(Clearwisdom.net) I am lucky to have practiced Falun Dafa for 14 years now. This short period of 14 years has changed my entire life. How lucky I am to have this chance to encounter Master saving sentient beings in this human world! Words cannot express my gratitude to our Master. The only thing for me to do is to be diligent in cultivation according to the Fa.
I. How I began to practice Falun Dafa, a road to return to my genuine self
When I was young, I liked to read fairy tales a lot. My mother bought me books such as Journey to the West, Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen, etc. These were my favorites. They never lost their appeal for me. I did not pass the college entrance examination, so I had to go to a secondary college. After graduation, I felt disappointed and got a job in a factory.
In the factory, I got to know a good friend. Under her influence, I began to have a preliminary understanding of Buddhism.
In 1994, Master came to Sichuan to promote Dafa and taught people how to do the exercises. My mother was lucky to attend the lectures that Master gave in Chengdu. I observed my mom's cultivation. As two years passed, I noticed obvious changes in her. She became healthier and looked younger. Her facial complexion always looked good. She seemed to be energetic all the time. Sometimes I noticed that she seemed to have a “cold,” but she did not take any medicine and quickly recovered from it. This happened several times. Even her attitude and expression became more and more peaceful. I began to feel that Falun Gong was not ordinary, but I did not say that out loud. I only kept watching my mother and her fellow practitioners.
A lady whose last name is Zhou from my mom's practice site came to visit us. Ms. Zhou casually asked me, “Why don't you practice Falun Gong with us? It's so good.” I replied, “I practice another school.” Ms. Zhou asked, “What is the ultimate goal of your practice? What kind of law principle do you follow to cultivate?” I was quite surprised and did not know how to answer her. Ms. Zhou continued, “I also practiced other cultivation schools before. I had even reached a pretty high level. But after I was lucky enough to read Master's book Zhuan Falun, I knew that it was a high level Dafa and that I wanted to pursue it. Many of my former fellow practitioners from other cultivation schools did not understand. They came to talk to me several times. But I had made up my mind and nothing could change my decision. My former master also came to see me. He could feel from far away my current cultivation state. He did not try to persuade me to keep up my former practice anymore. He only said one sentence to me, “Congratulations to you for obtaining such a great Dafa!” Seeing how shocked I looked, Ms. Zhou continued in a very soft voice, “This Dafa is an excellent Dafa that one may not encounter in thousands or even a million years. It was hard for us to come to this human world in this lifetime. Our practice goal is to become a life of a higher realm, to get out of the Three Realms, never to be reborn again into this human world again, accomplishing our dream of becoming a divine being, isn't it? Only this Dafa explains clearly how one should cultivate. You have been practicing several years. Do you have a Fa to guide you on how to practice? Generally you have to comprehend it by yourself. Think about it, will you be able to comprehend it? Your mother and I are doing the exercises at the same practice site. We really have a good predestined relationship. You should think it over.”
After Ms. Zhou left, I was deep in thought. At that time, I heard my mom listening to Master's lecture about the issue of practicing with subordinate souls. It gave me quite a surprise. I thought to myself: “One cultivates for such a long time. But is it practicing one's true self?” Looking at my mother and her fellow practitioners, each one of them looks refreshed. I could feel their peaceful energy field. Compared to them, although I had practiced for the past several years, I really did not understand how to cultivate. Before I left for home, I asked my mom to lend me a copy of Zhuan Falun. Over the weekend, I began to read this valuable book. When I read to the paragraph about “'When a person’s Buddha-nature comes out it shakes the Ten-Directional World'. Whoever sees this will help him, and they’ll help him no matter what.” (Zhuan Falun), I was startled. My eyes filled with tears. I could not control my feelings. At that point, I decided to practice Falun Dafa.
II. Breaking through difficulties at home and firmly practicing Dafa
In July 1999, the evil CCP began to suppress kind Falun Gong practitioners. I was shocked. I could not understand why such a great practice that teaches people to be kind and look inward would be suppressed. That day I was at work. Because my company is located far away from the city, I did not know that fellow practitioners went to the provincial government to appeal for Falun Gong. When I got home from work, I learned that my mom had not come home yet because she went to appeal. Ms. Chen, a lady who went to do the exercises with us everyday, also went to appeal and had not returned home yet either. The TV was full of long reports slandering Dafa and our Master. I suddenly felt lonely and had no one to rely on. I was almost on the edge of collapse. When I was feeling sad, my mother-in-law called me and told me that there was important news on TV. She asked me to turn it on immediately. I cried out loud and could not stop myself. I spoke in a loud voice on the phone, “We are a group of people practicing kindness. Why do they treat us like this?” My mother-in-law was astonished and hung up.
I had an intuitive feeling that the reason that Dafa encountered such a big hardship was because the leaders in the central government did not know the truth about Dafa. However, with the escalating suppression, the news I heard was that the suppression of Falun Gong was getting worse and worse. I was confused. Each day after work, I did not watch any propaganda on TV. I read Master's lectures in my room. When the CCP first began the suppression, I was under a lot of pressure and was not diligent in reading Zhuan Falun and thus I did not have a clear understanding of the Fa.
