PureInsight | September 29, 2009
Experience Sharing from the 2009 Washington D.C. Fa Conference
[PureInight.org] Greetings to our Great and Compassionate Master!
Greetings to my fellow cultivators!
After reading about the April 25, 1999 petition in a Taiwanese newspaper, I discovered Dafa within this human world. Seemingly, in a blink of an eye, I have been a practitioner now for 10 years throughout Respected Teacher’s Fa-rectification period.
Whether I am gradually elevating through the elimination of my human notions, being touched by a new practitioners’ joy for attaining Dafa, or witnessing the awakening of a person after knowing the truth, every step within these 10 years has deepened my appreciation for this rare opportunity to cultivate. Amidst the process, I deeply feel the boundless glory and sacredness of Dafa. Then again, I really don’t, and cannot possibly comprehend the true nature of Dafa. For I have merely scratched the surface in my comprehension of the boundless law of the universe. Even so, it is my utmost honor to have received Teacher’s salvation, and to have the opportunity to validate Dafa.
Judging from the standard of the Fa and Master asking us to do the three things well, I haven’t done as well as I should have in many instances. Yet our great compassionate Teacher continues to grant me the chance to validate Dafa. To Teacher and to Dafa, I cannot express in words even a minor percentage of my gratitude.
Today, I will share my limited understanding of what I have gained through recent truth clarification activities.
Have Faith in Teacher and Dafa; Break Through Obstacles
It’s been 6 years now since Hong Kong and Taiwanese practitioners entered the legal process against Hong Kong Customs for illegally deporting practitioners. During this time, we have appeared many times in Hong Kong courts to expose the evil Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) extension of its persecution against Dafa beyond China’s borders. Staying in contact with the legal and political establishment, we are also suppressing the evil. As the attorney representing us became mired in the technicalities of the legal process, the five original plaintiff practitioners decided to forgo an everyday attorney and instead represent ourselves in court to clarify the truth.
Last October, as the Hong Kong court ruled that I should argue the case for the plaintiffs, I experienced a lot of pressure. Although I was intimately familiar with our case, I had never before argued a case in English in a British court system. Also, I was not familiar with the rules of Hong Kong’s court system and had no actual experience researching relevant case law. However, because our fellow lawyer practitioners in the U.S. were already overloaded with work, I realized that in the upcoming battle between good and evil, we needed to blaze a path with our righteous thoughts and righteous actions. Therefore, I had to assume all of the responsibility to prepare the case within the time allocated by the court.
All five plaintiffs continued to study the Fa and share our experiences on a weekly basis over the last six year period. We had now formed an indomitable team with our mutual understanding of our mission to save lives and by reminding each other of our gaps in our xinxing. When I encountered pressure, the other four practitioners offered me encouragement without reservation and had faith that I would do my best. This mutual trust and support between practitioners is so very precious.
Yet even with compassionate encouragement, each person still needs to meet the xinxing standard of Dafa at various levels. I felt a lot of difficulty and pressure when I had to work through almost a mountain of legal documents within a very short time. I examined why I felt worried and fearful – was I worried that everyday people wouldn’t provide the desired outcome? Was I afraid that I didn’t meet the expectations of my fellow practitioners? Did I fear rebuttal and criticism? I repeatedly asked myself, “Did I place truth clarification and saving sentient beings in the forefront of my thoughts?” In the face of pressure and obstacles, how I rectified my own thoughts became a reflection of my righteous faith in Dafa.
Teacher taught us, “Then which beings are to be cherished during the Fa-rectification period, this critical point in history? Those with full confidence in Dafa and with corresponding actions; these lives are precious.” (“Fa Teaching at the U.S. Capital”)
I sensed how solemn this was. I saw that the source of my worries was selfishness. I then made up my mind to face it and to eliminate it.
When I finally put my mind into showing the judges how Dafa practitioners were rational, peaceful, and upstanding people, so that they could get to know us from the bottom of their hearts, and to realize how the Hong Kong Government should make amends for their mistakes, I felt a calmness and expansiveness from my recognition that, “saving lives is priority number one.” As a result, I treated every paper I wrote as a means of clarifying the truth and to save each judge. In my effort to organize and write them, I was inspired by Dafa, and could effortlessly find the necessary supporting evidence. As a result, I was able to submit the required papers in the short time allotted and show the judges our heartfelt effort.
