(Clearwisdom.net) I first heard about Falun Dafa in 1997, at a time when many people were learning qigong. As a businessperson, I found myself too busy and didn't bother to learn. One day I heard someone say, "This is not qigong, it's cultivation, a way to become a Buddha or a Dao." I followed the direction of the voice and saw a person enthusiastically introducing a practice. The person said, "It's a practice you can do at home and you don't need to go to a temple. Your energy level is decided by your xinxing." I bought the book Zhuan Falun and read it as soon as I got home. Now I refuse to put it down.
Since then, my character and the way I behave have changed a lot. When conflicts arose among my family members, they were truly difficult to endure. It says in Zhuan Falun, "As a practitioner, the first thing you should be able to do is to not fight back when you are beaten or sworn at--you must be tolerant." Through studying the Fa, I learned that there is a reason for everything. I stopped bothering about family quarrels, and tried to do my best and not ask for anything in return. Within six months, my family environment became harmonious.
In 2002, I started making truth-clarifying materials. Back then, I knew nothing about computers, let alone the English language. I was an ordinary woman, who was put in prison several times and was under surveillance due to the persecution of Falun Gong; all of this made it harder for me to do Dafa work. With Teacher's compassion and help from fellow practitioners, I quickly learned how to produce the truth-clarification materials. However, my family gradually came to learn what I was doing. I sent righteous thoughts to eliminate the evil around them and tried to be a good daughter-in-law, a good wife and a good mother. I also told them the truth about the persecution. Soon, my family started to help me deliver the truth-clarification materials I made.
I connected closely with fellow practitioners and used rationality and wisdom to make truth-clarification materials. I also made sure I did not leave out Fa study and cultivation when I did Dafa work, which led to creating a safe practice environment. Most importantly, I maintained a wonderful relationship with my neighbors and the people I knew. Everything I do and say represents the image of Falun Dafa. My neighbors told me, "If it weren't for the persecution, we'd all practice Falun Dafa with you."
Several years later, I could get through the Internet blockade and get online, download, burn CDs, and install software programs and operating systems. With the additional skills I had acquired, it also benefited me at work and made me a more desirable employee. I am so grateful for Teacher's compassion.
Two days before the start of a holiday, conflicts started to occur at home, and at work misunderstandings arose between some colleagues and myself, which my supervisor did not like. Things went wrong, but I tried not to make a big deal of it. After the holidays, when I went back to work, I didn't have a problem with my colleagues and greeted them like I used to. However, I wasn't able to do the same with my supervisor and act as though nothing had happened. I couldn't even bring myself to greet him. I realized I did not truly have forbearance and I was in a wrong state of cultivation. I closed my eyes for a few minutes and the following words came to my mind,
"How does one endure the toughest hardships of all? For instance, one day a person goes to work and the workplace is not doing well. This situation can no longer continue as people are not doing their jobs. The workplace will be reformed and use contract workers. Surplus staff will be laid off, and this person is one of those whose rice bowls are suddenly taken away. How will he feel? There are no other places to earn an income. How can he make a living? He does not have any other skills, so he sadly goes home. As soon as he arrives home, an elderly parent at home is ill and in serious condition. Getting worried, he will hurry to take the elderly parent to a hospital. He will go through a lot of trouble to borrow money for the hospitalization. He will then return home to prepare something for the elderly parent. As soon as he comes home, a school teacher will come knocking at the door: 'Your child has injured someone in a fight'..." (Zhuan Falun)
Tears immediately came to my eyes and I deeply regretted my actions. I confessed to Teacher that I had missed a great opportunity to improve myself, noticing my attachment was that I believed my supervisors should do better than me and be role models for everyone at work. But then I realized they were only human and I shouldn't have seen things the way they did.
We must do everything guided by the Fa, "Validate the Fa with rationality, clarify the truth with wisdom, spread the Fa and save people with mercy" ("Rationality,"Essentials for Further Advancement II). This is my experience and I would like fellow practitioners to please point out anything incorrect.
