(Clearwisdom.net) When one suffers endless miseries and misfortunes, one might ask, "What is the meaning of life?" People constantly search for the goal and true meaning of life, but it is very difficult to find the answers from modern science, so many people rely on their faith to find answers.

Chen Shuhua and her 81-year-old mother practicing the fifth Falun Gong exercise -- the sitting meditation

Mother Zeng Qiuyue is 81 years old, and daughter Chen Shuhua is 52. Their ruddy countenance exudes compassion and tranquility. They vividly describe with moderate words how they began practicing Falun Gong. When Ms. Chen was still young, she inherited her family business, making children's clothing, and under her management, the business went very well. Because of that, she had established a solid position in her family, and her brother respected her very much.

Shuhua said, "Mother is a woman who sticks to traditions. Ever since she married into Chen's family, she would always submit to her mother-in-law's unreasonable requests and bullying. She endured all the hardship by herself for dozens of years, and could only cry in the night by herself."

"When I was little, mom would tremble with fear as soon as grandmother was angry. Once I saw mom, who was pregnant then, kneeling in front of grandmother to beg her to calm down. As we grew up, grandmother restrained her bullying to some extent. Seeing mom's situation at home, I decided to stay home after I grew up to inherit the family business to protect mother."

Ms. Zeng Qiuyue said, "I've suffered all kinds of miseries, and have been searching for comfort and hope. Because of that, I tried different cultivation ways. After my second pregnancy, I became a vegetarian, and it's been over fifty years now. However, I still felt uneasy because to me, none of the cultivation ways I tried was pure enough. Some of them dealt with money, and some with reputation. I always ended up feeling disappointed and hopeless."

Both mother and daughter share the same feelings. Shuhua said, "At that time, we felt that we had no desires. Just when I was desperate, a friend who used to practice a different cultivation way with me came and shared her experience in the cultivation of Falun Gong. She had been practicing Falun Gong for two years then, and found it very good. After careful examination, she believed that Falun Gong was a very good cultivation way, therefore she introduced it to me and my mother."

After hearing her friend's words, Shuhua said, "At that moment, I felt as if the clouds in the sky suddenly cleared up, and like a withered tree, I had finally found a spring shower. I could see the light of hope. I was elated to have met the great Fa. It happened that another friend of mine who lived in Taizhong also heard about the Fa, so both of us decided to start cultivating in Falun Gong."

On the same day, they went to the bookstore and bought Zhuan Falun. She recalled that when they were looking for the books that night, there was a severe thunderstorm. She determined that she would not give up until she found the books because she knew that to obtain the righteous Fa, she would probably come across some difficulties. She was also worried that her over-70 year-old friend would not be able to find the books once she returned back home in Taizhong, so they searched almost every bookstore in Jilong and eventually found the three books they were looking for: Zhuan Falun, Essentials for Further Advancement, and The Great Consummation Way of Falun Dafa.

There are four elderly people in my family, and some of them are illiterate. Shuhua said, "They asked me to read the Fa for them. Back then, whenever I read the Fa, I would feel very warm, and the energy went through my entire body. After I finished reading Zhuan Falun for the first time, I knew the Fa it taught was very high. It talked about how, after practicing in Falun Gong, one's illnesses would be healed, and xinxing enhanced. None of the cultivation ways I tried before taught anything this deep and comprehensive."

"Every time I finished reading Essentials for Further Advancement, I was moved to tears. Master published his article, "True Cultivation," at the right moment so that practitioners would not go astray. I told myself that there weren't any other teachers in the world who were as great as our Master!" Shuhua knew that cultivating Falun Gong was the right thing to do, so through constant Fa-study, she gradually understood better and better the essence of cultivation.

In 1999, Falun Gong began to be slandered and persecuted by the Communist regime in China, hence many people in the world were polluted by the regime's evil propaganda. Falun Gong practitioners outside China began to clarify the truth of Falun Gong in every part of the world, and also demonstrating the magnificence of Falun Gong to the world. Using the money that they had saved, Shuhua and my mother joined the group of practitioners. A few dozen practitioners from Taiwan went to Great Britain, Switzerland, Belgium, France, Greece, Israel, United States and Mexico to tell people the truth about Falun Gong.

Shuhua recalled, "When we were in the foreign countries clarifying the truth to people, to save money, we stayed in the cheapest places, and sometimes we even stayed in the basements of some hostels. Normally it takes about ten days for us to travel to several countries. In winter, we took winter jackets, and food, therefore our luggage was very heavy. Some hostels were so old that they had no elevators. The younger practitioners helped the older ones carry their luggage upstairs. We always helped each other."

"Our schedule was really tight. After staying in one place for a couple of days, we went on our way to another location. We had to load and unload the heavy luggage frequently. We also needed to save money, so we just ate some snacks most of the time. When it was very cold, we really wanted to have a bowl of hot noodles, but since it cost over 10 Euros a bowl, we just let go of that desire and ate whatever filled us up instead."

