(Minghui.org) I began to practice Falun Gong in 1995 when I was 24. I took a job outside my hometown and did not think about returning home. However, in a dream, my mother and I experienced something wonderful, so the next day I went home.
At home my mother told me about Falun Gong, and I decided to practice it. During the sitting meditation, I felt my body get bigger, which scared me. My mother said that it was good and due to my good enlightenment quality.
I believe now that it was laziness why I did not join the group exercises in the morning. My mother always tried to wake me up even after I refused to get up. Then, I had a dream that I was a very big Buddha who sat still while all of the others did the exercises. This dream helped me change my mentality.
When I joined the group exercises, I did not do very well. I could not keep the wheel-holding posture for long, and I lowered my hands and sat down once in a while. My mother encouraged me to do better.
I noticed that some people no longer practiced Falun Gong, because fellow practitioners set standards that were too high for them. I thought that new practitioners and young disciples should not be confronted with standards set by veteran practitioners.
My real cultivation started after 1999--after the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began to persecute Falun Gong. I said to Master in my mind: “I will follow you, Master. Even if I am the last person left in the whole world, I will cultivate until I consummate.
I heard that some practitioners planned to go to Beijing in September 1999, and I thought that we should go. I felt that my body was as large as the cosmos at that moment. My mother and I discussed our plans several times, and in the end I went to Beijing alone. I stayed with Beijing practitioners, studied the Fa in the morning, and shared cultivation experiences in the afternoon.
Our meeting place was discovered, so I returned home. A local coordinator arranged for practitioners to meet at my home, and I told them what happened in Beijing.
As Master told us:
“Of course, there are a lot of new students who are now gradually coming in, and that’s due to your clarifying the truth. It’s like a master key, unlocking that old-force factor that seals the world’s people off and prevents them from learning the Fa. Only your clarifying the truth can do this.” (“Teaching the Fa at the 2003 Atlanta Fa Conference”)
We went to Beijing and were arrested and taken to a mental hospital, where, I told people the facts about Falun Gong, and many were touched. One of the nurses said, “Your master must be proud of a disciple like you. I sincerely hope you can achieve your goal.” Another nurse decided to practice Falun Gong.
After everyone in the hospital had been told about Falun Gong, I thought that we should leave, and the police came to take us to a detention center on the fourth day. One asked if we wanted to go home. When I said that I still wanted to appeal, the other officer interrupted me, which, I realized, was to protect me.
I was persecuted several times, but there were always police officers who protected me after I talked about Falun Gong. Prisoners were assigned to monitor us, but some wanted to learn Falun Gong and some protected us after they heard the facts about the practice.
Back home, I told the staff of the neighborhood administration office and the local police station the facts about Falun Gong. I said, “There are more good people than bad in the police. Many times you are forced to do your job, so I don’t hate you. Whoever protects a Buddha cultivator will be rewarded.” As time went on, they protected me.
Fellow practitioners and I were taken to a detention center. We studied the Fa every day. Some practitioners raised questions as to what to do, because the prison terms were extended for those most steadfast in the practice.
I recited Master’s poem: “And follow your master to return, consummated.” ( “Destined Return for the Holy Fruition” in Hong Yin)
“How could we follow Master and return if we renounced Falun Gong?” I wondered. “We must practice. Master made the decision.” Although none of us renounced the practice, we were released.
Master said, “I hope that after you go back home you’ll seize the day to really cultivate.” (Zhuan Falun)
Master gave me hints that I walked well on my cultivation path well, except that I did not study the Fa diligently.
Possibly because of my lack of study, I was arrested for talking to people about Falun Gong in 2004. However, I was soon released.
I had a dream one night. A group of people placed an iron chain around my neck and said, “It is your time to die, so you have to come with us.”
I said, “I cannot go with you, or it would damage Dafa. This I won’t do, no matter what. I am here to talk to people about Falun Gong and not to be persecuted.” I recited “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good,” and they left.
