(Clearwisdom.net)
[Editor's note: One fellow practitioner overcame many difficulties during his cultivation and wrote this deeply touching story. This article is presented to validate Dafa, encourage other practitioners, explain the facts to the people of the world, as well as to leave a glorious history for the future. We hope that more practitioners can write about their paths of cultivation and the Fa-rectification.]
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I have practiced Falun Gong for nine years and have experienced many difficulties during that time. My fellow practitioners asked me to write about my experiences in order to help in the Fa-rectification and to expose the evil.
Predestined Relationship
I was born into a wealthy family, but, because a fortuneteller said that my fate was not good, my family abandoned me on the side of a road. I was adopted by a poor family that practiced Buddhism. My foster father passed away while I was still young. My foster mother took me begging for food and to temples to worship the Buddha. When I was five years old, during a thunderstorm, I peeked outside the door and saw a flaming person coming down from the sky. When I was eight years old, I saw two dragons in the sky while chopping firewood in the mountains. These two scenes had always puzzled me. Were they gods from Heaven? After that, I became determined to cultivate Buddhahood.
When I grew up, I believed in Buddhism. I went everywhere to find teachers, was converted in a temple, and donated a lot of money to help upkeep the temple. However, finding a true master was indeed more difficult than ascending to Heaven. I did not think too much at the time and just had a wish to believe in the Buddha. In this way I formed a predestined relationship with Dafa.
Everlasting Memories
On June 21, 1994, a practitioner told me that Teacher was holding classes in Jinan, Shandong Province. My friend said, "You believe in the Buddha and this opportunity is rare!" Upon hearing this, I immediately bought a train ticket. I started to have diarrhea as soon as I boarded the train. Luckily, my seat was just beside the lavatory because I had diarrhea for a whole day and night. While lying on the bed, I could feel a Falun constantly rotating in my lower abdomen. The next day, when the train arrived at Jinan, the diarrhea disappeared. Only after finishing the nine-day lectures by Teacher, did I realize that Teacher had started eliminating the disease karma for me even before I saw him.
On June 22, the first day of the lectures, I sat on the floor in the first row closest to Teacher. I was very emotional and kept taking pictures of him. Teacher corrected my thinking and said, "Do not take any more pictures or else watch out for your camera." When I tried to take another picture, I couldn't depress the shutter button and when the film was developed, the pictures came out blank.
Everyday during the class, Teacher walked around to correct our exercise movements. Whenever he walked near me, I felt a surge of energy rushing at me that went through my body and adjusted all the abnormal states in my body. I could not stop my tears. I did not know how to thank Teacher.
On the fifth day, Teacher allowed picture taking with practitioners from different areas. The temperature was 39oC [102oF] and Teacher was sweating, yet he still walked around to take pictures with us. Teacher sat with our practitioners from Wuhan, Hubei Province. With a smile he said, "You Wuhan practitioners get special treatment. We will allow another picture to be taken." We all felt excited.
The last class was for answering questions. The first question I asked was whether one could still dance in the Discos after practicing Falun Gong. Teacher smiled and said, "You may dance as you wish. Later, you may not want to dance." Everyone laughed. Recalling the scene, I just feel happiness.
Everyday after the class, many students would surround Teacher and Teacher always talked to the students with a smile. After the last class ended, Teacher stood at the gate and watched the students leave. He asked the driver to take all students who purchased same-day tickets to the train station until all of the students had gone. Watching at Teacher's back, my heart could not settle. Whenever I remember those unforgettable days, tears stream down my face.
The Practitioners Are Looking Forward to Dafa
After returning from Jinan, I often "saw" Teacher. Once in a state of semi-sleep, I was climbing up a big mountain and saw a great temple at the summit. There were soldiers from Heaven standing at the sides of the temple. I peeked inside and saw Teacher lecturing on the Fa in an open area. Surrounding and listening to him were beautiful deities wearing ancient costumes. I also sat on the ground and listened to Teacher. I saw Teacher on several other occasions at my house and on the ship on which I worked. My mind was very clear in those situations and I realized that Teacher was encouraging me to actively advance in my cultivation.
I worked on a passenger ship on the Yangtze River. I assumed the task of delivering Zhuan Falun (main text of Falun Gong) to the practitioners in Jiangxi and Anhui Provinces, and to the cities of Nanjing and Shanghai.
At the beginning of 1995, Zhuan Falun was first published. Two practitioners had to share one book and some practitioners in the countryside could not even purchase the book. When a practitioner in a village in Jiangxi Province heard that we were going to deliver the book, he walked several dozen miles at night and waited for us at a dock in Jiujiang City. When he finally obtained several copies of the book, he was so excited and he firmly held the books against his chest. This was what he had wished for a long time.
On a snowy day in February 1995, my ship was three hours late. The practitioners from Nanjing had already waited for four hours in the snow. Upon seeing our ship, they jumped up and exclaimed, "The ship is coming! The ship is coming!" Seeing the practitioners' eagerness in waiting for Dafa, I was deeply moved and quietly determined "Making a wish to save sentient beings, Assisting Teacher in his journey in this world" ("Assisting the Fa" from Hong Yin).
Every time the ship docked, I would quickly call a taxi to deliver the books to the dock. One rainy and windy day, my whole body was soaked while I transported bundles of books to the ship. The crewmembers saw that I was working so hard and thought that I was doing some business. They said to me, "Your business is so big that people all along the Yangtze River come to get goods from you. You must have earned several hundred thousand Yuan this year." I replied, "Only several hundred thousand? What I obtain is a priceless treasure that cannot be bought regardless of how much money you spend!" They all stared at me. However, I did not want to explain more to them so I just ended the conversation with a smile. Although I paid some money for transporting the books, I still sold the books to the practitioners at the lowest wholesale price.
Thinking back, I really should have chatted with the crewmembers more and brought Dafa's wonderfulness to them. I am concerned that they have been deceived by the Jiang regime's lies.
(To be continued)
