(Clearwisdom.net) Greetings, Esteemed Master! Greetings, fellow practitioners!
After the "Call for Papers for The Third Mainland China Falun Dafa Practitioners Cultivation Experience Sharing Conference on the Internet" was published, I realized that this is another opportunity our benevolent Master has arranged for Dafa practitioners to validate Dafa in this special historical time. I would like to take this opportunity to share my experiences with other practitioners during the past several years on my path of Fa-rectification cultivation.
1. Believing in Master, Believing in the Fa and Eliminating Old Force Arrangements
Two practitioners from our county were arrested in Beijing in October 2004 when they were clarifying the truth. In November, three practitioners were arrested and taken to the county police department when they were preparing truth-clarification materials in a practitioners’ homes. The evildoers wanted to find the source of the truth-clarification materials, so they brutally tortured the practitioners. The next day, practitioner A was tortured to death.
At that time the whole atmosphere in the county was full of fear. Some of the practitioners in our county developed the attachment of fear. They were afraid of stepping out to validate Dafa. I was sad and mourned the practitioner who had died. I recalled what Master says,
"You need to safeguard the Fa, you need to validate the Fa, and when the Fa is persecuted you expose the evil and do better embodying Dafa--this is what you should do." ("Teaching the Fa at the 2001 Canada Fa Conference" from Guiding the Voyage)
I then realized even more clearly the severity of the persecution. It made many practitioners stop taking their Fa-rectification steps and tripped many of them up. It poisoned the minds of many sentient beings, losing their opportunity to be offered salvation. I went to practitioner A’s home to explore what happened. I had righteous thoughts and clarified the truth to his siblings. There were many people there, and one of his relatives had participated in arresting practitioner A. I also told them how practitioner A died as a result of the persecution. They all agreed with what I said. I also learned the details. Later when I went to visit them again, the practitioner’s daughter told me, "For your own safety, you don’t have to come again. We’ve been watched."
I realized that the evildoers were afraid of us knowing the truth. We should oppose the evildoers so we can expose the evil to let more people know the truth and reduce the losses toward Dafa.
I also checked into the truth of the other three practitioners' arrests. Some practitioners told me, "You’ve been monitored and followed." I was quite nervous and sometimes had the attachment of fear. I could even hear my own heartbeat. But in order to expose the evil and minimize the losses, I tried my best to adjust my mindset, study the Fa calmly and send forth righteous thoughts. I also tried to eliminate the rotten demons who tried to persecute other practitioners and me. I asked Master silently, "Please help strengthen me."
What we cultivate is the ultimate Great Law of the universe. What we do is the greatest and most sacred. Even if we have loopholes, we will rectify them during Dafa cultivation. We must not permit any persecution.
One night, after I had sent forth righteous thoughts at midnight, I had a dream. I was walking with someone. There appeared some bad people in gray clothing from the side. One of them said, "With such a big event, she wasn’t even affected." When I turned around and looked at them, they all exploded. We continued to move forward and found another group of bad people in front of us on a hill. I woke up right then. I spoke to Master in my mind, "I will break through this challenge." But right away I realized my thought was not right. I was trying to understand the true meanings of what Master says,
"We negate even the very emergence of the old forces and everything that they've arranged; we don't even acknowledge their existence. We're fundamentally negating all of their things, and all of, and only, the things you do while negating and getting rid of them is mighty-virtue. It's not that you're cultivating amidst the ordeals they created. Rather, you are to walk your own path well while not acknowledging them, not even acknowledging the elimination of their ordeals' manifestations. (Applause) So looking at it from this angle, what we need to do is completely negate the old forces. Dafa disciples and I don't even acknowledge the manifestations of their last-ditch efforts." ("Teaching the Fa at the 2004 Chicago Conference")
"Even if the sky were to fall, a cultivator's righteous thoughts would stay unshaken--that is cultivation, and that is remarkable. (Applause) A cultivator is not attached to anything in this world. Dafa disciples' cultivation takes a different form today." ("Teaching the Fa at the Meeting with Asia-Pacific Students")
I have recited these two paragraphs of the Fa many times, but I only understood the Fa through my own notions. Sometimes when fellow practitioners were going through karma elimination I told them, "Master asked us not to acknowledge even the old forces’ existence and completely negate the old forces’ arrangements. We should have strong righteous thoughts, and negate and eliminate them. They are all false impressions. What is a righteous thought? Don't righteous thoughts come from practitioners’ cultivation of the Fa? Aren’t righteous thoughts gods’ thoughts sublimated from Fa principles? When one has a god’s thoughts, will one still have the attachment to fear? When one has the attachment to fear, evil will enlarge it. One will become smaller. All of these are the false impressions the old forces make." How could I be driven by that? Only when I truly let go of the attachment of fear and completely believe in Master and believe in Dafa will I be able to completely negate the old forces’ arrangements. After assimilating to the Fa, I will exist with an air of supremacy.
