Clarifying the Truth and Saving Sentient Beings

I was fortunate to obtain Dafa when I was ten years old. Today I can still vividly remember the scenes of group cultivation in China.

Back then, I regularly participated in evening Hongfa and the weekend morning exercises. There were, from time to time, even large Hongfa events all around the city: in large parks, sightseeing spots, in the surrounding counties, etc.

When I was young, I was active and playful. One time, Master gave me a hint to let me see my shortcoming. It was during morning exercise, which was done in a sports hall. It started when the sky was still dark. I sat down for meditation for only 40 minutes, then I took a football and went to the field to play. At noon, when I was going home, I saw a young fellow practitioner who was in his 20s or 30s still meditating at the same spot!

I sat at one end of the sports hall while he was at the other end. I saw him sitting there from dawn till noon. In the midsummer heat, he stayed put, sitting in full lotus with his hands folded in Jieyin, meditating. He kept a deeply still state, as if the entire sports hall was frozen. I had an indescribable feeling, the quiet and peaceful field of that moment makes me always remember the status that a practitioner should have and the gaps of self-cultivation between that practitioner and myself.

Inspired by this, I started putting much more attention on doing the exercises. Later, I tried my best to follow the requirements of Master, "meditate for as long as you can". I also formed the habit of lengthening the practice time.

One night, I practised with my parents at home. After they finished and went to bed, I was still sitting. My father asked me stop meditation and go to bed. I said, "The practice is better than sleeping." Then I kept going.

At the time, our home was in the city centre and was a Fa-study site. In the evening, up to twenty fellow practitioners read Zhuan Falun and Essentials for Further Advancement in turns, and we regularly watched Master's lecture videos. After studying the Fa, everyone shared their recent cultivation experiences. Some talked about their new understandings and questions about the lectures, some spoke of the magical scene they saw in other dimensions during the exercises, and some talked about the xinxing issues they encountered at work.

Master’s teachings are simple and straightforward, pointing to the hearts of the people, which I felt was particularly real and close. The atheist thinking and other postnatal notions that I formed in my life seemed to disintegrate in the environment of group cultivation. I did an about turn of my denial of supernormal powers, and suddenly believed everything taught by Master. My grandmother, parents and other relatives and friends around me were living examples of improvement in cultivation. They were all in very bad health before they practised Dafa, but they either got better or fully recovered after only a few days of cultivation practice.

After obtaining the Fa, maybe it is this burning wish and hope coming from the depth of my soul that made me, a practitioner who didn’t study a lot of Fa and only understood things emotionally, really want to attend group Fa-study. Once, during the summer vacation, a new lecture from Master was published. There was a regional Fa-study arranged by my mother in an auditorium at her company.

There was a drought at that time, and it was extremely hot, but when fellow practitioners heard the news of the new lecture, they all went to the Fa-study. I was young and had not received notice of the Fa-study. Our house is on the other side of the city, and it takes an hour to get to my mum’s work by bus. I was alone at home and wanted to participate in this group Fa-study. So, I called a young fellow practitioner in our same community, to walk through the entire city, and rushed to participate in the Fa-study.

Upon arriving at the venue, I opened the door and saw it was full of practitioners. Everyone sat straight. The main volunteer coordinator sat in the very middle. I saw she held the new lecture in one hand and held her glasses in another hand, reading Master’s teachings one word at a time. Everyone sat around and listened carefully. The venue was solemn and quiet, just listening to the teachings.

Master said,

“Group Fa study is what I left for everyone, and group exercise is what I left for everyone.”
Fa Teaching at the 2016 New York Fa Conference

The fellow practitioners’ tireless desire to learn Dafa, and the scenes of practitioners learning from each other in the environment of group Fa study, let me forever remember the importance of group Fa study. As a new practitioner who had obtained the Fa, I greatly benefited from the group cultivation environment. The foundation and impression laid in this short period of time played a vital role in my future cultivation. Thank you Master!

Raising Awareness of the Persecution on Campus
In June 1999, I was on my way home and looking forward to group Fa-study. I hadn’t entered the house yet when a neighbour opened her window and yelled at me. "Look at the TV. Do you still want us to practise Falun Gong?!" I immediately turned on the TV and saw many terrible, bloody scenes. Dafa was attacked through intense and uninterrupted broadcasts. In this way, since July 1999, the persecution imposed by the old forces has taken place.

In order to clarify the truth about Dafa to the sentient beings and authorities, to call for the restoration of Falun Gong’s proper and peaceful cultivation environment, many practitioners did not accept such unfair treatment. And even less did they accept the attacks on Dafa and Master. They let go of the prospect of a tranquil family life and went out to face the persecution.

