Falun Dafa Practitioners on the Path to Godhood - Part 1

1. Studying the Falun Gong Teachings Well is the Foundation of Walking a Righteous Path

After the Fa rectification began, I and a few other assistants began coordinating local practitioners to go to Beijing to expose the persecution and let others know the truth about the practice. We got together to make materials exposing the persecution for what it truly is and to expose the persecution in our city and the surrounding areas. We divided up the assignments and cooperated well with each other, so that the materials, which consisted of "Minghui Weekly"and Teacher's¹ articles, could be distributed among fellow practitioners in a timely manner. Under Teacher's compassion and care, two years smoothly passed by.

In mid-August of 2001, I was taken advantage of by the old forces. I had the thought that I wanted to see the inside of a forced labour camp to better understand why so many practitioners gave up the practice in them. Subsequently, I was illegally sentenced to one year in a forced labour camp. While in the labour camp, because I had a good foundation of studying the Falun Gong teachings and cultivating myself, with the help of Teacher's compassion, my righteous thoughts and righteous actions won the respect and admiration of many people, ranging from the team leader of the labour camp to the guards and convicted criminals. Still, the number of sentient being I could save there was so limited. Many of my attachments were exposed. My own mistakes caused me to stay in the labour camp for the full term of my sentence.

While in the labour camp, I knew some practitioners that were deceived by the evil and I understood even better why Teacher repeatedly stressed in Zhuan Falun and in all lectures for us to study the Fa (law or principles in Falun Gong). In the labour camp, if a person didn't have the Fa in his heart for even one day, he would easily be taken advantage of by the evil and leave regrets in his cultivation. It is very difficult for humans to endure the persecution of the old forces. Only when a person is aligned with the Fa can his divine side play a role, and make the evil afraid to touch him/her. I often think that if the practitioners who are illegally detained had studied a little more while at home, were a little less attached to comfort, had a little more righteous thoughts in the face of the evil, and were less competitive with each other, they would not be easily fooled by the childish tricks and deceptions used by the evil. Teacher has spoken highly of Fa-rectification period Falun Dafa disciples. If we follow the Teacher in our daily lives, study the Fa well, and study the Fa more, the human notions formed in our minds over the past thousands of years will be eliminated. We should strive to immerse ourselves in the Fa at all times and thus strengthen the righteous faith and righteous thoughts we have learnt from Teacher through studying the Fa. At critical moments, the boundless power of the Buddha Fa will emerge. Since we have cultivated a righteous field in Falun Dafa, the evil does not dare come in. It knows that it will melt away if it does, so it certainly cannot persecute us. If all of our practitioners can follow what Teacher has taught us, the persecution will cease to exist.

In "Teaching the Fa at the Washington, D.C. Fa Conference" Teacher said,

"Faced with this demonic tribulation, a lot of the students who haven't studied the Fa in-depth and a lot of the new students, with their human attachments, each have their own different takes on things and different understandings of validating the Fa. So when validating the Fa and clarifying the truth, a lot of people do it with human attachments to some degree or other. When they're persecuted their ordinary human attachments get stirred up by human emotion, and they will be affected by phony kindness and deceit. Whatever happens, only by keeping up your Fa-study can you get rid of your human thoughts, can you get rid of your attachments, and can you thus be unaffected by any human things."

When I studied this passage before, I had always thought that these words were meant only for the practitioners who had turned away from the practice. Then one day when I studied the Teachings with a calm heart, I could see that this was not just for them, but also for me. I could see my own attachments, which were just in different areas and of different degrees than those practitioners who had given up the practice.

