(Clearwisdom.net) Greetings, benevolent Teacher! Greetings, fellow practitioners around the world!
I started learning Falun Gong in 1994. My cultivation practice has occurred under the compassionate care of our Teacher. I relied on my steadfast righteous thoughts of believing in Teacher and the Fa to negate all the interference I encountered, to validate the Fa at work, and to save sentient beings. I'd like to report my experiences to Teacher and share them with my fellow practitioners.
To Validate the Fa I Gave up My Position as a Cadre
Before the Jiang Zemin regime began persecuting Falun Gong in July 1999, I was a director of the out-patient department at a large state-owned hospital in Northeast China and a cadre at the section-level. After the persecution began, we recognized that we should not let the slander of Teacher and Dafa continue. My wife, my son, and I are all practitioners, and we went to Beijing with some fellow practitioners to clarify the truth and appeal for Falun Gong. We were arrested by the police in Tiananmen Square, escorted to a local detention center, and held there for several days.
In April 2000, my work unit convened a general branch meeting of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to criticize me for going to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. In the meeting I talked about the beauty of Falun Gong and the improvements in people, both physically and mentally, after learning the practice. I quoted the following paragraph from a follow practitioner's sharing to the participants, “After studying Falun Gong, farmers behaved with decorum and manners. Since they began studying Falun Gong, the workers work very diligently and will do any assignment the boss gives them. After they began studying Falun Gong, the cadres became law-abiding, did not accept bribes, and no longer embezzled public funds. After the scientists and technicians began studying Falun Gong, they stopped seeking fame and wealth and also became more intelligent. When the businessmen started studying Falun Gong, they began trading fairly, didn't cheat people, wouldn't sell fake goods, and ensured that they used accurate scales and sold full measures.” I then said, "Falun Gong brought numerous benefits and didn’t harm society." Everyone in the meeting was shocked to hear what I said. The Party secretary of our hospital could not help but say, “Do you choose the Communist Party or Falun Gong?” I replied, “Falun Gong!” He then said, “In that case I will expel you from the Party. The administrative punishment should be in line with the Party's punishment, so you will alos be dismissed from the position of a section cadre andn discharged from public employment.” I was thus expelled from the Party and lost my position.
At the time, I thought that validating the Fa and clarifying the truth were more important than my position in the CCP. However, after studying Zhuan Falun and Teacher's new lectures I realized that my understanding was not right. Teacher said,
“Of course, we don't acknowledge any of the things that the old forces arranged—I as your master don't acknowledge them, and Dafa disciples of course don't acknowledge them either.”
“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.” (“Teaching the Fa at the 2004 Chicago Conference”)
I realized that by giving up my cadre position, I had acknowledged the persecution of the old forces and practiced cultivation within the tribulation arranged by the old forces, which created obstacles for saving sentient beings. The purpose of the old forces is to destroy sentient beings. Therefore, we must resolutely negate the persecution by the old forces.
To Validate the Fa and Save Sentient Beings, I Must Keep the Position of Cadre
In the years that followed, our unit merged with a Level 3 grade-A hospital and I worked as a physician. One day when several of us doctors were all working in one consulting room, I clarified the truth to them. Later, under the compassionate care of Teacher, I was given my own consulting room. In this way I was able to examine patients while clarifying the truth and persuading them to quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations. I was fearful at first, afraid that someone would report me. After studying the relevant Fa I gradually let go of my fearful thoughts. At first, I persuaded one or two people to quit the CCP every day, and gradually increased this to six or seven people per day.
While returning home from Beijing, my family and I studied Teacher's Fa together. Teacher said,
“To fulfill the Fa, you must first of all be a good person. When you’re being a good person, that is an act of fulfilling the Fa.” (“Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Singapore”)
“That’s because the conduct of each student in everyday people’s society represents Falun Dafa [in people’s minds]. Isn’t that right? ” (“Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Singapore”)
I realized that practitioners are validating the Fa at their respective levels. Everyday people are unable to see the Fa, but they can see practitioners' behavior. If we do well, people will see the beauty of Dafa, which will lay a foundation for them to have a better understanding of the Fa. During my work I strictly follow the principles of the Fa and look inward when encountering any conflicts. I try to be a good person and improve myself to harmonize with the Fa.
