(Clearwisdom.net) I began cultivation in 1995. The following are some of my cultivation experiences that I'd like to report to Master and share with fellow practitioners.
1. Evil factors disappear when one's thinking is based on the Fa
Following my release from two years of detention between 1999 and 2002, my family members kept a close eye on me. They were afraid that something might happen to me again. When I was gone one day, my mother-in-law tore up my copy of Zhuan Falun. I was so sad that I was wailing. I tried to patch the book back together page by page, but my mother-in-law hit me with a feather duster. I refused to let go of the book. A neighbor came and tried to get her to stop. My husband couldn't bear it. He took a fruit paring knife and cut himself on his arm. Then my mother-in-law finally stopped beating me. The next day I had bruises on my arm and thigh, but didn't feel the pain.
My husband and his mother cursed Dafa, Master and my mother (also a practitioner) almost every day. I sent righteous thoughts, but it was done with resentment towards them in my mind, so it didn't have an effect. At the time I didn't know to search within or to clarify the truth to them. The only thing I did at that time was to read the Fa and do the exercises in secret. This went on for a long time. I was anxious and didn't know what to do.
One day my husband and his mother cursed me again. I didn't know why, but suddenly I thought of Master's teaching:
"Some people have family members who have been imprisoned in the persecution and are being persecuted, and yet instead of hurrying up and working along with everyone else to resist the persecution, stop the persecution, and lessen the persecution of your family members, you're talking about things like "studying the Fa at home" and you're still full of complaints about everything that [Dafa] students are doing. Did you know that when the persecution of your family members who have been imprisoned is lessened or stopped, it's the result of Dafa disciples exposing and shocking the evil beings while braving evil and danger to take action against the persecution? When they get out, how will you bear to face them? What have you done for them? " ("My Version of a 'Stick Wake-up'")
I spoke to them sternly, "Jiang Zemin started to persecute Falun Gong out of his jealousy. There is nothing wrong with us wanting to be good people. When our reputation is restored in the future, how will you bear to face me?"
My husband and his mother were stunned, and their attitudes changed. From then on, they no longer cursed me and in fact acted as if nothing had happened. Later on I realized that I had remembered Master's Fa at a key moment, and Dafa dissolved the evil factors behind them.
Then I worked together with other practitioners to explain the facts to them from different points of view, and they totally changed. One day my husband wrote a statement to withdraw from the Chinese Communist Party and its affiliated organizations, signing both his and his mother's names. He put it in a place where I could easily see it. I read the statement to my mother-in-law, and she nodded in agreement. It was then that I knew that Dafa had completely changed them.
After that, my husband and mother-in-law often listened to the Fa and said that Falun Dafa is good.
Several years have passed, and many of my relatives have withdrawn from the CCP. I became acutely aware that explaining the facts is key. We also need to search inside, and as long as we look at offering salvation to sentient beings as the first priority, we can create a good family environment.
One afternoon during the second half of 2002, three male and one female police officers suddenly came to the kindergarten where I worked and took away one of our teachers, a practitioner. I went out and reasoned with them, pointing out that she was in the middle of teaching her class, and nobody would be there for the children if they took her away.
The police didn't listen to me and just pushed the teacher into the car. I asked again, "Have you any evidence to take her away?" An officer hesitantly took out a paper from his pocket and showed it to me quickly. Then they pulled the practitioner into the car and drove away. The practitioner made a sending righteous thoughts gesture to me from the car.
I understood and quickly informed other practitioners to send righteous thoughts for the practitioner. Then I hid the practitioner's handbag and told one of her relatives to hide the Dafa books at her home. When I had just finished doing that, the police returned and asked me where the practitioner's handbag and keys were. When I didn't tell them, they wanted to arrest me. They pulled me out and said, "If you don't give us the handbag, you will need to come to the police station with us." I was unafraid and thought of Master's article
"Dafa Disciples' Righteous Thoughts are Powerful" (Essentials for Further Advancement II)
"No matter what the situation, do not cooperate with the evil's demands, orders, or what it instigates."
When I thought of the Fa, the police couldn't budge me. They gradually loosened their grip and eventually left.
With practitioners sending righteous thoughts and her family members working to rescue her, that practitioner was released at 3:00 p.m. that same day.
2. Face to face truth clarification
One day in 2004, the stove in the kindergarten kitchen was in need of repair. Two young gas company workers arrived. After they finished their work, I gave them some Falun Gong materials. The next day, four police officers came into my office to do a search. I explained the facts to them and asked them why they were there. They gave no answer, and my husband soon arrived after another practitioner called him. It happened that one of the police officers knew my husband. They then became more polite and asked, "Is she your family member? Someone reported her and we had to come."
After the police left, the practitioner and I looked within and decided that we must not have explained things thoroughly enough. I realized that we needed to explain the facts to the two young men again.
We worked with each other and sent righteous thoughts. We went to the gas company and spoke with the two young men again. The boss there knew the facts about Falun Gong and even criticized the two young men. They declared they would never do such things again.
3. Leading young disciples to study the Fa
After July 20, 1999, my previous company didn't assign any work to me and the other practitioners, and we lost our income as a result. I went out to find a new job, and my family had to move four times. Eventually we set up a kindergarten, and business became better and better. We built new classrooms for the kindergarten, paved square stones in the yard, planted many flowers in the garden and built a new playground for the children. We really appreciate Master, who arranges everything for disciples.
Later on, practitioners sent their children to us and wanted us to have their children read Zhuan Falun. During my lunch break, I read the Fa out loud while the children played around me. I wondered if they really listened to what I read, and when I asked them, they could actually repeat what I had just read. After doing this for a year, they could sometimes even correct me if I read something wrong.
Several years passed, and more and more children attended our kindergarten. It became harder to be patient, and sometimes I would fuss at the children. I searched inside and realized that these children had come to the world for the Fa. Master created a good environment to have us take good care of little disciples. After I realized this and spoke to them, the children improved quickly.
The teachers in our kindergarten all know the facts about Falun Gong. We first explained the facts to the parents that we knew and asked them to withdraw from the CCP. There is a speaker in every classroom, and we broadcast Tianyin music to every classroom through them. We also teach the children to read Hong Yin. When they graduate, we present their parents with videos about our activities, together with DVDs of Shen Yun performances.
4. Forming one body and finding where we fall short
I didn't like being a coordinator, but if practitioners asked me to do something, I would cooperate with them. Once, a practitioner said to me that we should form one body. I agreed with her, but I had no idea about what I should do. Once, another practitioner proposed that we should help practitioners who have not stepped forward to validate the Fa to do so.
I was to visit two such practitioners, and I went to visit one of them with another practitioner. We learned that the practitioner was actually feeling anxious and hoped that other practitioners would visit her. Our conversation made me aware of my own attachment to a comfortable life. Compassionate Master would not leave even one practitioner, including me, behind.
Practitioners from other groups talked about their visits, and we saw that every inactive practitioner has his or her own cultivation state. We communicated with each other and talked about what we should do according to the Fa. We also paid close attention to cultivating ourselves in the process. After this round of communication, we improved quickly. We became aware that everyone can improve as part of the one body.
I also joined a team to send text messages to clarify the truth. I was initially not skilled, and I often got replies cursing me. I searched inside, and found that I lacked compassion and had been lacking in Fa-study. Then as I improved, the responses became more positive.
In conclusion, I want to say thank you, Master, for your compassionate salvation, and to fellow practitioners for their unselfish help.
