(Minghui.org) Greetings, compassionate Master! Greetings, fellow practitioners!
I'm an 81-year-old Falun Dafa practitioner. My wife is 79. We began practicing Falun Dafa in 1997, and all of our illnesses were then eliminated. We are a living proof of Dafa's amazing, virtuous power. Our children have witnessed the improvements in our health; they are happy for us and fully support our cultivation practice.
Even though the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) slanders Falun Dafa and persecutes practitioners, we know that Dafa is a higher science and remain steadfast in our belief.
My wife went to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Falun Dafa, but was taken to a detention center. She was handcuffed, along with another female practitioner. The police interrogated them and attempted to force them to give up their belief. The other practitioner was beaten and sustained multiple injuries.
My wife was not afraid. When asked if she would continue to practice Falun Dafa, she answered: “Yes! Why should I give up practicing such great Dafa? If I quit practicing and my diseases return, are you going to pay for my medical bills? What's wrong with doing exercises that have healed my diseases? What's wrong with telling the truth? What's your justification for detaining and handcuffing an elderly woman?”
The interrogators had no answers and removed her handcuffs. Eventually, my wife was released without having to sign a guarantee statement to give up her practice or the right to appeal.
The CCP agents continued to threaten us and attempted to force us to give up the practice after my wife returned home. We remained firm in our belief that Dafa was great and made up our minds to always support Dafa and Master. Despite of all the threats, we continued to study the Fa and do the Falun Dafa exercises daily.
The persecutors can't take advantage of anything if we don't have fear.
After the Tiananmen Square self-immolation hoax was staged by the CCP to defame Falun Dafa, CCP officials came to our home and threatened us again.
My wife argued: “You claim that those people at Tiananmen Square are Falun Dafa practitioners, but I'm not so sure. If someone from Henan Province wanted to light himself on fire, why did he travel thousands of miles to do it in Beijing? Is that logical?”
The officials had no reply and quit harassing us from then on. We gained an understanding through Fa study that when facing the persecution with strong faith and righteous thoughts, we can disintegrate the evil factors behind the persecutors, while creating an opportunity to validate the Fa.
Old Age is Never an Excuse to Slack Off in Cultivation
We have diligently followed Master's teachings over these past 15 years. Old age should never be used as an excuse to slack off. We study the Fa daily, rain or shine, and work hard on doing the three things well. Studying the Fa well is the basis for everything else. Dafa strengthens our righteous thoughts, guides us to take righteous actions, and provides a foundation for us to improve our heart nature, or xinxing.
We've established a Fa-study group with fellow practitioners at our home. Through daily study and experience sharing, we help each other make improvements. This has proven to be very effective.
We offer salvation to sentient beings by explaining the facts about Falun Dafa and giving them truth-clarification materials. One time, I distributed materials to migrant workers in a van, and they started reading them right away. A big man next to the van shouted at me, “What did you give them?” I replied calmly and kindly: “Messages that can save people. Read it yourself. You will benefit from it, too. You must not destroy it.” He changed his attitude and agreed to read it.
I learned from this experience that it's best to clarify the facts about Dafa in an open manner and with a pure heart. This is in accordance with Master's teaching of righteous thoughts and actions. When we don't have any loopholes, the old forces can't take advantage of anything and Master will then protect us.
Even though we don't have much money, my wife and I managed to buy an electric pedicab, so that we could spread the facts about Falun Dafa to places miles away. We usually go together, so that we can encourage and coordinate with each other. With Master's compassionate care, we have overcome many difficulties and haven't encountered persecution.
Once, my wife was distributing the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party when she took a hard fall. Although it was terribly painful, she calmly got up and picked up all of the brochures scattered on the ground. Her bag was broken, so she had to hold all of materials in her arms, yet she didn't stop until she finished distributing all of them. She told me later that she'd realized that the old forces were attempting to stop her from distributing the materials. She then made up her mind to deny this arrangement and not to be deterred. She finished her task safely under Master's protection.
