(Minghui.org) I changed from a person searching for health and fitness to a steadfast practitioner of the Fa-rectification period. During my two decades of cultivation, I’ve experienced times when I was lost in emotion as well as moments of feeling wronged and pain. However, compassionate Master saved me time after time.
I tried to write something to share my experiences during the past, but I couldn’t express my thoughts clearly. This time I’ve realized that studying the Fa is not a formality. I must calm down and study the Fa with a peaceful mind. Everything I encounter is an opportunity to examine myself, look inward, enlighten to an aspect of the Fa, and rise to a higher plane.
Master Protected Me from Being Reported to Police
Many people are brainwashed by the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) propaganda and willingly help the authorities to persecute Falun Dafa practitioners.
I once sent an express package in the mail with truth-clarification CDs and booklets to a client in Shanghai during the World Trade Fair in 2009. The following day, the courier company messenger showed up at my office and threatened me. He told me to pay him 20,000 yuan or he would report me to the police. I asked him if he had read what was in the package and he said he had.
“Then you know,” I said, “that they are the facts of how Falun Dafa was framed and slandered, and you know the facts about the persecution. Falun Dafa teaches people to be honest and kind and the heavenly law of ‘what goes around, comes around.’”
I was very nervous. We were talking in a meeting room, and my colleagues kept knocking on the door to see if it was vacant. I offered to pay him 10,000 yuan, the most I could afford. He insisted on 20,000 yuan. We negotiated for a while, and he said he would discuss it with his partner.
After I got home that night, I realized I’d handled it wrong. How could a Falun Dafa practitioner be threatened by an everyday person? I knew the old forces were behind this and I should not fall into their trap. I came to the conclusion that there was nothing wrong with practicing Falun Dafa and saving sentient beings, that I would not comply with the evil and allow an everyday person to do wrong by persecuting a practitioner. I sent forth righteous thoughts all night long and asked Master to strengthen me.
The courier called me during my lunch break the following day and said nervously, “Transfer the money to me immediately. If I don’t receive it by the end of the day, I will report you to the police. The police department is just across the road from my place.”
I responded calmly, “Young man, I don’t want you to do something so wrong. You must remember that what goes around comes around. You may choose not to follow my advice—then it is out of my hands—but I can’t give you any money.” I hung up after I’d had my say.
Several days later, the messenger came back and apologized to me. He said he had talked to his mother, who’d told him that a person must earn money through hard work and should not do anything against his conscience. He explained that he was thinking about quitting his job as a courier and starting a business but lacked the funds to do that. He thought it was a chance to extort money from me to finance his new business. But I didn’t give in to his threat and would risk being jailed instead of allowing him to do something wrong.
I accepted his apology and was truly happy for a person who had learned the truth and chosen a bright future for himself. I thanked Master for his compassionate protection.
The encounter also taught me that a practitioner must always base one’s thoughts and actions on the Fa.
Getting Out of Jail by Letting Go of Attachments
My husband and I went to another city to get two Dafa books in early 2018. I was very nervous on the way back and worried that the authorities might find the books at the security checkpoint, even though I kept telling myself that Falun Dafa is the law of the universe and the books were legally published and printed.
The taxi driver made several wrong turns but I was not enlightened. I was fearful, and my righteous thoughts were not firm and strong. At the security checkpoint, they opened my bag and found the books. I was arrested and taken to a detention center.
New inmates in the detention center are supposed to memorize the rules during the first three months. They had to wash bowls and dishes, mop the floor, clean the toilets, and take the night shift. I thought that there was nothing wrong with practicing Falun Dafa, which meant I was innocent. Therefore, I refused to do any washing, mopping, cleaning, or night shift duty. I did the Falun Dafa exercises every day if I could. The guards put handcuffs and shackles on me, refused to give me vegetables and meat to eat, didn’t give me hot water to shower in the winter, and forbade other inmates from talking to me.