With loads of materials that we carried with us, we separated into different groups. Headed by practitioners who could speak English, we went to different locations and stayed there until we distributed all the materials. When we were in Israel, I had with me the material in seven or eight different languages to meet the needs of the various ethnic groups residing there. Since I didn't know in which languages the brochures were printed, I spread them out to let the passersby pick the ones for their own language. I can only speak very limited English. Once a person came to me and asked if I had any materials in his language because none of the materials on the table were printed in his language. Immediately I asked the other practitioners to help me search for it. Luckily we were able to find the material in his language, and he left happily."

Shuhua continued, "When we were in Mexico, it was very hot. We went to the busiest areas to demonstrate the exercises. Large crowds gathered to watch us practicing. When we practiced the sitting exercise, the ground was burning hot since the sun shone directly on it. Our mats were made of thin plastic sheets. However, sitting on the burning mats and doing the exercise, none of us moved. As a matter of fact, instead of feeling miserable, we actually felt happy to know that so many people wanted to learn Dafa, and to know the truth."

Shuhua also tells about how she clarifies the truth on-line. She said, "I don't know much about computers. When I went to school, there weren't any computer classes back then. To clarify the truth to people, I began to take classes taught by fellow practitioners. Because the practitioner who was responsible for our area was not able to come, the volunteer director of our area asked me if I could take charge of our area. My first reaction to the request was that I didn't know anything about computers, so how could I be in charge of any projects with computers? The director told me that it did not matter if I didn't know much about computers because someone would teach me. Thinking that I normally learned new things quickly, even if I didn't know much about computers, if Master arranged for me to use computers to clarify the truth to people, I would do it. So I put forward one hundred percent of my effort into this project."

"The format of on-line truth-clarification changes quickly, and we have to collaborate to keep updated. To do that, we need to find someone who knows the technology to do it for us. When we need to start a new project but the technique is too hard for us, only the practitioner who has the skills could learn the new technique. Some practitioners later created some easier tools for us to use to clarify the truth on-line, and since then it has become much quicker and easier for us to learn how to use the new tools. If I asked those whose education is high to do this type of job, it would have been too boring for them, so I decided to ask some older practitioners who could simply press some buttons to have the job done even with the fact that they knew nothing about computers. One day, after trying with no problems, two older practitioners began to take the lead and brought more older fellow practitioners to join them. They were very happy that they could work on-line, and they came voluntarily every day to work on the computers to clarify the truth. They have also done many other projects. The effect is very good."

It is very touching to hear Shuhua talking about her mother, Zheng Qiuyue's spirit of following Master and the Fa. Whenever there is an opportunity, Ms. Zeng does not miss it. She has gone to different countries to clarify the truth, including Manhattan. Being more than 80 years old, with a compassionate smile, she often holds up the forms to collect signatures to support stopping the persecution of Falun Gong and walks through crowds. She does not speak a lot, but her simple words, "Please sign on the form to save good people," has helped many people to sign on the forms. When she joins the group study on Saturdays, she never forgets to take the forms with her. She never misses anyone passing by her. She even goes to collect signatures from those who are waiting for breakfast.

Shuhua said, "As long as it is good for Dafa, mother puts her best effort into the project. Every Saturday, she travels to Taibei City Sun Zhongshan Memorial from Jilong City on a bus to clarify the truth to people. One day, she heard a fellow practitioner telling her that they could record the truth-clarifying materials and play the recording on the phone to Chinese people in China. As soon as she got home, she went out and bought a tape recorder and asked me to help record the materials for her. However, when she played the recordings, many people hung up on her. She later decided to resume what she had been doing and began talking to people directly again. She actually can't speak Mandarin very well, and her Mandarin has a very strong Taiwanese accent. Therefore sometimes I wondered how she managed to talk to people in China."

"Mother feels it's urgent to save people, and her mentality is pure. At first I was worried that my mother would not be able to clarify things very well and hence feel pressure. I helped her to get some phone numbers in Fujian Province and asked her to make some calls. When one call went through, she add one to the last digit of the phone number and made another call. In doing so, she made many phone calls to Fujian Province. One day, passing mother's room, I heard her gentle and compassionate voice telling people the truth. Her voice sounded very comfortable. I could hardly believe such sweet and beautiful voice was from my 81-year-old mother."

Shuhua laughed and said, "After talking to my mother, they liked her beautiful voice, and wanted to befriend her. However, they couldn't believe that she was over 80 years old, and said that her voice sounded like that of an eighteen year-old."

Recalling the days when Shuhua first learned Falun Gong, she said, "My mother and I practice Falun Gong together. She also knows that human life is full of miseries, hence she especially treasures Falun Gong. Whenever she has time, she studies the Fa. She does what Master tells us to do, and she does what she can that's good for Dafa. After constantly talking with grandmother with compassion, and with mother's long-term filial care, grandmother began to feel mother's compassion, and her attitude towards mother also changed. She started to care about mother. Right before grandmother passed away, their predestined relationship of grievances and resentment were resolved.

June 30, 2009