(Clearwisdom.net) After seeing both my parents regain their health from practicing Falun Gong, I have come to believe in the supernormal powers of the practice. However, my understanding was limited to the idea that it could only heal one's body, and as I was quite young and healthy, I thought that it was not for me. I quite often saw a large group of people practicing the Falun Gong exercises outside every morning, and was very touched by the peacefulness and harmony of the music as well as the atmosphere around the exercise site. Since I already knew a little bit about Falun Gong, in June 1999, I decided to join them. The coordinator there taught me the correct movements for the exercises and gave me the book Zhuan Falun, along with copies of all the lectures that Master had published.
By the time I had learned all of the exercises, the persecution had started, and I hadn't finished reading Zhuan Falun. In a panic, I covered my Dafa books with a yellow cloth and hid them at my workplace. They stayed there for seven years! However, I strongly believed that the information put out by the media about Falun Gong was not true and that the media had lied.
It was not until the spring of 2006 that I read Zhuan Falun again. I read it three times in succession, and learned a lot from it. I had come to understand why my parents were in good health after practicing Falun Gong, and the true meaning of life. I said to myself, "I completely understand and I will practice Falun Gong!"
The physical and mental changes I experienced
I used to be a heavy smoker, and smoked at least a pack every day. I also liked to drink alcohol with my friends. When I read Zhuan Falun for the third time, and got the part of the Fa about quitting smoking and drinking, Master said:
"As a practitioner, why don't you take it as an attachment to be abandoned, and see if you can quit. I advise everyone that if you truly want to practice cultivation you should quit smoking from now on, and it is guaranteed that you can quit." (Zhuan Falun)
These words were imprinted deeply in my heart. I had been smoking for twenty years, and wanted to quit countless times before. I asked myself, "Can I listen to Master and quit smoking and drinking?" My answer was firmly, "Yes." From that day on, I have not had a cigarette or drank alcohol.
I used to be a manager at my workplace and, prior to practicing Falun Gong, I had received a lot of 'dirty money' from various dishonest deals. I used the money extravagantly and bought a big house. My friends all knew that I was filthy rich and often borrowed money from me. Later, when I was a practitioner, none of the people that owed me money paid it back, and what's more, my house was also taken from me. I was very indignant and began to distance myself from these people. In such conflicts, I didn't handle myself as a practitioner.
When I studied the Fa one day, I read:
"In cultivation practice, there may be two scenarios when dealing with specific conflicts or when others treat you badly. One is that you might have treated this person badly in your previous life. You feel in your heart that it is unfair, "How can this person treat me like this?" Then why did you treat this person that way in the past? You might claim that you actually did not know it at that time, and this life has nothing to do with the other life. That does not work." (Zhuan Falun)
I realized that all of these conflicts are due to my karmic retribution, and that I have to pay all my debts in this lifetime. Furthermore, all of my friends, including the ones that I have conflicts with, are probably sentient beings in my world. They are all my family members. Thinking about this, my resentment towards them disappeared and I became anxious to save them.
Gradually becoming mature in cultivation
One day in the summer of 2007, some fellow practitioners drove my car to the countryside to distribute truth clarification materials. Unfortunately, they were reported to the police, and one practitioner was detained at the detention center and my car was confiscated. When I heard about this, fear emerged inside me. I felt that I could be arrested at any time. I didn't realize that the mentality of fear was an excuse the old forces were looking for to persecute practitioners. Some practitioners knew that I was petrified and came to share their understandings with me. This was the first time that I had shared my thoughts with fellow practitioners. They told me, "The persecution is not only directed towards you, but also at us. All of us should cooperate well." The comfort I received from practitioners and their clear understandings of the Fa helped me tremendously, and I gradually calmed down. Practitioners also told me, "You don't need to do anything now, just concentrate on studying the Fa."
As this was the first time for me to face the persecution, in that it was my car that was confiscated, I thought that I was the focal point of the persecution. I always thought that practitioners were helping me. But my thoughts were actually tainted by selfishness. I had wanted to help the practitioner get out of the detention center and return my car. This impure thought directly led to the differences of opinion among us. It seemed that I sent forth righteous thoughts for the fellow practitioner, while in fact, I was validating myself. As a result, we didn't cooperate well with each other.
When the situation gradually got worse, we all looked inward, and were able to enlighten to our shortcomings. We then rectified ourselves and our environment, and all came to an agreement that our fellow practitioner must be rescued. We needed to talk to people about why our fellow practitioner was detained and expose the crimes of the Chinese Communist Party. As my car was used to help validate the Fa, we could not allow it to be confiscated, and it should be returned immediately.
We were all asked to strengthen our righteous thoughts. Some of us went to the detention center with the practitioner's family members, while other practitioners stayed in close proximity to continue sending forth righteous thoughts. After visiting the detention center, we proceeded to the courthouse and the 610 Office to clarify the truth to the officials there. We also tracked down the police officers, who were responsible for persecuting the practitioners, as well as the director of the police department. When we asked them to return my car, they didn't want to accept responsibility at first, but after they listened to the facts about the persecution, their attitude changed and they agreed to return my car unconditionally. When the practitioner was finally released, he told me that during those days, he felt that his dimensional field was very pure, and that he knew he would be released soon.
As a practitioner, we all know that we should do the three things well. Only by putting our hearts into it will we know whether we can save sentient beings or not. I wholeheartedly help people with predestined relationships to learn the facts about the persecution and quit the CCP. We really need to make the best use of our limited time to study the Fa well and cooperate well as one body.
I want to thank our great Master, and thank you fellow practitioners! Heshi!
