(Clearwisdom.net)
Greetings, Master!
Greetings, Fellow Practitioners!
Starting Up with Difficulties
After July 20, 1999, we couldn't get any Falun Dafa truth clarification materials as usual. I had handwritten Master's new article "Some Thoughts of Mine"and passed it from one practitioner to another. We were still able to get some Dafa materials from a few practitioners. Some of the events in the materials we still remember, such as the news conference held secretly by Falun Gong practitioners in Beijing on October 28, 1999. Beijing reporters from the main Western media such as AAP, Reuters, AFP, and The New York Times attended this news conference where practitioners exposed Jiang's regime's illegal suppression and severe persecution of Falun Gong for the first time. That night, AAP and Reuters published this news to the world.
Under such circumstances, how could we let the world know the facts about the severe persecution of Dafa and Dafa practitioners?
In "Some Thoughts of Mine," Master said:
"So naturally, I have also been setting an example. When Falun Gong disciples and I have been criticized for no reason and treated unfairly, we have always displayed breadth of mind with great benevolence and great forbearance, and have silently endured everything in order to give the government sufficient time to find out what we are about. But this forbearance is absolutely not because the students of Falun Gong and I fear anything. You should know that once a person learns the truth and the real meaning of life, he will not regret giving up his life for it."
We realized that our Dafa practitioners shouldn't keep silent in the face of this rampant slander and lies about Dafa and our Master. We should take every opportunity and try every means to let people know the facts about Falun Gong and the persecution as soon as possible. We should also let the CCP know that practitioners who have already learned the truth of the universe do not fear any atrocity, so we had to step forward. Aside from when we clarify the truth face to face, one of the most effective ways to let people know the facts was to make fact sheets about Dafa, photocopy them, and widely distribute them.
Now we see that photocopying is a very simple thing, but at that time we had never done it. First I learned how to photocopy from my daughter. She had a second-hand photocopier from her company, and I started to use it to photocopy materials. This was my first step, and it was a difficult step.
At the time, every piece of Dafa material that we were able to get hold of, we would photocopy with great care. At the start we gave materials to a few practitioners that we were in contact with for them to distribute. Soon these materials reached far away areas, and more and more people knew about them. Practitioners far and near hoped to get materials from my place. At that time there were not many material production sites. We did our best to provide practitioners with what they wanted, though we had to work flat out, but we enjoyed it.
At the end of 1999, two overseas practitioners came to see us while we were busy making materials. They saw materials everywhere in my house, including on the tables and on the floor. They were very touched and asked me, "We have heard that you are making materials yourself, so we especially came here to have a look. We didn't expect that you were doing it on such a large scale. Aren't you afraid?" We replied, "What should we fear? We had never thought of that. We only thought of telling people the truth. We should let people know that Falun Dafa is good. We should expose the cruel persecution of Falun Gong and Dafa practitioners and the CCP's lies. We had no other choice but to do it like this. We were forced to do it like this. Why should we be afraid?" The overseas practitioners then said, "Mainland practitioners are remarkable!" They said they wanted to contribute something to the site and asked us what we needed most. We said that it would be best if we could get materials from the Minghui/Clearwisdom website. They tried to visit the website on my daughter's computer but failed. Then they opened an overseas email account and subscribed to the "Daily News" from the Minghui website for us. They then told my daughter how to download. They also gave us some money for materials before they left.
Since that time, we could read the Daily News from the Minghui website every day and also could select news and stories from the Daily News and publish them in our materials. At the start my daughter and her husband helped other practitioners and me to download and print the Daily News. They taught us some simple steps in using computers, such as how to open an email account, how to download the Daily News, how to copy, and how to print. Though these steps were not difficult, we made some laughable mistakes in actual practice. Several months later we had learned the basic operations and could use the computer independently. We then bought a desktop computer and an inkjet printer. Thus our material center became more formal and reliable.
In the past ten years, we have never lost contact with the Minghui website. No matter how bad the CCP block on the Internet is, it can never block us from logging into the Minghui website. We have never been delayed in producing any materials that practitioners need. During these ten years, no matter what the outside environment, our material center has provided practitioners with an environment in which practitioners can share and elevate. We share experiences and our enlightenments about the issues we have in our cultivation with practitioners who come to get materials from us, and enlighten to it from the perspective of the Fa. The material center has played such a role that it coordinates practitioners to form a one body perspective and practitioners thus improve as one body.
During the ten years of our making materials, we have developed a deep understanding of the following point: No matter how busy we are in making materials, we always make time for Fa study. Practitioners at the material center sometimes are attached to their own ideas and thinkings and have xinxing tests with each other. Sometimes we have serious conflicts. Master gives us the magical tool of looking within so that we can cultivate well amidst conflicts. No matter what the conflict is, as long as we calm our minds and study the Fa, we can improve from the perspective of the Fa and can become more selfless. Gradually we find that we are no longer attached to our own ideas, are no longer aggressive, and we cooperate better and better.
Master said in "A Message" from Essentials for Further Advancement II:
"As a Dafa disciple, in order to do Fa-rectification things well and to consummate everything of yours well, you need to study the Fa a lot. No matter how busy you are, you cannot skip Fa-study. This is what can best ensure your reaching Consummation."
