(Minghui.org) I started practicing Falun Dafa before July 20, 1999. When I look back at my cultivation over the past twenty years, sometimes I did well, and sometimes I didn’t do very well. When I did well, it was because I paid attention to Fa study and did the three things. When I neglected reading the Fa, I unknowingly followed my human notions and complied with the old forces’ arrangements. I ended up suffering a lot of tribulations.
Creating a Cultivation Environment While Imprisoned
I was illegally detained and jailed for many years. I was able to overcome this mainly by studying the Fa. Many practitioners shared on Minghui.org that they had strong righteous thoughts while they were imprisoned and created a good environment that allowed them to openly read the Fa and practice the exercises. I didn’t have such strong righteous thoughts at the beginning.
I can recite parts of Zhuan Falun and Essentials for Further Advancement, so I recited the Fa silently in my mind whenever I had time while I was held in the detention center. I was later sent to prison. The prison guards assigned me to do a job that required me to stand for hours. After the first day, I was so tired that my limbs were weak and my head was dizzy. I just wanted to sleep and I couldn’t recite the Fa. After a few days, I no longer had a good cultivation state.
I thought about how we Dafa disciples are good people, so we should not be imprisoned, and this work was not what we should do. I decided to resist this arrangement.
I wrote a letter to the prison administration department, and said that I was not physically strong enough to do this kind of labor. But it was ignored. I thought of going on strike but I immediately thought of the tortures such as being shocked with electric batons, being placed in solitary confinement... I was scared.
That night, I had a dream that I was riding a motorcycle on a highway. A policeman stood in the middle of the road. I slowed down, veered past him, and drove onto a bridge. The bridge was broken in the middle, with a gap of five or six meters. I stepped on the accelerator, and the motorcycle leaped over with a “whoosh” and landed firmly on the opposite side.
When I woke up I knew compassionate Master was giving me a hint, telling me not to be afraid. I could pass a dangerous hurdle safely if I had the courage. Feeling Master’s enlightenment and blessing, my confidence doubled.
When I arrived at the workshop the next day, I announced that I would not work. I sat in a corner reciting the Fa. The guard in charge immediately threatened me and said the consequences would be serious. He threatened to shock me with an electric baton. Just then, his supervisor came and stopped him and wanted to talk to me. I told him my situation. No one harassed me the rest of the day.
The third day, the head of the prison’s 610 Office came. After listening to my situation, he said that I could sit and not work. So I had an environment to study the Fa. While others worked, I sat there and repeatedly recited the Fa.
At one point, the prison played a video slandering Dafa, one episode every night. Seeing these vicious lies constantly slandering Dafa, poisoning the people around me, and putting people in a dangerous situation, I started a hunger strike to protest. The manager of prison administration took me to a hospital where I learned that several practitioners were on hunger strikes. I felt more confident. Within a few days, the prison administration stopped the video program.
The surface reason for my imprisonment was that I was arrested for distributing truth-clarifying materials. After looking inward, I understood that the real reason was my attachments to showing off, joy, and lust. The old forces used my attachments as an excuse to persecute me.
Looking Within and Negating the Persecution
When I was confronting the prison guards one day, I became resentful and wanted to mess up their management. The evil immediately took advantage of my mindset and found an excuse to intensify the persecution against me. Seven guards surrounded me with electric batons. I understood what was going to happen, but I was not afraid at all. I calmly recited the Fa-rectification mantras. Electric batons surrounded me and kept shocking me, but Master protected me. I didn’t have any fear or pain, and there was nothing in my mind except the Fa-rectification mantras. It was as if everything was frozen, and I could only feel the Falun spinning with a huge energy that penetrated my body. It was wonderful.
I don’t know how much time passed, but the guards were tired and sweat profusely.
Master shielded me from the pain and enlightened me to look within to see my resentment. After getting rid of my bad thought, I became compassionate and felt that the guards were pitiful. I talked to them kindly. The guards wanted to give me a shock to vent their anger, followed by sending me to the Strict Control Team to further punish me. Now, they changed their minds.
Shortly after I was released, I resumed clarifying the truth. I was arrested again. Someone at the police substation said I would be imprisoned longer this time because this was the second time I was caught, and I had more printed materials with me.
I looked within and found the reason I was incarcerated was my human wish to validate myself. I only wanted to complete my plan and I misunderstood Master’s warning.
After getting rid of my human notion, I felt calmer. I sent forth righteous thoughts all night. In the morning, the person who monitored me was surprised and said, “This guy hasn’t slept all night, but he is so energetic and his back is straight.” After a while, a policeman came and took off my handcuffs. I soon went home. When my father took me home, the police returned my printer and my backpack. I understood that Master wanted me to continue clarifying the truth and saving people. My family was amazed. From then on, they were not as scared as before.
After returning home, I continued to distribute truth-clarification materials. At the beginning, I paid attention to safety. I distributed an appropriate amount every day and spread out the locations so as not to attract attention. The distribution went smoothly for a while. However, as I continued doing this, my human notion grew stronger and I wanted to do more vigorously, so I took a large package of materials to a nearby market to distribute them, and the next day, I moved to another market.
