(Clearwisdom.net)
Greeting, Compassionate Master!
Greetings, fellow practitioners!
I started to practice Falun Dafa 18 months ago. That's a relatively short time compared to many other practitioners. I feel, however, that I have cultivated for many years. Constant cultivation, improving xinxing, and passing tests have prolonged the physical time span.
I began my practice in early 2006. My husband bought me a laptop, and I started reading Epoch Times and its links on-line every day. I read many news reviews, comments and opinions on recent and modern Chinese history and politics by current historians, economists, politicians and pro-democracy activists. I tirelessly read and listened. The facade of the evil Chinese Communist Party began to peel off. I was outraged by their secretive and inhumane persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners.
Tears poured down my face when I saw pictures of Ms. Gao Rongrong's badly burnt face, the legacy of continued shocks by evil policemen wielding electric batons. For three months, I couldn't hold back the tears when I read articles on the Minghui/Clearwisdom website. I finally got into contact with local Dafa practitioners by using the telephone numbers provided on-line and went to the practice site.
That night, I had a beautiful dream. I saw an open book in front of me. In the book was one lotus flower standing straight. The petals unfurled one by one. I know that was compassionate Master hinting to me that I had obtained the Fa.
Looking back, I now realize it was Master's arrangement that led me to Dafa, although on the surface obtaining the Fa seemed accidental and coincidental.
Nine years ago, I disappointed Master and missed the opportunity to obtain the Fa. The holy and pure lotus flower was closed for nine whole years.
Back in 1997 when I was in mainland China, my classmate's mother was helping spread the Fa. I read through Zhuan Falun and went to the exercise site twice. I didn't finish learning the five sets of exercises.
One day my knee started aching and bleeding. I told myself, "Falun Gong can cure any complaint or disease. Let me hold off visiting a doctor. If my knee cures itself, I will continue. If not, I will stop practicing."
I anxiously waited with a disrespectful mind towards Dafa. Though I read the second chapter of Zhuan Falun about 'The Issue Of Pursuit', I didn't enlighten to the Fa. In the face of tribulation, I chose to give up.
When I seriously started practicing again in 2006, tests and tribulations came one after another. The medical clinic called me and told me my urine test was positive. The nurse asked me to buy some antibiotics. Should I? I hesitated. How about buying medicine and taking a few pills first? I took the medicine for one day, and when I woke up the second day, I wanted to throw up. While walking to the medicine cabinet, a voice resounded in my mind, "You don't have an illness! Why do you take medicine?" I thought, "It's true. My urine test has always been normal. Why would it become abnormal right after my obtaining the Fa? Would that be a test?" I decided not to take the medicine. I hesitated but still canceled the doctor's appointment. I was still muddle-headed, thinking, "Wouldn't it be better if I obtained the Fa after the doctor's visit?"
I constantly feel the rotation of Falun all around my body. Sometimes the bottoms of my feet get quite itchy, and the ingrown toenail I had for years disappeared. Occasionally I see a bright red Falun through my celestial eye. Sometimes tests of lust presented themselves, along with other xinxing tests during sleep.
One night after I fell asleep, I heard a baby crying miserably. I was puzzled. "Who could that be?" I then thought, "Would that be my aborted child?" When I thought of that, my tears soaked my pillow. I felt deep regret in my heart, "Please forgive me, my baby! Mom was wrong." I had placed my unborn child in the miserable condition of waiting endlessly. What should I do? Let me ask for help from Master Li! When I had that thought, the crying stopped.
A few days after that dream, I again dreamed of a child, but this time it was smiling and giggling. I know that compassionate Master had saved my child.
Dafa has given me so much, but I have given nothing in return for Master's painstaking care and compassion! Back in 1997, after giving up Dafa, I did something bad. I would like to share my lesson.
In 1999, the evil party started persecuting Dafa. Rumors and groundless allegations were blotting out the sky and covering up the earth. I behaved like a parrot and kept trying to please others, and I said bad words about Dafa. As soon as I spoke, there was a voice in my mind, "You are defaming Falun Gong! Aren't you afraid of retribution?" In the next six months, my knee twisted twice. I could hardly walk after the second time.
When I finally obtained the Fa the second time, I was in a very good environment. The veteran Dafa practitioners in my city practiced the Falun Dafa exercises every morning in the park. Every week, we have two group Fa study sessions. I caught up very quickly with the Fa Rectification process in this good environment.
I explained the truth to my relatives and friends in China, and asked them to quit the evil party. Most of them understood and made the right choice. I started calling China using telephone numbers posted on the Minghui website. I started making phone calls to oppose the persecution of Dafa in China.
When I first started, I was nervous and was very afraid of being cursed. I couldn't express myself well, and people at the other end of the line were impatient and hung up on me quite often. I learned to write down important talking points on a piece of paper. When the phone was answered, I first read through the important points, and then continued according to reactions from the listener. Based on feedback from Dafa practitioners in China, we know that telephone calls from overseas practitioners can suppress rumors, frighten the evil, and even speed up the release of jailed practitioners.