I was a member of a specific diagnostic team. If a specified disease was diagnosed and was considered to be work-related, the patient didn't need to work anymore, and he or she was put on perpetual sick leave. This meant that the work unit would support the person for the rest of his or her life. The sufferers were also entitled to receive tens of thousands of yuan in disability allowance. Therefore, some people tried to fake the illness and obtain a diagnostic certificate. As a result, members of the diagnostic team were offered bribes. Last year, a major bribery case shocked the entire city. The majority of the team and its cadres were sentenced, detained, or are being investigated for taking bribes. Dozens of people were involved. Actually, many people offered me money or gift cards. Following the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, I didn't accept a penny. When talking about me, a staff member from the disciplinary committee said, “He is the only one on the diagnostic team that hasn't been summoned for talks or investigated by the disciplinary committee.” That very fact validated what Teacher said,
“Everyone here knows that Falun Dafa is a pure land—I dare to say this.” (“Teaching the Fa in Beijing at the Zhuan Falun Publication Ceremony” from Zhuan Falun Fajie - The Law of Zhuan Falun Explained)
Because of this, the position of team leader became vacant. No one dared to apply for the position, and those who did apply were turned down by the hospital leaders. Filling this position became a big problem for the hospital managers. There were nearly 1,000 staff members, including about 100 cadres at the section level, yet the hospital simply could not find a suitable nominee. Finally the hospital leaders turned to me, a Falun Dafa practitioner. The head of the hospital talked to me several times, “Please help me by accepting the position. With you in charge we won't worry.” At first I didn't want to do it since my consultation room was not that busy, which meant I had time to clarify the truth and persuade people to withdraw from the CCP while still doing my job. The administrative section was busier. However, Teacher said,
“There’s also the matter of Shen Yun ticket sales. I have said that we are now to focus on higher-end society, and only by making ourselves part of the cultural mainstream can we unlock society at large, have a greater impact, have more people attend, and have more sentient beings come to be saved. ” (“Be More Diligent”)
I realized that to save more sentient beings, practitioners should not separate themselves from mainstream society.
Having enlightened to a Fa principle, I agreed to accept the position of team leader. At the same time, I talked to both the head and the Party secretary of the hospital, “Earlier this year I was stripped of my position of cadre at the section level simply because I practice Falun Gong. Today you want me to take on a job, so you must do it properly by also restoring my previous position.” They said they needed to ask for permission from their superiors. I insisted that my previous position be restored, otherwise I would not take on the job of team leader. I also clarified the truth to both of them. Actually, they already knew some of the truth about Falun Gong. However, several months after I had taken over being in charge of the section, my position as a section cadre had still not been reinstated. There were rumors that it was impossible to reinstate the position of section cadre. One of my relatives, a non-practitioner, also said, “Getting you reinstated as section cadre is impossible.”
Why was this obstacle occurring? I looked inward and was startled to find a lot of attachments, including to fame and gain, the attachment of zealotry, the mentality of showing off, and the attachment of validating myself. After so many years of cultivation, I thought I had already let go of these attachments, but actually they were still there. After the trip to validate the Fa in Beijing, the attachments had been suppressed but not let go of through cultivation practice. As a result, whenever there was the right environment, they would re-emerge. The old forces took advantage and tried to obstruct validation of the Fa by not allowing me to be the section cadre. Through studying and memorizing the Fa ,I had a better understanding of the Fa principles. Teacher said,
“All human attachments and notions that interfere with validating the Fa and saving sentient beings must be removed.” (“The Closer to the End, the More Diligent You Should Be”)
I understood that the reason I came to this world was to validate the Fa and save sentient beings, not to enjoy fame, gain, and human sentiments. When I changed my ideas and gradually let go of the attachments, I was reinstated as the section cadre. The hospital CEO said, “You are the treasure of our hospital. Please go ahead and do the job well!”
Recommending a Relative When Trustworthiness Was Needed
Our section used a preliminary examination to help diagnose the above mentioned diseases. If such testing wasn't properly controlled, fraud and deception could easily occur, and it would cause great economic losses to many businesses. Therefore, the person in charge of the exams must scrupulously abide by professional ethics and be honorable and trustworthy. I asked the head of the hospital to select someone for the job. However, he failed to find anyone and asked me to make the selection. I said, “In that case, please choose my son.” (He is a practitioner and also a doctor who was doing the preliminary exams at a smaller hospital.) I said, “The reason I picked him is because he is also a Falun Dafa practitioner. Therefore, I can assure you that I trust him in the same way that you trust me. If he wasn't a practitioner I would not have picked him.” The head of the hospital said, “Write up your recommendation on hospital letterhead and I will ask the leaders above to sign it.” (It is very difficult to get hired by our hospital. It requires an undergraduate degree, but my son only had a diploma from a specialized school.) I wrote the recommendation and gave it to the head of the hospital. There was no response for a long time. When I asked the CEO about it, he was evasive, saying the general manager had been transferred to another unit and the new general manager hadn't arrived. Thus, there was no one to sign the report. However, he also said very clearly that he would ask the chairman of the board of directors to sign.
Why was there another obstacle? My son and I looked inward and found that we four practitioners (my daughter-in-law is also a practitioner), as well as practitioners from the surrounding area, had become complacent, had a show-off mentality, and were attached to validating ourselves. My son also had the attachment of seeking comfort as well as to fame and gain. When we found the attachments, we studied the Fa to eliminate the bad elements. It seemed that then there was no longer an issue with the head of the hospital. He went to ask the chairman of the board of directors to sign the document. In this way, my son, who did not spend a penny, was transferred to our hospital and began doing the job. If I wanted to do my job well, this critical position had to be done by a practitioner.
The issues I mentioned above caused a sensation in our hospital and the society. One of the directors of the hospital said, “It would be very good if all the doctors in our hospital practiced Falun Gong.” This effectively validated the Fa.
From the issues above I realized that only by studying the Fa, looking inward, doing a good job in cultivation, and having strong righteous thoughts will the things we do be fulfilled, because Teacher has already paved the way and it is Teacher who is doing it.
These are some of my experiences. Please kindly point out anything improper.
Thank you, Master! Thank you fellow practitioners!