In rural areas, there is a market every five days and the market rotates between five villages. On the sixth day, I was supposed to go to the first market I had been to. That morning, my father suddenly asked me to do something else. I felt very sad that I couldn’t go to the market. But then I wondered why something was obstructing such a sacred thing? Was there something I didn’t do right? Looking inward, I found that I still had the human notion of wishing to validate myself. After I identified it, Master helped me get rid of the attachment. I calmed down and no longer felt uncomfortable.
That afternoon, two policemen from the local police substation came to see my father and said that someone had reported me last time when I went to the market to distribute materials. They pulled out surveillance videos and a villager identified me. They thought that I might go there again today, so they waited to arrest me on the spot. When they realized that I didn’t enter their trap, they came to my house.
They told my father that they didn’t want to harm me but my distributing the truth-clarification materials embarrassed them and they told my father to keep an eye on me. I understood that Master protected me again this time. Thank you, Master, for your ever-present protection!
Letting Go of the Attachment to Fame and Gain
Afterward, my father restricted me from going out. I said that I wanted to find a job so a relative gave me a job in his company and planned an attractive career prospect for me: Get familiar with the business first, then six months later be promoted to manager. A year later I could buy a car and a house.
At that time, I felt that it was particularly in line with what I wanted, so I worked overtime and devoted myself to work—I was caught up seeking fame and fortune. I couldn’t keep up with studying the Fa, doing the exercises, or sending forth righteous thoughts, and I had no time to clarify the truth.
Six months later when I should have been promoted, my relative suddenly dismissed me for no reason! I was confused and didn’t understand. My heart was full of injustice, grievance, and resentment. It took a few days for me to calm down. Later, while studying the Fa, I suddenly realized that ordinary people focus on pursuing fame and fortune but I am a Dafa disciple and validating the Fa is what I should do.
After I corrected my goal, I no longer prioritized pay when I looked for a new job. I decided to find a position in my profession and use my skills to validate the Fa. Because my family restricted me from going out, I reviewed my lessons at home. A few months later, I took the exam and obtained the qualification certificate. Soon a classmate told me about a job with a monthly salary of 10,000 yuan. I left home and went to work in the city, so my family could no longer keep an eye on me. The old forces’ arrangement had come to nothing again.
I quickly became familiar with my work and gradually used my spare time to participate in an online truth-clarification project. This project mainly focuses on clarifying the truth online and is very effective in saving people. Within a few months, it can help hundreds of people to learn the truth. I am truly relieved to see so many people understand the truth and be saved. I work, study the Fa, clarify the truth, and send forth righteous thoughts every day. I am very busy, but fulfilled and happy!
When the truth-clarification project was steadily advancing, one day a classmate invited me to have a small gathering and said he wanted to start a company with me. He would give me 40% of the shares and let me serve as the manager and be responsible for the technology. He would be responsible for business development. This classmate is very capable, and I was excited. In our industry, the best result is to become a partner of a company who can sometimes earn one million yuan a year. When I was in college, my ideal was to run a company, join the upper class society, and pursue my ambitions. It was about to come true now. I thought maybe it was the blessing brought by practicing Dafa. I was so excited... I immediately agreed.
But after I got home that day, I felt an inexplicable feeling of emptiness. After I calmed down, I analyzed the situation: Running a company and being a boss seemed very glamorous on the surface, and seemed to validate Dafa. In fact, this is not the case. Nowadays, business operations are mostly done behind closed doors, building relationships, using back doors, and rigging bids, which are all unethical and even illegal behaviors. As we are partners, even if my partner carried these things out, I would have to be complicit and this would be the opposite of Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance.
Besides, when you start a company, you have to start everything from scratch. A lot of time needs to be invested, and I may not have time to work on the Dafa project to save people.
I asked myself: Is this what I want? Ordinary people want this, but I am a cultivator. I should do the three things well, and do well in projects to save people! I suddenly realized that this was another bait arranged by the old forces who wanted me to waste my time chasing fame and fortune, slack off in cultivation, and get lost in fame and fortune.
After coming to this understanding, I politely declined the invitation and continued my job as an employee. Later, my employer assigned me to work in another city as a business representative. Because the work involves auditing financial expenses, I am often the target of public relations and face the temptations of fame, wealth, and lust. I often have to dispute with a client due to my adherence to principles, so there are many opportunities to refine my xinxing.
I am away from home all year round. I just need to finish the work at hand so I have more free time to clarify the truth. As my working years increased, my boss increased my salary to keep me, so my income also increased.
Conclusion
The old forces arranged things that hinder Fa-rectification, and arranged everything and even every word and deed of Dafa disciples throughout history. Looking back, I realized that I did not deny human notions and thoughts in time, which accumulated into major tribulations. Since the old forces are trying to use human notions to destroy Dafa disciples, I should strictly keep my every thought assimilated to Dafa, and let go of all human notions and attachments.
Fa-rectification is about to end, but I still have many shortcomings. I must not fail Master’s compassionate salvation. I will be more diligent, do the three things well, and walk the final journey together with my fellow practitioners.
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