(Clearwisdom.net) In late June 2009, police officers ransacked my home while I was out. I also printed truth-clarification materials there. They confiscated my computer, laser printer, discs, and other printing materials, and also took my Dafa books, a picture of the founder of Falun Dafa, Li Hongzhi, an MP3 player and cassette player. When I returned to find my home ransacked, I decided to send forth righteous thoughts all night, and then left at 5:00 a.m. to avoid arrest. I sent forth righteous thoughts and asked Teacher to strengthen me. I saw a police car parked by the main gate, and the guard for our building was chatting with several police officers. I only had one thought, that I am most righteous and do not fear the police! I walked out of the building and straight past them to the main gate. A taxi quietly drove over and stopped next to me. I quickly got inside and left. I arrived at another city at 8:00 a.m., but without any identification, where would I go? I had now become homeless to avoid further persecution.
It was close to the "July 1" Chinese Communist Party (CCP) anniversary, a sensitive date for the CCP, and they were very nervous. They hired a group of unemployed people to be on duty around the clock in every residential block. These people's responsibility was to "catch thieves and catch Falun Gong practitioners," but many of those hired were themselves thieves and scoundrels. I had no choice but to stay at the homes of relatives and good friends. I would stay in a place for several days and then move on. Over a period of a month on the move I was able to clearly see people's fear of the CCP, as some people did not dare allow me to stay with them. I tried to clarify the truth wherever I went, and was able to help two families understand the truth about Falun Dafa. During this time, three people began practicing the exercises. I later went to a tourist area in the countryside to try to find fellow practitioners, and do the three things a practitioner should do. I managed to rent a place with a farmer's family. As of writing this article, I have been homeless for 70 days, but still unceasingly study and memorize the Fa. On painful reflection I have passed many tribulations, and learned how to enlighten in the Fa.
1. Lessons learned when a materials processing site was forced to close
When I was released from a detention center in 2003, I had not read any Dafa materials for over two years, and had hardly seen any fellow practitioners. I was also being monitored by the police, So I decided to move to another city, where I got to know another practitioner. I could finally share my understanding and experiences with fellow practitioners and could read Dafa materials again. Up to seven practitioners came to study the Fa together, but we still had to travel long distances by bus to pick up Dafa materials. When Teacher requested that we set up truth-clarification material production sites everywhere, I wanted to be diligent and do it. I am nearly 70 years old, and did not even know how to use a cell phone until recently. But since Teacher asked us, I knew that I must do it.
In March 2008, I bought a computer and asked my grandson to teach me how to use it, but he was not patient with me. I then asked a university student, but he said that computer technology would not be easy to teach the older-generation person. I eventually found a fellow practitioner who had some knowledge of computers to teach me. I learned how to use the mouse and soon had a broadband Internet connection, but did not know how to install the software. In June 2008, I met a young practitioner from another city who helped me install the software, and taught me how to use the Internet and download information onto a memory stick. I then passed this memory stick to two practitioners for them to print it out. Later, other practitioners also got broadband, and no longer came to me for information from the Internet. In February 2009, I purchased a printer, and found someone to teach me how to use it. I then bought a small CD burner, to help produce materials to keep up with the demand for materials from our Fa study group. But after only three months, this materials production site was stopped. I felt very sad.
After the police ransacked my home I promptly looked inward, and discovered my attachment of zealotry and showing off. I had also paid no attention to safety or cultivation of speech, as my home was used for a Fa study group and all practitioners took materials from there to distribute. We also regularly kept in contact with one another. In October 2008, I had clarified the truth to the local police station, and since then they had stopped checking on me. I thought they had understood the truth and would no longer bother me, but I realized that I had neglected to clarify the truth to the ladies on the ground floor hallway, who played Mahjong there every day. I didn't like to associate with them, and so did not try to save them. This was a big loophole! All people on the earth are family members of Teacher, and all are worthy of being saved. The old forces took advantage of my loopholes, and persecuted me.
A couple of days ago, a practitioner at the new place where I live got me a copy of Minghui Weekly, issue 396. The first article I read was, "Look Inward When an Incident Occurs at a Materials Production Site." It listed three points which were completely related to me. The article said, "Showing off and paying no attention to safety is an important element that causes problems at materials production sites. Some people still can't fulfill the requirements of the Minghui/Clearwisdom website - independent operation, one-way contact, cultivation of speech. Some materials-producing sites, especially the ones which include families, became places for holding experience sharing sessions and became drop-in centers. Even other people knew some information about the materials production site. This is related to the practitioner themselves and the surrounding practitioners." After calmly thinking things over, I realized that a practitioner should not rush things, but should first cultivate themselves well and improve. This was a big lesson for me!
2. Cultivating while being homeless
I realized from the Fa, that Dafa practitioners should not have to improve in cultivation by being sent to forced labor camps to suffer hardship, nor was Teacher willing to let practitioners become homeless. Since I had fallen in my cultivation and become homeless, I knew I must climb up and face the situation that I created. I sought for the opportunity to survive, and diligently practiced. Monks in the old days wandered around not only to endure hardship, but also to meet people with predestined relationships. So I treated my situation of wandering around homeless as cultivating in a special situation. First, I made every effort to be calm and gentle, naturally looking for and finding people with predestined relationships. Then I did what I was supposed to do and clarified the truth to them. After a month of moving around, I recalled one practitioner's phone number, so I called her. She helped me by contacting another practitioner who lived very far away and said I could stay with them. When I arrived at the bus station, I was warmly welcomed and invited to stay at their home.
