(Clearwisdom.net) Before the persecution of Falun Gong started in 1999, I thought Falun Dafa was just an ordinary qigong. But after I saw how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) went all out to persecute the practice, I realized that it may not be just any qigong. At the time, I did not believe what the CCP said on TV and in the newspapers, and it was difficult for me to get to know about Falun Gong in China. At the end of 2005, I went on a business trip to the United States, and during Christmas time, I downloaded Falun Dafa books from the internet and began to practice.
I read Zhuan Falun three times. I knew it was the truth of the universe, something I have been looking for all my life. I was so thrilled. I cried when looking at Teacher's picture. After I read the book, my body was so energized that I couldn't sit still. I went outside and recited, “Truth-Compassion-Forbearance.” Every time I said it, my body vibrated so much that I had to wait a while before I calmed down and could say it again.
1. Studying the Teachings and Eliminating Attachments
In the beginning, I couldn't remember what was said in Zhuan Falun. After I had conflicts with others, I couldn't meet the standard of the Fa. I was worried. I tried looking at Teacher's lectures to see if I could find an instant fix to my problem. I concluded that there were no shortcuts. The only way to solve my problem was to study the Fa more. I read Teacher's other lectures and continued to pay attention to the importance of studying the Fa, especially to what Teacher said in “Learning the Fa” in Essentials for Further Advancement,
“When learning Dafa, intellectuals should be aware of a most prominent problem: They study Dafa in the same way that everyday people study theoretical writings,”
“The only way to gain a good understanding of Dafa is to study it without any intention,”
“Keep in mind: One should gain things naturally without pursuing them.”
My problem was finally solved.
At my job, I worked hard and got along with my supervisor and colleagues. One day, we got a new supervisor. He was selfish, irresponsible and everyone resented him and made fun of him. Conflicts arose between him and me over our work. I had despised people like him and focused on his faults. My relationship with him came to a halt. Afterwards, I felt something was wrong: a practitioner was having a fight with an ordinary person. I continued to study the Fa and understood what Teacher said in Zhuan Falun,
“Accordingly, in your future cultivation practice you will run into all kinds of tribulations. How can you practice cultivation without these hardships? If everyone is good to one another without conflicts of interests or interference from the human mind, how can your xinxing make progress by your only sitting there? That is impossible. One must truly temper and upgrade oneself through actual practice.”
I learned to look within, and discovered the attachment of struggling. It was formed within the CCP culture and was strong and deeply rooted. When I was young, I accepted the philosophy of struggling. Today, everyone has been told about the “enemies,” “anti-China forces,” and “turmoils.” The CCP created this perverted mindset of struggling, the inability to face everything peacefully and the inability to take criticism calmly. If one did not argue or fight back in a conflict, he would be portrayed as abnormal and incompetent. I decided to eliminate my attachment. It wasn't easy. Afterwards, my mind became peaceful. I was able to finish an assignment that no one wanted to do. Gradually, I gained the trust from my supervisor and resolved the conflict.
Later, something went wrong between a co-worker and me. He had made mistakes with some numbers. I asked him to correct them, but he ignored me. As a result, I went to his department and asked those who worked on the numbers to redo them. He was offended and stopped talking to me. I felt bad, but I did not think I should let those mistakes slide. I looked within. During that time, I realized I got annoyed easily, didn’t speak calmly, was selfish and not tolerant. I decided to eliminate my attachment of selfishness by sending righteous thoughts. Later, I was able to face others and became considerate without even trying.
After I obtained the Fa, I declined a lot of invitations to write articles in my field of expertise because I wanted to make time to do the three things. I remembered a time when it was difficult to refuse to write an article, but I decided to write something that had little to do with the CCP. I cleared my mind and wrote with a pure mind of a practitioner. The article was sent to the editor. He admired it. I also received a lot of positive feedback from the readers and editors of other magazines.
2. Clarifying the Facts of the Persecution Rationally and Promoting Anti-Internet Blockade Software
One day, I visited an old friend who is a government official. As we talked, she was surprised that I sounded like a Falun Gong practitioner. I said that perhaps Falun Gong practitioners were telling the truth. She may need to carefully consider everything about Falun Dafa and check it out online. She promised to do so and said she trusted me. I gave her some anti-internet blockade software and showed her how to use it on her computer.
A fellow co-worker had been talking to other practitioners and knew the facts of the persecution, but he refused to quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations. At times, I would talk to him and he would accept my views, but he still did not care to quit the CCP. One day, he got sick and was scared. I told him about Falun Dafa again and he finally agreed to quit the CCP. I had remembered what a practitioner said, “Clarifying the facts of the persecution is just like running a relay.”