The next day I wrote down the details I had learned about. Three other practitioners came over and documented what they knew as well. Practitioners from material sites edited and printed truth-clarification flyers to expose local acts of evil. We distributed the handouts all over the area, effectively suppressing evil and helping more people understand the truth.
2. Compassionately Offering Salvation
I’m responsible for the cosmetics counter at the county shopping mall. As a practitioner, I always remember what Master asks us to do. I pay attention to my words and deeds and always think of others first. All my co-workers have a good impression of me. I often give them truth-clarification materials, and most of them know that Dafa is good.
My co-workers see me treating customers well and being tolerant. Gradually, there have been fewer and fewer arguments with customers. On one occasion, a lady had just bought an outfit for her child, and she decided to return it right away. She worried about a poor fit. The co-worker who was selling the outfit said, "Selling clothing is not an easy business nowadays. You just bought this outfit and there is nothing wrong with it. How could you do this?" But that lady was determined to return it. My co-worker hesitated and looked at me and to get my opinion. I didn’t say anything but nodded to her. She immediately understood what I meant and said to that lady, "She let me know the truth of Falun Gong, so I know that everyone should be a good person. Otherwise, I wouldn’t let you return this today." That lady thanked her, as well as me. So I said, "You should know that Dafa is good and you should try to be a good person, too." She said, "I know! I will say, ‘Falun Dafa is good.’" Just like this, I created an environment where I can study the Fa publicly, and I have established a good foundation, being able to clarify the truth to people and spread the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party.
I have clarified the truth about Dafa to many of my customers through my job over the past few years, and thus made many people understand the truth. In November 2004, with the publication of the Nine Commentaries, the advancement of Fa-rectification entered a new historic era. I realized that it’s becoming even more critical to rescue sentient beings.
Master says,
"Dafa disciples are now sentient beings’ only, sole hope for salvation." ("Righteous Thoughts")
I took every opportunity I had to clarify the truth and persuade people to withdraw from the CCP and its organizations (the "three withdrawals"). Whether it’s on my way to and from work, or while I’m shopping, I take the time to clarify the truth and persuade people to do the three withdrawals. Most of my co-workers, except for a few whose minds are severely contaminated, withdrew from the CCP. In some instances the whole family withdrew. Many of my customers withdrew as well.
During the past two years of clarifying the truth and persuading people to do the three withdrawals, I have become profoundly aware that only when we study the Fa well and maintain strong righteous thoughts and compassionate and kind notions are we able to get good results. I send forth righteous thoughts on my way to work and back from work. At work, I send forth righteous thoughts during the set times. When there are customers, I greet them nicely. Where there are no customers, I study the Fa. I have all kinds of customers, including students. I clarify the truth to different people from different angles. Some people easily agree to withdraw from the CCP. Others' minds had been profoundly infected with the CCP mentality. They are the ones who are difficult to persuade. During the past several years, I have often prepared different brochures and materials. I could easily distribute the materials to satisfy the customer’s demands. Fellow practitioners often reminded me, "The booth where you work is always in the same place, so be careful. You can talk to your customers but you don’t have to hand them printed information." My co-workers also kindly reminded me. I know how to manage this myself, because I believe in Master’s Fa,
"Human history does not exist for [people] to take being human as its final goal, nor is human history a recreation ground created for the evil to display its viciousness. Mankind's history was established for the Fa-rectification, and only Dafa disciples are worthy of displaying their glory here." ("To the 2005 European Experience Sharing Conference")
I thus tried my best to do what a Dafa practitioner during the Fa-rectification period should do.
