(Minghui.org) After I was released from detention, I went back to work. The deputy manager assigned to me was picky. He was able to work well with me most of the time, but he had bad habits from the communist culture. He sometimes badmouthed me behind my back. When others told me about it, I always just smiled. After a while, my co-workers felt that he was unfair to me. I knew that the moral values in today's society are low and I should not think at the same level as they were because I am a Dafa disciple at the Fa-rectification time. Forbearance in cultivation practice is not just ordinary forbearance, but a kind of forgiveness, since my heart was not moved.
-- From the author
Greetings Master and greetings fellow practitioners!
I was a government employee. I began to practice Falun Gong in 1995. The profound Dafa principles moved and attracted me, and I made up my mind to practice. After the persecution of Falun Gong started on July 20, 1999, like most of the Dafa disciples, I objected to the persecution, and wanted to safeguard Dafa and save sentient beings. I suffered persecution and had to leave home to avoid further persecution. I was arrested and sentenced twice.
In 2005, after I was released from prison, I tried my best to do the three things according to the standard of a Fa-rectification-period disciple. I went to an interview at a famous company, and told them openly and righteously that I was a Dafa disciple. When the company CEO heard about my situation, he thought that a government worker who gave up his career to pursue his beliefs was noble. Despite huge pressure, he hired me as a manager.
At my new job, I treated people kindly and worked diligently. I always used a practitioner’s standards to guide myself. My outstanding work was praised by my co-workers and rewarded by the company management. I validated Dafa with my actions.
1. Firmly Safeguarding the Fa and Standing Up Against the Persecution
After April 25, 1999, Falun Gong practitioners all felt that the cultivation environment had changed. The police often showed up at our practice site and agents from the Domestic Security Bureau were seen among practitioners. The negative news from the local government constantly came out, targeting the heart of every Falun Gong practitioner. We all felt pressure from the evil.
On July 19, 1999, after we got the news that the government would begin the persecution of Falun Gong on the next day, we planned to go to the city government together to appeal.
On the morning of July 20, 1999, I was walking to the city government to appeal, as a Dafa practitioner, that Falun Dafa is good. Although my steps were firm, my thoughts were not steady. I understood the consequences of my actions. I still clearly remember my thoughts at that time, “I am a Dafa disciple walking down the path to divinity. Now every step is towards that goal and breaking away from being human.”
When I arrived at the gate of the city government, many practitioners were already there. Some of them came from counties nearby and some from the rural areas. The scene was a bit chaotic. I recalled Master’s words that we should be good people under any circumstance. So I and a few practitioners I knew organized the practitioners to line up so as to not block the roads and do the meditation as a silent protest.
Soon after, a lot of police officers showed up with many buses. They tried to drive us away. We tried to explain to them that Falun Dafa is good and that the truth should not be slandered. I, along with about a dozen other practitioners, as representatives of the group of practitioners, negotiated with the government officials. All other practitioners were sent to the suburban areas. They recorded our names and workplaces. Before I returned to work, my workplace got a notice. After that, I became a so called “key person.”
After July 20, 1999, the persecution of Falun Gong escalated. Many of our local practitioners went to Beijing to appeal for justice on behalf of Falun Gong.
In December of 1999, several practitioners and I went to Beijing to appeal, full of righteous thoughts, and without worrying about losing our jobs. I was arrested and detained for a month. After I was released, I was expelled from the Party (CCP). My home was ransacked several times.
Although under pressure, I still went to work as usual. The officials at my workplace had to transfer me to a different department due to pressure. But after a month, I was transferred back.
At my workplace, I followed the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and had good success. I often clarified the truth to my colleagues, from directors to ordinary employees. They all knew that Falun Gong is good. Although the persecution of Falun Gong was intense, the environment of my work place did not feel the same way. I bought copy paper and printed truth-clarification materials and Master’s articles at work, then made copies, and gave them to other practitioners. When the demand increased, I worked alone by myself at night.
In 2003, the local 610 Office and police department arrested practitioners on a large scale. Many truth-clarification material production sites were destroyed and practitioners were arrested. Some practitioners were unable to bear the torture, and leaked the source of the materials.
One day, a practitioner who often contacted me was arrested and gave my name to the police. When the police came to my home to arrest me, I managed to escape with the book Zhuan Falun tucked inside my coat. I was forced to leave my hometown and was on the run for a few months. But the police issued a warrant for me and monitored my cellphone. I was arrested six months later.
I was detained at a detention center. The guards forced the newly-admitted practitioners to wear uniforms, recite rules and do work. Practitioners were not allowed to do the exercises or talk to each other. But I refused to recognize these demands. Whenever the guards required me to do these things, I first sent forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the evil that was controlling them, then I righteously told them that I am a Dafa practitioner, and a lawful citizen who had committed no crime. I refused to wear a uniform or recite the prison rules.