To study the Fa well and study the Fa a lot is the best guarantee that we can walk well on the path of helping Master to rectify the Fa. To make sure that we study the Fa well, we have fixed times to study the Fa together every day.
Material Production Sites Spring Up Everywhere
In "Teaching the Fa in San Francisco, 2005," Master said:
"Students in Mainland China actually have a much tougher time. Their materials production sites are basically at a household level, and they spring up everywhere. In other words, people walk their own paths. Each person, or some that are coordinating with each other on a small scale, is walking his own path. Didn't I say earlier that as far as our cultivation form is concerned, the Great Way has no form?"
"I want every Dafa disciple to become a king. Each person is to blaze his own trail, and each person is to validate and reach his own Attainment Status."
I realized that this was a new phase of the Fa rectification. Not only did we have to continue doing well at the current materials production site, we also had to encourage and help other practitioners to establish more material production sites so that they would spring up everywhere.
Most of the practitioners we knew of were women in their 60s. Some of them had lots of family interference. Some thought that they wouldn't be able to learn the computer skills because they had very little education. Some thought they were listed on police lists. Some reckoned that they were too old. They had all kinds of reasons to decline establishing material production sites. This was the reality. However, fundamentally, it was the attachment that hindered them from learning. Practitioners shared their understandings repeatedly, and the more they shared, the higher their understandings became. From reading the articles on the Minghui website, in order to validate the Fa, many practitioners, even those in their 80s, started to make materials. Peasants who had only ever held a hoe and worked in the fields started to learn how to hold a computer mouse. They realized that every Dafa practitioner must blaze his or her own trail to validate the Fa. This is the trust, encouragement, and hope that Master has for practitioners. So some of the practitioners cultivated away their attachment of fear and were not afraid of the danger in establishing new material production sites. They bought the equipment themselves and started to learn how to log onto the Internet, how to download, and how to make materials from the very beginning. They overcame all sorts of difficulties and established family material production sites. They distributed the materials they produced, and they could even provide other practitioners with materials they made. This is the power of Dafa. Some of their stories are very moving.
Practitioner A, in her 60s, only had an elementary school education. Previously when I saw her, she often complained that her children caused her all sorts of troubles, and she talked about her fears. When the persecution of Dafa had just started, she was very afraid and didn't dare to step out. Practitioners encouraged her all the time and asked her to give out one flier at a time. One day she said to me with great excitement, "Today I went out to distribute materials! Only one flier. I only brought one flier with me. I dropped it and went away quickly. I was so scared!" After that she started to tell people the facts about Falun Gong and the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong. She was doing better and better on her way towards saving sentient beings. On the issue of setting up a household material production site, her initial reaction was that she didn't have the right conditions. But now she has bought a computer and a VCD burner and has learned how to make simple materials. Then she goes out to distribute them. What a xinxing elevation and test she passed to step out to achieve this! One day when I went to her home, she was copying a VCD. She immediately bombarded me with questions she had about making copies of VCDs. Whenever we see each other, the topics we talk about are the computer and how to make materials. The anxiety and worries she had previously have disappeared. Is it because she doesn't have time to talk about them or because she doesn't have them anymore? Or maybe she forgets all about them when making materials? She probably never thought that in her lifetime she would learn to operate a computer.
Practitioner B is in her 60s as well. She is a well educated engineer, but she is under surveillance by the CCP. She has a lot of interference from her family, but she bought a computer and a VCD burner. She learned how to log onto the Minghui website and how to copy a VCD. What kind of power drives her to do Dafa work while she is under strict surveillance! What incredible courage she has to defy the evil! Only Dafa can create such miracles.
Practitioner C is in her 60s and is an engineer as well. In 2002 she bought a computer and learned basically how to use it. At the time we had some trouble with our material production site and had to reduce the quantities of materials we produced. We told her about our situation and she readily accepted the task of making materials. We taught her some basic operations, and she then started to make materials. She learned how to make the materials by making them. Because she made materials all by herself, we reduced the quantities we gave to each team. You can imagine how difficult it was to have had such a burden placed on you all of a sudden. Facing different problems, sometimes she couldn't help crying. She often made materials until midnight and was so tired that she fell asleep in front of the computer. One day, she was just about to fall asleep in front of the computer when she heard a quiet, compassionate voice say to her with concern, "Are you tired? Have a rest." She looked up and saw an extremely tall figure standing in front of her. It was Master! She replied immediately, "No, I am not tired. I am not tired at all." Right away she continued her work with her eyes full of tears. Now she is even able to provide technical support to other family material production sites.
Ten years, what a wonderful ten years! It's been a magnificent ten years and ten years that all gods have praised. It has been ten years that Dafa practitioners have helped Master to rectify the Fa and practitioners have grown up and become mature. There are endless touching stories from these ten years. We often don't know where to start to write our stories, maybe because we have too many stories or maybe we are too lazy.
Thank you, compassionate and revered Master! Thank you, Minghui editors, for providing the sixth Internet Fahui, which urges us to write cultivation stories.
Let me end my article with Master's poem "Unimpeded" from Hong Yin II
"The paths of cultivation are varied
But none is outside the Great Law
When one is attached to nothing
The path underfoot is naturally smooth"
Due to my limited level, please point out anything inappropriate.