When several of my customers came shopping together I would persuade all of them at the same time and give them a copy of the Nine Commetaries and other information. High school students, in particular, are eager to be shown a way to liberation. Everyone would ask for a copy and would say that one copy wouldn’t be enough to share with other people. I asked them to share with classmates or friends and relatives. They agreed to withdraw from the CCP and its organizations and left happily. I convinced one high school student who bought a bottle of shampoo to withdraw from the Communist Youth League. After a while she brought her mother and her sister back to buy cosmetics, and they withdrew from the CCP as well. Several days later, her mother brought her neighbors back to buy things and the neighbors withdrew as well. This kind of thing happens often.
3. Letting Go of One's Ego - Cooperating Harmoniously to Become One-Body
In 2004, after the evildoers had killed practitioner A as a result of the persecution there was turbulence among our county's practitioners. Some practitioners were experiencing sickness karma. Master gave me a hint in my dream one night and asked me to go to practitioner B’s house. I got sidetracked for two days. When I went to practitioner B’s house on the third day, practitioner B and her parents were all experiencing sickness karma. Practitioner B had heart attack symptoms (she had previously had heart attacks before she started practicing). Her father was coughing badly, and her mother was even worse. Her lips and face were black and she couldn’t breathe and couldn’t move.
I felt ashamed of my selfishness. If I had arrived two days earlier, these practitioners might not have become like this. The children wanted to send their mother to a hospital. I told them that this is not karma elimination. This is the old forces and rotten demons’ persecution. If she were to go to hospital, she might risk her life. I sent forth righteous thoughts immediately with them and asked Master for strength to eliminate the rotten demons persecuting them in their own dimensions and eliminate the evil factors persecuting Dafa in the universe.
As we were sending forth righteous thoughts, we heard the older practitioner becoming able to gradually breathe normally again. After twenty minutes of sending forth righteous thoughts, all three practitioners improved, especially the mother. Her face and lips looked better. Before I left, I told them that they had not studied the Fa enough and didn’t understand the Fa principles well, so they were taken advantage of by the evil. I told them that they should start focusing on more Fa study. I also recommend that they study several times Master’s "Teaching the Fa at the 2004 Chicago Conference." And they should look for their own attachments and improve themselves from the Fa and completely eliminate and negate the old forces’ arrangements.
The next day I came back from work and went to their home, and saw that they looked much better. The elderly practitioner was able to walk around. We sent forth righteous thoughts together for twenty minutes and then they looked even better. On the third day the older practitioner was able to cook. The whole family was so excited. They all said how Master is so benevolent and great. It’s such a miracle.
Other practitioners soon heard about this and went to study the Fa with them and sent forth righteous thoughts. All three practitioners in the family went right back to Fa-rectification. Practitioner B became acutely aware from the Fa and used her own experience to support practitioners who had similar experiences. The older practitioner for a while was unable to advance for different reasons and let the evil take advantage of her. I was able to go to her house to study the Fa with her and send forth righteous thoughts. She had certain realizations from the Fa and eliminated the persecution of the rotten demons and that from the Communist specters. She told me, "Thank you for being here for me!" Every time I encounter an issue, you are always here to help me. I told her that it was Master who is helping her. Master says,
"Actually, it is the Fa that saves people, and only Master can do this thing." ("Don’t Make Wild Statements" from Essentials for Further Advancements)
Since we are all special, Master didn’t want to miss any practitioners and that is why He had me help her out. She understood the Fa principles and no longer had any attachments to emotions, so she advanced quickly and did the three things well.
Every practitioner is a particle of Dafa and should function as a particle of Dafa. In my county the diligent fellow practitioners are working with the practitioners who are not very diligent. The practitioners who had stepped out already are working with those who haven’t come out to validate Dafa. Some practitioners are helping those who were taken advantage of by the evil. Some practitioners are helping those who have given up on cultivation to realize certain things. Some practitioners visited relatives in remote villages and mountains areas to clarify the truth and spread the Nine Commentaries. Just as Master says,
"You are one body, just like Master’s gong. Of course you and gong aren’t the same thing, I’m just giving an example. It’s just like my gong, which does different things at the same time."
"In other words, one body doesn’t necessarily do one thing. But no matter what you do, you need to be worthy of being called a Dafa disciple." ("Teaching the Fa at the Washington D.C. International Fa Conference" in Guiding the Voyage)
On my cultivation path I will study the Fa more, and study the Fa well. I will also always look inward and balance the relationship within the family well. I will learn from other practitioners and advance with them together. I will walk the Fa-rectification cultivation path Master arranged for me and fulfill our great vows from eons ago!
The above are my personal understandings. All fellow practitioners are welcome to point out any mistakes.