(Clearwisdom.net) I observed the phenomenon of many practitioners not paying attention to Fa study. Especially in rural villages, many were illiterate. It was hard for them to read the book, so they didn't understand the Fa principles. The assistants didn't know the characters either. They would start arguing as soon as they began reading together. They could not agree with one another.
I saw this and thought, “It might not be a coincidence that I am highly educated and also formerly a teacher. I should take action as soon as I enlighten to something.” I stepped forward and called for cultivation sharing conferences. We studied the Fa together and shared our understandings while helping those practitioners who had failed to step forward due to their fear.
The sharing conferences further encouraged me to place Fa study as the first and foremost priority, and to persevere in studying the Fa while also reading Minghui Weekly every day. So far, except for one practitioner who was persecuted and started following a religion instead, no local practitioners have left the Dafa cultivation path. Dafa created this righteous cultivation environment for us. It has also been achieved and maintained by practitioners.
I often remark during my coordination work, “In everyday society, no matter how fortunate one is, having many children or a lot of money, if one doesn't cultivate diligently and doesn't do the three things well, then one is not attending to one's proper duties.”
-----from the author
Greetings, compassionate Master! Greetings, fellow practitioners!
I am 64 years old. I began cultivating in Falun Dafa in 1998. At that time, Falun Gong books were in huge demand and short supply. I had read only two overseas lectures by Master. I didn't know how to cultivate, and had only learned the exercise movements. In the spring of 1999, after much effort, I finally obtained Master's book Zhuan Falun. I was elated! I finished reading the book with nearly no breaks. The book for me was like food for a starving person. I knew in my heart that I had found what I had been seeking my whole life—the path to return home.
Over the past decade, I have treated the Fa as Master. Under Master's compassionate protection, I have made it through storms of tribulation and tests of torture. I have made each and every step leaving solid footprints when assisting Master in rectifying the Fa, validating the Fa, resisting the persecution, and saving sentient beings. Below are some of my cultivation experiences.
With the Fa in My Heart, Master Helped Me Overcome Tribulations
Shortly after I read Zhuan Falun a few times in the spring of 1999, the persecution of Falun Gong began. I was anxious and didn't know what to do. I asked other practitioners for help. Another practitioner told me, “Master talked about the principle of 'treating the Fa as the Master.'” This sentence helped firm up my determination in cultivating.
I went with some fellow practitioners to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong after April 25, 1999. I was arrested on my way there and detained in the township government compound for 15 days. At the end of 1999, I was again detained at the township detention center for seven days. Both times, I was able to overcome tribulations with Master and the Fa in my heart, without bowing to the evil.
In late 2000, other practitioners went to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong. My wife, a fellow practitioner, and I took our four-year-old grandson to validate the Fa in Tiananmen Square. During our arrest and detention, I had no impure thoughts. I had only one thought, to restore Master's reputation and validate the beauty of the Fa.
With Master's protection, we were able to return home without any problems. However, after breakfast the next morning, the officers took me to the police department and interrogated me about my trip to Beijing. I suddenly realized that going to Beijing was an excuse for the evil persecution. I said, “I was arrested at my home.” When questioned, I responded with “I don't know” to all further questions. With several decades of experience as a teacher and principal, I knew that the police department advocated “leniency for confession,” but it was actually “severity for confession” for Falun Gong practitioners. Therefore, I answered “I don't know” to all questions.
The interrogation produced no results, so I was detained at the detention center. At 8:00 a.m. on December 24, 2000, another practitioner and I were put on trial. The labels for our “crimes” were, 1) Calling for Fa conferences, 2) Disseminating Master's lectures and truth-clarifying flyers, and 3) Encouraging practitioners to go to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong. When I refused to acknowledge such “crimes,” the police became furious. Five police officers handcuffed my hands behind my back. Two of them twisted my right arm, two twisted my left arm, and one tried to lock the handcuffs. I had only one thought in my mind,
“Whether it is a Buddha, a Tao, an immortal, or a demon, they should not move your heart. In conducting oneself this way, success is bound to be in sight.” (Zhuan Falun, Lecture 6)
The five strong police officers were unable to handcuff me. They accused me of forceful resistance. I shook my hands and said, “I didn't use any force.” The officers then claimed that I had too many clothes on, so they forcefully took off several layers of my clothing, leaving me wearing only a T-shirt. They tried once again to handcuff my hands behind me, but failed.