When I read Master's lectures, I felt that the propaganda on the TV was slanderous. My husband also reached the edge of his endurance as the escalation of the suppression grew. When I was studying the Fa, I read it to my husband. Listening to the Fa, both of us understood that, in all Master's lectures, he mainly talks about cultivation and teaches people how to become good. Nothing was like the CCP propaganda of “murder,” “suicide,” or “extortion.” My husband was still worried. However, he had witnessed my entire process of cultivation. He knew clearly how my physical condition had improved in such a short time and how I became an open-minded, kind and peaceful person after taking up the practice. Our family was quiet and peaceful. He could not, therefore, stop me from practicing Falun Gong all at once. But his mood became very bad. He often inexplicably got angry. A lot of tension filled our home.
Fellow practitioners later brought me some valuable materials downloaded from the Clearwisdom website. I eagerly read through them. Reading the parts about practitioners who went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong and were arrested, beaten, and illegally detained, I was impressed on the one hand by their confidence in their practice and on the other I felt I was so small. I did not know what to do to encourage my husband to support me as before.
Once my mother-in-law blamed me wrongly and she lost her temper. I did not say one word of retort. Instead I kept saying, “It's my fault for not dealing with it in the right way. Do not get angry because that will only hurt you.” My mother-in-law stopped criticizing me unreasonably. It was also my endurance that reduced our family's arguments. After returning home, my husband and I had a long talk. I mentioned what my temper used to be and how my health was, and then after practicing Dafa, what a huge change took place in me both physically and mentally. Whether now or in the future, I would not argue with my mother-in-law. I also told him, “I have wanted to practice cultivation since I was young. Now I am so lucky to have found this great Dafa. I have learned how to cultivate.” I also talked about how short a person's life is and that ordinary people are fighting for fame, personal gain, and emotional attachments, and their lives are very bitter. “From practicing Dafa, I have learned that a person's life is determined by his or her past lives based on the virtue and karma that a person has. Everyone has to go through birth, sickness, old age, and death. One will never escape the bitterness if one does not escape the Three Realms. I want to practice cultivation and then I will be able to get out of the Three Realms. You know that our practitioners are all good people with high virtues. You have listened to many of our Master's lectures. You should know that our Master always talks about how we should become a better person. There is not a single example of what the TV programs show. My biggest wish in my life is to practice cultivation. Even if I should die for it, I will not change my decision on that. Recently you kept asking me how I could be so firm in my practice. This is my answer.” After hearing that, my husband sighed and said, “Then you can practice at home. But be sure to pay attention to safety.”
After that, whenever I practiced at home, my husband did not stop me anymore. When fellow practitioners came to visit me, he did not show his unhappy face anymore. Our family was restored to its former quiet and peacefulness.
III. Clarifying the truth, saving sentient beings and assisting Master in Fa rectification
I remember the time when I first went outside to clarify the truth. My fellow practitioner brought me some small glue-backed stickers. My husband, my son, and I went out together. Both of them helped me monitor the surrounding area, and I posted those truth-clarification stickers. Although I said I was firm in my practice, in reality, my heart was pounding, my mouth was dry, and I became short of breath. Because I was nearsighted since I was young, I quickly posted one sticker on a tree or a wall as soon as I saw a good target when I heard my husband say, “Be quick!” Even my teenage son also became very nervous because of my intense feeling. Once when I asked him to post a truth-clarification sticker the size of A4 paper, my son was so nervous that he posted it upside down.
Later my fellow practitioner gave me truth-clarification materials every week. Our whole family went out to distribute them every week. Each time I first got everything ready at home. I put the materials in brown paper envelopes and taped them with adhesive on both sides. Each time my husband would monitor the surroundings in the residential building, and my son and I would distribute truth-clarification letters or CDs from top to bottom on each level of the building. Sometimes the CD would come off right after I taped it up, since it was a little heavy. Sometimes when I was about to tape it up, someone from inside the apartment came out. Standing in front of the door, at first I was very nervous. Later I became more and more calm in dealing with this kind of situation, and I became faster in distributing truth-clarification letters. Looking back on this right now, our whole family cooperated very well at that time.
In 2002, it was more and more difficult to make copies outside. Many stores were afraid to accept printing jobs for truth-clarification materials. Several practitioners suggested that we should chip in to buy a small copy machine to make materials ourselves and put the copy machine in my home. Because my husband was afraid of trouble, I was hesitant to accept that decision at first. I carefully discussed it with my husband. Unexpectedly, he agreed. Moreover, because he is more skillful with machines, he would help us fix it whenever there was something wrong with the machine. Later, because that small copy machine was too slow, I talked to my husband and we borrowed some money and bought a computer. Fellow practitioners chipped in and bought an ink jet printer that made copies much faster. At that time, because we were extremely short of truth-clarification materials, I often went to bed very late. Sometimes when there was something wrong with the machine, I worried too much and had anxious tears. I even dreamed at night that the printer was back to normal again. Those fellow practitioners who came to our home to exchange cultivation experiences before also paid special attention to protect our small material center in our home. Except for one fellow practitioner who lived in the same building and came to our home to pick up materials on a regular basis, other practitioners would not come to our home if possible.