After my father went to Beijing to peacefully petition in 1999, we had no news from him for a long time. My mother’s wish to protect the Fa was also very strong, but while carrying the responsibility of her family, she faced difficult choices. At the time, there were 80-year old elders at home who needed to be looked after. I was still young and needed to go to school. One time, we had a sharing after Fa-study. Should we go to Beijing? I expressed my thoughts and shared with my mum based on the Fa. I remember I recited Master's poem in front of her:

Who Dares Renounce Human Attachments?

While the ordinary man might
long for Immortaldom,
Behind the unbelievable wonders
lies wrenching sorrow;
It takes cultivating the mind,
severing desires,
casting off attachments,
Lest man be lost in his ordeals
and gripped with deep regret.
(Hong Yin)

Later, we jointly decided to let go of human thinking and went to Beijing to protect the Fa. Under the protection of Master, we went to Beijing twice and returned home safely each time. My mother’s work was not affected and she fulfilled the responsibility of caring for the family. My studies were also unaffected. We encourage each other on the way of validating the Fa, and raising awareness of the persecution.

“A Dafa disciple who fails to achieve the effect of safeguarding and upholding Dafa has no way of reaching Consummation, because your cultivation is different from that of the past and the future. Therein lies the magnificence of a Dafa disciple.”
(“Fa-Rectification Period Dafa Disciples”)

Since the persecution started, my parents have been subjected to a very focused persecution because of their beliefs. Within two years of the persecution, they suffered more than three illegal ransoms and suffered more than five kidnappings, detentions and illegal interrogations. For the sake of personal safety, they had to move and relocate. In order to prevent being traced and exposing my parents' whereabouts, as a 12-year-old boy, I often had to stay at my classmates' homes.

The evil persecution is full of ugliness and is being cast aside by the world. As an upright cultivator, I remember Master's teaching and would never recognize the persecution. As a student, I have always focused on completing my studies and kept a good relationship with my teachers and classmates.

During junior high school, the headmaster’s office, the school director, and the class teacher were all harassed. Once, two police officers requested the school leadership to help them investigate my parents by monitoring me. They waited outside the school gate in order to follow my route to find my parents. I was warned by a kind teacher that my situation had been exposed.

Sure enough, when I went out, I noticed two plainclothes officers, one to the left and one to the right of the school gate, secretly looking at me and drinking the same brand of drink. I of course did not approve of their insidious approach to persecute my fellow practitioners. So, I immediately told all the classmates around me, and then I ran on a bus that was about to set off, managing to get them off my trail.

Later, they came to the school and directly went to the headmaster’s office to force him to help them. It resulted in the school leadership simply brushing them off, saying to them sternly, "Take care of it yourself. Don't come to us!"

It was very busy during my high school years. In order to have more study time, I lived at school. I often went to the teachers overseeing the evening study class to share the beauty of Dafa and the truth of the persecution with them. The teachers accepted it very well and shared with me about what they heard about the truth and the traditional cultural stories on the virtues of teachers. Occasionally, I would also share with them information that I had received in the form of a letter or a weekly report.

As for my classmates, we often bypassed the Chinese internet firewall to watch truth videos produced by overseas practitioners in our spare time. This was very powerful and beneficial. Even during classes, everyone was discussing the truth of the persecution and expressed their suspicions of the news broadcasts in China. On several occasions, a truth programme was broadcast on the projector in the classroom, and the students watched it attentively.

One time, a classmate’s parents misunderstood me. One of his parents is a successful entrepreneur and is socially influential, but at a moment of muddled thinking he reported me to the Education Bureau. The whole school was in uproar. Our school is a renowned school, and it is also one of the schools directly administered as the evil Party’s so-called “rule-of-law educational institution”. For a time, the scandal was so loud that the pressure was like a mountain.

The whole school leadership was nervous. Due to the pressure, they constantly talked to me. First the Student Office, then the Director of the Academic Affairs Office, and then the Principal. They advised me to give up my cultivation and write a letter of guarantee to stop.

I remember the director told me about her hard decisions. She said: "My family is Catholic, but because of my work, because I am a Party member, I can't be like them..." I countered by telling her the truth and exposing the evil party’s persecution of Falun Gong and the persecution of religious beliefs in history. She nodded as she listened, and no longer put pressure on me. Every occasion when they came to discuss things with me became a good opportunity to clarify the truth to them.

Later, the headmaster directly told me to go to his office. He was under pressure from the persecution agency. When he saw that I was unwilling to cooperate, he started to intimidate me: If I did not give up cultivation and write a letter of guarantee, I would be expelled. I was not moved, and just repeatedly told him the truth.

What happened later left me in awe.

One day, the police came to the school to prepare to arrest me. They gathered in the headmaster's office and were eager to take action. The campus was remarkably quiet, and our class teacher didn’t appear. Later, I learned that the teacher on duty heard of the plot and went to stop them. When the policemen planned to act, he publicly pointed at them and shouted: "Li Zhenbai is a good student, and you are not allowed to touch him!"

