanted to take her to a hospital because it looked like her life was in danger, but she refused. I was very worried and didn't know whether this was interference from the old forces or her own illness karma. I remembered that Teacher said on several occasions that everything that happens in the practice is a good thing, so I knew that I should treat it with righteous thoughts.
Teacher said in Zhuan Falun,
"It is hard in that you knowingly lose your vested interests among everyday people. Amidst your critical self-interests, are you moved? Amidst interpersonal mindgames, are you moved? When your friends or family suffer, are you moved? How do you weigh them? This is how difficult it is to be a practitioner!"
I know what happened to my wife was a test to see if I was moved. It was painful for me to watch her suffering, due to my human sentiment for my wife. I was worried because I had the attachment of fear. I knew that I should not be moved if it was the old forces' interference, but should try to help her as a fellow practitioner. At the same time I needed to do what I was supposed to do: study the Fa, do the exercises, clarify the facts of Falun Gong to people, and send forth righteous thoughts. I asked several practitioners to send righteous thoughts for her and I frequently sent righteous thoughts in front of my wife. My wife also persisted in memorizing the Fa, listening to Teacher's lecture tapes, and sending righteous thoughts to negate the persecution. My daughter and I took turns reading Zhuan Falun to my wife. She told us that she felt streams of cold air leaving her when we read to her. We knew that Teacher was cleansing her physical body. Through our faith and persistence in Fa study and sending forth righteous thoughts, my wife became healthy again. We again witnessed the miracle of Falun Dafa. Since then my daughter has become a practitioner.
2. Rationally Clarifying the Truth About Falun Gong Without Going to Extremes
Teacher said in Essentials for Further Advancement II "Rationality,"
"Validate the Fa with rationality, clarify the truth with wisdom, spread the Fa and save people with mercy."
The following is my experience and understanding in clarifying the facts of the persecution to people face to face.
I take every opportunity that I can to rationally tell people about Falun Dafa. I don't limit myself to certain forms and don't go to extremes. I try to participate in all kinds of social events that are healthy, for example, reunions, visits to friends and families, weddings, funerals, traveling, and meetings. I talk to people whenever I have a chance.
Rationality and wisdom are needed in truth clarification. We should not tell people things that they wouldn't believe. How I talk to people depends on their occupations, educational background, age and sex. As a Falun Gong practitioner, I talk to former classmates, colleagues, friends, family members, acquaintances and neighbors, and give them truth clarification materials at the same time. When I talk to strangers, I chat with them first so they can warm up to me. Then I tell them the facts of Falun Gong based on their personal interests. I try to be considerate and not to force myself on them. It is important to have a kind and peaceful attitude when you talk to others and make them understand that we are only telling them something that is good for their future.
For those who deeply trust the communist regime and don't want to hear anything against it, we should not force our ideas or argue with them. It is best to switch topics and talk to them again in the future when there is an opportunity.
We must be very clear on the topics that we talk about. For example, we should let our audience know what Falun Dafa is and why the communist regime persecutes it, what happened on April 25, 1999, the truth about the staged self-immolation incident on Tiananmen Square, how Falun Dafa is practiced around the world, what the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party are, and how and why people should quit the communist party. If there is not enough time, we should let people know that Falun Dafa is good and that they should quit the Chinese Communist Party to avoid heaven's wrath toward the Party.
Dafa practitioners need to pay attention to our image. We should be peaceful, compassionate and tolerant. We should show that practitioners are highly accomplished, well educated, trustworthy, and kind. Everyday people often judge Falun Dafa through the behaviors of practitioners.
We must cherish every copy of truth clarification material. Practitioners work very hard to save money and assemble the materials. Every time I go out to deliver materials, I read them thoroughly and wrap them carefully. I send out a righteous thought before I hand out each one, "Please let people with predestined relationships see the materials and be saved."
Before we give out Shen Yun DVDs or VCDs, we should ask people whether they have players. I try to give the Shen Yun DVDs and VCDs to people face to face and not mix them with other materials.
Several years ago, I didn't pay attention to sending forth righteous thoughts. A police officer once arrested me and tortured me in a detention center. I now send forth righteous thoughts four times a day. No matter where I go and what I do, I send forth righteous thoughts beforehand. In the past three years, I have gone to faraway prisons and forced labor camps to send forth righteous thoughts. I also distribute Falun Dafa materials when I meet people. In the process I have eliminated my attachments to fear and comfort.