In April of 2002, although I once again felt confident validating the Fa, I was also aware that to some extent I was still accepting the old forces' arrangements. Despite the Korean prophecy "Gean Yilu" that says that "Falun Dafa practitioners will suffer in prisons and jails," we should fully negate [the old force's arrangements] and elevate to a higher realm, instead of cultivating while accepting the prophecy and enduring it. This understanding resulted from our lack of understanding the Fa principles. In "Dafa Is Indestructible," Teacher already explained this principle very clearly. Although I had memorised the article, I didn't fully understand the inner meaning of the Fa, let alone be able to do well on this aspect. My arrest also caused irreparable damage to the work of validating the Fa in our local area. Some practitioners thought, "xx has cultivated so well and was so diligent, yet he was still arrested." This was a loss I caused to Falun Dafa. Today I would like to use this opportunity to share my understandings. We are all humans in cultivation. If we can follow Teacher's requirements, we will naturally do well. If our thoughts deviate from the Fa, or if we deviate from the Fa in a certain respect, we will certainly not do well. In addition, if we fail to fully negate the restraints of the old forces, we are unwittingly walking on the path arranged by the old forces. As a result, the old forces will have excuses to give us so-called "tests," taking advantage of our attachments that have not been eliminated during cultivation. The saying that "The more diligent one is, the more likely to be persecuted" is wrong. Through studying the Fa, I understood that even when we have omissions, the old forces are not worthy of testing us. The reason that we were arrested was because we did not fully negate the old forces' arrangements and followed the lead of the old forces. The old forces issue an arrest warrant for you, and you accept it, saying "Yes, I am wanted." The old forces say you are being watched, and you accept it, saying "I am being watched," instead of using righteous thoughts to negate it.

We practitioners should only walk the path arranged by our Teacher. It is clear through studying Teacher's lecture "Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Philadelphia, U.S.A." Teacher said,

"As I've said, everything that happens today in the ordinary society is the result of Dafa disciples' thoughts. Even though the old forces do exist, if you don't have those thoughts they can't do anything. When your righteous thoughts are strong enough the old forces can't do a thing." ("Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Philadelphia, U.S.A.")

After returning from the labour camp, I learnt that several other local coordinators were also arrested around the same time, and sentenced to long prison terms. Some of them were able to be very firm and unmoved amidst the persecution and torture due to their solid foundations laid through Fa-study of righteous faith and righteous thoughts in Teacher and the Fa. However, just like me, they also did not negate the notion that "Dafa practitioners will suffer in prisons and jails" with righteous thoughts.

Besides studying the Fa with a calm heart, I also shared experiences and understandings with fellow practitioners. Through sharing, I learnt that we were short on materials, so I set up a materials centre at my house. I took care of everything from selecting the equipment to buying supplies. Because the new equipment was different from the old kind, I could only learn how to do it by trial and error. At first, I could only print one box of materials each week, and the machine would occasionally stop working. When I took it to the shop for repairs, there was nothing wrong with it, so I returned home and thought about why the machine was not working. Then I understood that when I bought it, I did not communicate with it as I should have. So I told it that from that moment on, it had the same mission as me, which was saving sentient beings. I told it to harmonise with Falun Dafa and to have a good temperament. At the same time, I sent forth righteous thoughts to clean out the dimensions related to it. After a month, I found that although I knew it was important to have technical information, a cultivator's righteous thoughts could have an amazing effect on the outcome. This is where ordinary people cannot compare. When the machine and I were harmonised, I could finish in two days what used to take a week. This gave me enough time to clarify the facts and share experiences with fellow practitioners. Through the sharing, I learnt that the practitioners who participated in group Fa-study were doing well with the three things, while those who did not participate in group study were not doing well. Some practitioners had also stalled in regards to the state of their personal cultivation; they either rarely participated, or did not participate at all in validating the Fa. To help everyone improve as a whole, I thought it would be good to hold small group Fa study meetings when safe, so that more practitioners could have a good cultivation environment.

In "Teaching the Fa at the Washington, D.C. Fa Conference" Teacher said,

"You are Dafa disciples, so no matter what environment you're in, when you do things like clarifying the truth and saving sentient beings, you should display the demeanour of a Dafa disciple. You're cultivators after all, so if you want to do this well, the most important thing to do is to study the Fa. No matter how busy you are, you have to study the Fa."