By this time, the evil was like a balloon that had lost all of its air. They tried to tie me up, during which time the officers repeatedly beat and interrogated me. However, I continually responded with “No” or “I don't know” to the three “crimes” they tried to place on me. I also asked them, “Do you want me to lie?” They said they didn't, so I continued to answer their questions with “I don't know.” I also told them, “I learned Falun Gong from out of town. I don't know anyone local.” The officers responded, “Your fellow practitioners have identified you, yet you still don't admit it. You are really tight-lipped!”
Once they had exhausted their tricks, they tied me to a tree behind the building. It was winter, and they didn't give me my coat. The guards then tried another approach. They asked a police officer from my hometown to give me some water and persuade me to “confess.” I refused. I was not allowed any lunch, and only two steamed buns were provided for my dinner. Before I could finish my dinner, a child in the nearby residential compound called out, “A Falun Gong practitioner has gone into the police family residential compound.” The officers rushed out and came back with another practitioner. They slapped her and accused me of the three “crimes.” A guard said to me, “You don't know her, but she has identified you again.” I responded with righteousness, “You are extorting a confession! The more you beat her, the more you can make her confess even about the head of the CCP!” The guards were shocked by my strong words and stopped beating the other practitioner.
They kept me tied to the tree. They were afraid that I would manage to run away, so they monitored me. It had just snowed and it was freezing cold. I wasn't allowed to wear a coat. I was completely frozen. I was unable to move even when I had to relieve myself. At dawn a guard said, “Falun Gong is so capable! Six of us watched you, a single person, for a night.” I replied, “You wanted to do this. I don't like it either.” He then said, “Okay. Let me make some notes. I ask questions and you answer. No matter what you answer, I take notes.” I didn't respond regarding the three “crimes.” They simply let it slide.
The one-day and one-night torture was beyond what an ordinary person could bear. How did I get through? During the beatings and interrogations, I recited Master's poem “Benevolent Might” from Hong Yin,
“Dafa is what you carry everywhere,
Zhen Shan Ren, rooted in the mind;
A great Arhat walks the earth,
Gods and demons fear with awe.”
(Hong Yin, Translation Version A)
It was magical. I didn't feel much pain at all. I realized that Master was by my side the whole time and took most of the pain for me. Therefore, I overcame the one-day and one-night ordeal with only tears in my eyes. I was 53 years old that year. December 24, 2000 is a date that I will never forget.
Studying the Fa Well and Improving During Coordination Work
During the six months after I obtained the Fa and joined in cultivation, I noticed that many practitioners didn't pay attention to Fa study. Especially in rural villages, many were illiterate. It was hard for them to read the book, so they didn't understand the Fa principles. Some couldn't read even the basic books, so they didn't have the basic knowledge, not to mention the meanings of the Fa.
When they read, they read many characters incorrectly. The assistants didn't know the characters either. They would start arguing as soon as they began reading together. They couldn't agree with each other. I saw this and thought, “It might not be a coincidence that I am highly educated and also formerly a teacher. I should take action as soon as I enlighten to something.”
At that time, practitioners at the assistance center were being arrested. I stepped forward and called for cultivation sharing conferences. We studied the Fa together and shared our understandings. More than a hundred practitioners went to Beijing to appeal for justice for Falun Gong. After I returned from the detention center, although the environment was severe, I still periodically called for Fa conferences to share with other practitioners. Whenever fellow practitioners invited me, I joined them in Fa study and experience sharing. At the same time, we also helped those practitioners who hadn't stepped forward due to fear. The group elevated very quickly. During these several years, I have tried to visit all the villages where fellow practitioners reside.