As a result, the policemen were stunned and sneaked away. Later, the classmate and his parents took the initiative to apologize to me, resolved the misunderstanding and understood the truth.

I know that this is the manifestation of the power of justice after people learn of the truth, and the concrete manifestation of Dafa’ power to suppress evil in the world, and Master's compassionate protection of His disciples.

Some similar situations occurred during my time at university, but all of them were handled with Teacher’s encouragement. The university leadership, the teachers and students who knew the truth were very helpful and supportive. This was a great shock to the evil; such an incredible shock that they failed in their persecution of me.

I always remember Master’s teaching:

“If you are a student, your natural duty is to study well and be worthy of what your parents, your schools, and your teachers have done for you.”
(“Teaching the Fa and Answering Questions in Guangzhou” from Zhuan Falun Fajie)

During my school years, my sense of morality, intelligence, fitness and aesthetics developed in a holistic way. In the campus sports events I repeatedly won various group and individual gold, silver and bronze medals, and was repeatedly invited to participate in the main performance during each year’s campus music concert. At academic competitions, I won numerous national and world-level awards, and I obtained experience at leading companies. After graduation, I received an offer from a world-famous university and came to the UK to further my studies.

Keep Improving Diligently
When I first arrived in the UK, everything was so new. My friends around me were discussing where to go to have fun. However, the persecution in China was still taking place, and the world was in danger of being destroyed by the poisonous lies. Going overseas did not release me from my burden. I knew that I had to face the large number of sentient beings, especially Chinese, and I could not relent on the work of clarifying the truth.

I often see Minghui website reports that talk of elderly practitioners going out in terrible weather conditions and encountering huge difficulties. After I thought about it, I decided to go out and tell the truth. I came to the overseas practice site to participate in the group practice. When I sat down, unnatural tears fell, and I knew that my knowing side was happy and excited.

“Recently, quite a few practitioners have come out of mainland China. Regardless of how they came, many, I’m aware, did a great job in China, while many, I realize, did poorly. Then when they arrive overseas and find circumstances so trouble-free and relaxed, and no persecution, they start to think about enjoying a comfortable and leisurely life. But to not fulfill one’s vows is a dangerous thing! How so? You have responsibilities! You are a Fa-Rectification Period Dafa Disciple! The Dafa disciples of this era are to assist Master, and to take responsibility for saving people. And yet you don’t work on that! Some people have even not eliminated, after a long time, things that they were indoctrinated with by the evil while in China. Only by doing the three things well can you purge that stuff and turn around all of the Party-culture-wrought thinking that you have—including fear.”
(“Fa Teaching at the 2013 Western U.S. Fa Conference”)

This paragraph inspired me a lot. So, in the next five years, in addition to study, I was involved in clarifying truth almost every weekend. I gained much in personal cultivation, and more importantly, these experiences have made me clear on the urgency of telling the truth and saving people. I have combined my personal experiences and taken some examples from the British Museum truth clarification site in London, which I wish to share with you.

As one of the most popular tourist attractions in the UK and the world, the British Museum has a huge flow of people, almost every Chinese tourist visiting the UK, counting up to millions of tourists from all over the world. The museum displays artefacts from ancient civilizations of many countries in the world. Among them, there are many fine works left by the many past cultures of human society, the divine culture. Visitors will be immersed in it, washed by it. They then have the opportunity to understand the truth. In front of the museum, the tour groups are densely populated. In the morning, tourists wait in line to enter the museum. During the peak period, the line stretches for hundreds of meters. Dafa practitioners often tell the truth at the entrance and exit, but the visitors far outnumber the amount of practitioners.

This was a good place for personal cultivation, and a good opportunity to tell the truth to the world.

I found out that when I was doing face-to-face truth clarification, I actually have a very strong attachment of self-approval, together with a combative mentality. These manifested themselves when I was talking. I only wanted to express my own views and was afraid of being rejected, so I was not willing to listen to others.

There are people who often want to know the truth. They come forward and hope to communicate with me and exchange their ideas, but they are blocked by me because I just kept speaking to them. Westerners often expressed their dissatisfaction when doing petition truth clarification. I used to think that if I listened to their bad thoughts, they would shake my righteous thoughts and at the same time strengthen the negative poison in them.

This approach was counterproductive and could not save people. After self-reflection, and more understanding of Western society, I changed. I feel that I should give the other person more space when telling the truth. On one hand, this is a way of showing respect; and on the other hand, people are more willing to accept the truth. Actually, Master has a clear indication in his teachings.