Through studying Teacher's lectures, I understood more and more that as a Fa-rectification period Falun Dafa practitioner, I should not consider it my personal choice to decide what to do and what not to do. Whatever Falun Dafa needs, I must do it unconditionally. While managing the materials centre and doing well in coordinating locally, no matter how busy, I knew that I must study the Fa well. Only when we study the Fa well, are we able to complete the mission bestowed upon us by Falun Dafa. I told myself that I could only be diligent and could not slack off. Because everything we do and say, every thought of ours, will impact the practitioners around us and the salvation of sentient beings. That's why it is most important to study the Fa with a tranquil heart everyday. In "What is Cultivation Practise?" Teacher said,

"The disciples who practise cultivation in Falun Dafa must remember that you absolutely should not take the Fa merely as ordinary human academic scholarship or as something for monks to study, rather than actually practising cultivation. Why do I tell you to study, read, and memorise Zhuan Falun? To guide your cultivation! As to those who only do the exercises but don't study the Fa, they are not disciples of Dafa whatsoever. Only when you are studying the Fa and cultivating your heart and mind in addition to the means of reaching Consummation--the exercises, and truly changing yourself fundamentally while improving your xinxing and elevating your level--can it be called true cultivation practise." ("What is Cultivation Practise?" from Essentials for Further Advancement)

Teacher has given us the Fa in its entirety. He also taught us how to cultivate. I understood that every word of Teacher's can guide us to cultivate into great gods. We all know that Fa in its entirety includes the five exercises. This means that we not only need to study the Fa well, but also do the exercises diligently. Studying the Fa and doing the exercises well is what enables us to save sentient beings and do Dafa work well. The three things that we need to do are connected with one another. If we don't do well any one of them, it will affect the entire situation and prevent us from returning home and reaching consummation. That's why we should be consistent and diligent in doing the five exercises. However, through sharing, we found out that many practitioners are not able to do the exercises every day; some even do the exercise very infrequently. In "Teaching the Fa at the 2003 Atlanta Fa Conference" Teacher said,

"Another is, a lot of our Dafa disciples are indeed quite tired, but on the other hand, they haven't taken Fa study and cultivation seriously. They've done lots and lots of things, but they haven't cultivated themselves, and so they'll feel fatigue, feel tired, and feel that it's hard. Actually, I've always told you that doing cultivation doesn't compromise your Dafa work, for sure. That's because doing the exercises is the most effective way to get rid of fatigue, it's the best way to quickly make your body recover."

I have truly felt this point. The more we do the exercises, the better our body is transformed. When the body is transformed well, we are able to be calm while studying the Fa, which then enables the cells in our body to be harmonised with the Fa which thus speeds up the transformation of our true body. These changes complement one another. At the same time, I also understood that doing the exercises well is not just a matter of relieving fatigue. It directly affects the salvation of sentient beings. That's because the process of saving sentient beings also reflects our cultivation state. If we cultivate ourselves well, we show sentient beings our unique spirit, and all beings will regard Falun Dafa as being truly good. Besides, Falun Dafa is a practice that cultivates both the body and the mind. If we cultivate well, this characteristic can be demonstrated in our cultivation state. If we don't cultivate well, to put it seriously, isn't it tarnishing the image of Dafa? That's why every practitioner should follow Teacher's words:

"In Buddha Law cultivation you have to boldly and vigorously forge ahead." (Zhuan Falun)

I won't allow my lack of diligence or mistakes to bring any losses to Dafa. Therefore, I treat studying the Fa and doing the exercises well every day as a necessity for a Falun Dafa practitioner. The spirit of a practitioner will be demonstrated through our daily life, work, and cultivation. Ordinary people have a saying, "Hear the rooster crow and rise to practise swordsmanship." In ancient times, those who practise swordsmanship were cultivating in a small way, but even they would get up and practise when the rooster crowed. Today, we are practising the Great Way, with no need to leave the secular world, and are able to reach Buddhahood in one lifetime. How can we slack off and waste this opportunity? How can we not "hear the rooster crow and rise to practise"? Studying the Fa and doing the exercises well are the foundation of our walking a righteous path. In Teaching the Fa at the Eastern U.S. Fa Conference, Teacher said,

"As long as you read the book, Zhuan Falun, you'll get everything you're entitled to. (Applause) You all know that this is not an ordinary book. It is the Fa. Different laws, theories, and ideologies exist in our human society, but I'll tell you, all of those are human things--they are human things at the level of ordinary human society. But what I'm teaching you today goes far beyond any theory in human society and any Fa at the ordinary human level. So, being what it is, it certainly has its majestic and unfathomable inner meanings. In other words, if you want to cultivate, this Fa can truly guide you to improve." "In other words, it appears to be a book in this human dimension, but it is not like this when viewed in a different dimension. It is the Law of Heaven."

