(Clearwisdom.net)
1. Negating the Old Forces' Tests and Exposing the Persecution to Local People
In the beginning of 2010, I often read new cases of persecution on the Minghui website (Chinese version of Clearwisdom), as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) intensified the persecution against Dafa practitioners in the name of protecting the International Expo. There were arrests all over the country. The atmosphere grew heavy, and I was also affected. A fellow practitioner told me: “The local Public Security Bureau received orders from the 610 Office to arrest a number of practitioners, and you are among them. Someone saw you send out truth-clarifying DVDs, so you better be careful.” I replied: “What they say counts as nothing, I only follow Master. It is for saving people that I am sending out DVDs, it is not a reason to be persecuted even if someone saw me.” Even though I replied this way, I still had some fear. Shortly after that, the old forces began testing me by creating false impressions, and they had plainclothes agents follow me. I exposed their criminal behavior online and asked fellow practitioners in the city to send forth righteous thoughts with me, to help me eliminate the evil in other dimensions.
Later, the police came to harass me at my workplace. Since I was not there, my co-worker called me and warned me to avoid them. I did not have ample righteous thoughts at the time, and I did not go to work for several days. Those false impressions the old forces arranged did make me feel pressure. It seemed as if I would be arrested anytime.
Those days at home, I had all sorts of thoughts. I also had human thoughts: maybe I should hide some of the materials, or maybe I should leave home. But my last thought was, I would follow Master's arrangement. Plus, if I removed the materials and equipment we needed for Fa-rectification and became homeless, the projects I was responsible for in our area would have to stop. What about those people who had predestined relationships with me, including my family and friends? Who would save them? I had only one way out: completely negate the old forces. The projects cannot stop. Master said, “...just by having your heart unaffected you will be able to handle all situations.” (“Eliminate Your Last Attachment(s)” from Essentials for Further Advancement II)
In the meantime, I began looking inward to find what kind of loophole I had that caused this interference. I believed that over the last five months, I had become less diligent in doing the three things. I was busy doing things, spent less time in sending out truth-clarifying material, sending forth righteous thoughts, studying the Fa, and particularly doing the exercises. If I could finish a set of exercises in a week, that would count as a good week. Plus, I had the attachment of fear. I could not get rid of it. Since I did not study the Fa enough, I did not have ample righteous thoughts. I began to be afraid of clarifying the truth, and I did not correct the thoughts right away, did not completely negate the old forces and thus created a loophole.
I spent some days in intensified Fa-study, sending forth righteous thoughts, cleaning my field and also eliminating evil in other dimensions. Master said in Guiding the Voyage: “Humans aren’t worthy of testing this Fa, and neither are Gods. Whoever touches it commits a sin.” (Teaching the Fa at the Great Lakes Fa Conference in North America) I asked Master to support me in sending forth powerful righteous thoughts, completely eliminating the old forces and their many evil factors. With Master's support, I was surrounded by powerful energy, my upright right palm was shaking with the energy vibration, and my celestial eye could see my supernatural power was fighting with the evil in other dimensions. After eliminating the evil, my body in the other dimension became enormous.
In the meantime, through Fa-study I understood that to expose the persecution is also eliminating and stopping persecution. It is also a way of saving sentient beings in our area, including those blindly participating in the persecution. I wrote an article about the persecution I suffered, the perpetrators and their contact information, and sent it to the Minghui website.
After several days of extensive Fa-study and sending forth righteous thoughts, I became much calmer, and was no longer afraid. I called my co-worker, and he said: “The police asked us to monitor you, but not much is going on, so you can come to work.” I went back to work.
2. Letting Go of Human Notions and Resentment, Trying My Best to Compassionately Save My Family Members
Since the persecution began in 1999, my family members have been taking the side of the CCP, unconsciously adding fuel to the flames in persecuting me. I developed resentment toward them, and it seemed like resentment accumulated in past lives was being used by the old forces in this lifetime to persecute me.
According to the Fa, I understood that they are also beings that should be saved. Over the past ten years, I have consistently clarified the truth to them. They now know the truth, and their behavior has improved much compared to 1999, but their attitude towards Dafa is still negative. Whenever there is a new round of persecution or when it comes to days considered to be politically sensitive, they place pressure on me and curse Master and Dafa. I am often affected by them and become upset.
At the New Year's break, they again cursed Master and Dafa in front of me. I could not bear it any longer and began shouting back. I talked to Master in my heart: “Master, it is approaching the end of Fa-rectification, and they still curse Dafa with no remorse. I cannot save them, and I will not save them.” I had not been that upset in years. Later, I went to visit a fellow practitioner, and when I left his home, he gave me couple of bottles of wine to take home. On my way home, I thought maybe Master wanted to teach me something. I read an article just a few days ago in Minghui Weekly by a Japanese practitioner, and the theme was, “Do not be fooled by surface impressions, seize every moment for saving people.” He described how after they set up exhibition boards on the street, people were apathetic, and they paid more attention to a pet dog that was passing by. He felt very upset. In his dream that night, many people were drinking wine and kept asking for “wine” (in Chinese 'wine' and 'save' sound the same). He understood that Master was reminding him, “The understanding side of people urgently wants to be saved, but the surface appearance was apathetic.” I began thinking with a calm heart, maybe Master wanted me to save my family members?