I sensed the environment was not right since a Falun Dafa practitioner’s environment should be peaceful and compassionate. I sat in a corner and looked within. I realized that I had a competitive mentality and lacked the compassion of a Dafa practitioner. I decided to display the compassion and kindness of a Dafa practitioner in this terrible place.
For nine months, people from the police department and the procuratorate’s office talked to me. They threatened me, told me of the consequences I would face, and tried to force me to sign forms to betray Master and Dafa. My heart didn’t waver. I focused on one thought: “I am a Falun Dafa practitioner and there is nothing wrong with practicing Falun Dafa. I must be released and leave with dignity.”
When they told me to sign those documents, I always wrote, “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good. Whoever persecutes me is guilty!”
At the same time I looked within and eliminated my attachments, like resentment, zealotry, lust, and many other human notions. But I still felt like I’d been wronged, broke down in tears, and resented those who persecuted me.
At that time, the detention center was broadcasting a TV series. The heroine in the play was very strong and did not burst into tears, no matter how unjustly she was treated. I was shocked: I am a cultivator. Was I not as good as an ordinary person?
Master said,
“Forbearance is the key to improving one’s xinxing. To endure with anger, grievance, or tears is the forbearance of an everyday person who is attached to his concerns. To endure completely without anger or grievance is the forbearance of a cultivator.” (“What is Forbearance (Ren)?,” Essentials for Further Advancement)
I woke up and knew that I must act like a Dafa practitioner. After that, I sent righteous thoughts whenever I could take a break. I looked at myself based on the Fa and caught and eliminated human notions as soon as they appeared. In the end, I could keep my heart calm in any situation, and nothing could interfere with me.
One day, an older woman in our cell said I looked very kind. A few days later, a young woman in our cell said my complexion seemed to glow with health.
The following day, the gate of our cell opened and a voice called out, “Xiou (pseudonym), you are released!”
I pressed my palms and thanked Master in my heart. I finally left the detention center in a dignified manner.
I learned after my release that local practitioners had cooperated very well to rescue me, and my family kept going to the authorities to request my release. To me, it was a lesson learned that fear caused a great loss.
The Power of Dafa During the Pandemic
The pandemic enveloped the entire country at the beginning of 2020. Many subdivisions and townships were locked down. To save sentient beings, I downloaded the most recent truth-clarifying audio file from the Minghui website and played it back to people on the phone. Many listened to the very end of the audio and pressed a key on their phones to quit the Party and its youth organizations. Local practitioners and I also distributed fliers discussing the pandemic.
After the lockdowns in the subdivisions were lifted, we started to call people at night. We always went outside to place our calls. It rained a lot that year, which made doing that difficult. One day, another practitioner and I went out together. Soon the wind started and it was going to rain. We both thought about the gods of rain and wind and asked them to hold back the rain for two hours until we completed our mission. Amazingly, the rain only started after we returned home two hours later.
Once it was raining when we went out to make phone calls. It was difficult to hold an umbrella with one hand and dial phone numbers with the other. Where could we find shelter? As we were thinking, we arrived at a big tree with a dry place underneath. Great! Dafa showed us its power again. Thank you, Master!
Another time, it began to rain when we were halfway into our calls. I looked at the sky and was embarrassed to ask help from the rain god again. Amazingly, the rain stopped at my thought. I came to an understanding that if your intention is to save sentient beings, all the righteous factors will assist you and the old forces dare not object. Master told us to save people and everything has been arranged accordingly. We only do the leg work and speak to those who are predestined.
However, if my mind was not clear and I was only intent on completing a task, it would not work. Ordinary people would curse, say lewd things, laugh, or threaten to report me to the police.
Now is the ending time of the Fa rectification. Every step on our cultivation path is critical because the path is narrow and we must always base our thoughts on the Fa and look within unconditionally.
Thank you, Master and fellow practitioners!
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Category: Improving Oneself
