(Clearwisdom.net) I began to practice Falun Dafa in 1995. I would like to share my experiences as a practitioner during the past 11 years.
Being a true practitioner during Fa-rectification
Teacher mentioned many times the importance of studying the Fa. In the beginning of my practice, I studied two lectures each day, like completing a mission. Most of the time I was not focused, let alone being enlightened to anything in the Fa. As a result, I couldn't think or act righteously. I was arrested four times and put in a forced labor camp because of my belief. I even went astray once while detained in the camp. I am still very ashamed of this. I let Teacher and sentient beings down.
In May 2002, after I was arrested, I started to contemplate why this had happened to me so many times. I discovered my fundamental attachments—wanting to reach consummation and being selfish. These attachments prevented me from saving sentient beings. I then decided that I would never be put in a forced labor camp again, because there were still sentient beings waiting for me to save them.
After I was released, I studied and memorized the Fa seriously, and I quickly improved. Gradually, I settled my mind when I studied and was able to clear my thoughts when I sent forth righteous thoughts. I truly felt as though I was as high as the heavens and I could eliminate all evil beings in every dimension. After I cleansed my own dimension, I was able to better save these beings.
Beginning January 1, 2008, I went out every day to clarify the facts of the persecution, rain or shine, cold or hot, even on holidays. I told myself that as long as I was in this human world, I must keep my vows and save these beings. My compassion and wisdom increased in the process.
Wisdom to clarify the facts comes from Dafa
I came across all kinds of people when I clarified the facts about the persecution in China. Initially, I thought that those who did not want to listen to me should be punished or they did not deserve to be saved. As my character gradually improved, I no longer thought that way.
One time I sat with an old lady who was a professor. I asked her whether she was in her 60s. She was delighted and told me that she was 72. I thought she looked really healthy, but then she told me all about her illnesses. I told her that my parents were in their 70s and they became really healthy after they practiced Falun Gong. Her smile disappeared and she told me that the practice might be good, but I should not be talking about quitting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated organizations. I told her that I respected her because she had been through all the CCP's movements, such as the Cultural Revolution, the June 4th Massacre, and the suppression of Falun Gong. Through all of these movements, the CCP has killed 80 million people. These people should not have died for nothing and there will be consequences. There are already signs indicating that the CCP will be destroyed. A natural stone in Guizhou showed six Chinese characters depicting the termination of the CCP, just like the one in the Qin Dynasty before the dynasty was overthrown.
I also told her that the CCP's high level officials are escaping overseas to avoid punishment for all the crimes they have committed. We ordinary people need to quit the CCP to stay safe because we had vowed to devote our lives to the CCP when we joined it. The CCP first persecuted the intellectuals and then set up a Teacher's Day to praise them; the CCP struggled and suppressed the land owners and capitalists and then these people were most welcome to join the Party. One never knows when the CCP will want to sacrifice someone. “There is not one shred of benefit in joining the CCP and its affiliations. Why not quit?” I asked her. She told me her surname and that she had joined the Communist Youth League. I helped her quit the league with the name Zhang Yi.
I always keep in mind that I can speak because I know the principles of the universe and what ordinary people know is from earth. I can persuade anyone because I walk on the divine path and people will listen to me. With this righteous thought, most people I have talked to have been glad to quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations.
Cherishing fellow practitioners and completing our historic mission together
I have enlightened that practitioners should not be separated from one another. We may think we like or dislike some of them the first time we meet. Like them or not, we are all practitioners and Teacher's disciples and there shouldn't be anything that stands between us. Teacher wants us to improve as a whole and look within in every conflict. This is how we can overcome any barrier between us.
Three years ago, Practitioner A told me what Practitioner B said about me. I did not mind, thinking that B said it with his human notions. The next time I met A, he told me that B had said something about me again. I began to look within, trying to figure out what I had done wrong. I figured that it could be my attachment of jealousy. I talked to Practitioner C and asked him whether he thought that I had that attachment. He said, “Of course,” and told me something that I had done. I had found that attachment and there was no way I could keep it. I sent forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the evil factors behind my attachment. The next time I met A, he told me that B had nothing but good things to say about me. I kept Teacher's words in my mind, "For a cultivator, all the frustrations he comes across among everyday people are trials, and all the compliments he receives are tests." ("A Cultivator is Naturally Part of It" from Essentials for Further Advancement)
I went to the prisons and detention centers once a week to send forth righteous thoughts close by.
We must unconditionally look within to break down the barriers between practitioners, because we need to accomplish as one body what Teacher wants. Once I was wronged for something I did not do. I thought, “If I look outward, the evil will just laugh at me.” I was not going to let that happen and I eliminated the evil. I decided to apologize to the practitioner the next day. I turned around and, as I began to walk, I was floating in the air. I was in tears because I knew that Teacher was encouraging me. The next day, before I went to apologize, my phone rang, and the misunderstanding was resolved.
Teacher said in Zhuan Falun, “the human body is a small universe.” If every being carried all its attachments in those countless dimensions, wouldn't that be chaos? “One Qigong master has said: 'In a sweat pore there is a city with moving trains and cars.'” (Zhuan Falun) We have numerous beings in our small universes and we could ruin them if we do not eliminate our attachments. We cannot consummate with any attachment. We must do what Teacher asks us to and cultivate ourselves instead of wanting to change others.