In an experience sharing conference in Mainland China, we studied Master's new articles together and shared with each other our understandings and experiences in this Fa rectification period. Practitioner A: In the article Eliminate Evil, Master talked about how to perceive the Fa correctly amidst the current circumstances. My understanding is that first we have to position ourselves correctly before we can perceive the Fa correctly. Looking at it from our personal point of view, we won't be able to see the Fa correctly. Master said, "Everyone sits here to learn this Dafa, so here you must conduct yourselves as true practitioners, and you must give up attachments. If you come to learn the practice and this Dafa with various pursuits, you will not learn anything." (Zhuan Falun). Now when we read Zhuan Falun, we should realize that, as practitioners in the Fa rectification period, we are not practicing Dafa only for ourselves. In this way, we can position ourselves appropriately. We need to combine our individual cultivation with assisting Master to rectify the Fa. By learning the Fa and sharing experiences, gaining insight from Minghui's articles, and acting according to local situations and individual practitioners' conditions, we are able to "validate the Fa with reason, clarify the truth with wisdom, spread the Fa and offer people salvation with benevolence" (Rationality) Master said that every attempt to disrupt the Fa will actually help disseminate the Fa. As practitioners in the Fa rectification period, we need to search inwardly and consider further how to spread and validate the Fa as we peacefully and benevolently forbear the persecution and pressures from society, our employers, and our families. In order to spread and validate the Fa better under these special circumstances, we need to examine ourselves to determine the extent to which we have been validating the Fa with the attachment of sentimentality instead of with rationality. Also, we should ask ourselves how much wisdom we have been using in clarifying the truth. Spreading the Fa and offering people salvation with benevolence should be a natural manifestation of the realm of our cultivation. It is neither a forced action, nor a job. Practitioner B: After I came back from Beijing, I was detained for more than a month, first in a detention center in our region, and later in another county. During that period, I did not follow the evil forces; however I endured the persecution quietly. One day, a friend came to visit me and told me the principle of "Beyond the Limits of Forbearance." Suddenly I came to know that accepting my detention was also a kind of cooperation with the evil forces. I should get out of the detention center because I was detained illegally. From then on, I strongly urged them to release me unconditionally. During those days, I had edema and I thought I should use this reason to request my release. They had considered sending me to a labor camp, but after learning of my health condition, they released me right away and sent me back home. The evil force is a paper tiger (strong in appearance but weak in reality). When we are afraid of it, it becomes more formidable. But when we suffocate the evil actively, it fearfully retreats. If you take one step forward, it will take three steps backward. In the past few days when my husband was detained, I stayed at home with my child. The police came to harass us everyday and we were very afraid of them. Later I realized I should actively suffocate the evil, so I went to the police station every day and asked them to release my husband. I also called the City Government and some other government leaders. Later, I bought some law books to consult so the police wouldn't be able to fool me any more. Because of all this, they became afraid of me. They didn't even dare to see me or take my calls, and they became polite when they talked to me. From then on, I felt the power of truth and my attachment of fear was removed. Practitioner C: Master said, "Those people enacted decrees to govern others by laws. They never expected that one day they would be restricted by those same laws." Practitioner D: It is not enough for us to just let go of the thought of life and death and forbear persecutions with a pure and kind heart. We should not accommodate the viciousness in any way. There is nothing wrong with practicing Falun Dafa and there is nothing wrong with clarifying the truth. It is illegal to detain us. Isn't it actually acknowledging it is wrong to practice Dafa if we oblige them, either intentionally or unintentionally? To eliminate evil, it is not enough just to refuse to tell them our names and addresses. Some of us didn't realize that accepting physical punishment is also a kind of cooperation with the evil forces. Also, we shouldn't cooperate with the police in getting into or out of police cars, or by providing signatures and fingerprints, etc. Practitioner C: The reason that some of our fellow practitioners got arrested several times is they haven't realized that they shouldn't cooperate with the wicked people in any way. "Everything that the evil forces have done have actually targeted the attachments and fears that you have not let go of."