(Clearwisdom.net) I started to practice Falun Gong in 1998. Because I had too many human notions and believed in the propaganda propagated by the Chinese Communist Party, I stopped practicing for about four years. However, Master did not give up on me during those years. He gave me hints all the time, but I always refused to understand or accept them. When I think of my behavior at that time, I am really embarrassed. One morning in 2003, I received a truth-clarification brochure that disclosed the facts about the “Tiananmen self-immolation.” I read it and suddenly realized that I had been deceived by the CCP. With the help of fellow practitioners, I began to cultivate again. I learned that all the practitioners around the world were assisting Master in rejecting the persecution and were saving sentient beings. With a sense of urgency, I studied all of the Fa that Master taught after July 20, 1999, and started to assist Master in validating the Fa.
Study the Fa Better
Master told us in every lecture to study the Fa, study the Fa more, and study the Fa better. I understood that Fa study must be the best thing for us. We can only change our human notions or stubborn concepts, which have been cemented into our bones over thousands of years, by better studying the Fa. Only during Fa study can every cell of our bodies be submerged in the Fa. In such a way, we are able to fundamentally change ourselves and become enlightened. However, since I could not completely calm down during Fa study, many thoughts surfaced and I understood that something was not quite right.
Master told us in “Fa-Lecture at the Conference in Florida, U.S.A.:”
“Haven't I told you to make sure that you yourself truly obtain gong? Then if your mind isn't on the Fa when you're studying the Fa, who are you studying it for? This isn't to criticize you--I'm just telling you that this is a really critical situation. So, no matter how busy you get, when you study the Fa you have to set aside all other thoughts--don't think about other things at all, just study the Fa.”
Master also mentioned in “A Clear and Clean Mind” in Zhuan Falun,
“[...] the fundamental reason for one's being unable to achieve tranquility is not an issue of techniques, but that your mind and heart are not clean.”
After studying the Fa, I searched inward and found my attachment. I started to send forth righteous thoughts to eliminate all the evil beings and the elements that interfered with me during Fa study. In order to become more familiar with Zhuan Falun, I hand-copied the whole book once and memorized it twice. In the beginning, it took me a long time to memorize a sentence, since my mind was not calm enough. I could only memorize a small paragraph in 2 to 3 hours. However, I firmly believed that I could keep going. Gradually, I was able to memorize the Fa a little bit quicker. In this way, I memorized the whole book in about a year. I felt much better and my mind was much calmer than one year before. Later it took me about eight months to memorize Zhuan Falun the second time. During that period of time, I even recited the Fa in my dreams. I understood that it happened because Master was encouraging me. In the recent two years, I became relaxed about memorizing the Fa; therefore, I could not finish doing it even one more time. I felt ashamed but still kept studying one to one and a half chapters of Fa a day. During our group study, we would read Master's other lectures.
Letting Go of the Attachment of Fear
When I began to distribute truth-clarification materials, I was really scared. I was trembling as I gave out each item. While putting up the truth-clarification stickers, my heart seemed to jump into my throat. One evening as I was distributing truth-clarification materials after sending forth righteous thoughts, I noticed a car parking by the side of a road. After I finished distributing the materials in a small lane, the driver in the car kept flashing his high beams at me. At that moment, I was really scared. I quickly turned in a different direction and the car started to follow me. I hid behind a truck in a gas station. I began to send forth righteous thoughts and recite Master's poem, “What's There to Fear” in Hong Yin Vol. II. My mind calmed down a lot and I made it back home safely. After continuous Fa study, my attachment of fear became less and less. Now I am able to calmly deal with all kinds of situations while distributing truth-clarification materials.
I am a physics teacher in a high school. In March 2005, I submitted an application to resign from the CCP to the principal of the school. The principal read my application and refused to sign it. “I can't sign it. Otherwise, we will be punished,” she said. I clarified the truth to her, including what Falun Gong is, why it is persecuted, the truth about the “Tiananmen self-immolation,” and the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party. I told her that it was clearly written in the Party's constitution that people were free to resign. However, she still disagreed and wanted me to withdraw my resignation. I said, “Whether you agree or not, I will quit the CCP.” I knew that she was scared and I could use her fear to save more people. A month later, the Party secretary asked me to turn in the monthly fee. I told him that I had quit the Party. He said that he had not approved my resignation yet. I said, “The CCP persecutes Falun Gong. I will never allow my money to be used to persecute Falun Gong. No money!” The secretary was extremely angry. Three other teachers also asked me to pay it. I told them, “No, I cannot. They told lies and persecuted Falun Gong practitioners. I will never support them with my money.” From that moment forward, no one asked me to turn in the monthly fee anymore. The fact that I had resigned from the CCP was known by everyone in the school. Many kept a distance from me, and I was assigned to be a janitor in charge of boiling drinking water. In the janitor's room, it was cold and damp, but I was very happy because I could talk to many more people. I read Falun Gong books and hand-copied Zhuan Falun out in the open. No matter who came to my office, I would always clarify the truth to them. One day, three students came in my office. I sent forth righteous thoughts toward them to eliminate any evil forces behind them. Then I started to clarify the truth to them and asked them to quit the CCP's affiliated organizations. Instead of agreeing, they said, “Let's go home and think about it.” After they left, I searched inward to find out why I couldn't persuade them. I understood that what I did was the most righteous thing in the universe, that Master was protecting me, and that no one could harm me. Finally, I found that my attachment of fear was still not completely eliminated. Therefore, I sent forth righteous thoughts to eliminate it. After two days, two of the three students came back to resign from the Young Pioneers [an organization affiliated with the CCP].
