(Clearwisdom.net) The authorities in our local area became desperate in 2004. To persecute Falun Gong practitioners, they hung banners slandering Dafa with the intention of arresting practitioners when they came to remove the banners.
One day on my way home, I found a slanderous banner. I was very saddened and immediately had the urge to go tear it down at all costs. I told myself to calm down because it was in a busy area and many people were walking by. I had to keep a clear head and consider how to do it. After I got home, I was still upset. I read the Fa, and I calmed down somewhat. However, I thought that the banner would poison many people's minds if it stayed there for even one more day. I made up my mind to tear the banner down that night.
Just then, a fellow practitioner came to my home and said, “There will CCP agents waiting at each of the slanderous banners tonight. Please don't fall into their trap and get persecuted.” Upon hearing that, I hesitated, and I immediately realized that it was because of my mentality of fear. I corrected my thought, and I also came to understand that the evil was trying to make me think that if I went to remove the banner I would be arrested. It was lying to me through the fellow practitioner's mouth. I considered how everything in the human world is a false manifestation and everything that happens is aimed directly at my attachments. The old forces were trying to make me accept their arrangements and I had to definitely refuse them. That banner had to be destroyed—it could not stay up even for one more day.
I got together with two new practitioners, one of whom is in my family, and calmly read the Fa. Through studying the Fa, my righteous thoughts were strengthened. We also came to understand through experience sharing that we must do Fa-rectification work with pure minds and rationally, and we must pay attention to sending righteous thoughts. As long as we have pure minds without everyday people's notions, the old forces will not dare to persecute us.
I also realized that wind, rain, thunder, and lightning are all living beings and they should cooperate with us to assist Master in the Fa-rectification. The four of us shared our thoughts and shared in our minds with the wind, rain, thunder, and lightning. We asked them not to follow any of the old forces' arrangements and to begin raining at 10:10 p.m. We sent righteous thoughts together. At 10:10 p.m. we finished sending righteous thoughts. As soon as we put our hands down, a miracle happened. Thunder began, lightening flashed, and the rain poured down. The new practitioners were greatly encouraged to see this. Two of us went first to check out the situation around the banners and saw that the people waiting and watching at the banners had all left because of the rain and there were only a few people hurriedly running on the street. Two of us sent righteous thoughts nearby while two male practitioners went to tear the banners down. We removed the slanderous banners without any difficulty.
Several days later, a practitioner saw some slanderous banners at other places. He came and said, “Look how well we did last time. If there are any slanderous banners near my home, I will tear them down even if I don't sleep.” This strong mentality of showing off and zealotry was taken advantage of by the old forces. The next day, banners were hung near his home at the height of a three-story building. It was getting harder to remove the banners.
Every one of us thought about how we could remove the banner and figured out a way by using a sickle tied to the end of a fishing pole. That same afternoon, we bought a ten-foot-long fishing pole and tied a sickle to the tip. When it was taken apart, the fishing pole could be conveniently hidden in one's clothes. That night, after we studied the Fa and sent righteous thoughts, we went to where the banner was hung. Two of us looked around. When we were sure no one was watching, several of us sent righteous thoughts while two others took out the fishing pole and quickly tore the banner down.
The second day we got together and shared our experiences. Everyone was very happy. However, some of us developed an attachment to the sickle. One practitioner said, “Let us keep this sickle for our group.” Another practitioner said, “This sickle is the sharpest one in my home and I am not giving it up.” The practitioner who owned the sickle smiled proudly while he held the sickle. Seeing that the practitioners were attached to the sickle, I reminded them that we should discard any attachments while doing Dafa work. The practitioner who owned the sickle didn't listen and kept holding it. That night when we went to a different location to remove slanderous banners, the sickle, which was tied quite tightly, suddenly fell off the pole and disappeared. Even in such a small area we could not find it no matter how we looked for it with a flashlight.
In the process of removing the banners, we saw that as soon as we removed one, the authorities hung another one at a different location. Through studying the Fa I came to realize that it was not enough to have the same practitioners in our group doing this. As Falun Gong practitioners we should improve as a whole and cooperate with one another. Through sharing based on the Fa, most fellow practitioners came to understand that we must remove all the slanderous banners in order to reject all the arrangements by the old forces. Practitioners then coordinated and sent righteous thoughts as a group while the practitioner who is my relative and I prepared to tear down the banners.