2. Restore Group Study of the Falun Gong Teachings

In "Environment," Teacher said,

"The cultivation practice form that I have left for Dafa disciples ensures that disciples can truly improve themselves. For example, I ask you to do the exercises as a group in parks in order to form an environment. This environment is the best way to change the surface of a person. The lofty conduct that Dafa disciples have established in this environment--including every word and every deed--can make people recognise their own weaknesses and identify their shortcomings; it can move their hearts, refine their conduct, and enable them to make progress more rapidly. Therefore, new students or self-taught disciples have to go to the practice sites to do the exercises." ("Environment" from Essentials for Further Advancement)

In Teaching the Fa at the Eastern U.S. Fa Conference, Teacher said,

"It's because our cultivation environment, our Fa-study environment, and what the students discuss and say when they are together are noble and form a rare and most pure environment. This is very hard to find in human society, and is the most benevolent and most wonderful piece of pure land, so you mustn't lose this environment."

After July 20th, 1999, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) deemed any gathering of more than two people "gathering to do the exercises" illegal and they did not allow us to perform the exercises. We lost our cultivation environment. Many practitioners, including myself, unwittingly accepted the arrangements made by the old forces. When I realised that restoring group study was breaking through the old forces' arrangements and walking the cultivation path arranged by Teacher, I began sharing with fellow practitioners and restoring group study. Through sharing, the practitioners understood the importance of group study: it benefits our own cultivation, leaves a reference for cultivation in the future, breaks through the old forces' arrangements, and helps us eliminate the attachment to fear. Some practitioners also discussed their experience of consistently attending group study for the last few years. Because they had a good foundation of Fa study, from going to Beijing to validate the Fa and doing well the three things, they had been very minimally interfered with by the evil, and were not persecuted at all. They said that they never felt any difficulty, and that the righteous field we cultivate in Falun Dafa can melt away all that is not righteous. I saw my own shortcomings in contrast with them, and understood even more clearly why Teacher left us the group study environment.

The practitioners who have jobs usually work until pretty late every day. After work, they have to take care of their families in addition to doing things to help expose the persecution. They do the exercises in the morning and spend two nights a week, from 6 p.m. to midnight at fellow practitioners' homes studying the Fa and sending forth righteous thoughts every hour. Their time is well arranged every week, so that they are able to not only do the three things well but also take care of their family members. Their consideration has won the understanding and acceptance of their family members who are not cultivators. Because these practitioners are able to keep up with their Fa study, they have created a benign environment both around them and in their workplaces. Their employers are satisfied with them, and the local police also leave them alone.

The establishment and restoration of study groups is only the first step in doing well the three things we have to do. In "Solid Cultivation" of Hongyin Teacher said,

"Study Fa, obtain Fa,
Compare in studying, compare in cultivating,
Examine each and every deed,
Accomplishing is cultivating."

The next step is how we do well the three things as Fa-rectification period Dafa disciples while studying the Fa together, and how we can help the practitioners who have not yet stepped forward, so that they can cleanse and forge themselves, elevate their understanding of the Fa, and join the tide of saving sentient beings in this environment of group study.

Through a period of studying the Fa and sharing, and with Teacher's power, some practitioners who did not step forward before or who had the attachment to fear, were able to do well and clarify the facts to people. The group study environment helped some practitioners understand that although they were not arrested before, they were imprisoned in an invisible cell, which was formed by their own attachments to fame, self-interest, and emotions. In the poem "Don't Be Sad" of Hongyin II - (provisional translation) Teacher said,

"Your body lies in prison - don't be sorrowful, don't be sad
With righteous thoughts and righteous actions, Fa is here
Calmly reflect on how many attachments you have
As you get rid of human mentality, evil naturally disappears"

This was not only written for the practitioners who were imprisoned, but for all practitioners.

In "Teaching the Fa at the 2004 Chicago Conference," Teacher said,

"In fact, some students haven't really done too well all along; many Mainland students are still making all kinds of excuses for not stepping forward; and there are some who have been "transformed," they are ashamed of it, but then they're embarrassed and can't lift up their head and step forward, and they are discouraged. And then there are a number of people who are like this: they too haven't stepped forward all along, but have been hiding at home and reading [Dafa] books, and have even been making excuses for doing that, when the truth is, it's their fear at work. I hope that the other Dafa disciples in Mainland China will help these people and ask them to step forward and do what a Dafa disciple should do. This thing hasn't ended yet, so for any being it still presents an opportunity and a chance."

