(Clearwisdom.net) I have come across numerous tribulations on my path of cultivation. With Master’s protection, I have been able to overcome them, and I have been able to solidly walk on the continuously widening path to return to my true self. I am writing down my experience to share with fellow practitioners.
Resolving Our Tribulations on the Path of Validating the Fa
I have conducted a few truth-clarification tasks in the past few years. I passed out informational materials and DVDs, posted banners, and circulated bills with truth-clarifying statements written on them. I have also advised people directly to quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated organizations. In addition, I have also transported informational materials to other practitioners, and delivered them to rural areas. I believe that those things are the responsibilities of Dafa practitioners. Some fellow practitioners were impressed with me and complimented me for what I had done. I was happy to hear what they said and began to have the mentalities of over-zealousness and showing off.
I was illegally arrested one evening and locked in the local police station. The policemen then found some hooligans from the 610 Office and the Domestic Security Division to identify me. My cousin (formerly the Domestic Security Division head) recognized me. Immediately afterwards, the policemen went to my hometown in the countryside to search my residence. My younger brother told them that I had not been home for a long time since I lived in the city.
Returning from the countryside, the gang of policemen hung me up onto the iron window frame in an attempt to force me to tell them my address in the city. I refused, so they asked my cousin where I worked. From there, they found my address and went to the neighborhood association to get more information about me. They also searched my residence. My brother in the countryside had already called my wife after the police left our residence, so my wife had had enough time to put all the Dafa materials away before the police arrived.
My family came to see me on the next day, and they decided to rescue me right away. I had righteous thoughts the entire time. With fellow practitioners’ righteous thoughts, and help from overseas practitioners, I was set free in three days.
I felt bad after coming home. Searching inside myself, I found that I had attachments of showing off and over-zealousness. The attachments had expanded to the degree that every time I finished doing some task, I would feel joyous inside. Because of that, I was met with these tribulations. Tears of regret rolled down my cheeks. I felt saddened for a long period of time.
One night, as I lay half asleep, I suddenly felt that a big warm hand had touched my forehead, and a warm flow of energy streamed through my entire body. It was hard to tell if I was dreaming or not, but whatever it was, I knew that Master used that opportunity to comfort and encourage me.
While I was detained, the vicious policemen pulled my arms over my head and tied them to the iron window frames for over 12 hours. As a result, my legs became swollen, and I was unable to walk. However, I was unmoved and continued clarifying the truth to them. Their political head told me, “You don’t need to tell me the facts about Falun Gong because I have the Minghui website on in my office computer 24 hours a day. I know very well the situation of Falun Gong.” I said, “Good. Now that you know about Falun Gong, can’t you treat the practitioners well? Good behavior is rewarded, while bad behavior receives retribution. Don’t you want to give yourself and your family a good future?” He quietly returned to his office.
Walking the Path to Return to the True Self
Master taught us,
"No matter how much I say, you still have to walk the path of cultivation yourselves. To walk this path well and progress to its end--nothing is more extraordinary. I say that because during the journey you will have hardships, tests of every sort, unforeseen ordeals, and you will have unexpected interference from all kinds of attachments and emotion. The interference will come from family, society, good friends, and even fellow cultivators. And along with this there is interference from changes in the state of human society and from human notions that were formed in society. All of those things can drag you back to being like an ordinary person. But if you can break through all of it, you can advance towards godhood. So as a cultivator, what is truly remarkable is when you can be steadfast and have righteous thoughts so firm that nothing can sway you. Be solid and firm like diamond, or granite, and then nothing can affect you--evil will be afraid at the mere sight of you. If upon encountering trying circumstances your thinking can be truly righteous, then, when faced with the evil's persecution and when faced with interference, just one sentence of yours fortified with steadfast righteous thoughts can instantly make the evil disintegrate (applause), and it will make those who are being used by the evil turn and flee, it will make the evil's persecution of you dissolve, and it will make the evil's interfering with you disappear without a trace. One thought born of righteous faith is all it takes. And whoever can hold firm that righteous thought and go the distance will become a magnificent god forged by Dafa." ("Teaching the Fa at the Western U.S. International Fa Conference")
Master’s teaching highly encouraged me and gave me confidence.
Delivering Informational Materials to Rural Areas
The bus to the rural area leaves at 5:00 a.m. in the summer, and 6:00 a.m. in the winter. I get everything ready the day before, send forth righteous thoughts, and take the first bus the next morning to the designated locations.
For security reasons, I normally get off the bus at the stop before my final station.
If I had a large load of materials, and could not carry them by myself, I would call fellow practitioners who live in the area ahead of time so that they could come to help me. We have done it this way for several years and everything has been going fine. I have learned that safety is the number one factor for delivering the materials successfully. I thank Master for strengthening me each time the mission was accomplished successfully.
Cleaning Up the Small Material Storage after It Was Ransacked
A materials production site was destroyed by the evil in 2007, and a fellow practitioner was incarcerated. Before that, we had rented a small room to store our materials. Because the owner of the room needed it back, we needed to move all the materials out. Nobody dared to go since it was very possible that someone was hiding nearby, waiting for practitioners to go get the materials left in the room. After discussing the situation with me, our local coordinator thought that I should go.