We went to the center of town where one of the banners was hung. Many people were walking by and CCP personnel were watching, standing next to the banner. From 9:00 p.m. until after 2:00 a.m. they did not leave. We kept sending righteous thoughts. However, some practitioners started leaving for home and one of them said to me before leaving, “Let's give it up. Do not try too hard. Pay attention to your safety.” I said in my mind, “Master! I want to remove this banner today. There are too many people walking by and the banner should not stay up for even one more day. Please strengthen me.” I also communicated with the god of rain in my mind, “Please don't follow the old force's arrangements. Please cooperate with us to save lives and to assist Master in the Fa-rectification. Please rain now.” In a few minutes, huge rain drops started to fall. Because it was a heavy rain, the people in the night market all left and the practitioner who is my relative quickly removed the banner.
Probably because we didn't have a clear understanding based on the Fa as a whole, some practitioners thought that the banners didn't directly slander Dafa and so we should not tear them down. They did not understand that we should reject all the old forces' arrangements. The evil took advantage of this, and several days later, almost all the banners they hung specifically slandered Falun Gong and they even dared to put Master's name on the banners. We fellow practitioners came to realize our omissions and understood that we must destroy the banners. Everyone has improved based on the Fa, but the difficulties also increased. The authorities hung a banner very high up at the vegetable market and they arranged for spotters to watch the banner almost around the clock, every day. Many people had businesses there and they tended to stay even if it rained. I also came to understand that we could not always wait for it to rain to remove the banners. Falun Gong practitioners should not be attached to any specific method in safeguarding the Fa.
The practitioner who is my relative and I discussed that we should not allow the evil banner to keep destroying people and we must tear it down. At midnight we went to check the situation, and there were still many people in the area. Many practitioners wanted to tear it down, but they didn't know how to do so when they got there. It was already past 3:00 a.m., but more and more people began arriving to do business. We asked for Master's help. The practitioner who is my relative said anxiously, “There is no other way. Let's do it no matter what. You send righteous thoughts.” At that moment, I remembered a paragraph from Master's Fa about sending righteous thoughts, and I came to understand that I should have the ability to freeze people. As soon as I came to understand this, I felt my body become bigger and bigger and an enormous character, "灭" (Eliminate), like a mountain, overshadowed everyone around and suppressed them. I felt like I was separated from the world, and everyone seemed further and further away from me. I then talked to the practitioner who is my relative with the strong righteous thought, “I can freeze them with righteous thoughts so that they can't see or hear you. Go tear the banner down quickly.” The practitioner quickly went to the banner. At that moment, someone selling fish and another selling vegetables started arguing for the stall position and everyone else gathered around, focusing on the quarrel, watching them for fun. The sound of the banner being torn down was very loud and it took a while for the practitioner to take it down. However, no one heard it and no one saw it. After that we also tore down the banner in front of the street police station.
The evil banners were eliminated and we were very happy. However, a fellow practitioner came and told me that in the center of the small town, yet another banner had been put up. I went there to check it out, riding a bicycle. I saw that two men were hiding in the garden plants at a distance, staring at the banner. I went behind them and sat down. I thought, “Are you watching for me? I am watching you.” I was glad in my mind and thought, “If you hang one, I will remove one.” I thought that I was rejecting the old forces' arrangement. However, I suddenly realized that something was not right, “Why should I follow behind the CCP agents and wait for them to hang banners? Why do they keep hanging the slandering banners? If we pay so much attention to what they do, aren't we following the old forces' arrangement? Then aren't we acknowledging the old forces arrangement?”
I recalled that Master said,
“I am a person who dislikes fighting with others, and neither was it worth a fight with him. Whenever he brought some bad things upon me, I would just clear them up. Afterwards, I would resume my lecturing.” (Zhuan Falun)
I came to understand that Falun Gong practitioners should do the three things well. We should eliminate any interference when it occurs, but afterward we should keep doing the things we need to do to save people. Since the CCP agents put up the banners, we should remove them and afterward we should keep doing the three things and saving people.
A miracle happened again the next day. A fellow practitioner called me and told me that the banner had disappeared. He asked me whether I had removed it. I told him I didn't do it, and other practitioners also said that they did not do it. Later we heard that the agents themselves removed the banner. We then realized that since we had improved ourselves as a whole and totally rejected the old forces arrangement, Dafa manifested miracles. Since then the evil banners have never again appeared.
Through the process of removing the evil banners, we came to understand that when doing Dafa work, as long as we base our actions on the Fa, reject all the old forces' arrangements, and even reject the existence of the old forces, as long as we improve ourselves together, identify our gaps, and discard our everyday people's notions, Dafa constantly manifests miracles.
The above is my personal understanding. Please point out any of my misunderstandings.
Selected from “Call for Articles about Divine Occurrences in the Human World”
