Written in February 2002
(Clearwisdom.net)
I am fifty-one this year. Before I started Falun Dafa cultivation practice, I had been suffering from a chronic kidney disease for over twenty years. One day, towards the end of 1997, I suddenly got an acute toothache, and for two days and nights, I was in extreme pain. The next morning on my way to work, I hurriedly went to a clinic to have a checkup but was only prescribed lots of antibiotics. When I took the pills, I had adverse side effects, and when I stopped taking them, my toothache came back. Worn down by the agony, I swore that as long as I could be relieved of my sicknesses, I would accept, without regret, any assigned task in this world, even if I had to go through great hardships. Coincidently, I then saw a book (Zhuan Falun Volume 2) lying on my colleague's desk. Written on the first page were these words:
"The vastness of the universe and the enormity of the cosmic bodies can never be understood by humans through exploration; the minuteness of matter can never be detected by humans. The human body is so mysterious that it is beyond human knowledge, which can merely scratch the surface. Life is so abundant and complex that it will forever remain an eternal enigma to mankind."
Seeing that I was interested, my colleague then told me many stories about the benefits gained by various practitioners from practicing Falun Dafa. That very night, I read through the whole book, Zhuan Falun, from cover to cover without a break. I didn't even notice when my tooth had ceased aching, but since then, I have taken up Dafa cultivation.
After July 22, 1999, I knew I had met the real trial of life and death. I then made a pledge to Teacher that I would stay by him and follow him home, regardless of what tribulations would come in my way. From that day onwards, I never took a full night's sleep. When I was tired, I would take a short nap. When I woke up, I would start practicing or studying the Fa. Sometimes, I would go out hanging up banners, putting up pictures to clarify the truth, or distributing flyers to people. I never knew the meaning of fear.
In December 1999, to support Jiang's campaign of suppressing Dafa, our company unlawfully set up a brainwashing class. Many times, my boss tried to get me to go to the brainwashing class, but I refused. One day, the Party executive secretary, the chairman of the Workers' Association, the president of the Party operation and a few other secretaries all came to my home and tried to ensnare me into participating in the brainwashing class. I told them, "Falun Dafa is the true Law. All Dafa practitioners are good people. The brainwashing class will change the good people into bad people. Therefore, I cannot participate." Despite of all the efforts they made, I simply refused to go. Because my mind was set, they left me in disgust.
On December 26, 2000, I boarded a train to Beijing. On the train, I met six other Dafa practitioners going to Beijing as well. By about 8 a.m. the next day, we arrived at Tiananmen Square. This was my first trip to Beijing. Standing in the middle of Tiananmen Square, I could see a dark and murky layer of mist hovering above Tiananmen Square. When I was just about to unfurl a banner, Teacher's poem, "Non-existence" suddenly struck me:
"To live with no pursuits,
To die with no regrets;
All excessive thoughts extinguished,
Cultivating Buddhahood is not difficult."
Saying quietly to myself, "Teacher, I am coming," I unfurled the banner "Falun Dafa is Good." Raising the banner up high, I ran around and yelled out at the same time, "Falun Dafa is good, Falun Dafa is righteous. Return Dafa its honor, return our Teacher's honor!" It didn't take long before six or seven policemen closed in on me and dragged me into a police van.
We were then taken to a nearby police station and told to stand in the courtyard where many other Dafa practitioners were being held. One police officer was still grabbing my arm. At that moment, a passage from Teacher's article, "Rationality" suddenly flashed across my mind:
"...Getting arrested is not the purpose. Validating Dafa is truly glorious--it is to validate Dafa that you step forward. Since you step forward, you should try to succeed in validating the Fa--this is the real purpose of stepping forward."
I said to myself, "I am a disciple of the Lord of Buddhas. Jail is not a place for me. I must walk out the front door of the police station with dignity, for I need to continue helping Teacher with the Fa rectification." With that in my mind, I pulled my arm away from the officer who was still holding me, and calmly walked out through the front door with dignity. I did not know what happened, but none of the police officers seemed to care. One onlooker said, "Look, that old lady walked out just like that!"
After returning from Beijing, my mind-intent with the use of righteous thoughts improved greatly. I live in a unit in a multilevel apartment building. Normally, before leaving home on an errand to clarify the truth, I would sit cross-legged, hold my hand upright and repeat Teacher's Fa-rectification verse, "The Fa rectifies the cosmos, the Evil is completely eliminated," for at least five minutes to clear myself well. One day, while carrying out my normal errand clarifying the truth to people, I saw four middle-aged men walking along a street. When I called out to them, "Would you please wait a minute?" they stopped. I told them, "I am a practitioner of Dafa. I have some books for you to read. They are good for you." While talking, I handed them one small booklet each. Then, a few more passers-by came over and I handed out a few more booklets. One of them asked, "Aren't you afraid? The police are arresting people who practice Falun Gong." "Dafa practitioners are good people," I replied, "and good people are not afraid of the evil. Keep this in your mind: Falun Dafa is Good." My mind was calm and my heart was at peace. I wasn't the least nervous.
I have always been very cautious while doing Fa rectification work. Even when I went out clarifying the truth, I was reluctant to spend extra money on lunch. However, I did not hold back when spending money on Dafa materials used for clarifying the truth. If I needed to travel by taxi, I would talk to the driver as soon as I stepped in, "Read this material on Dafa. It is good for you." The driver would often answer, "Thank you, Falun Gong."
As my righteous thoughts are getting more focused, my task of clarifying the truth has been smoothly sailing along.
