(Clearwisdom.net) (Continued from Part I) Two months later I called Ms. A, whom I met in Beijing. She told me that she held a 12-day hunger strike and showed severe symptoms of discomfort, so she was unconditionally released. In late December 2001, I went to the city where she lived. At that time, most of the practitioners in that region stayed at home and were unable to step forward. They had no opportunity to read articles on Clearwisdom. I realized my mission during this trip. Ms. A knows only one fellow practitioner B and through her I found other practitioners, one by one, whom I talked with face-to-face.
I recited Master's new scriptures to them and talked about Master's greatness. I talked about how Master endured the tribulation of the cosmos with his own body within nine months and he exhausted everything he had for all beings in the cosmos. "...In the several years of your cultivation, I have not only borne an incredibly great deal for you, but also, along with this, constantly given you hints for your improvement, looked after you for your safety, and settled the debts that you owed at different levels so that you can reach Consummation--these aren't things that just anyone can do, and neither can they be done for everyday people," ("Drive Out Interference," Essentials for Further Advancement II) "If everything in history were not borne for you, it would be fundamentally impossible for you to do cultivation practice; if everything were not borne for sentient beings in the cosmos, they would disintegrate with the passing of history; if everything were not borne for the people of the world, they would not have the opportunity to still live in this world today." ("Fa-Rectification Period Dafa Disciples," Essentials for Further Advancement II) I told them about Fa-rectification in other regions, the overall progress of Fa-rectification and Dafa practitioners' magnificent feats during Fa-rectification: Dafa practitioners are attempting to give up all human notions to step forward; they are stepping out of all material interests to clarify the truth and offer salvation to people, some practitioners even with their blood and lives.
When I talked about these things, the fellow practitioners became very moved. So I began to exchange with them about how to understand the Fa rationally, how to step forward to validate Dafa. I talked about how we must conform all of our thoughts, words and actions to the righteous Fa principles of the cosmos, to rectify everything we do; we must truly understand the old forces' arrangements rationally, for "Most fundamentally, you all still need to establish your great mighty virtue in the process of shattering the old forces' persecution, and return to your highest positions." ("Fa-Rectification Period Dafa Disciples," Essentials for Further Advancement II) I also shared my understanding with them about how if we fail to realize the old forces' arrangements including karma-elimination symptoms to our body and our conflicts with fellow practitioners, then we will be trapped within the confinement of individual cultivation. I then talked with them about how to completely negate the old forces' arrangements. I shared my understanding that we should examine ourselves and look inward, find our own degeneration and rectify it, and then we rectify all that is unrighteous with the righteous Fa principles! From my understanding, I also talked about the relationship between individual cultivation and Fa-rectification cultivation, and what true compassion is. I told them the reason why we should clarify the truth, why we must calm down to study the Fa, and I shared with them my experience for how to keep righteous thoughts at all times and the importance of treating all things with righteous thoughts. Among other issues, I also talked from my understanding about the importance of sending forth righteous thoughts and what a Fa-rectification Dafa disciple is like.
Every time I shared experiences with fellow practitioners, I cherished the opportunity Master had arranged for us, since it's possible that we will never be able to meet again. The practitioners in that city had heavy fears and were suspicious of everyone. They suspected everyone as a special agent. Sometimes, a practitioners' family didn't understand me and tried to kick me out, and some even tried to call the police. No matter how tremendous the pressure and difficulty, I knew that it was the old forces' arrangements in an attempt to keep people from assimilating to Dafa and that I must completely do away with their arrangements. I should give up myself in anything I do, and think of others before myself. When I thought about the people deluded by lies, no hardship could stop me from rectifying the Fa. When I thought about Master's greatness and other Fa-rectification particles' persistence, my heart was filled with boundless, righteous faith and righteous thoughts.