(Your Last Attachment(s)) Only when we genuinely understand the Fa will we have the wisdom to not be deceived or driven by the evil forces. There is nothing wrong with clarifying the truth or appealing to higher authorities, since that is a citizen's right. We must truly understand this point. We should not acknowledge the malicious arrangements that have been made towards us and Dafa. In this way, we can upset the scheme of the wicked and effectively suffocate the evil. When we protect the Fa, the power of the Fa will manifest as long as we guard the Fa from the bottom of our hearts without any pursuits. Practitioner E: And that is because we are righteous and they are evil. Master does not acknowledge what they have done and has been clearing it away. We should follow Master and disregard our thought karma and the hardships that the evil forces create for us. We should try our best to eliminate viciousness. If we cooperate with themeither intentionally or unintentionallywe will bring shame on the Fa. Some of our practitioners have made mistakes. Later when they realized what they had done, they corrected their mistakes with specific actions. In addition, they publicized their "Solemn Statements" in order to return the reputation to the Fa. I think that strikes a direct blow to the malicious forces and also exposes their evil. As practitioners in the Fa rectification period, whenever there is any force fighting against Master or the Fa, we should stand firmly within the Fa, and with a clear mind expose the evil forces to our families, our employers, and to society. No matter how the wickedness manifests and how serious it is, we need to reveal it and restrain it. Practitioner A: We should disclose all the viciousness no matter how trivial it appears. Also we need to let people know why Jiang Zemin has persecuted us so brutally. Practitioner F: Our personal cultivation today is not only for reaching consummation, but also for assisting the Teacher to rectify the Fa. Our personal cultivation in the past established the foundation for our ability to assist the Teacher to rectify the Fa today. Saving people is not the main purpose for the Teacher's spreading the Fa; instead, the Teacher is here to rectify the Fa of the universe. It's not important to consider which level we can achieve or whether we can reach consummation. What is important is to assist the Teacher in rectifying the Fa. Where the Fa has not been rectified, we have a responsibility to help rectify it, because we are here to represent the Fa and protect the Fa in this human realm. We shouldn't cooperate with any evil forces. In order to further clarify the truth, suffocate the evil and offer salvation to people who unintentionally create karma, we should fully expose the deeds of the vicious people around us and their unfair treatment of us while we are practicing Dafa faithfully and firmly. We should let people know the truth about how Dafa has benefited us both physically and mentally, and how Dafa has benefited society as a whole. We should reveal to people whatever benefits we have experienced. The more detailed we are, the more pronounced the effects we can achieve will be, and the fewer openings will exist for the vicious people to exploit. Going to Beijing is important, but it's not the only way to eliminate evil. A genuine practitioner "shines with pure radiance no matter what environment he's in." There are vicious elements in any environment, but "If a cultivator can let go of the thought of life and death under any circumstances, evil is bound to be afraid of him. If every practitioner is able to do this, evil will of itself no longer exist." (Eliminate Your Last Attachment(s)). So, the big task in front of us is how to let practitioners among everyday people realize that in order to live up to Master's benevolence and the suffering of our fellow practitioners who are in jails, more practitioners need to step out of their human mentalities and attachments to verify Dafa selflessly and fearlessly. After all, what one practitioner can do is limited, but if all practitioners expose the viciousness together, the evil forces will have no place to hide, and then the whole truth can come out. Practitioner G: No evil elements should exist in the environment where we live. "Their evilness must be made known to people around the world." (Rationality) So, whenever we suffer persecutions, we shall expose the evil forces and clarify the truth. This is also eliminating the evil, offering people salvation, and being benevolent to all beings as well as protecting Dafa. With a benevolent heart, we should by all means and from various angles tell people how we have benefited from practicing Dafa and how we have been persecuted for clarifying the truth. We should establish Dafa's mighty virtue through our tribulations. The power of benevolence is enormous, and the great power of the Buddha Fa's benevolence will dissolve all evil forces. Practitioner A: I remember a cultivation story of Buddha Sakyamuni. One day Sakyamuni was sitting in lotus position under a Bodhi tree. His radiance went straight up to a Demon's Palace. The Demon got very angry so he sent three demonic beauties to seduce the prince. The prince used his divine power to let those demonic beauties see that the insides of their bodies were dirty and filthy. The demons then retreated themselves. Today, how should we expose the evil? We should expose their viciousness and let the evil people see their own filthiness. While suffocating the evil, we will also be offering people salvation. Practitioner B: Master said if we were fearless, the agents that make us afraid would cease to exist. I know a practitioner who lived dangerously and was arrested several times, but every time he escaped. I found that he doesn't know what fear is; there is no such concept in his mind. Practitioner H: I took my boy with me to distribute