I had previously heard that practitioners in this area practiced diligently as a whole body. When I compared myself to them I realized that I was still far behind in cultivation. Teacher said,
Cultivate Dafa with all your heart,
Nothing could be more important."
("Gaining the Fa" from Hong Yin)
Their lives seemed to be dedicated cultivation practice, as anything that did not belong to cultivation was easily set aside. With time so tight, they live very simply and arrange their time around doing the three things, which is a very rare thing for me to see. The practitioner I stayed with cooked only once per day and the food was used for both lunch and dinner, and did not contain any meat. They kept things very simple to allow every minute for doing the three things well. They did the exercises at the global times, they sent forth righteous thoughts, and after 6:00 a.m. they read Hong Yin and Hong Yin II. After breakfast they went out to clarify the truth. They diligently studied and memorized the Fa, read other Dafa materials in the afternoon, and shared experiences up to 10:00 p.m. They slept for only four hours, and spent less than three hours per day for meals and washing. All remaining time was spent on doing the three things.
They also held experience sharing conferences, but not regularly, and normally had about eighty practitioners attend. Police cars patrolled the streets all day, but could not see practitioners doing the most righteous things. A while ago, some large banners that slandered Dafa appeared on the streets, but after 10:00 p.m. at night, every utility pole with the banner had the words "The CCP is the biggest cult" pasted over them. The authorities had to remove all the banners themselves. When the banks put up notices to say they were opposed to money being written on with words that clarified the truth, practitioners quickly wrote truth-clarification letters to the bank managers.
In these quick responsive actions, I saw the spiritual strength of, "Holistic improvement and holistic upgrade" (Zhuan Falun) that Teacher requests from practitioners! With such a formidable energy field, how could the evil factors not disintegrate and the environment become freer of interference?
I felt that the practitioner I lived with took great responsibly for me and looked after me strictly in accordance with a practitioner's standard on everything. If my words and actions were not on the Fa, I was immediately corrected. When I said words containing everyday people's notions, such as "cold" or "headache," I was reminded of my speech and thoughts. My inaccurate exercise movements were also corrected. During the final ten minutes of sitting meditation, my hands moved around because of the pain in my legs, but the practitioner said, "Your joined hands are holding Falun, why are you moving around?" I was even reminded when my posture of standing, walking, sitting or lying were not those of a practitioner. When I had just arrived at her home, I usually needed to sleep for a while after sending forth righteous thoughts at 6:00 a.m., but it was not allowed. I had to get up and read Hong Yin, and could only sleep again after 10:00 p.m. When we studied the Fa, we held the Dafa book solemnly, and our backs had to be straight. This practitioner had transcribed Zhuan Falun three times, without one black mark on the paper. She was over fifty, but looked about forty, and had endured much hardship during her cultivation. No matter whether she went to a big city or a village in the country, walked or went by car, she could always find a way to talk to people about the truth of Dafa, distribute truth-clarification materials, put up banners, and advise people to quit the Chinese Communist Party and its affiliated organizations. Sometimes we went to clarify the truth in the countryside. She showed me how to put up banners, and when we met people she asked me to clarify the truth to them first so she could help me to correct my actions and improve.
As my cultivation environment became stricter, I got anxious, and my xinxing could not improve. I lost weight and ate very little, and began to have a fever and headache. The practitioner was very concerned about me and cooked pan-fried pastry and duck for me. However, we ate very little of it. My fellow practitioner said, "A practitioner does not eat this and that. Your fever and headache are not sickness." I became aware that Teacher had arranged for her to help me improve, but I still could not endure the hardship well. When I learned that her son was coming to sell the property, I thought that it was time for me to leave, and find a place to calmly study the Fa and think about my cultivation. Teacher said,
"Pause for a moment of self-reflection,
and increase your righteous thoughts
Thoroughly analyze your shortcomings,
and progress with renewed diligence"
("Rational and Awake" from Hong Yin II)
Therefore, I went to another city, rented a room there, and temporarily ended this segment of an unforgettable cultivation experience.
Lastly, I would like to mention a problem I had in my understanding and enlightenment of the Fa. Teacher gave me a hint to immediately transcribe the article "Expounding on the Fa." How do I get the side of my original nature to rectify the Fa? How do I view tribulations using my original nature? I could not understand these before, and of course I could not do well. After the incident that left me homeless, Teacher strengthened me to help me escape from the evil police, and one after another, special arrangements were made on my cultivation path. Mysterious things happened during the elimination of karma, but all these things enabled me to have a deeper meaning of Teacher's words,
"Gods walk the earth,
validating the Fa"
("What's to Fear?" from Hong Yin II)
I understood further what it means to have "righteous thoughts and righteous actions," and "have faith in Teacher and Fa." Therefore, when I read "Expounding on the Fa" again, I could understand this level of the Fa principles more clearly, which Teacher had unfolded for me.
This is my personal understanding. If there are any incorrect understandings I hope that practitioners can compassionately correct them.