The practitioners in that city were all under surveillance. I did not rush to build up a materials-producing site; instead, I helped fellow practitioners to improve on Fa principles through Fa study and sharing experiences. Then I showed them the truth clarification VCDs I brought with me and let them know how to clarify the truth. I shared with them about how Dafa practitioners should put all their thoughts on Fa-rectification, since we did not come here to enjoy human life. We can conform to the state of ordinary human life, but there is only one purpose to it: to clarify the truth. Everything in the human society came into existence and was created for the Fa. Afterwards, they clarified the truth to their friends, colleagues, neighbors, street office personnel...they didn't let any opportunity go by to rectify the Fa. The practitioners changed. They started from not knowing how to bring up the topic of Falun Gong, to gradually being able to talk about the truth, to being able to talk more and enjoying clarifying the truth. Some practitioners clarified the truth to everyone they knew, yet some people still did not understand the true situation, and the fellow practitioners didn't know what to do. When we shared experiences, I said, "Dafa practitioners must 'See as if see not------ Neither confused nor tempted. Hear as if hear not------Mind not disturbed. ...Do but pursue not----- Often stay in the Dao.'" ("In the Dao," from Master's Hong Yin, un-official translation) When we clarify the truth, is our intention to offer people salvation completely out of benevolence? When people couldn't accept what we say at the beginning, did we get impatient? We encouraged each other to calm down and study the Fa to improve solidly, and after a while we would once again clarify the truth to people who still did not understand fully. The fellow practitioners said the outcome was great.
During my contact with fellow practitioners I was always looking for someone who could best take up the responsibility of clarifying the truth. I knew that as long as we studied the Fa diligently, purified and improved ourselves as a whole at all times, then we won't have to worry about anything, for all would be arranged for us. Quickly, we set up our materials-producing site and established safe, "single-line" contacts.
By contacting fellow practitioners, their attitude toward me changed from suspicion to trust, and we formed a group of indestructible Fa-rectification particles. When one practitioner had problems, instead of blaming him for omissions, we would think that the whole body had omissions and we should all look inward, find the root cause and rectify the problem. Some practitioners treated me as a person in charge and listened to everything I said. I knew it was not right and I saw the show-off mentality that was hidden deep inside me. During Dafa work, we should never have the intention of directing others, and we should always place ourselves among other practitioners. We are all Dafa particles with different functions in Fa-rectification, and no one has the right to direct another. One of our obligations for every practitioner is to "bond," which means eliminating crevices among particles so we can form an indestructible particle group; at the same time, we should encourage each other during our battle with the evil and assist Master to rectify the Fa with an optimistic mentality. I discussed all these issues with fellow practitioners and never judged others with my own notions. Master said that he doesn't care about formality and only looks at people's hearts.
Sometimes, our work looks the same on the surface, but our minds are different, and oftentimes the result is different as well. For example, two practitioners are both very cautious, but one was so out of fear and the other out of being responsible for the Fa. I saw that in some areas, practitioners could not rationally distinguish the evil forces' arrangements and interference, and they competed for the position of assistant and didn't cooperate with each other. I felt very sad. I hope every practitioner can calm down and read Master's Essentials for Further Advancement and Essentials for Further Advancement II. Treat fellow practitioners with great tolerance and benevolence! "Now when we clarify the truth to others you all feel that we should treat sentient beings with compassion, then all the more so should you be compassionate among our Dafa disciples. You're all disciples in the same practice, and you're giving your all for the cosmos' Fa-rectification, so you should cooperate well with one another. Don't approach things with too many human attachments, and don't cause unnecessary conflicts and arguments by interacting with each other with human attachments. In these situations your conduct should always show Dafa disciples' tolerance, kindness, and niceness. The next person's things are your things, and your things are his things. We don't talk about the "unity" everyday people do, which is a forced, superficial thing. You are cultivators, and your realms are higher. So in your many projects your actions should reflect an understanding of others, an ability to listen to people's opinions, and an ability to gauge what's right and what's wrong by using Dafa." ("Teaching the Fa at the Washington, D.C. Fa Conference")
Mutual understanding among the fellow practitioners is of great importance. I encountered many difficulties when I just started to do Dafa work in that city. One time, a female practitioner brought me to meet practitioner D. He suspected me to be a special agent. Before I had a chance to share my experiences, one of his old friends came to visit him unexpectedly, whom he hadn't seen for many years. I sat in another room and sent forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the interference. Before long, his friend left. We sat down and were going to share experiences. Then the non-practitioner husband of that female practitioner hurried to come and asked me to leave. I then told him about my experiences of Fa-rectification. I told him that I gave up comfortable living conditions and the prospect of a great job, traveling over a thousand miles to this unfamiliar place. It was completely devoted to those who didn't know the truth, not for myself at all. What could we get from doing all this in this human world? Being arrested, jailed, brutally tortured... When I finished, he said to me, "You are extraordinary." He and his family have given me a lot of help since then.