After I read Fa Teaching at the 2009 Greater New York International Fa Conference, I became lost in my thoughts. I understood that because the old forces wanted to test me, they turned my family members against me. I should not, because of their current behavior, stop saving them. I should look at their origin and their history, cherish their only chance to be saved, and try my best not to be affected by their surface behavior. I should not fuss about their outward behavior. Instead, I should be considerate and not use human notions to evaluate their actions. I should try my best to compassionately save them. It is my duty and my historical mission.
My family members have not been saved, so I should look within myself, as maybe I have not tried hard enough. It was true that I had fear and selfish thoughts of protecting myself. I did not dare to give them truth-clarifying materials, as I was afraid they would turn me in. I decided it was time to break through this state; otherwise, how would I save them? Now, whenever I come home, I bring some materials for them. Even if they tear it up or throw it away, I will not be affected by them, and I will continue doing so until the day the Fa rectifies the human world. I will bring them the compassion from Master and Dafa, and bring them the hope of being saved at last.
3. Studying the Fa and Learning to Get Rid of Attachments at the Root
I was always puzzled by why my attachment to lust had not been fully removed. I happened to read Master's words:
“Defending and protecting what one desires is a manifestation of emotion and selfishness, so it is the hardest thing to stop doing.” (Teaching the Fa at the Fa Conference in Australia)
I carefully read Teaching the Fa at the Fa Conference in Australia. I understand now the reason why my attachments were not eliminated completely—I still have too much of a selfish heart, and this is the root of my attachment. If I can fundamentally change my mentality of looking outward, I will be able to get rid of the the attachment to self, and other attachments will be easily cleaned out.
4. I Will Diligently Edit the Truth-Clarifying Material Well
I have been responsible for editing materials for distribution in our area for the last two years. I accepted an idea from a fellow practitioner abroad, and gave up editing a local “True Words” publication, since the contents duplicated Minghui articles at times and took time away from fellow practitioners. In order to save time, I began editing a single page, local facts sheet, along with various material from Minghui. It is more complete, and its content exposes the local persecution better. The end result is more powerful, and the local information adds credibility to the material.
It is a cultivation process to edit the local facts sheet. Initially I did not know how to edit with the word-processing software. I used to type local information directly onto the page, which was simple. Now I needed to do typesetting and editing, and I wondered if I could do it right. But Master told us to tackle any problem, so I promised myself to break through the difficulty. As long as I have the heart to help rectify the Fa, Master will grant me the wisdom. Without anyone teaching me, I gradually learned how to do typesetting and editing.
Sometime when I got stuck, suddenly I had a thought: “Try this to see if this works,” and it did! I almost started from scratch in learning to use the computer, print, burn CD's, set up systems, break through Internet blocks, and download content. I experienced numerous instances of inspiration like this, and truly felt that Master was right beside me.
In order to create high quality truth-clarifying materials, I often get on the Minghui website to learn from experiences shared by fellow practitioners. In the meantime, I listen to the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party and Eliminate Party Culture over and over through an MP3 player. I try my best to get rid of the interference from party culture and publish accurate material. I carefully check every word, pay attention to make sure that each word negates the old forces and the persecution, and check it over and over to avoid having a wrong character or symbol.
5. After I Removed Human Notions, the Printer Worked Again
My printer has been working for two to three years, and made its contribution to saving sentient beings. My Canon 4500 printer came with the computer and worked very well. On the Minghui website, I often read articles about how to repair printers and related questions. I want to talk about how I solved some problems.
I did not know how to repair printers, but I often read fellow practitioners' articles about sending forth righteous thoughts to eliminate interference. Some talked about looking inward to find an attachment and eliminate it, and then a printer would recover on its own. Some said a printer is also a sentient being, and you need to communicate with it often.
I was contaminated by the CCP's atheism for a number of years. Even though I believed what fellow practitioners said, I did not really believe a printer has thoughts and is a spiritual being. Also, my belief in Dafa and Master was not firm enough. Master said: “Any matter’s life can manifest in other dimensions.” (Zhuan Falun)
Over the last two to three years, my printer has malfunctioned 50-60 times, with a variety of issues. I did not repair it, and later the printer worked well by itself. My way of solving the problem was sending forth righteous thoughts to eliminate interference, and looking inward for attachments and any thoughts that were not right. If that still did not work, I asked Master to support me and believed that Master would help me. I truly experienced that when we remove human notions and firmly believe in Master and the Fa, the results will be different.