During this period, many local practitioners were detained in the same detention center--sometimes more than forty of us. We shared and organized together to form one-body. We used different methods to protest, with some holding hunger strikes, some reciting the Fa together, some sending forth righteous thoughts and some shouting “Falun Dafa is good” from time to time. I reasoned with the guards for our rights. Once, I talked to the deputy director for nearly an hour. With our group’s effort, the environment dramatically changed. When we exercised, the guards pretended to not see us. Later, when we did exercises or Fa study, we were no longer put in handcuffs or solitary confinement as punishment.
2. Looking Inward and Cultivating Xinxing Solidly
Through Fa study, I enlightened that the excuse that the old forces used to persecute practitioners, was that practitioners were unable to cultivate to high levels if the tribulations were not severe enough. That was nonsense. Before the persecution, we practitioners often studied the Fa and shared about our cultivation experiences together. We were improving solidly during our daily life.
In 1996, I was given a company car for my work. However, it was stolen while parked outside my building six days after I got the keys. The car was not insured at the time. I remembered Master’s words, “If other people want to take your things they won’t be able to budge them. So that’s why we just let things happen naturally.” (Zhuan Falun) Why did my car get stolen? I looked inward: First, the car was a company car and I should not have used it for personal matters. I had the attachment of taking advantage. Second, if the new car were mine, I would have taken care of it more carefully. I might have parked it in the parking garage. I was selfish. Third, before I practiced cultivation, I often had free meals and took free stuff. I needed to pay back these debts. After I found these attachments, I let them go. I bought a car to replace the one that was stolen. When the account manager at my work place found out about this, he suggested that I give him a few fake receipts so he could reimburse me the money. But I refused. Since then, I have never lost anything during the past ten years.
One day, I stopped by the market on my way home from work while still in uniform. I bought some dates, which looked really big and good. But when I got home, my wife complained that I had bought a bag of bad dates. I could not believe my ears. The dates I saw at the market were really good--how could they have become bad ones. When I took a look, they were small and bad. I felt deceived and thought about going back to the market to confront that merchant. But I thought about it again: it was very unlikely that he would deceive me since we knew each other and he had always respected me. Master said that what practitioners encounter is never coincidental. So I knew this was targeting my attachment. When my personal interest was shaken, it was testing me to see if I could enlighten like a practitioner and let go of my personal interest. If it happened, there must be a reason. So I just let it go.
Master said,
“But there’s somebody in his work team or who shares an office with him, and this guy can’t do anything well or can’t ever come through, and one day this incompetent guy gets promoted to a supervisory position. He isn’t promoted, and that guy even becomes his boss. So he thinks it’s just so unfair and he can’t get over it. He goes around to everyone trying to do something about it, fuming and burning with jealousy.” (Zhuan Falun)
This happened to me. In my office, there was a person who did not do anything well. From his personality, knowledge, ability, and social skills, he had nothing to compete with me. But he was promoted to be my boss. Although I didn’t say or do anything, my heart was moved.
Master said “Everything through the ages, came about for the Fa” (“Just a Play” from Hong Yin Volume II). I enlightened that this matter was arranged intentionally for me to improve myself and to get rid of my jealousy. I should enlighten to it. So I did not have any resentment towards him and always supported him. My managers and colleagues observed my behavior and said that Falun Gong practitioners are different than ordinary people.
After I was released from detention, I went back to work. The deputy manager assigned to me was picky. He was strong-minded and liked to arrange things his own way. He had many conflicts with his former manager and was unable to work with him. He was able to work well with me most of the time, but he had bad habits from the communist culture. He sometimes badmouthed me behind my back. When others told me about it, I always just smiled. After a while, my co-workers felt he was unfair to me. I know that the moral values in today's society are low and I should not think at the same level as them, because I am a Dafa disciple during the Fa-rectification time. Forbearance in cultivation practice is not just ordinary forbearance, but a kind of forgiveness, since my heart was not moved. I also enlightened that it was all just an illusion. When others were telling me about it, it was a test and also indicated that I had attachments to get rid of. During the past few years, my boss admired me since I acted righteously. The two of us had a good time working together. He often helped me to pass information about Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party and breaking through the internet blockade to other predestined people.
I always regarded my co-workers as predestined people to be saved.
3. Clarifying the Truth to Fulfill the Vows of Saving Sentient Beings
Master said,
“When I was just speaking about “the truth,” a great deal was encompassed by that term. When we use it nowadays, we’re referring to how we tell people about the evil’s cooking up lies in order to persecute Falun Gong; to what the wicked CCP is really all about; to why Falun Gong is being persecuted; and then there’s the topic of what exactly Falun Gong is, which people are talking about, and this truth is hard for people to grasp. But whatever the case, in the future there will be many, many things that people haven’t known, or have wanted to know, or that they believed to be “right” but that were actually wrong, and many truths, will all be revealed in full. What people don’t believe in will be shown to them. People are truly going to experience an unforgettable, massive change as never seen before in all of history.” (“2012 International Fa Conference at the U.S. Capital”)
From Master’s lecture, I enlightened that clarifying the truth would be with us through our cultivation process since human beings could not see the truth through their eyes and the modern technology and the principles in the three realms are the opposite of the principles of the universe. From spreading the Fa at the beginning of my practice, to clarifying the truth to people, to revealing the truth in the future, further telling the beings in our world about our process of enlightening after consummation, these things are all about the process of clarifying the truth. Clarifying the truth is closely connected with our cultivation, especially during the Fa-rectification period. It is an important method for us to fulfill our vows of saving sentient beings and is important for each practitioner to do.