With the guidance of Teacher and the Fa principles, we organised individual sharing groups with some of the practitioners who have not been diligent. It was relatively easy to talk with the practitioners who gave up the practice after the persecution started. Most of them gave it up because of their attachment to fear. We gave them Teacher's new lectures and the Minghui Weekly publications. We helped them understand that Teacher is compassionate and does not want to leave behind even one student. After many sharing sessions, many of them returned to the cultivation path. We first arranged for them to attend group study and to study the Fa with diligent practitioners, while welcoming them to join us in truth clarification work. After all, they had a foundation through studying the Fa before, and were able to quickly return to the tide of Fa-rectification. A few practitioners in particular have played an active role in Fa-rectification and helped to bring along a large number of practitioners who had lagged behind.

It took more time to help those who had practised but had been brainwashed by the evil. We had to first send righteous thoughts to cleanse their fields in different dimensions. Many of them were controlled by the old forces due to their attachments to fear and comfort. They had completely lost themselves but were unaware. Some of them still considered themselves to be "cultivating." I have not done sufficiently in this area. I often used the excuse that I didn't have time and gave these difficult issues to other practitioners to handle. Having obtained the Fa over ten years ago, my attitude is that I can skip eating and reduce sleep, but I cannot slack off with my Fa study or the exercises. Teacher has already said very clearly that the Mainland Chinese practitioners should help the practitioners who had been brainwashed. After completing what is urgently needed right now, I will spend more time with these practitioners and help them return to the path of cultivation.

3. Establishing Materials Centres

At the end of 2004, after reading the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party², several coordinators and I had several discussions. Some practitioners came to understand that the Fa-rectification had reached a new stage, and that we needed to promote the Nine Commentaries and encourage people to withdraw from the CCP and its affiliated organisations. Because we did not have a clear understanding at that time, we did not do it on a large scale, and only helped our family members and ourselves withdraw from the CCP. After the publication of Teacher's article "Turning the Wheel Towards the Human World," we understood the progress of the Fa rectification and the need to encourage people to quit the CCP and to promote the Nine Commentaries. A few fellow coordinators and I hosted many big and small experience sharing conferences in our area and in the surrounding areas, enabling the whole body of practitioners to understand the importance of promoting the Nine Commentaries and quitting the CCP, thus saving sentient beings. Because of the overall elevated state of our understanding, practitioners were using more materials to clarify the facts, and the materials centres we had before were far from adequate. In order to save more sentient beings who have been fooled by the evil spectre of the CCP, we had to print a large number of the Nine Commentaries. This meant that we needed to establish new materials centres.

Firstly, in terms of scale, we mostly established medium to small-scale materials centres and they were scattered throughout different areas. Secondly, in terms of personnel, we used a high standard; the practitioners making the materials must have a good foundation based on consistent Fa study, and righteous faith and righteous thoughts in Teacher and the Fa. These practitioners who have cultivated diligently all know that only when they study the Fa and cultivate themselves well can they carry out the three things Teacher asked. Thirdly, the practitioners working on the materials must cultivate their speech and keep the operation low-profile. Fourthly, we must be aware of security issues in order to ensure the safety of the material centres and the practitioners who work there.

Studying the Fa more and studying the Fa well are the foundation of our walking a righteous path and doing everything well. Teacher said, in ("Drive Out Interference" from Essentials for Further Advancement II)

"The Fa can break all attachments, the Fa can destroy all evil, the Fa can shatter all lies, and the Fa can strengthen righteous thoughts."

Our righteous thoughts originate in the Fa. As long as we cultivate within the Fa, our notions and karma accumulated through different lifetimes, and the interference by the external evil elements, will be eliminated through our cultivation. We will be gradually purified and perfected so that we can be as firm as a rock and solid as a diamond. In this state the evil does not dare to touch us. Our thoughts and our minds completely oppose the old forces' arrangements. We only walk the path arranged by Teacher. Even when we have omissions, the old forces are not worthy of testing us. We are cultivators and we will be rectified by the Fa. Through Fa-rectification cultivation, we will gradually become qualified disciples of Teacher.