flyers. He doesn't know what fear is either. He gave flyers to people right in front of some suspicious characters. He just wanted to deliver the flyer to one more person and give him a chance to reposition himself. Sometimes I was breathless for him. Practitioner A: After all, we are still doing things in the human world. We should conform to everyday people's condition as much as possible when we "validate the Fa with reason, clarify the truth with wisdom, spread the Fa and offer people salvation with benevolence." Practitioner F: One practitioner spread flyers about his cultivation experiences in a community monitored by a police station. While he was spreading flyers ahead, a cop was collecting the materials behind. When the practitioner learned of this, he decided to talk to the officer. Right at that moment, the cop called him. The practitioner then spoke with the force of justice, "My total income is 200 Yuan RMB every month. It's not easy for me to print these materials. If you keep collecting them, I'll have to distribute them in more remote areas." After that, the police officer didn't dare collect his materials any more. There is another issue: recently, some practitioners were too busy clarifying the truth to study the Fa and do the exercises. Now they feel lost and don't know what to do next. Distributing flyers? Done that. Hanging banners? Done that. Going to Beijing? Been there already. Now what should I do? Practitioner A: Ignoring studying the Fa and doing the exercises is definitely not right. Master said, "Even if you do work for me, your Master, you still need to study the Fa every day with a calm mind and cultivate yourself solidly. " (Towards Consummation) Also "If a cultivator can let go of the thought of life and death under any circumstances, evil is bound to be afraid of him. If every practitioner is able to do this, evil will of itself no longer exist." (Eliminate Your Last Attachment(s)) Even if you are able to let go of the thought of life and death, it is still not enough. What about other practitioners? Whether the evil forces will recede or not does not depend on the amount of flyers we distribute or the number of banners we hang up. It depends on the Xinxing improvements of all the practitioners. What Master is waiting for are the essential changes in our practitioners, not those of everyday people. So we should concentrate now on helping more practitioners step out from their human mentalities and attachments in order to assist Master in rectifying the Fa and suffocating the evil. If all practitioners are able to do this, the viciousness will fade away automatically. We shouldn't do things just for the sake of doing them, with an everyday person's mentality. What is most extraordinary about us is not how many things we have done. Actually we've done nothing. What is most extraordinary about us is that we have been able to keep up with the Fa-rectification. If we are great, it's because the Fa is great. Practitioner F: Many practitioners have been to Beijing. Master said that our purpose is not to get arrested and beat up; instead, the purpose is to validate Dafa. Then how can we validate Dafa more effectively? We must write down our experiences and understanding and share them with other practitioners so that we can improve as a whole. Also, when everyday people read them, they can be saved. Meanwhile, this is exposing and suffocating the evil. Practitioner D: One practitioner was responsible for communications over the Internet. He knew many other practitioners had been to Beijing to appeal to higher authorities many times and suffered a lot of hardships. He also wanted to go to Beijing again, but knew that if he left, many practitioners would not have access to articles from Minghui. He struggled with this a lot and finally decided to stay in order to clarify the truth to more people. Practitioner A: As Dafa particles in the Fa rectification period, we should dissolve into the Fa completely. Since we are particles of the Fa, we should consider Dafa when we do anything. The smaller a particle is, the greater the power it has. It may appear insignificant or even invisible when manifested in this human realm, but actually it can exert great influence. I remember a story. A long time ago, there was a young cultivator who dug a cave in the mountain for cultivation. Just when he was done, there came a person who asked him, "Could you please leave this cave to me for my cultivation?" This young cultivator then let the person use the cave and started digging a second one. When he was done, there came another person that asked him, "Could you please leave this cave to me for my cultivation?" He gave the cave to that person also. This happened again and again for 6 times. At last he became an old man and started digging the seventh cave. Just when he was finished, a young man came and asked him, "Could you please leave the cave to me? I want to cultivate." The old man hesitated, "If I give this cave to him, I won't have time to cultivate in my lifetime." But then he thought, "If I don't give him the cave, this young man would probably end up just like me--digging caves for his whole life and never having a chance to cultivate." So, he gave this cave to the young man. Right at that moment, his master appeared and told him, "You have reached consummation." In other words, we should give up our attachment to consummation and become righteous, enlightened beings who selflessly consider others before ourselves. Edited by Practitioners in China

Category: Journeys of Cultivation