Enlightenment on “Good or Bad Comes from a Person’s Initial Thought”

(Minghui.org) Master Li said, “We have said that good or bad comes from a person’s initial thought, and the thought at that moment can bring about different consequences.” (Lecture Four, Zhuan Falun)

In my 27 years of cultivation, I have come to better understand the meaning of this paragraph of the Fa.

I came to understand that this initial thought is a righteous thought developed through cultivating, and it is also a divine thought. It is based on a strong belief in Master and Dafa. As our xinxing constantly improves, this thought will get stronger and stronger, until it is extremely powerful.

This thought isn’t only working while we are in the middle of a tribulation. Rather, it is reflected at all times and in every aspect of our lives, including whatever issues and conflicts we encounter in everyday life and work, as well as how we view and handle things. In other words, the difference between using a human mind or a divine mind to deal with problems will result in completely different outcomes.

“With the Master and the Fa Here What Is There to Fear?”

My wife and I went to appeal for the right to practice Falun Dafa and were arrested and illegally detained for a month in 2000. After we returned home, the security department where I worked watched me for another six months. I then heard that they were going to take us to a brainwashing center and try to force us to “transform.” I discussed this with my wife, and we decided that I would quit my job and leave home to avoid the persecution.

Before leaving, I wrote a letter to the person who monitored me and told him why I left. I also said, “Please give this letter to your supervisor and you will be fine. They will understand that there was no way you could have stopped me.”

When we left home, my wife and I had only 3,000 yuan in cash and a bank card. My wife was concerned about how we would survive on so little money. In fact, we didn’t even know if we could use our bank card, given our situation. I said without thinking, “With Master’s protection, we don’t need to worry about a place to live or food to eat!”

Master said, “If you do not care and do not put them on your mind, with the Master and the Fa here what is there to fear?” (Lecture in Sydney)

Protected by Master

Under Master’s protection and maintaining the above righteous thought, we traveled for the next 11 months to more than a dozen counties and cities, seeking refuge with relatives and friends, old comrades in arms, former classmates, and even the friends of friends. Wherever we went, we first told our hosts about the persecution and explained that we were wanted by the police. We were given warm receptions everywhere we went. They all said, “You haven’t done anything wrong. It’s a matter of faith. We are not afraid. You can stay with us for as long as you want.”

The people we stayed with not only took care of us while we were there but also gave us money when we left. During this time, apart from my employer sending people to look for us, the police also “wanted” us and put our photos up in airports and hotels.

The police went to almost all of our relatives and threatened them. They said if they knew where we were but didn’t report it, they would be “harboring criminals,” which was a crime. They even went to find our relatives from our hometown whom we didn’t even know. They went to my comrades in arms based on a group photo taken when I was in the army. Many times the police showed up at the door right after we’d left.

Once, my wife and I had just gotten on a minibus when we noticed a police car looking for us. Another time, we had just left a city when the police looking for us stopped our friend who had given us a ride was on his way home.

During that time, in addition to clarifying the truth to relatives and friends, we also wrote letters to my comrades-in-arms, classmates, and teachers, as well as letters of appeal to government officials at all levels. After we left home, the police kept harassing our daughter to try to find us, and she was also forced to leave home.

After several months of living like this, with the help of family and friends, we purchased mobile phones, computers, laser printers, scanners, and other equipment, and fellow practitioners helped us establish a material production site. When we later moved, the police did find and arrest us and take us to a forced labor camp.

My wife told me later, “I was so tired of always running and hiding and I once thought, ‘I might as well let the police arrest me.’” This one thought enabled the old forces to take advantage of our shortcomings.

“Don’t Help the Police Persecute Me”

One morning shortly after the persecution began, over 20 police officers from the city’s political security office broke into my home and ransacked it. They claimed that I had given someone Master’s new writings.

An officer wanted to confiscate Master’s photo, but I shouted, “Stop! Watch what you are doing.” He stopped. They took me to the local police station and interrogated me all day. I clarified the facts to them and did not cooperate. Before they left, they asked the officers at the police station to lock me in a dark room.

I was in a subtropical area, and there were mosquitoes all year round. The dark room was humid and smelled moldy and fishy. Mosquitoes were buzzing everywhere and hitting my face. I said to the mosquitoes in my heart, “I am a Dafa disciple and I am being persecuted now. Don’t help the police persecute me.” With just this one thought, the mosquitoes stopped buzzing and the unpleasant smell was gone.

A kindhearted policeman brought me a piece of blanket that was falling apart. I laid on it and slept on the cold concrete floor. Although the conditions were terrible, I slept soundly throughout the night and didn’t wake up until dawn.

The next day, the officers came back and continued to interrogate me. The chief said, “Why would they lock you in such a terrible room?” I said, “You won’t be able to change me no matter what you do.” They tried for most of that day and didn’t get anything.

The chief finally said, “I really admire your perseverance in your belief. To be honest, we need the ‘traitors,’ but we also hate those ‘traitors.’” They then took me back to where I worked.

Master’s Protection

Master said,

“If you are a true cultivator, our Falun will safeguard you. I am rooted in the universe. If anyone could harm you, he or she would be able to harm me. Put simply, that person would be able to harm this universe.” (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun)

I have encountered many tribulations in cultivation, including three life-and-death tribulations and other dangerous situations. However, I regarded myself as a true cultivator and treated them as tests to improve my xinxing. I was then able to make breakthroughs under Master’s protection.

Once, I was frying meat and a chunk of it accidentally fell into the boiling oil. The splashed oil spilled on the back of my right hand. I instinctively wanted to stick my hand under cold water, but then I suddenly thought, “I am a cultivator, and I should be fine.” So I pulled my hand back. Although the back of my hand was red and felt warm and hurt a bit, I didn’t think about it and continued to do what I was supposed to do. After dinner, all the symptoms were gone.

