(Minghui.org) I was fortunate to obtain the Fa in 1996. Within the compassion of Buddha Law, I matured as a Falun Dafa practitioner during the Fa-rectification period. I realized what a great honor it was to be able to listen to Master teach the Fa during the period of Fa-rectification! Whenever I think about the time that Master was with us in China, it always warms my heart and strengthens my courage.
One of the most important things I've learned after more than 10 years of cultivation is that it is critical to follow Master's instruction to study the Fa well.
I used to do a lot of Dafa-related things, but I also had a strong show-off mentality. My Fa study was, at that time, simply reading. I didn't take the deeper meanings of cultivation to heart, much less really try to look inward when facing conflicts. You could have said that I didn't really know what cultivation was, which was the reason that I stumbled a lot after the persecution of Falun Gong began in 1999.
I learned from my suffering how important it is to study the Fa well. As soon as I was released from prison, the first thing I did was to study the Fa. I realized that we are supposed to validate the Fa, not validate ourselves. I enlightened as to how to look inward for my own shortcomings. And, I learned that the only way to improve my xinxing was through a good understanding of the Fa. Without that, it would be hard to pass tests during tribulations.
When I lacked a clear understanding of Fa principles, the old forces took advantage of my attachments to showing off, lust, and a sense of accomplishment. Those things were actually the direct cause of my suffering. I have finally come to realize that studying the Fa well allows us to have a clear mind and the ability to overcome the persecution.
Master said:
“The old forces have arranged for all Dafa disciples a set of their things, so if a Dafa disciple doesn’t follow Master’s requirements, he must be following the old forces’ arrangements.” ( “Be Clearheaded” in Essentials for Further Advancement, Vol. III)
The old forces have never stopped their persecution and interference, always using Dafa practitioner's attachments and karma as excuses. We have to be consciously aware of this, never leaving any loopholes in our cultivation for the old forces to take advantage of.
Since I'm a particle of Dafa, I know that it's my responsibility to validate Dafa and offer salvation to sentient beings, no matter how miserable my tribulations may be. I always keep Master's words in mind:
“Why are Dafa disciples ruthlessly tortured by the evil? Because they persist in their righteous faith in Dafa, and because they are particles of Dafa.” (“Dafa Is Indestructible” in Essentials for Further Advancement II)
I have been held captive in detention centers, labor camps, and prisons many times. But I never allowed myself to forget my innate character and my mission, and I've persevered in offering salvation to sentient beings around me. The following are some of my experiences of truth-clarification while imprisoned.
Abing used to be an manager in a large administrative bureau. He also owned several businesses. He was sentenced to death for killing one of his mistresses, although he claimed it was an accident.
Abing had been deceived by the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) propaganda, so I exposed the persecution of Falun Gong to him and analyzed the staged self-immolation on Tiananmen Square in detail. He eventually came to understand how the CCP had defamed Falun Gong, a great cultivation practice.
He said if he had known about the universal principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, he would never have ended up in the detention center. We became good friends while we were there.
On the morning I was to be sent to prison, a policeman gave me a note from Abing. The policeman said with a smile, “I didn't know Abing could write poems with hidden messages.” I asked him what Abing had hidden in the poem, and he told me it was: “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance are great!”
The director of the detention center heard about my reputation, and sometimes he would ask me to come to his office to talk with him. I took these opportunities to tell him the facts about Falun Gong.
After I was released from prison, I visited him at his home a few times and gave him a copy of Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party and a Shen Yun DVD. After repeated talks, he finally got rid of his apprehension and decided to quit the CCP.
A young man called Xiao Jiu (nickname) had been put in detention centers many times for stealing and using drugs. By the time I met him, he had contracted tuberculosis. No one in the detention center would talk to him or ever get near him, for fear of contracting the disease. He was ordered to sleep right next to the bathroom, which smelled very bad. To offer salvation to him, I ignored these things and took every opportunity to talk to him.
I told him about many things, including the relationship between misconduct and suffering, and why a person needs to be compassionate, Falun Dafa's widespread popularity around the world, the wickedness of the CCP, etc. I sang many Falun Dafa songs for him. He became very excited. Every time we were together, he would tell me, “Falun Dafa is so great! Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance are so great!”
On Chinese New Year's eve, everyone wanted me to sing Falun Dafa songs. I also shared with them the food my family sent to me. They were very happy. I said in my heart, “Nothing makes me happier than seeing people saved by Dafa.”
I was sent to the criminal offenders ward for refusing to give up practicing Falun Gong. The head of the ward asked me many questions about Falun Gong as soon as I arrived. I patiently answered them one by one and told him, “You graduated from a law school. You know the law and know I'm not here because I committed any crime. Even though the court has wrongfully sentenced me to prison, you don't want to follow their wrongdoing.”
He replied, “As long as you don't make any trouble, I won't cause you any trouble.” I later clarified the facts about Falun Gong to all the jailers. They understood Falun Gong practitioners were good people, which gave us a relatively relaxed environment in the prison.
I took every opportunity to further clarify the truth to my fellow inmates by helping them write letters, buy little things, or even cut their hair. Most of them got a chance to learn the facts about Falun Gong.
On the day before my release, an inmate who had rarely talked with me before invited me to have lunch with him. I took this opportunity to tell him and other inmates in his cell about Falun Gong and the persecution. He seemed to understand what I had said, and told me quietly, “Brother, I can only treat you to instant noodles.” I was very touched by his humility and so happy he learned that Falun Dafa is good!
I used to have difficulty forgiving those who betrayed Dafa. They benefited from practicing Falun Dafa themselves and know Dafa is good. However, they shamelessly carried out the CCP's policy of persecution and helped the CCP “transform” Dafa practitioners in prison.
They even ganged up on me in an attempt to brainwash me. What they said was complete nonsense. For example, they told me to stop doing the Falun Gong exercises and curse Master, because it would eliminate my attachment to emotion. I thought they were pathetic.
I faced them with righteous thoughts and told them, “We Chinese emphasize loyalty and righteousness. We should treat our teachers like fathers, even if they are only our teacher for one day. If you say cursing someone will eliminate the attachment to emotion, why don't you curse your father to eliminate your attachment to emotion?” They were speechless.
As Master has said, compassion is very powerful. I used to hate the traitors and jailers who persecuted Falun Dafa practitioners. But I learned through Fa study that they were persecuted themselves by the old forces and used by the CCP. They will have a sorry fate at the time of Fa rectification, so I should show them the power of Falun Dafa through a practitioner's compassion and do my best to offer them salvation.
When I started treating them with pure compassion, they changed. One time, I talked to a jailer who had been doing "transformation" work on practitioners. I told him, “We have to make judgments based on our own consciences. The CCP's propaganda is all lies. How can we believe it?” When talking about a recent incident of a Falun Dafa practitioner calling out “Falun Dafa is great,” the jailer murmured, “It's right to say Falun Dafa is great!”
The above is my experience and understanding. Please kindly point out anything inappropriate.