When we were vigorously promoting the book Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party, I was very upset because I did not know how to make books. Fellow practitioners asked to have copies of the Nine Commentaries. When I felt helpless, one practitioner contacted another practitioner who knew how to make books. That practitioner came to teach me, and he patiently taught me how to make books. Seeing that I could make such beautiful copies of the Nine Commentaries, I was grateful to fellow practitioners and in the meantime I felt more grateful to Master's ingenious arrangements. With the increase in the demand for truth-clarification materials, I was very tired. At that time, another practitioner volunteered to help make copies of the Nine Commentaries to share some of my workload. After talking with other practitioners, we bought all the materials she needed to make the books and then asked the other practitioner to teach her how to make them. For quite a long time, we were not short on copies of the Nine Commentaries in our region.
Since 2008, we have gradually built up more and more family truth-clarification centers in our region. The quantities of materials that my fellow practitioners request from my place has been reduced quite a lot. Recently, I have been providing supplies for 20 to 30 people. In the meantime, since my husband had more spare time, he also has quietly shared a lot of the printing work. I had more spare time than before. However, due to fixed working hours, plus my introverted personality, I did not have many breakthroughs in clarifying the truth face-to-face. This made me very upset. If we cannot do one of the three things well, we are not qualified to be a Dafa practitioner during this Fa rectification period. What should I do? On one occasion, I learned how to send group truth-clarification emails. I felt that it was really a very powerful weapon in clarifying the truth. Therefore, for quite a long time I was busy with how to improve my skills in sending group emails and neglected Fa study. That was a loophole through which they could take advantage of me. Out of the blue they attacked my mother's home. They arrested my elder sister, who was not a practitioner. They threatened her, saying that they would go to the suburbs to arrest my mother. This time I woke up and realized that I must have some loopholes that allowed the evil to take advantage of me. And then they began to persecute my family members. Thus I began to diligently study the Fa. I gathered with other practitioners, and we sent forth the righteous thoughts to strengthen my righteousness, and I constantly strengthened my own righteous thoughts. I voluntarily went to the local police station and talked with the police and staff members from the 610 Office, and asked them to release my elder sister, who was not a practitioner. In the meantime, I would not agree to any of their unreasonable demands. One month later, my elder sister safely came home.
From this event, I had an even clearer understanding that, as Fa-rectification period Dafa disciples, we have very important responsibilities. Master once warned us,
“... if under the greatest mercy since the beginning of Heaven and Earth and under Buddha’s infinite grace you still can’t do well, how could there be another chance? Cultivation and Fa-rectification are serious. Whether you are able to treasure this period of time is, in fact, a matter of whether you can be responsible to yourselves.” (“Fa-Rectification Period Dafa Disciples,” Essentials for Further Advancement II)
The evil wished to use the persecution to weaken my will to practice. They did not know that they made me even more rational and helped me to clearly understand what a Fa-rectification period Dafa disciple is. My righteous thoughts also became more powerful than ever.
At present in my truth-clarification projects, I have some more tasks to work on: truth-clarification letters, phone calls, and text messages. Due to Master's merciful arrangements, he especially arranged for some fellow practitioners who are technically talented to come to our region. Local practitioners also cooperated with me very well in all these truth-clarification projects. I spent a very short time learning these skills. During the process of making truth-clarification phone calls and sending text messages, I felt very happy for those who finished listening the truth-clarification messages or kindly replied to my text messages--their lives were saved. To those who quickly hung up on me or swore or replied with abusive words in their text messages, I did not feel angry or depressed. I only feel sorry for those who miss such a good opportunity to be saved. When I was exchanging experiences about truth-clarification with a fellow practitioner, I told her with a smile, “Do not be tempted, do not take offense. We only need to focus on clarifying the truth. When encountering people who do not understand or have a bad attitude, we need to collect our shortcomings in truth-clarification experiences and not forget to look inward. In fact, the process of truth-clarification is also a process of cultivation. As long as we continue clarifying the truth and maintain a practitioner's good condition and righteous thoughts, it already shows we are diligent in our cultivation.” Hearing what I said, my fellow practitioner was also inspired. Both of us made up our minds that in the future we will spend more time in Fa study. We will be more compassionate to sentient beings. We will not be moved by any kind of attitude that people might have toward us. We will try our best to save more people and fulfill our prehistoric vows.
Words cannot express my gratitude to our Master. Master gave us the greatest title in the universe—Fa rectification period Dafa disciples. We also need to try our best to do the three things well. Then we will be worthy of such an honored title.
Thank you, Master! Thank you, fellow practitioners!
