(Clearwisdom.net)
I. Behind the attachment of fear
During this magnificent and solemn historical period, individual cultivation and the Fa rectification are fused together. While taking on the vital historic mission to clarify the truth to people and to expose the evil, Chinese practitioners are also facing a critical trial with respect to the evil beings' use of every conceivable means to persecute them. Therefore, some practitioners who have stepped forward, as well as those who still remain behind, are afraid to be apprehended, detained, and sent to labor camps by the evil establishment. I realized that these fears are all caused by a lack of compassion.
Teacher stated in his "Lecture at the Great Lakes Conference in North America," "when this Fa-rectification matter is over, humankind will enter the next stage, and those people and beings who have in their minds 'the Dafa of the cosmos isn't good' will be the first eliminated ..." During our efforts to clarify the truth and expose the evil, if our compassion truly emerges from our heart, our only thoughts should be: "If I were to be taken away by the evil and persecuted by them, then who else could help to cleanse the iniquitous factors in the minds of people who have a predestined relationships with me? Who would offer salvation to them?" We cannot wait for other fellow practitioners to perform the task, since we ourselves are cultivating to be Dafa particles, and these are our own historic missions. It is our duty to be responsible for all the righteous factors in this universe, to be accountable to all beings. To be honest, "fear" itself is "selfish." When we truly set our hearts toward being accountable to all sentient beings and for the benefit of others, our compassion will naturally emerge. Our compassion will be like a fountain that never runs dry. It will nurture all things and matter. Evil will never dare to get close to us because it would melt within our compassion. In an article published by Clear Wisdom "The Story Of How A Young Policeman Received The Fa," we read that there were two wicked policemen: one savagely beat up Dafa practitioners, and the other repulsively swore at them. One day an elderly woman (a Dafa practitioner) was taken in by the police. Yet this practitioner did not have the slightest sense of fear, but acted just like she was returning to her own home. All she did was take one glance at those villainous police, and their fists loosened up. This is the power of compassion.
Before distributing materials to clarify the truth, I would always study the Fa first, and then spend ten minutes sending forth righteous thoughts. While posting the flyers, I continuously sent forth the righteous thoughts, "The Fa rectifies the Cosmos, the Evil is completely eliminated." "Show compassion to all sentient beings." We must purify our minds when carrying out the task, and never treat the task as an obligation or a job, or think, "get it done fast so I can leave here early." Even though I came to this realization and understanding of the Fa, I still felt tense at times, and I asked myself why I behaved like that. I recalled what Teacher once said about a practitioner who did not treat himself as a true cultivator while eliminating his karma. He still had a mentality of taking chances. Fundamentally, he still treated his physical discomfort as illness. He was thinking that by not taking any medication conspicuously, Teacher would help eliminate his karma." I asked myself whether I had such an attitude, too: "If I keep thinking about showing my compassion to people, Teacher will protect me from the evil persecution." This is a deeply hidden and concealed selfishness; otherwise I would take on these tasks cheerfully and without any reservations.
Below I would like to present several personal experiences along the Fa rectification path. One evening, I was going to post banners on a fairly busy street. One fellow practitioner said, "Please do not go, I feel danger this evening." My heart jolted but soon I came to realize, "I am a Dafa practitioner. I will set my heart to its purest and truest state to accomplish the most sacred task in this universe. Nothing will go awry." As I was getting underway, one of my relatives called me on the phone, "Don't go anywhere for a couple of days. Your area has been especially under tight security. Quite a few of your people have been arrested!" Putting down the phone, I thought for a while, "Is it Teacher who was sending me a warning of impending danger? Or ..." I thought again, "The purpose of my life is to exterminate the evil, and I will not recognize any arrangement by the old evil forces. If my righteous thought is overwhelming, evil will of itself no longer exist." I then went out and smoothly accomplished every task that I had planned.