During the coordination work, I came to realize the importance of Fa study. Only when I studied the Fa well, could I do the coordination work well. The sharing conferences also encouraged me to place Fa study as the first and foremost priority, and to persevere in studying the Fa while also reading Minghui Weekly every day. I remember how my understandings of Master's lectures improved. This also encouraged me to enlighten to the Fa principles righteously and improve my xinxing. Whenever I saw attachments in other practitioners, I looked inward for my own attachments in order to immediately expose them and rectify myself. Why did I see the conflicts among other practitioners? I knew it was a kind reminder from Master. Where do I have omissions and shortcomings? I immediately looked inward, relinquished my own attachments, and elevated based upon the Fa.
More and more practitioners have realized the significance of sharing coordination experiences. The coordination experience sharing group developed from a few people to more than ten. Every month, we have the coordinators' sharing meeting and a cultivation sharing meeting in different areas. When the practitioner who was persecuted with me in 2000 came home after a great deal of torture, I visited her, along with other practitioners, to study the Fa together. We also helped her write a solemn declaration and join in on Fa-rectification cultivation again.
So far, except for one practitioner who was persecuted and started following a religion instead, no local practitioners have left the Dafa cultivation path. Dafa created this righteous cultivation environment for us, which is elevated and maintained by practitioners. Since 2002, practitioners have done the three things well and have clarified the truth adequately. The situation is becoming better and better. Practitioners have clarified the truth to police officers and helped them quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated organizations. The police now take a detour when they see practitioners clarifying the truth. This is a reflection of what Master said in Zhuan Falun, “One righteous mind can subdue one hundred evils.”
Handling Both Cultivation and Everyday Life Well
Only when we study the Fa well can we save sentient beings effectively. I have given Fa study the highest priority. I utilize all my available time to study the Fa, no matter whether the time frame is long or short. I listen to the Fa when working in the field and finish listening to a 9-day lecture every two days. My farming work doesn't require thinking, so I can focus on listening to the Fa, and I never feel tired from the work. It is truly “[P]eople whose bodies are in the secular world but whose minds are beyond it.” (“Teaching the Fa at the 2005 Manhattan International Fa Conference”)
Master told us this heavenly secret in the first lecture of Zhuan Falun,
“One should return to one’s original, true self; this is the real purpose of being human. Therefore, once a person wants to practice cultivation, his or her Buddha-nature is considered to have come forth. Such a thought is most precious, for this person wants to return to his or her original, true self and transcend the ordinary human level.”
We all know that Buddhism talks about one lifetime being insufficient for consummation, and that it instead takes several lifetimes. Since we know this heavenly secret, how can we make excuses for not diligently cultivating and saving sentient beings?
I often remark during my coordination work, “In everyday society, no matter how fortunate one is, having many children or a lot of money, if one doesn't cultivate diligently and doesn't do the three things well, then one is not attending to one's proper duties.”
Master has taught us the principles of following the course of nature, that you will not lose what is yours, and not to fight to get what doesn't belong to you. My experience proves that once we do the three things well, our entire family receives blessings. My family is not the only example; other practitioners' families are the same. We understand according to the Fa and follow the cosmic climate and the characteristic of the universe, therefore we obtain blessings. On the contrary, some practitioners seek work out of town for personal gain, and in the end, they haven't made more money, but have instead lost money by going to the hospital to treat their illnesses. Only then did they realize their mistakes.
Experience from Solid Cultivation
We are all cultivators walking on the divine path of returning to our original, true selves. We are Dafa disciples who assist Master in rectifying the Fa and saving sentient beings. Obtaining the Fa, studying the Fa, and assimilating to the Fa is the process of our cultivation. Assisting Master in rectifying the Fa and saving sentient beings is our path. How can we slack off and confuse ourselves with ordinary lives? I have arrived at this conclusion after years of cultivation. The more attachments we have, the more troubles we have. If we can truly maintain our righteous thoughts at all times and remember the Fa in our hearts, there won't be any tribulations that we can't overcome.
Please kindly point out anything inappropriate in my sharing.