“Make sure you do it rationally and clearheadedly. When you clarify the truth to people you have to consider their level of acceptance.”
(“Teaching the Fa at the 2003 Atlanta Fa Conference”)

I also realized that I had a heavy qing-sentimentality. I am living abroad, away from my homeland. In fact, I am worried for many relatives and friends in China. I know that qing is a kind of demon. However, when I think of the many people who have not learned the truth through me, I am saddened and enter a negative state. Sometimes I really hope that I can have a little more time to communicate with them one by one, and then continue our predestined relationship. While I was in this irritated state, a fellow practitioner reminded me that there are still Dafa disciples in mainland China, and I should believe that Master will have the best arrangements for them.

After realizing this, I went out in the first summer since leaving China to tell the truth at the museum, 4-6 hours a day, for about three months, I met more than 30 classmates, friends and relatives and those who came with them. I had the opportunity to pass on the truth to them. This alleviated my many regrets. The predestined relationship brought us together from many miles away, I was astonished!

As a young man, I have a strong pursuit for fame. Indeed, as Master said:

“He would think that he still had a long way to go in life, and he still wanted to make every effort to achieve some goals of ordinary people.”
(Lecture Three, Zhuan Falun)

For a while, when I just graduated, what I needed the most was to find a job. Generally speaking, when there is little time and opportunities left, international students need to spend a lot of time and energy searching for a job. They can only find a job after a long- effort, and there is not much room for choice. Because I want to do Hong-fa, I have very little time to look for a job every day, and my heart was often unstable. I wished that I could give myself more time.

I sent out many resumes, and the applications to a company where I previously had my internship were not answered. The situation became increasingly desperate. However, the company manager came to visit the museum and I met him. We talked about the truth. Soon I received a reply from his department, inviting me to work there. My formal job was also obtained under the state of remaining unshakable in my truth clarification work.

There are a lot of British mainstream people among the visitors, those who I met also have a predestined relationship with me.

I met a knight of the British Empire who presided over the development of the city of London after World War II. I had the chance to listen to him at the University of London, but did not have the opportunity to tell him the truth. It was a dark in the evening of the winter, and only the streetlights illuminated the nearby people. I stood alone outside the museum gate and gave out leaflets to people coming in and out. I saw a tall figure coming out of the door, taking the leaflet from me, and respectfully placed it in the chest pocket of his suit. I only recognized that he was a Knight when he was really close.

Another time, a university professor living in Scotland signed the petition in front of me. There was a Chinese lady who was watching me from the side for a long time. Finally, she couldn’t stand it, and walked over, stopped the professor, and shouted that I was deceiving people. Surprisingly the professor not only stay unaffected, but instead rebutted her, "This is not a liar, he is my student. I believe what he said," and firmly completed the petition. The Chinese lady was stunned, left speechless, and had to be dragged away by her friends.

My MP knows that Falun Gong is being persecuted and the CCP’s crime of organ harvesting, and would like to help. He took the initiative to send a letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs calling for an investigation into the forced organ harvesting and asking to stop the persecution. Soon after he sent me the response from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. One weekend, I was doing Hongfa at the museum. I saw him and his wife and four children. They came to visit the museum. When he passed by me, I told him that I received the letter from him and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I thus had the chance to thank him in front of the truth-clarification stand for his righteous support.

Day after day, although sometimes I feel that time passes by slowly, I still feel that Master is always around, and carefully arranging all of this:

“People with predestined relationships and those who can be saved can be made to--made to by Master's Law Bodies, righteous gods, or the immense field that Dafa has formed in the world--appear right before you in any of a range of settings, providing them with a chance to learn the truth. But you have to carry it out, and it doesn't work if you're not out there doing things. Even though the overall state of affairs has undergone huge changes, the pressure [of what lies] before you haven’t lessened. Saving people right now is an urgent matter; there are still many people who haven't seen the truth.”“Teaching the Fa at the Fa Conference at the U.S. Capital”

Conclusion
On the plane to my hometown after the first time I appealed in Beijing, I had the only time in my life that I saw clear scenes from another dimension - a huge snowy mountain appeared in the distant blue sky, standing on a huge Falun. There were the three golden characters of "Truth, Compassion, and Forbearance" erected between the mountains and the white clouds. This scene was exceptionally clear and incomparably magnificent and sacred.

Hundreds of millions of years ago, we followed Master to the human world. We vowed to help with Fa-rectification and save sentient beings.

In the near future, I will not care if I am a wealthy man or famous and successful, whether I have many grandchildren or not. I will only care about how many beings around me have not been saved because I did not do well.

In this fleeting period of Fa-rectification, I am not striving for anything else. I only want to work with fellow practitioners to improve steadfastly in Dafa, eradicate the evil and save many more sentient beings.

Please give me strength Master.

Thank you Master.
Thank you fellow practitioners.