6. Changing the Way of Viewing Problems, Cultivating Away the Heart of Blaming and Complaining About Others, Forgiving and Accommodating Fellow Practitioners
Recently, I talked with a fellow practitioner about safety issues related to using computers. She did not care much about learning it, so I lost my temper and blamed her: “Are you going to wait until the perpetrators find out what is in your computer and begin persecuting you, and then begin regretting that you did not learn before?” I was not very kind at the moment. After I settled down later, I saw my problem. I was accustomed to blaming and complaining about others' shortcomings, instead of treating others compassionately. I still did not meet the criterion of a cultivator's compassionate state.
Later I remembered Master's Fa. I realized that I should view the fellow practitioner and her shortcoming separately. Her shortcoming is not part of herself. I should handle my relationship with her with true kindness and compassion. I said to Master and the fellow practitioner in my heart: “I am sorry.”
7. Sending Forth Righteous Thoughts For a Longer Period of Time
Since the beginning of 2010, the CCP has escalated the persecution and arrests, including in our area. From the Minghui website, I saw fellow practitioners from different areas sharing their experience of sending forth righteous thoughts for longer periods of time. I was inspired. After discussing with fellow practitioners locally, we decided to extend the time to 8:55 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Monday to Saturday, and 8:50 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. on Sundays, not only eliminating the evil in our province, but also in the Beijing area.
8. I Will Try My Best to Cultivate Myself Well, Look for Shortcomings Within, and Do the Three Things Well
After I set up a truth-clarifying materials production site, along with an increased work load at my job, I became busier and busier. I only had one day off each week. Fellow practitioners often asked for help. I had less and less time to study the Fa, and I did exercises less often. Of course, being busy was one factor, but the other reason was that I did not pay close enough attention to the exercises. As a result, I felt tired all the time, my efficiency in working and in doing the three things well was declining, and it became a vicious circle. The more I felt tired, the more I needed to sleep, which put me more behind in the things that I needed to do. I became worried, but I was not able to break through the state quickly.
After I read Fa Teaching at the 2009 Greater New York International Fa Conference, I thought I should adjust my state. I should finish all five sets of exercise daily, but I could not. I felt I was lagging behind the pace of Fa-rectification.
I remembered that last year after May 13, Master's “Greetings” came out. One morning at around 7 a.m., I felt too tired, so I lay down for a while. In my drowsy state, I felt a concentrated energy coming through my head, and then my body went to heaven. It looked like the opening scene of the 2009 Shen Yun Performing Arts show, where Master was wearing a kasaya and appeared like a Buddha walking down from a magnificent palace. I was on my knees and complained to Master: “Your disciple is too tired, too troubled.” Master asked me: “What troubles you?” I had nothing to say. It seemed like it only took one second. When I awoke, it was twenty minutes later. Thinking back, Master saw my state was worsening and warned me to pay attention to cultivating well. Two other things Master said related to sending forth righteous thoughts and clarifying the truth.
Because of my lack of determination and willpower, plus a heavy human heart, I was interfered with by the old forces. My cultivation state did not get better until two months ago. I tried my best to finish all five sets of exercises, overcome the lack of time, and arrange things well. I tried my best to balance daily work and life, and being a diligent Fa-rectification period Dafa disciple. When I had this thought, Master also helped me.
One morning at 3:50 a.m., I began doing the exercises. After I finished the standing exercises, I began the sitting meditation. Maybe because I had not been exercising for so long, I felt tired even when I was exercising. I did not finish the sitting meditation and lay down again. When I was in a deep sleep, I heard a sound yelling: “Master, save me!” Immediately I felt a shapeless power push me up. I saw the sky like the 2010 Shen Yun opening scene. The power pushed up through the cloud, and I saw many beings moving around. Since then I have been able to be persistent in Fa study and doing the exercises. I did not know what Master had done, but I knew that Master had helped me, and I am deeply grateful.
I still have the loophole of not being able to complete the four times per day global sending forth righteous thoughts, but I have resolved to solve this problem. I still have attachments that I need to eliminate completely, such as the attachment to leisure, fear, self protection, fame, personal gain, suspicion, showing off, eagerness to reach results, validating myself, vanity, jealousy, resentment, lust and qing. I am determined to try my best to do the three things well, cultivate away human emotions, rectify all the states that do not meet the requirements of Dafa, and try my best to study the Fa, exercise, send forth righteous thoughts, clarify the truth and save people. I will try my best to accomplish my mission and fulfill my vow.
For those fellow practitioners like me who are not as diligent, we can no longer let Master down. We have to seize the time that Master has extended for us, try our best to catch up, accomplish our mission, be responsible to ourselves, and be responsible to sentient beings.