At the same time, we were able to fill a lot of the gaps our previous attorney left due to his lack of preparation. This was an unthinkable outcome for someone like me, who had absolutely no experience in the British court system. However, thinking back on the process, I was able to look inside each time I encountered obstacles, and sincerely cultivate my heart to root out any problems in my mind, and to place saving lives as the priority. With effort, the boundless Dafa gave all disciples everything that was needed to break through any obstacles. As a result, I had a renewed understanding that “cultivation depends on one’s own efforts, while transforming gong is done by one’s master” (Zhuan Falun).
Manifesting the Power of Dafa Through Coordination
In March, we conducted five days of oral arguments against the Hong Kong Government in the Hong Kong Superior Court. On the human level, I played the role of the plaintiff and the attorney representing other practitioners. But in the process, each of us recognized that we each had a role we had to play well. When we accepted each other’s suggestions and understood each other’s roles, we were able to demonstrate the strength of a cohesive group. In seven years of working on this legal project, this was a brand new understanding for me and my first time in arguing a case in front of a judge.
We arrived in Hong Kong early for preparation. Not only were we studying the Fa and sending forth righteous thoughts together, but when I felt dizzy, nauseous, breathless, or when I had a headache during my preparations, my fellow practitioners didn’t treat me with human emotions to comfort or criticize me. Instead, they offered understanding through their continuous righteous thoughts to eliminate all interference from the evil factors. Those practitioners who had no experience dealing with lawsuit documents didn’t hesitate for one moment to learn, and brainstormed with me on the key points. Because practitioners offered their support and encouragement through their maturity, steadfastness, concentration and righteous faith, I felt an endless supply of strength from the Fa to help us break through obstacles. For example, I was able to finish my closing argument in one and a half days.
During the court hearing, many practitioners persisted in sending forth righteous thoughts for five days inside and outside the court house, even though many of them didn’t understand English. Those practitioners that felt sleepy would go outside to make adjustments. We all reminded one another of our shortcomings, but all had a common understanding – that we had to show the everyday people inside the courthouse the righteousness of Dafa disciples. In this process, I truly understood the greatness of the support that disciples offer each other to save people while continuing to cultivate and elevate themselves.
Inside the court, each time I stood up in front of the three-judge panel, I could sense a strong righteous field that reached the heavenly realms. Each word I clearly expressed to the judges was enabled by the life-saving will of all Dafa disciples present. It was so magnificent. On the last day of the trial, many disciples told me that I had said what they wanted to say to the judges, and that they saw the judges listening intently. The evil factors behind the Hong Kong Government lawyers clearly could not withstand us. Their arguments were nonsensical, and were corrected many times by the judges. The righteous thoughts of Dafa disciples guided the field in the courtroom. That immense righteous power didn’t come from any particular individual, but rather the collective compassion from all of the disciples.
Although, we knew the presiding judges faced a lot of political pressure, we hoped that all the sentient beings who had heard the truth could place themselves in the right position with regard to the outcome of the court case. However, we did not become attached to the outcome of this everyday person’s lawsuit. Every attachment of ours could be used as an excuse by the evil to destroy the people we were striving to save. Therefore, regardless of how long the case dragged on, we had to walk a righteous path continuing to save people and to validate Dafa.
Revelations from Shen Yun
No matter what project we participate in, Teacher has shown us a great example in his use of Shen Yun to validate Dafa. When I think of Teacher personally instructing Fa study, the exercises, the dance training, the cultural classes, all the way to the integration of dance and music, so that every facet of the performance could be carried out fully, the end result was that people could see the pure goodness and beauty of Shen Yun. This was a great example for all cultivating Dafa disciples; if we gave sufficient heart and effort from within ourselves to each project to validate Dafa.
Reflecting on the court case, we realized that we needed to be strict with ourselves in order for people from different backgrounds and with different attachments to understand Dafa disciples. In the courtroom, other than myself, practitioners had no need to speak, and focused on sending forth righteous thoughts. Yet, we knew that the judges saw us as one cohesive body. To the rest of the people, we represented all Dafa disciples. Therefore, we asked all attending disciples to observe all courtroom etiquette including their manner of dress, demeanor and speech, so that these Westerner judges would not encounter any obstacles in understanding us. Some practitioners who were not used to this manner of dress let go of their attachments and inquired if their outfits and attitude were appropriate for the courtroom. Although they couldn’t wait to take the clothes off as soon as they left the court, I was moved by their dedication. When we showed up with our collective professional appearance that assimilated to this everyday environment, we noticed that the judges could feel the peaceful and natural aura we emanated as Dafa cultivators.