Practitioner D dispelled his doubts after hearing my words. He was a very devoted practitioner in sending forth righteous thoughts. Every night his Yuanshen [main consciousness] went to other dimensions to eliminate the evil beings. He could not see his Gong. With strong righteous thoughts, he just kept reciting the Fa-rectification formula and didn't let any other thoughts distract him from sending forth righteous thoughts. Every night, he said he experienced the threat of life and death several times. Sometimes, evil beings shook his organs to pieces; sometimes his body was chopped into several parts. When he got up next morning, he couldn't even imagine what he had experienced at night; just had the feeling of "Having experienced tens of thousands of hardships." ("The Great Enlightened," from Hong Yin, un-official translation) Since fellow practitioners couldn't understand him and therefore couldn't share his experience, he felt very hurt. Although I didn't have any experiences to share on such a topic at that time, I encouraged him and affirmed his righteous thoughts and belief. Then, from his viewpoint, I helped him to find his shortcomings. He at that time lacked an optimistic, harmonious attitude a practitioner should have. Sometimes he used too much of the cleverness of ordinary people to deal with issues instead of the wisdom of an enlightened being that a practitioner should have. The harmony and compassion during our experience sharing moved him and his eyes were moist. Since then, he has stepped forward to actively participate in Fa-rectification and became the key person in the Fa-rectification work in that area.
One time, I wanted to meet practitioner E who used to be in charge of a Dafa assistance center, covering the largest area in that location before July 20th, 1999 [the time when the persecution of Falun Gong started]. He had been monitored 24 hours a day since then. He didn't contact any other fellow practitioners. In my first attempt, I wrote a note to him and hoped he could meet me. He acknowledged me by sending me a note but refused to see me. In my second attempt, I went to look for him but didn't find him, so I wrote a long letter to him. Also, practitioner D and I decided to send forth righteous thoughts. In my third attempt I finally met him. We had a long talk. He watched the truth-clarifying VCD I had brought with me five times, in tears. There were no the truth-clarifying VCDs available in that area at that time. Later on, he and I worked together to establish a site for providing these materials. He has done very well since then.
My understanding is that we should consider issues from the angle of the concerned practitioners. What we should do is to help our fellow practitioners with our full strength. It's one of our missions in assisting Master in Fa-rectification. The old forces always take advantage of the loopholes in our Dafa practitioners to persecute us. In my thinking, not understanding fellow practitioners is equivalent to standing on the side of old forces to rebuff our Dafa practitioners. Every time I share experiences with fellow practitioners, regardless of whether they have stepped forward or not, as long as they still have a thought to cultivate, I will say to them, "You will become the great enlightened beings that I respect. But you must keep up with the process of Fa-rectification, so as not to let down those sentient beings that have put their infinite hope in you, and to be worthy of Master's benevolent salvation."
I think we should not be too eager to "do something" after establishing a Dafa materials-producing site. The quantity of truth-clarifying materials or VCDs that have been produced cannot represent our achievement in assisting Master in this Fa-rectification era. Of most importance is how much our practitioners are maturing and becoming rational and how much degenerated matter in our own celestial body has been rectified. I heard some practitioners telling a story that in some areas it is very difficult to establish a materials-producing site and the site would be destroyed soon after it was established, which brings much damage to the practitioners as well. The problem is, I think, that the attachment to "doing things" is hidden in our mind, failing to rationally consider the things based on the Fa principles and the real situation. There are too many lessons on this subject. I hope my fellow practitioners might learn from these lessons.
