Lili Lin: Experience Sharing

[This is the experience of a Dafa practitioner in the UK who was detained ready for deportation following an error in her asylum application. She was later released and was not deported]

Before I share my experience with you I would like to thank all UK Dafa disciples on behalf of my husband, and myself. Thank you for offering your unselfish help during the most difficult time in my life. I know all you have done is not for me. It is for all sentient beings in the UK for the future of the UK. Thank you for everything you have done for the British people.

Soon after I was detained, a member of staff told me that I would be deported in 9 days time. My first reaction was that I must not be deported. This was because we had reached a group understanding at a small group experience sharing before that if any genuine Dafa disciple were deported to China the consequences for the UK would be awful. That means that all the work that we have done for over 3 years to the UK government would be ruined. When I was in the deportation centre I concentrated on sending righteous thoughts [purifying the environment with pure, upright thoughts] and studying the Fa. In addition, I constantly searched inside to find out where the loopholes were that allowed the evil elements to take advantage. After I was transferred to another centre, I carried on studying the Fa and sending righteous thoughts to completely deny the arrangements by the old forces. I found many attachments that I had not let go of. With my Fa study getting deeper, I realized that I had made many mistakes before because I had not studied the Fa deeply. For example, when I spread Dafa I held a thought that saving people was a pressing issue, the time left was limited and I should let go of the attachment to fame, self-interest and sentimentality of ordinary people, etc. Therefore, I, sometimes consciously or unconsciously, neglected to harmonize the Fa in ordinary society. I had considered this thought correct. Actually it is not achieving the requirement which the Fa makes for me. It is exactly opposite – the requirement from the Fa for me is to conform to the state of ordinary people when we are saving sentient beings.

Another issue that I would like to share with you is that at the beginning of my detention, I felt I was very firm with a clear understanding of the Fa and strong righteous thoughts. With my continuously studying the Fa I realized that I had been thinking about issues at a “macro level” such as “completely deny the arrangements by the old forces, UK would be ruined if I were sent back to China”, etc. However, I felt something was wrong and it seemed something was missing. Then I carried on studying Zhuan Falun (in the 15 days I studied Zhuan Falun 4 times), Essentials for Further Advancement (once), Essentials for Further Advancement II (once), Guiding the Voyage (once), The Most Recent Articles (once), Fa-lecture During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference (5-6 times) Explaining the Fa During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference (3 times) In Zhuan Falun Master did not mention many macro issues. Instead, he taught me to do genuine cultivation and emphasized “The level of Gong is as high as that of Xinxing” (Reverse Cultivation and Energy Borrowing, Lecture 3 Zhuan Falun), “The entire life of a practitioner has been rearranged.” (Lecture 6Zhuan Falun), “, it is said that “cultivation depends on one’s own efforts, while transforming gong is done by one’s master.”(Lecture 2 Zhuan Falun), etc. Master also emphasized that cultivating Xinxing is the most fundamental part.

During this period I started to turn from thinking of “macro issues” to cultivating myself seriously and solidly. I realized that I am a person with a strong ego. It is not correct, and is dangerous to hold this notion during cultivation. When I found it and tried to eliminate it, I found it was very painful because it filled every single cell of mine. During the process of eliminating it, I clearly felt a huge piece of karma were lying over me. It interfered with me creating a false illusion every minute and strengthened my notion of my ego. The only thing I could do was to study the Fa and send forth righteous thoughts to eliminate it. It took me 3 days of sending righteous thoughts to eliminate it. When it was completely eliminated I felt at ease and felt a peace that I had never experienced. On the same day, I received a letter from my solicitor informing me that I would be released in 2 days. From this, I got enlightened to the importance of genuine cultivation. I realize that I have not eliminated my ego completely because it is deeply rooted. If I am not careful enough it will expose itself as a loophole and try to damage and interfere with Fa-Rectification. However, since I have found it what I need to do in the future is to continuously dig out its root.

Of course, my release cannot be separate from the hard work done by practitioners outside the centre. During my detention, there were many telephone calls from all over the world. Practitioners encouraged and supported me. This made me feel I am a Dafa particle, I would never be isolated wherever I am and I am closely connected with all other fellow practitioners to form an adamantine whole body, unable to be broken. I am very proud of being a Dafa particle. Hereby I thank everyone for your help in this rescue project. Thank you!

Finally, let me use one of Master Li’s poems to encourage each other:

True Cultivation

Studying the Fa, obtaining the Fa
Examine oneself while studying the Fa and cultivating
Compare oneself with Fa when you come across everything
Practice and accomplishment is cultivation
(unofficial translation)

Translated from Chinese at: http://yuanming.net/articles/200304/18947.html