At that point, I understood why a few years ago, even though I was really busy, I learnt how to make the materials. It was to lay a foundation of establishing many material centres throughout my local area. The practitioners involved in making the materials all know that sometimes it is not technology that can solve a problem. Instead, it is righteous thoughts. The technology is certainly important, and we must learn it, but cultivators cannot rely on technology. This is the difference between human beings and cultivators. We have righteous thoughts and supernormal capabilities beyond ordinary people. When we encounter a problem, we can use the Buddha Fa's divine powers to solve it. If we can't do it ourselves, we can ask Teacher to strengthen us. When we ask Teacher for help with a tranquil heart, Teacher will solve all of our difficult problems.

It is especially critical not to be obsessed about whether you have a specific skill or understand a technology before doing something. This one bad thought can be reflected in the things we are about to do and can be taken advantage of by the evil. Because we cultivate Dafa, our thoughts are powerful. The fewer notions we have, the more powerful our righteous thoughts. I have a deep understanding in this respect. I can only spend two days each week to finish printing a carton of materials and copy CD-ROMs. I almost have to work nonstop. This usually causes the machines to overheat. Some practitioners use a wet towel to wipe them; others use a hairdryer to blow on them. However, these techniques cannot truly solve the problem. If an ordinary person runs into the same problem, he would do the same things, and that's all that could be done . However, we are cultivators and are fundamentally different from those who don't cultivate. In Zhuan Falun, Teacher said:

"With a practitioner, his thoughts direct his abilities to do things. But with an ordinary person, his thoughts just direct his four limbs and his sensory organs to do things."

This requires that we study the Fa more in our daily lives so that our every thought is on the Fa. The Fa mechanism can thus be formed.

Now, as soon as I sit in front of the machine, this mechanism will automatically be in effect. Only the formula for sending righteous thoughts occupies my mind, "Fa Zheng Qian Kun, Xie E Quan Mie." In a pure field, the machine runs smoothly and easily. When it overheats, I communicate with it, so that it can be a being that is harmonious with the Fa. I tell it that I don't want heat; I want a cool breeze. At the same time, I ask Teacher to give me strength. The machine immediately switches from hot air to a cool breeze. The supernormal performance of the machine demonstrates an opportunity we offer as cultivators who have harmonised with the Fa for the beings around us to re-position themselves, so that they can be harmonised with the Fa and contribute to validating the Fa and eliminating the evil. On the other hand, if we cannot be diligent in Buddha Fa cultivation and slack off, our worlds and all of the things around us-things with or without form-will become lifeless as our cultivation state deteriorates. They would not be able to harmonise with the Fa and would be eliminated. Because we had not cultivated well, our worlds would also become empty. This will be an irreparable loss. We are beings forged and tempered in Falun Dafa. Every practitioner should reach a higher standard. This is not about our individual accomplishments. That's where Dafa's standards are at different levels. We should be able to reach them, if we don't reach them it would be a shame to us as cultivators.

An elderly female practitioner came to group Fa study. As she was leaving, I told her, "When you run into technical problems at home, you have to look inside yourself first and see if you have any problems. Then use righteous thoughts to negate the interference. Don't forget to ask for Teacher's help. If you..." Before I could finish, she said, "Teacher is here, and the Fa is here. Our cultivated gong is also here. Everything will run smoothly." She then left. Her small-scale material centre was quite effective in her local area. Just as she said, the "ifs" I talked about never occurred. Everything has been running well. From her, I can see my own shortcomings. Later, when I taught the technology to fellow practitioners, I told myself and the other practitioners that what we are doing is the most righteous. As long as we walk our path correctly, there is no issue of encountering problems. Teacher is here, the Fa is here, our cultivated gong is also here, and that is why we are invincible!

Note

1. Master/Teacher: Respectfully referring to the founder of Falun Gong, Mr. Li Hongzhi.
2. Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party: Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party is a series of essays published in late 2004 that reveal the true nature of the Communist Party. The Nine Commentaries have led millions of people to renounce their membership in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and come to gain a clearer understanding about the wrongful persecution against Falun Gong. "A book that has shocked all Chinese around the world. A book that is disintegrating the Communist Party." http://ninecommentaries.com