A new school leader discovered that I was reading Falun Gong books and wanted to talk to me. I thought, “This is a good chance for me to clarify the truth.” I told him about the huge changes in my body after practicing Falun Gong, how it is embraced widely throughout the world, the facts about April 25, and the truth about the “Tiananmen self-immolation.” He said, “From your point of view, it makes sense. However, you should not read the Falun Gong books or chat about it while your are in school.” I thought, “Your words don't count.” In the afternoon, I wrote a long truth-clarification letter to him. After 4 or 5 times of battling between righteousness and evil, this person was finally saved. Two months later he gave me a private office on the 4th floor and assigned me to take care of the cleaning tasks on the 4th floor. Thus, while I studied the Fa, no one would interfere with me anymore and he also pretended not to see it.
Before I retired from the school, 67 out of more than 87 teachers had quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations. I also helped more than 10 retired teachers resign from the CCP. I realized that if we have the heart to save people, we just do some talking in our dimension. Actually, Master saves the people from other dimensions, because, “Cultivation is up to you, gong is up to the master.” (Zhuan Falun) In the process of saving people, I got rid of my attachment of fear and strengthened my righteous thoughts.
Fulfill Our Vows and Save People with Predestined Relationships
As Dafa disciples, saving sentient beings was the prehistoric vow we made before we came here. It's an urgent mission. Master told us that 90% of the people came here for Dafa and many of them are lives from very high levels. Therefore, we really have to use every opportunity to save them. The approaches that I use to clarify the truth include distributing truth clarification materials and posting stickers, doing face-to-face truth clarification, and writing letters. I used to write truth clarification letters to the Public Security Departments, the 610 Office, the Domestic Security Team, and police stations. I found that if a truth-clarification letter was written with a target receiver, normally, the effect of the letter was better than a general one. Therefore, I spent two hours every evening writing letters to the students, teachers, government officials, and some companies' employees. I collected the people's names and companies from my daily chats. I also recorded the students' names when their scores were posted on the bulletin boards. One of my relatives who understood the truth helped me to collect the officials' names in the city government. Based on my database, I sent truth clarification letters to different people in different organizations. The feedback that I received was very good. For example, a class chief officer received a truth-clarification letter from me. After he finished reading it, he gave it to his teacher and said, “I don't know who sent me this letter. It asked me to quit the Communist Youth League to save my life.” The teacher also read it and said nothing, put it on the table, and left the classroom. All the other students took turns reading the letter. Some of them said, “It makes sense.” Others said, “I believe it.” In such a way, the foundation of being saved was laid out for them. Later, the teacher was also saved by my face-to-face truth clarification.
Buying stamps was another difficulty in trying to clarify the truth with letters. Since the stamps cannot be obtained from a single post office, I asked my non-practitioner family members and relatives who understood the truth, as well as my fellow practitioners, to help me out. During the process of writing letters, I abandoned many attachments, such as impatience, restlessness, and self-interest. Once my husband saw that I had just bought 10 stamps and asked, “How much do you spend on stamps in a month?” I replied, “Not much. The money that I save from not paying the CCP's monthly fee is more than enough.” I understood that his words were to help me get rid of my attachment of self-interest. In order for my letters to be more persuasive, I have to be patient and write every word well. In addition, I practiced many styles of writing. All my letters were written with different styles of writing.
Recently, I enlightened that I had to use telephone calls to clarify the truth to the farm villages where no practitioners live. In the beginning, I didn't have any sense of security. I bought a telephone card, used an old cell phone of my child's, and started to clarify the truth. Later, I learned that I needed to pay attention to my personal security and never make calls from home. Initially, I was not successful. When people on the phone heard of Falun Gong, they immediately hung up. Later I realized that I should send forth righteous thoughts before making a call and plan my words better. However, some people still blamed me. Others hung up without a word. Instead of feeling upset, I kept sending forth righteous thoughts and making the calls. Finally, I persuaded two people to resign from the CCP in a week. Lately, after sending forth righteous thoughts at 6 p.m., I take my cell phone and truth clarification materials with me for a walk outside. If conditions allow, I clarify the truth face-to-face. Otherwise, I just make the calls.
On the path of cultivation, I am fortunate that Master has protected me. I am still far behind the steadfast practitioners, not to mention the standard of the Fa. While writing this article, I discovered many additional shortcomings and human notions. I have to be more diligent, do the three things well, be worthy of Master's painstaking salvation, and be worthy of sentient beings' expectations in order to fulfill my historic vows.