(Clearwisdom.net) May 13, 2011 was World Falun Dafa Day, the 19th anniversary of Falun Dafa's public introduction.
On May 13, 1992, Mr. Li Hongzhi held the first Falun Gong class in the northeast Chinese city of Changchun and formally introduced this great law of the universe to the world. In today’s society when morals are deteriorating day by day, Falun Dafa is like a clear voice in a corrupt world, awakening people’s long lost desires to pursue the beautiful realm of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. It has led more than a hundred million people to the path of returning to their true selves. May 13 was established as “World Falun Dafa Day” in 2000, and since then, Falun Gong practitioners around the world have celebrated the day with various activities, wishing Mr. Li Hongzhi a happy birthday and celebrating how Falun Dafa has flourished around the world.
Falun Gong practitioners in China also celebrate the day, despite the ongoing persecution. Even though they cannot celebrate with flowers, song and dance like those in the free world do, the determination they have tempered through solid cultivation in Dafa allows them to mark the grand occasion of World Falun Dafa Day in their own ways.
There Is No Alternative
The persecution of Falun Dafa in China started on July 20, 1999, and has been a huge interference for every practitioner. Falun Dafa teaches people to be good and to experience lives full of meaning and satisfaction. How could such people become targets of suppression overnight? A practitioner from Heilongjiang Province went to appeal to the provincial government and was later taken to a local police station. He could not understand why the government was suppressing such a good practice that teaches people to be kind. He said, “I could not hold back my tears at the police station and wondered why people were not allowed to pursue such a good practice. My older brother and sister-in-law wanted to say something to me, but when they saw that I was so upset and heavy-hearted, they said nothing and left.” If people went to appeal the first time because they felt like telling the government the facts, the second time around they did it because they made a clear choice.
“Twenty days later, I resolutely handed the restaurant I had been running for about ten years to my nephew’s wife to manage and got on a train to Beijing to appeal with fellow practitioners the second time… At that time I truly felt that everything in the human world was so far away, and somehow I had a sense of loss, a feeling of loneliness, as if nothing in this world had anything to do with me, and I felt a kind of pain beyond description. But I was very clearheaded, and I knew I must go to validate the Fa. There was no alternative. I just wanted to go!”
Eternal Righteous Thoughts
Xiaolian was undecided for a while. On the one hand, Falun Dafa had indeed cured all her illnesses, and she did not believe the lies of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on TV. On the other hand, she was not able to say what she felt due to fear.
“For a person with a conscience and a clear mind, such conflicts and pains are self-evident. I used to think how to write the big character 'human' in the human world.”
By chance, she obtained some sharing articles from the Guangzhou Fa-conference in 1999. “When I opened those papers, tears ran down my face. Those words of righteous thoughts were truly startling the universe and moving the gods. Indeed, Master has picked us up from hell and planted Falun and countless precious things in our bodies. When Master was framed and slandered how could we, the witnesses, not step forward and speak out on its behalf? If I don't dare to speak the truth, am I worthy of being Master’s disciple?”
“From then on, when local officials and police came to my house to monitor my mother and me, I told them about Falun Dafa, told them the facts about how I have benefited from the practice, and that Falun Dafa is totally different from what the media depicts. It can help people get rid of illnesses and purify their heart and soul. In the face of such magical reality, those hard-hearted police could not but agree.
Once a relative said to me, “A local police officer in your area told me that the government says Falun Gong is harming people, but a woman in our area didn't need to take any medication for several years after she started practicing Falun Gong, and yet her disability as a result of paralysis is much better and she doesn't limp as much as before. Isn’t it magical?”
After difficulties and hardships, Xiaolian wrote at the end, “Righteous thoughts come from one’s mind along with raising the level of one’s understanding of the Fa, not from impulse, and this would not change due to changes in the external environment and time; they remain righteous eternally.”
With a Mind As Calm As Still Water, There Will Be No Ripples
Before the persecution started, masses of practitioners had already seen some supernatural aspects of Dafa in their solid cultivation and had experienced the happiness of being good, and even better people. Such firm belief in Dafa generated from their personal experiences will not change despite any pressure or defamation.
A practitioner from Liaoning was still a child when she obtained the Fa in 1997. When she was taking high school exams she found that cheating was everywhere. Even her teachers and classmates encouraged her to cheat, to ensure she would be able to attend a key school. As she was deliberating what to do, she read a paragraph that Master had written and decided to take the exams relying on her own ability, and not cheat.
She wrote, “All of a sudden, I felt very relaxed and let go of the attachments, and all I had on my mind was that I would not let Master down, and would walk my cultivation path well. In the days afterwards, I truly experienced what keeping a calm mind, as still water, meant. I just reviewed my lessons very calmly. Other classmates were so anxious that they could not answer even the questions they normally could. I could then see the difference between cultivators and everyday persons. In the end, I walked into the exam room calmly and was subsequently accepted by a key high school based on my own merit.”