During one stage, I had to walk a long way to distribute truth-clarifying leaflets, and the evil started to obstruct me, letting my shoes painfully rub against my feet. Both of my feet grew big blisters covering the entire sole, forming thick calluses. I pierced the blisters to let the liquid out, but each day the situation got worse. The blisters grew larger and one blister started seeping blood. Liquid seeping out of blisters stuck to the socks, which then glued to the lining of my shoes. It was getting impossible to walk. I could barely inch forward. With each movement the pain would come, causing a cold sweat over my body. It felt that I would die from this unbearable pain. I thought to myself holding the pamphlets, "Should I go back and rest for a while, or continue my efforts to distribute leaflets?" I hesitated. Finally, I set my mind straight and said to myself, "If I fail to distribute pamphlets then the evil will be most joyful. If I have to die, let me die while sending truth clarifying leaflets saving all the people, but never let me die on the bed!" So I kept inching forward distributing the materials. After I finished the second unit (of a seven story apartment building) and stepped down the last staircase, my feet no longer hurt and I could walk like a normal person. There was no way to describe my elated and grateful feelings.
Another time, I ran into a college student. His attitude was a complete replica of the media propaganda. For more than two hours I tried in vain to break through his mental block. I had a chaste and proper attitude during my encounter, and I was speaking to him completely based on my compassion and not in one instance did I try to outsmart him with the clever tactics of ordinary humans. I was really doing it for the good of his own life, not a bit for my own self-interest. Yet why was he still so adamant about his own opinion? I felt tired of fighting the evil influence behind him, and my compassion seemed to run dry. I could hardly raise my head while sitting on the floor. A voice appeared, "Why not give up, he is beyond salvation!" All of a sudden my main consciousness got a boost and I said to myself, "I must remain determined to the end. So long as he is not one of the evil itself that is unsavable and unkeepable, I will use all the compassion in my life to save him, even if it means exhausting all of my life!" Later on, all of a sudden he spoke, "I am very sympathetic to Dafa practitioners!" Just with this one sentence, I felt I had regained all my strength and more. I again showed him truth-clarifying materials. After he read them over he said, "Jiang XX and Luo XX are just too atrocious and abominable, and you Dafa practitioners are so kind. I never would have thought that there still existed kind people like you. I will also judge my own actions following the standard of "Truthfulness-Benevolence-Forbearance"! I will help you to distribute pamphlets." Thus, another life was saved.
II. Do not wait, do not rely on others
"So in clarifying the truth, don't wait, don't rely on others, and don't just hope for changes in external factors." Dafa practitioners must advance diligently during the course of Fa rectification. We must proactively take on every matter related to the Fa rectification. I gained serious lessons in this respect. During a certain stage I regarded the entire cultivation path as having been arranged by the Teacher. Everything must be allowed to take its natural course. So I would distribute materials only when other practitioners gave them to me. Otherwise it was because Teacher did not "arrange" that for me. At the same time, I would only remind those practitioners who did not advance diligently when I met them. If I did not meet them it only meant that they did not need my help. Later on, I realized these thoughts were extremely inappropriate and improper. It was my complacency that was being taken advantage by the evil. This period lasted about 4 months, a very long time indeed! Teacher said in his lecture "To All Students At the Nordic Fa Conference:" "Every one of us is creating history for the future." The term "creating" contains very profound meanings and connotations.
III. "Fa Rectification" must be accomplished with "No Omissions"
During the course of Fa rectification, we must treat everyone as our audience for clarifying the truth. We have to systematically distribute the truth clarifying literature. At the same time, during our day-to-day life, we will encounter many ordinary people while riding a bus, or going shopping, and we should give them the truth clarifying material as well. This requires that we always carry with us some pamphlets and seize every opportunity to hand them out. This is also one of the manifestations of "No Omissions."
During the course of Fa rectification, what we are trying to "rectify" are the distorted factors in the universe. We are also lives in this universe, and we also have within ourselves the warped factors. Therefore we must also pay attention to our own thoughts and acts. If there are any little statements or deeds that do not conform to the Dafa of this universe, we must first rectify them in ourselves. This is also another manifestation of "No Omissions."
The above are just some personal experiences and understandings during the course of Fa-rectification, which I would like to share with all fellow practitioners so as to encourage each other. Please kindly point out any place that is lacking.