When I got up the next morning, I found large blisters on my middle and index fingers. I thought, “This is because I had an ordinary person’s thought of wanting to put it in cold water. This is a lesson.” The blisters disappeared before noon.

I was arrested again in 2012. In detention, I suddenly appeared ill. My blood pressure rose, and my heart had frequent “ventricular premature contractions” and “atrial premature contractions.” I wasn’t concerned but the doctor in the detention center was and took me to a hospital emergency room.

The nurses there gave me oxygen and did ECG monitoring, and the doctor even issued a “critical illness notice.” The police in the detention center also formally told my wife, who was also being held in the detention center. But I didn’t think about anything.

During my three days in the emergency room, the doctor tried all kinds of anti-hypertensive drugs, even diuretics. But my blood pressure did not go down and my arrhythmia did not improve. The chief physician was very confused, “Why aren’t the drugs working?” I said, “These symptoms are the outcome of the persecution. Medications have no effect on Falun Dafa cultivators.”

The police officers who came to guard me wanted to handcuff me to the bed. I refused to allow it and insisted on leaving the hospital. The detention center doctor tried to convince me to stay but I insisted. I said, “I might die if you continue to treat me.” So they ended up taking me back to the detention center. When the detention center doctor came to check on me again, my blood pressure was normal, and my arrhythmia had disappeared. The doctor really witnessed how extraordinary Falun Dafa is.

I Treated a Hunger Strike As “Bigu”

In 2002, I was taken to a forced labor camp. I first resisted the persecution by refusing to work. Later, things got worse. The labor camp refused to let my daughter visit me, held all the appeal letters that I wrote to officials in the government, and tied up the prisoner who refused to monitor me. So I went on a hunger strike by refusing to eat or drink. I asked that the leaders of the labor camp come speak to me and resolve the problems. In the beginning, they all said they were too busy and refused to see me.

The labor camp seemed to be ignoring me on the surface, but they were actually nervous about my situation because I also refused to drink anything. On the first night when I started the hunger strike, my mouth was dry and felt bad. I thought, “Those who were cultivating deep in the mountains could do without food or drink. I am a Dafa practitioner and Dafa is boundless. I will just take it as ‘bigu.’” I also asked Master to help me. In a dream that night, I ate a big meal by myself at a large round table.

From the next day forward, I had no feelings of thirst or hunger, and I was quite energetic. The police saw how good and full of energy I was without eating or drinking, so they secretly asked the people who were monitoring me if I ate or drank anything behind their backs. They said that I didn’t even rinse my mouth or wash my face.

On the fourth day, a Discipline Inspection Commission secretary came to see me because the labor camp was afraid that something would go wrong. I pointed out some illegal things in the labor camp, and he promised to report them to the top officials and resolve the problems I raised. The captain also came and said that he would take my concerns seriously, so I stopped my hunger strike. After that, my environment became much more relaxed.

“I Didn’t Commit a Crime and I’m Not Here to be Jailed”

After the persecution started on July 20, 1999, I was arrested, detained, put in forced labor camps, and sentenced many times. But I have adhered to my belief and I would not cooperate with what the evil forces ordered me to do. Wherever I was detained, I just took it as a change in cultivation environment and a new place to clarify the truth. So every time, the persecution on me did not intensify and I was able to do what a Dafa disciple should do.

I was sentenced in 2005 and the first day I was in prison, the captain of the section came to talk to me. He said, “I don’t care why you are here. As long as you follow the rules and don’t make my life difficult, I won’t make your life difficult.” I said to him, “I won’t make any promises. I was sentenced because I practice Falun Dafa and follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. I didn’t commit any crime. I have my principles.” He said, “Then what are you doing here?” I said, “I am here to validate the Fa.” He was a bit shocked and asked, “How do you do that?” I said, “I’m doing it as I’m talking to you. As I told you, Falun Dafa practitioners cultivate Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. People must keep a kind heart in order to survive the future catastrophes.”

Because that thought was in accordance with the Fa, he told the staff in charge of the “intensive training camp” to not harass me. The staff just took me to look around the different work stations, and even introduced me to other Dafa practitioners. I was then assigned to a warehouse where the two prisoners monitoring me were both near my age, and they took good care of me.

One of them gave his imported radio to me on the first day I was assigned there. (This was before 2012 when radios were still allowed in prisons.) He had a second radio that was not as good quality that he used himself. I was able to listen to overseas stations such as the Sound of Hope, Voice of America, and Free Asia, which helped me understand the latest Fa-rectification situation.

I helped the other prisoner monitoring me with something and after that, he knew that I could do Chinese calligraphy, so he built a big writing desk for me and lent me his writing brushes and ink-stones. They didn’t care if I didn’t work and I just spent my days copying Master’s writings.

I clarified the truth to the prisoners, business owners, and police officers who came to that warehouse and helped them quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its youth organizations. For a period of time, I also exchanged cultivation experiences in writing with fellow practitioners who were detained in other sections of the prison.

In my cultivation, I realized that, as Dafa disciples, no matter where we are, we must regard ourselves as true cultivators; firmly stick to our belief in Master and Dafa; strictly follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance; look inside when we encounter problems; always keep a compassionate, calm, and peaceful state of mind; always remember our mission to save sentient beings; let go of ordinary notions; and treat problems with righteous thoughts. If we can do all these, then Master can do anything for us. What Master wants in us is a sincere heart to cultivate.

If we maintain a righteous mind at all times, then one thought can be extremely powerful and there is no tribulation that can stop us.