The persecution that started on July 20, 1999, caught people by surprise. However she calmly thought, “Just as I was diligently cultivating myself, the evil came down from the heavens and a frenzied persecution started. In the face of the sudden crackdown, I didn't listen to the propaganda on TV, but instead calmly considered if Dafa was good or not. I had been practicing Falun Gong for only two years at that time, but my body and mind had experienced big changes for the better. I especially cherished the wonderful feeling I had when I raised my understanding of the Fa principles. It was something that an everyday person would never understand. With these thoughts I told myself, 'Never listen to what is shown on TV. Dafa is righteous, and you must firmly continue cultivating.' Thus, no matter how the TV stations lied using propaganda, nothing could move my heart and mind.”
One Righteous Mind Can Subdue One Hundred Evils
A practitioner from a region in North China works as a public servant in a department under the direct administration of the provincial government. During the days when the CCP was most viciously framing and slandering Falun Gong practitioners, he kept firmly in mind what Master said to disciples at “Teaching the Fa at the Conference in the Midwest-U.S.”
“Under trying circumstances of any type, you must all keep steady in thought. Just by staying unaffected you will be able to handle all situations.”
This practitioner wrote in his sharing, “Master’s words enabled me to keep a determined will to cultivate in Dafa. The documents from above, ‘People with the two memberships (Party membership and public servant membership) are forbidden from practicing Falun Gong,’ was the gist of the talk my supervisor had with me when my workplace was implicated. My family members and relatives, out of fear that I would lose my job, tried to persuade me, and pressured me. I went through a process of ‘feeling anxious and uneasy’ at the beginning to ‘staying calm’ and then to ‘being unaffected.’ With Master’s Fa in my heart, I felt very confident and knew very well what to do.”
“From the very beginning of the persecution I gave colleagues this impression, 'I’m not in the wrong! I walk with my head held high and treat others with kindness and smiles. I’m straightforward and sincere, and at the same time act with dignity and honor.' Those who were afraid of trouble did not mention Falun Gong to me. When those who cared about me and were sympathetic or those whom the leaders assigned to check me out talked to me about Falun Gong, I said to them, 'Falun Gong teaches people to be good according to the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. Falun Gong is not in the wrong, but those who forbid people to practice Falun Gong are very wrong.'”
“I have a deep understanding of the principle that ‘One righteous mind can subdue one hundred evils.’ I was very busy every day and held no fear. I told those who came to ask me to fill out forms or write something against Falun Gong, ‘It is a great insult that you ask me to do such things! We have worked together for so many years, and you should know how I conduct myself. I will absolutely not do anything to betray my Master. I know you do such things against your conscience, and you are not willing to do them, either. So in the future, please do not bother me with anything that harms Falun Gong. I won’t cooperate now and never will! I hope you don’t cooperate with them, either. If it is too difficult for you, tell them to come to me directly.’”
Personal Experience in Validating the Fa
For everyday people, resisting the most evil persecution launched by the CCP would be unthinkable, because they don't understand the state of cultivators. However, Falun Gong practitioners who put into practice what they believe according to the principles of Dafa have seen the truth during this huge tribulation, and they have become even more steadfast in cultivation.
One practitioner wrote, “From the moment I started cultivation, I held a firm faith in Dafa principles. When I encountered conflicts, I checked myself from within with Dafa. When I had difficulties, such as serious elimination of karma, I never held any doubts about Dafa. On the contrary, I could feel I was in the process of cultivation. I conduct myself in line with what Master has told us, so my cultivation has been relatively smooth.”
“On July 20, 1999, the authorities bombarded the Chinese people with vicious propaganda and also tested every practitioner’s righteous belief. I study Zhuan Falun, do things according to Dafa principles, and constantly improve myself. I’m feeling better and better. From the changes in me, I have no doubt that Falun Dafa is good. Although I have never met Master, how can my Master, who created Dafa, possibly not be good? I firmly believe in Master. My rational analysis and the righteous decision has enabled me to become even more steadfast in cultivation during the frenzied persecution.”
No External Force Can Change My Cultivation Path
Mr. Ming Duo from Jilin Province was always very successful—outstanding among those in his age group. He has a nice family and a successful career. However, he often felt empty and lonely. Later, when he saw his wife, who was previously rather pale, develop a healthy color, become strong, and stop taking all the medications she took in the past, he also started practicing Falun Gong. Their family of three is very happy. Facing the persecution, he once thought of giving up the practice, but when he had to truly face the temptations of money, status, and beautiful young ladies, he stopped suddenly and would not be lured into it.
“At that time, I felt my life had come to an end. Then I thought about it more deeply with a calm mind. 'What is it that stopped me from drifting with the tide?' In the end I came to the understanding that it was Dafa—Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance—that had already taken root in my heart. I thought then that no external force could ever change my path of cultivation.”
The cultivation experiences of millions of people have verified that Falun Dafa is the Fa of high virtue. From perceptual knowledge to rational thinking, the journey of Falun Dafa practitioners through hardships and dangers has been a testament to the greatness of Dafa, displaying the radiance of righteous belief. We hope more people will be inspired to take the path of returning to one’s true self.
Category: Perspective