I live in Las Vegas. The city is famous for gambling,and it's a must-stop for tourists from China. Most of them will have dinner in Chinatown after sight-seeing. Sometimes there are more than100 visitors in a day. So, starting last summer, I followed veteran practitioners and regularly went to Chinatown to clarify the truth and distribute flyers.
There are three types of tourists from China:
The first type is relatively small in number. They are quite stubborn, refuse to accept any flyers and don't want to hear any truth clarification. If I spoke to them, they stared at me with anger or threatened to attack me.
The second type is influenced by the evil party's propaganda and has negative thoughts towards Dafa. After I clarified the truth about Falun Gong and the persecution of Dafa practitioners to them and told them how fast Falun Dafa has spread around the world, their attitude changed. Two middle-aged men asked me, "Do you really practice Falun Gong?" I told them proudly, "I am a Falun Dafa practitioner."
The third type benefited from the evil party. They believed that they would not be able to enjoy their luxurious life or travel abroad without the evil party's economic policies. I told them that the wealthy and privileged people did not even account for 100f the total population. There are 300 million workers and peasants either without jobs or deprived of their land. These people have nothing to rely on, and the elderly are ignored and forgotten. The rapid development has plundered nature and is causing a deteriorating environment, and our offspring will suffer from these problems. My knowledge of Chinese modern and contemporary history has helped my efforts. These people's loyalty to the evil party was often shaken upon hearing my words, but they were quite cautious and did not quit the evil party easily. I think Dafa disciples around the world need to work together on this.
I was not good at expressing myself previously. Now I can speak out-loud in front of tourist groups from China. Moving sentences magically come from my mouth. Some tourists have been impressed and said "Great eloquence!" Dafa has opened up my wisdom. When I forget my self and wholeheartedly concentrate on truth clarification, good sentences come from my mouth without thinking. It's not me who is making the speech, it is the gods.
Not long after we started truth clarification in Chinatown, we realized that a small number of the local Chinese voluntarily followed the evil party's instructions, self-censoring their minds and rejecting the truth.
One elderly woman stares at me ferociously every time she walks by. She reminds me that there is a lot of work to do to save people. The only way out is to work with local Dafa practitioners and do a better job with truth clarification.
After the Lunar New Year, Chinatown hosted an Art Festival. We rented a booth to spread the Fa. We played Dafa music and three practitioners demonstrated the five sets of Dafa exercises, while the rest of us distributed flyers. Many people stopped, including many Chinese. Maintaining a healthy and positive image is a very effective way to spread the Fa and refute rumors.
Chinatown is an excellent place to spread the Fa. It is also a good place to cultivate xinxing. Master always uses some individuals to help me improve my xinxing and reduce my karma. I didn't perform well when I was first tested, but have since improved.
Not long after I started clarifying the truth, we met a group of tourists from China. I spoke out about the fact that the Chinese Communist Party gave away Chinese territories. One woman stared disagreeably at my dress, and started cursing when she was about to leave. I instinctively cursed back at her. My words were a completely human reaction and not from the Fa. I was still very angry for a long time afterwards.
Some veteran practitioners did very well. Sometimes the tourist's words are abusive, but these practitioners were not affected. One middle-aged Chinese tour guide said "You're ruining China's image." The veteran practitioner wasn't moved by his words and continued clarifying the truth to other people. I quickly caught up with the guide and told him how the evil party killed Chinese people and gave away China's territory, cursing during my colorful commentaries. I thus failed the test again.
I was very annoyed with myself afterwards. The lesson I learned was to study the Fa more, do the exercises more and assimilate to the standard of "Ren." Also, when clarifying the truth, I need to send forth righteous thoughts more. Now, when I clarify the truth, I don't lose my temper that easily.
During my daily life, I also use my heart to spread the Fa. My husband is a Caucasian, a Catholic. He supports my truth clarification efforts. Out of qing, I hoped he could be protected by Dafa and tried to force him to read through "Zhuan Falun". I also used the excuse of improving my English and asked him to listen to me while I'm reading. When he goes out of town, I place a whole stack of Dafa material in his luggage and ask him to distribute it.
A friend of my husband's, who had no contact with him for over ten years paid a surprise visit to us. I talked to him about Falun Gong, and he was very interested. I mailed him a copy of Zhuan Falun afterwards. I believe that Master has sent people with predestined relationships to me.
My husband passively follows me to help spread the Fa and seems to follow the standard of "Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance." He sometimes teases me by saying, "I received a lot of de today", meaning that somebody was rude to him and he didn't answer back.
I once had a nightmare, where I dreamed that my husband drove into a lake. I woke up frightened. During that period of time, my husband had a heavy cold. He couldn't get out of bed, and nearly died. Later he recovered. Compassionate Master re-arranged and removed the catastrophe.
Every Dafa practitioner knows that Master's law bodies are always around us, protecting all practitioners, and even our family members. Dafa practitioners are the happiest group of people living on the earth. I will cultivate diligently so that I won't disappoint our compassionate Master.
Heshi to compassionate Master!
Heshi to fellow practitioners!