“Full of great aspirations while minding minor details” (Essentials for Further Advancement, “Sage”) is being considerate of everyday people, as a result of the power of Dafa manifesting itself. In this human world, we ought to be considerate of everyday people and the need of validating the Fa in everything we do.
Making the Fa Priority and Diminishing Attachments
My human notions would pop up occasionally as a coordinator in some truth-clarification projects. Here I would like to share an experience that left me with a deep impression. A few years ago, a project created a lot of conflicts amongst practitioners. As a result, some silently withdrew from the project, while others complained behind each other’s backs to avoid confrontations and the challenge to their xinxing levels. I was within the minority that insisted on finding common ground.
Yet, I had perhaps accumulated a lot of notions from many past lives. On top of that, I added a lot of subtle habits and thought patterns through my professional training in this lifetime. Therefore, when I encountered certain people or issues challenging my notions of right and wrong or my hard-to-detect notions and thought patterns, I would sometimes have difficulty passing the tests, even though I knew that a person who knows right and wrong in everyday life may not necessarily be a cultivator who can measure everything according to the Fa and the xinxing standard.
One day, I again encountered a conflict that challenged my sense of right and wrong while working on this project. At the time, I felt it was the final straw and forgot that I was cultivating according to a cultivator’s standard and not a human standard. Even though I could see my shortcomings, I decided to quit the project – I was fed up.
I still remember the afternoon after I had made this decision. I was sitting in a rocking chair at home, attempting to calm myself by listening to music. As the music played, I closed my eyes and saw a scene of Dafa disciples returning home with Teacher through level after level of the cosmos. In each level, the sentient beings there welcomed Teacher with indescribable gratitude as they stood or knelt. Standing behind Teacher, we felt an incomparable honor and solemnity. This scene was repeated in every level of the cosmos as countless sentient beings thanked Teacher for saving them. Finally, a god took one last look at the human world with a satisfied smile, and then ascended into the deepest region of the heavens. This played out like a movie right in front of my eyes, and that final scene ended just as the music stopped. At that moment, I heard a solemn voice inside my mind saying loudly to me, “You know how difficult my work is, how does your little hardship even compare?” Hearing that, tears streamed down my face, and I was ashamed. I knew that I was wrong, and therefore decided to do better.
That evening, I wrote an e-card to the practitioner that I had the conflict with. I told him that I supported him and trusted that he would do better. Immediately, he replied with thanks. He told me that in the face of so much opposition, he had decided to quit as well. However, he was touched by my e-card and knew this was compassionately arranged by Teacher to encourage him. Afterwards, he did a great job in this project.
Although, we still had occasional differences, we were able to communicate with open hearts without giving up on each other. We had a firm mutual understanding that we would not allow the evil to exploit our xinxing gaps or interfere with our life-saving mission. In this process, I came to understand that when we could not pass our xinxing tests, we could cause a lot of interference amongst our fellow practitioners in saving sentient beings, as well as to our own cultivation. Because we are cultivating in delusion, we may not see the extent of the damage we may cause. Yet our compassionate Teacher doesn’t have the heart to leave any disciple behind, so he suffers for us. At the same time, he encourages us by offering us hints so that we can correct ourselves in order to save more sentient beings. I want to thank Teacher for his immense compassion!
We all know matter and mind are one and the same. Only when we look inside to expose the problems within our minds, can we affect fundamental changes to our material being. In that process, we will suffer as part of our cultivation. The path is sacred, and the changes to our minds and bodies are enormous on the microscopic level. I am still learning to treat everything that happens to me as a good thing, both in my mind and in my actions. As I truly face everything with the attitude of saving people, and let go of my attachments, I can become an effective particle in Dafa.
No words can express my gratitude to Teacher for saving me having walked this path of cultivation over the stormy ten years.
Finally, I would like to share “Expedition” from Hong Yin II:
“Ten thousand miles I gallop, breaking demons’ battle array
Cutting down all dark minions, eliminating wicked deities
I heed not their thick fog or the gale winds they whip about
Mountain rains en route wash off dust from the expedition.”