Experiencing Miracles
I have personally experienced some Dafa miracles, which I'd like to share with fellow practitioners.
One day in 2003, I was riding my pedicab to buy more paper for our truth-clarification project when I saw my pedicab lifting off the ground. I was shocked to see the pedicab actually flying and saw clearly that the wheels were gone. I grabbed the handle tightly and was worried that the pedicab would run into someone. I wanted it to stop – and it did. I got off and saw that the wheels were back in their place. I felt relieved and started riding again.
Master must have seen my sincere intention to save sentient beings and encouraged me with this miracle.
One winter night, all of the street lights in my residential area suddenly turned off, leaving it completely dark. I immediately realized that this was a perfect opportunity for me to distribute truth-clarification materials without being seen by the police.
I took a bunch of materials and started distributing them door to door. I was almost done when I suddenly slipped on a flight of stairs and fell down from a considerable height. I instinctively cried out, “Master, please save me!”
My body started floating, as if someone had lifted me and slowly put me down. When I opened my eyes, I found myself lying on the cement floor. I stood up, moved around, and checked myself for injuries. I was completely fine and felt no pain. I was filled with gratitude for Master's protection.
Dafa's Power Manifests When Our Minds Are Righteous
Master said,
“We have said that good or evil comes from a person’s spontaneous thought, and the thought at that moment can bring about different consequences.” (Zhuan Falun)
Master also said:
“Under the tests that the human mind is put to, a state will come about in a cultivator when understandings born of both divine and human thoughts are present and collide. When human thinking gains the upper hand, that person heads toward humanness; when divine thinking and a person's righteous thoughts gain the upper hand, he heads toward godhood.” (“Teaching the Fa in San Francisco, 2005”)
My wife and I have gained more and more understanding of Master's words during our cultivation, learning from our lessons. We got into trouble whenever we used human thinking during tests and tribulations. As soon as our righteous thoughts gained the upper hand, things turned in a positive way.
One time, my wife fell while distributing truth-clarification materials, dislocating her shoulder. She found a specialist who treated the dislocation. Soon thereafter, her shoulder started hurting again.
She realized that she hadn't treated the incident with righteous thoughts. My wife then developed strong righteous thoughts and stopped worrying about her shoulder, while believing completely in Master and Dafa's power. She made up her mind to pass this test through studying the Fa, sending forth righteous thoughts and doing the exercises. Two days later, her pain was completely gone and never returned.
I learned an even better lesson through another incident. Last year, I saw that my wife's reading glasses helped her a lot, so I wanted to get a pair for myself. I didn't realize that this was an external pursuit. My loophole was taken advantage of by the old forces. My vision then became blurry while reading Dafa books. My children took me for an eye exam, and the doctor found a cataract that needed immediate surgery.
I suddenly remembered that I was a Falun Dafa practitioner. How could I suddenly get a cataract? My wish for a pair of reading glasses must have been utilized by the old forces to create this tribulation. After I came to this understanding, I told my children that my eyes would be fine and not to worry. Seeing how certain I was, they gave up their requests for surgery.
My righteous thoughts brought a quick change to my vision, which cleared up. Every word in the book looked perfectly sharp again. I was very excited and grateful for Master's help.
I've studied the Fa harder since that time, and my vision is now even better. This incident directly reflected Master's teaching that “good or evil comes from a person’s spontaneous thought” (Zhuan Falun) . I hope that fellow practitioners learn from my lesson and use divine thinking when facing tests.
Our smooth cultivation journey completely relies on Master's compassionate care and guidance. We have fallen short of Dafa's standard in many ways, but are determined to follow Master's instruction.
Master said,
“The closer it gets to the end, the more you cannot let up; the closer it gets to the end, the better you must study the Fa; the closer it gets to the end, the stronger your righteous thoughts must be.” (“To the Canada Fa Conference” from The Essentials of Diligent Progress Vol. III)
