(Clearwisdom.net) In 1995, a relative introduced me to Falun Gong. When I saw the book Falun Gong I knew this was the most fortunate thing to have encountered in my life. Afterwards I read Zhuan Falun and learned the Falun Gong exercises and have since then started my cultivation.
Shortly after I started the practice, many illnesses that I suffered from for years, such as McNeil's Syndrome, low blood sugar, dizziness and lower back pain, all disappeared. I used to live on medicine, but after practicing Falun Dafa I felt full of energy. I had never felt that kind of comfort before; thus I firmly believed in Master and Dafa. I took Master's lecture audio and videotapes to my place of work, and several of my colleagues took up Falun Gong. I went to nearby villages to spread Falun Gong. The number of practitioners kept increasing. So I set up a practice site at my home. I knew that this was a cultivation practice one does not easily encounter in tens of thousands of years. I tried my best to make it convenient for practitioners to study the Fa and practice the exercises.
On July 20, 1999, the suppression of Falun Gong began. I was a member of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and was an officer at my place of work. My husband was a director of a local police station. Under pressure from the CCP regime, from my employer and society, because of fear, I did not know what I should do. So the practice site was closed. I only practiced the exercises secretly. I lost my happiness at my workplace because the leaders all pressured me to give up the practice and my colleagues gave me strange looks because they had been deceived by the propaganda. It seemed like I had committed some crime. It was really tough.
But I remembered,
"Study the Fa and gain the Fa,
Focus on how you study and cultivate,
Let each and every thing
be measured against the Fa.
Only then, with that,
is it actually cultivation."
("Solid Cultivation" from Hong Yin, from English Translation Version A)
I did my best to live up to the standard of being a practitioner. At my place of work I had multiple duties such as gathering money, being an accountant, doing statistics, and working with the labor union. At month-end or year-end, I often had to work from early morning to late at night. Sometimes, I worked through the night. I never complained about anything. I often took the initiative to do the tasks that my colleagues did not want to do. As a practitioner, I knew I should take suffering as joy and to be a good person with high morals. I did not take this boring work as a burden. I considered my workplace to be a good cultivation environment. Thus, my supervisors and colleagues all thought highly of me.
On May 22, 2000, Master published the poem entitled, "The Knowing Heart." I suddenly became clear-minded. We are studying the universal principles, "Truth-Compassion-Forbearance," and practice exercises that are good for mind and body. We cultivate to be good people who help others.
"Instead, what we get is something everyday people cannot obtain--even though they want to--except through cultivation practice." (Zhuan Falun, from 2000
translation version)
I asked myself, "Are you a practitioner? Why do you passively take all these tribulations?" Master extended his kind and warm hands and suffered much tribulation to save us. I should "Follow Teacher closely, steadfastly cultivating Dafa." ("The Knowing Heart") So I clarified the truth about Falun Gong to the officials and colleagues at my place of work. Occasionally I gave them some materials and told them some of the miraculous stories about Falun Dafa.
After the staged "Tiananmen Square Self-Immolation" incident, I openly gave the truth-clarifying VCDs to my workplace officials and to my colleagues. Sometimes I read them articles from the Minghui (Clearwisdom) website that exposed the torture of practitioners in forced labor camps, such as Masanjia, Changlinzi, and Wanjia. Thus, our work unit environment changed for the better. During work breaks we were allowed to practice the exercises and read Dafa books.
Once in the winter of 2002, a policeman went to our place of work and asked, "I found a sign reading, 'Falun Dafa is good' on a wall in your section. Was that done by your employees?" Our section chief answered, "All these Falun Gong practitioners are good people. If you did not see it was they who posted the sign, please do not causally speak out, because it is not a minor issue [to accuse someone]; otherwise, you have to take legal responsibility." The policeman then left unhappily.
Later, a system reform was initiated and I was relocated to a different, highly profitable section. Several months later the person in charge of my contract put one of his relatives into this section. I had to split my income with his relative.
A certain colleague thought it was unfair and asked me to talk with our section officials since this arrangement was unreasonable. I answered, "It does not matter. If I have less money, I will find a way to manage my life." Then the colleague said, "You became a fool after the practice!" Actually I just followed Master's teachings in my behavior. Master told us,
"How should our practitioners treat losses and gains? It is different from ordinary people. What everyday people want is personal gain and how to live well and comfortably. Our practitioners are not this way, but exactly the opposite. We do not seek what everyday people want. Instead, what we get is something everyday people cannot obtain--even though they want to--except through cultivation practice." (Zhuan Falun, 2000 translation version)
So I treated the newcomer very well. I regarded her as my relative. I trained her and took care of her daily needs. I did not have any complaint about anyone. I was always happy as usual.
Later my husband developed an illness. I had to leave work to take care of him. One and a-half years later I returned to work. That time things were different. I spent 200,000 yuan on my husband's medical treatment and I became the family's sole provider after my husband passed away. My son needed financial support for college. In addition, I could only earn 100 to 200 yuan every month because our work profit had greatly diminished; however, I was still as happy as usual. As long as I have Master and the Fa, I thought I was wealthier than a millionaire. I had a feeling of transcendence.
I was working hard on the three things. Sometimes I also coordinated truth-clarifying work in the local area. I often took part in group study and practice. With Master's compassion, my situation changed greatly. At the end of the year our work place leader gave me the whole year's insurance fees and a New Year bonus. I was assigned a different area of responsibility and my yearly income increased a lot. My basic living expenses were covered. A practitioner who stopped practicing after the persecution began said, "I found only you lead a happy and enriched life. You do not look like a person who lost her husband!" She saw the manifestation of Dafa in me and gradually came back to Falun Gong practice.
I didn't pass up any chance to clarify the truth of Falun Gong to clients during working hours. Once a leader found me and told me, "I do not want to criticize you, but you had better not talk about Falun Gong to every client, as it will affect our business. In addition, you are close to retirement. If you had some incident, it is not worth it." So, I took the chance to clarify the truth to him and sent forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the evil factors that manipulated him. Since then he has not prevented me from clarifying the truth.
I was strict with myself in daily life. I lived out of town and I had to reside at my place of work [residential area]. Unit leaders provided a place for me to live. As a practitioner, I always consider others. In order to save expensive electricity, I use a gas stove to cook food. I arranged my Fa-study and exercise practice time to minimize light use. In the winter I use a hot water bottle to heat the bedding instead of using an electric blanket. Later, a work unit leader found out about this and was very touched. He told me, "Why save electricity? It is not a convenient way to cook food. Go buy an electric pot." I always answer, "It's no problem."
Last April, the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party reached my place of work. The company head skimmed through the book and angrily shouted at me, "I thought Falun Gong was good before, but why is Falun Gong against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)? Isn't it openly against the CCP? I will take this book to the county CCP Committee. Why don't they control this?" Another practitioner and I told him calmly, "The CCP knew all these things before you. It is time to expose the CCP. You had better read the book." Then we sent righteous thoughts to eliminate the evil manipulating him. At night we sent forth righteous thoughts in our Fa-study group. The next day he regained his calm and looked like nothing happened before. Then we gave him some materials about renouncing the CCP. His relative has renounced the Communist Youth League.
The above are my experiences in cultivation. Please point out anything improper.