After that incident, I had no energy for over 10 days. During the sitting meditation, a group of people came into my room one day. They showed me a paper and said, “This is the agreement you signed.” I sent thoughts that the paper should be burned, and it burned. Sometimes I heard someone tell me that I was his disciple. I shouted, “Who is your disciple? I am Master Li Hongzhi’s disciple.”
I suffered significant mental stress. That tribulation was bigger than it had been when I went to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Dafa. I realized that the old forces were attacking me. I said to myself, “Master wants to save us. I firmly believe in Master and the Fa.”
That strong faith in Master and the Fa helped me stay firm. But I still wondered why it was so difficult to pass this tribulation.
Master said: “...the whole process of cultivation is a process of constantly getting rid of human attachments.” (Zhuan Falun)
The local coordinator always reminded us to look within. My third-eye often saw dirty substances coming toward me, so I send righteous thoughts to dissolve them. It was very difficult, and sometimes I nearly lost my life. Master arranged for other practitioners to help me at those times.
I could pass the tribulation because I thought: “We let go of a divine being’s body when we descended to the human world layer by layer. It was very scary at each and every level, and even the gods at each level were afraid. We came to the human world without a God's body, what else could we not let go?”
Master said, “Only those who had the heavenly courage to come down can hear the Fa that’s so mighty and profound.” (“Lecture at the First Conference in North America” 1998)
I met another practitioner seeminly by accident. She thought I admitted the persecution unconsciously despite doing everything Master asked of us. I looked within and found it was true.
For example, if some practitioners were persecuted, I thought it must be because they had a problem. With this thought I acknowledged the arrangements made by the old forces. That thought caused me to look down on fellow practitioners, and it nearly destroyed me.
Master told us, “For a cultivator, looking within is a magical tool.” (“Fa Teaching at the 2009 Washington DC International Fa Conference”)
I looked within and found a lot of attachments. My third-eye saw Master fighting a big snake and a group of gods, and I could not help.
After Master eliminated the snake, he showed me a scene where we once knelt down before Master to sign the vow before we descended. I could not forget that scene for a long time. Then Master took me higher and higher. My attachments were eliminated instantly as we broke through each dimension.
As Master said:
“It’s because they are learning Dafa, and it is very easy for the Dafa of the cosmos to assimilate a person. I remember giving this example: if a piece of sawdust or a wood chip is dropped into a furnace of molten steel, instantly you won’t see even a trace of it. A person is like that wood chip, and this Dafa of the cosmos is like that furnace of molten steel.” (“Teaching the Fa at the Conference in New Zealand” 1999)
That fellow practitioner later did something wrong, and some practitioners stayed away from her. I hesitated whether to contact her or not.
She and I gave each other many xinxing tests during the 10 days we spent together. I always used notions and had a hard time measuring right and wrong, especially while I thought I was right. However, Master requires us to look at everything from the perspective of the Fa.
Master said:
“A person’s body expands outward during his cultivation process—that is, the volume of his body increases. The volume of his body gradually becomes larger, his mind also becomes larger, his thoughts ascend, and his level rises.” (“Explaining the Fa for Falun Dafa Assistants in Changchun” in Explaining the Content of Falun Dafa)
I told her that to look within is indeed a valuable tool. Furthermore, Master definitely would not let us see or meet with anything that is not related to our cultivation. My friend told me that it seemed I had changed completely. I know that the changes were my responsibility.
Master said:
“Safeguarding Dafa with your own conduct is forever the responsibility of Dafa disciples, because Dafa belongs to all sentient beings of the universe, and this includes you.” (“Stability of the Fa” in Essentials For Further Advancement)
I told that practitioner that we always try our best to tell people about Falun Gong. But that we need to remember that our speech and behavior also affect everyday people and can cause them to be saved or not.
I saw her again a month later. She had changed, and her happiness was obvious. I realized that to help others is helping ourselves.
Just like Master said, “Buddha’s light shines everywhere, propriety and righteousness harmonize everything.” (Zhuan Falun)
I appreciate everything that Master has arranged for me during my cultivation. It was Master’s arrangements that helped me and my fellow practitioners pass though each tribulation and become more mature.