The process of my clarifying the truth began on April 25, 1999. When the CCP was preparing for the persecution, the practitioners from several practice sites jointly clarified the truth to people and the government. At that time, the truth was emphasized on how good Dafa is, the efficiency of Falun Gong on improving health, and that Dafa teaches people to be good people and thus can help social stability. After July 20, 1999, the CCP's lies were spreading. In the beginning, we clarified the truth to co-workers, relatives, classmates and acquaintances, rebuking the lies and rumors.
As the persecution escalated, more lies and rumors were spread by the media and more sentient beings were deceived. We began to print more truth-clarifying materials. Later, we downloaded the materials from the Minghui website, printed and distributed them.
Facing such brutal persecution, the volunteer assistants and coordinators went to Beijing to appeal for justice, without thinking much about life and death, and clarified the truth to people.
As a Dafa particle, I went along with other fellow practitioners to follow Master along with Fa rectification. I clarified the truth to people to save them; however, I was arrested again.
At the detention center, one of my cellmates was a gangster head. He was well educated and also had a sense of obligation. He had read the Dao De Jing twice. But he had some misunderstanding on Dafa and regarded the Dao De Jing as the best. After we met, he sometimes asked me if I understood this or that. His words showed that he felt he was superior. I kindly asked him to tell me about what he had enlightened to. After I first agreed that the Dao De Jing was good, I told him my understanding about what he told me based on the Fa. He was shocked that my enlightenment was higher than his. He asked me how I could understand things in this way, and I told him that it was from Dafa. His attitude towards me changed immediately. He arranged for me to rest by his side and told other cellmates to take care of me. He told them that I was a respectable person. Since then, he often shared his thoughts with me, and often asked me for Dafa articles to read.
Most of the inmates in the detention center hated the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) but they all had certain misunderstandings toward Dafa because of the lies and rumors from the media. I first patiently listened to their questions and puzzles and then clarified the truth to them, targeting their misunderstandings. They all accepted the truth. During those two years, I clarified the truth to every inmate and eliminated their misunderstandings toward Dafa. Some of them withdrew from the CCP and its affiliates, and some wanted to learn Falun Gong.
After I was released, I was hired by a famous company. From the CEO to the ordinary employees, I did not hide that I am a Falun Gong practitioner. I followed the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and did my job well. At the same time, I persisted in doing the three things well in order to save sentient beings.
While doing business, I always traded fairly and worked with business partners fairly, sincerely and righteously. I worked fast and never accepted any bribes. My colleagues always praised me and appreciated me. Then I used these opportunities to tell them that I am a Dafa disciple and that my Master taught me to be this way. At the same time, I clarified the truth to them, including the facts of government corruption, and asked them to withdraw from the CCP and its affiliates. The effects were pretty good.
Of course, there were some special cases which I had to treat carefully. One of the partners was a communist party member. He had disgruntled feelings towards the CCP but did not want to quit the CCP. I realized that he did not recognize the true nature of the CCP. So I tried to find different opportunities to talk to him and played the video of Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party. After we finished all nine chapters, I saw that he was shocked. A few days later, he called me and asked me to help him withdraw from the CCP. Since it was not convenient for him to talk too much on the phone, he visited me and stayed by my side while I helped him withdraw from the CCP.
To clarify the truth to my classmates, friends and former colleagues, I participated in parties and weddings to keep close connections with them so it would be easier to clarify the truth to them. Sometimes, I could distribute ten or more Shen Yun DVDs at one party.
In my job, I often did business with some government officials so I used the opportunities to clarify the truth to them. These officials clearly knew the corruption of the CCP since they were all a part of it. Clarifying the truth to them needed to be done one on one. When they truly listened, they would accept the truth. During the past few years, many officials have withdrawn from the CCP and its affiliates.
Most of my colleagues withdrew from the CCP and its affiliates, including the deputy director, the accountant, the driver and others. For the past few years, I had clarified the truth to my brother, my sister-in-law and my brother-in-law several times but they refused to withdraw. This summer, when we got together, my brother’s family and my sister-in-law’s family all withdrew from the CCP with their real names.
After 17 years of difficult times, under Master’s protection, I walked down my path until today with righteous thoughts and actions. Compared to Master’s requirements, I still have many shortcomings. I will study the Fa more and cultivate myself well. I will try my best to do the three things well and follow Master to reach consummation.