He brought the key and the directions to the storage area a couple of days later. After sending forth righteous thoughts at 5:00 p.m., I went to investigate the area first. I entered the small room three days later, and packed the Dafa books. While packing, I looked around and found out that it was a small room for storing coal by a residential building. It had an area of about 10 meters, with strips of light penetrating through the seams of the door lined with thin iron sheets. I was able to see that there were two wooden trunks by the wall, and inside the trunks were about eight bags of Master’s lectures, brochures with Master’s Fa and some other informational materials. On the other side of the room, there were two cardboard boxes. The fellow practitioner worked in such simple conditions. With his steadfast determination, he typed, copied and packed materials, sometimes for half a day and sometimes for an entire day. The air in the room was stale and the working conditions were harsh.
While cleaning and packing, I thought about the detained practitioner. After working for an entire morning, I rented a taxi, and moved the books and materials out at noon. Three days later, I rented a tricycle and moved the rest of the materials out. I cleaned up the room the next day. It took about ten days to move everything out of the room. When I sorted the materials afterwards, I found an envelope with 6,000 yuan inside. I handed the cash to our local coordinator, and took the useful materials to the other distribution sites.
Saving More Sentient Beings
Master pointed out,
“...though reaching that point will mean the end has been reached--the very end of the end. So, as Dafa disciples go about validating the Fa and saving sentient beings, their attitude, state of mind, and manner of doing things are all critical, for such things can determine what changes take place in this world.” (“Fa Teaching at the 2009 Washington DC International Fa Conference”)
The informational materials, brochures and Shen Yun DVDs that we distributed to people in all areas, including the remote mountainous areas, have helped them to learn the truth about Dafa.
Going Through Tribulations at Home
One fellow practitioner said, “Every tribulation and test that I’ve gone through in cultivation is always connected to the attachments that I have. We should all take the Fa as our teacher, and discipline ourselves with the requirements for Dafa disciples to cultivate our xinxing.
I was illegally detained by the policemen one night, and released after my wife paid the bail. However, it turned out that we had made a mistake because the bail had encouraged the evil forces. I criticized the policemen, who became irritated as a result. With fellow practitioners’ righteous thoughts, and support from overseas practitioners, they were restrained. All of these factors were very useful. In addition, I also maintained strong righteous thoughts; therefore, I was sure that I could have broken out of the evil den myself.
During the course of my tribulations, my family became concerned and prohibited me from cultivating in Dafa, even though they had supported me before. They were fine with my practicing and studying the Fa at home, but I could not leave home. My son believed that if I did not practice Dafa, the evil forces would not have to persecute me. He moved our store from the third floor to the first floor, and guarded both the front and back gates to prevent me from leaving our residence in the evening.
A fellow practitioner called me one day to ask if I could deliver some materials to a rural area. I took the job without hesitation. After telling my wife, however, she rejected the idea. I told her that the fellow practitioners in the countryside were waiting for me to deliver the materials to them, and that the policemen would not notice me since I was a senior, plus I would act responsibly.
On my way to drop off and pick up my grandchild at the middle school, I delivered informational materials, and convinced people to quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations. I mailed about 20 to 30 truth-clarifying letters every week. However, it was the tests from family members, and the xinxing tests, that were the most difficult for me to pass.
The tests were mainly from my daughter-in-law, who had been deeply polluted by the CCP’s atheistic teachings. She refused to listen to me explain the facts about Falun Dafa to her, no matter how hard I tried. She had huge misunderstandings about Dafa.
She played Mahjong outside every day, and did not take care of her children or household chores. If my son complained to her, she would yell at him. I told her, “You should be more concerned about your kids’ development!” However, she replied, “You’re the kind of person that policemen are after, what kind of qualifications do you have to blame me?” I told her, “You’re so wrong. We Falun Dafa practitioners are all good people. It is those policemen who have been instigated by the evil CCP and have been mistakenly incarcerating good people.” Gradually, we spoke less and less. I knew that I was at fault, but what could I do to resolve our conflicts? I worked on resolving our problems by taking care of my grandchildren.
My granddaughter was in middle school. Every day, I dropped her off and picked her up. When she needed help with her homework, I helped her on Saturdays and Sundays. After homework, I normally told her something about Dafa. She also liked to read the informational flyers, and told her friends stories about Dafa at school.
My two-year-old grandson is very fond of me. Whenever he sees Master’s portrait, he says, “Hello Grandpa!” “Falun Dafa is good!” He also gave Dafa materials to his friends when he played outside. His wisdom comes from Dafa’s protection.
These two children built a bridge for communication between me and my daughter-in-law. With xinxing improvement, I am able to laugh at and tolerate everything. I did not hold grudges against my daughter-in-law’s remarks, and can let go of anything. Gradually, our problems were resolved, and she even quit the Communist Youth League.
