(Minghui.org) Greetings Master! Greetings fellow practitioners!
I have many stories to tell since I started to practice Falun Dafa in 1997, and have experienced tremendous changes mentally and physically.
My grandson one day asked me why I was so happy. I said to him: “Because I practice Falun Dafa and know the purpose of my life, and I help Master awaken sentient beings so that they can be saved. Also because Master takes care of me.”
He replied: “Yes, yes, you are right!.” He is a little practitioner as well.
I used to have many illnesses and lived a miserable life. I had a lot of worries and would hardly talk. However, my illnesses disappeared after I started practicing Falun Dafa and I became outgoing. My friends and relatives were surprised at my changes and said that I looked younger than I was 20 years ago, and encouraged me to keep practicing.
Master gave me a second life, and I practice whole-heartedly.
Master said:
“Pause for a moment of self-reflection,and increase your righteous thoughtsThoroughly analyze your shortcomings,and progress with renewed diligence” (“Rational and Awake”, Hong Yin Vol. II)
I get up at 3:50 am and practice the full five sets of exercises every day. Sometimes I was not willing to get up so early but Master's Fa “When a wise person hears the Tao, this person will practice it diligently.” (Zhuan Falun) was resonating in my mind. Shouldn't I be diligent? I would then get up and became a wise person. I felt myself tall and great when hearing the verses of the first set of the exercises.
Some practitioners in my hometown became destitute and homeless due to the persecution. I tried my best to help them find places to live and find jobs. We studied the Fa, distributed Falun Gong informational materials and spoke to people about it and the persecution.
I knew every opportunity was for me to cultivate. When practitioners needed help, I would try my best to help them. I told myself that I should be selfless.
Two years ago the daughter of a destitute practitioner from my hometown was going to get married, and her rented flat was not going to accommodate so many relatives from her hometown. I talked to my son who agreed to provide his house for the daughter's temporary wedding home. I provided them with all daily necessities including bedding, kitchen wares and furniture. My behavior moved his nephew and one of the brother-in-laws, both of whom hadn't accepted Falun Gong. They said that practitioners were really good people and so selfless, and decided they wanted to withdraw from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
When practitioners developed sickness karma and needed help, I always went to see them, and we would study the Fa and learn from it. We tried to find out our shortcomings and improve together. We encouraged each other and tried to form one body so that we would not be interfered with and leave loopholes to be taken advantage of.
I normally went out to tell people about Falun Gong after I finished the five sets of exercises every morning. I gave out pamphlets and software to break through the Internet blockade, and encouraged them to withdraw from the CCP. I used notes with Falun Gong or persecution messages on them when shopping. I also made phone calls and explained the facts about Falun Gong.
I gave out Shen Yun DVDs and read Master's poem to them:
The curtain opens, and there is paradiseDeities, Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, auspicious clouds (“Watching Shen Yun”, Hong Yin III)
Most of them readily accepted the DVDs and acknowledged that they would watch them at home. One girl from Northeast China who was very kind said that I always smiled and she asked me why. A fruit stall owner who I visited a few times asked the same question. I told them to repeat “Falun Dafa is good and Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good” and they would be happy. I encouraged them to withdraw from the CCP to keep themselves safe when disasters came.
Though I was busy doing the three things as well as doing chores and taking care of my elderly parents, I didn’t feel tired at all. I was quite happy actually. I arranged the time well and managed to do all the things that I should do.
I joined the project of using our mobile phones to clarify the truth to people. I started with one mobile phone and now I use four to play pre-recorded voice messages to people all over China. About 40% of the people listened to the messages and some agreed to withdraw from the CCP. I spent about two hours every day on this project and about 400 people listened to the messages every day. Some people listened for as long as 10 minutes. Later I found that more people listened to the messages when I called them at lunch time, or from 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm after work. So I switched to those time periods and about 60% of people listened to the messages, and more agreed to withdraw from the CCP.
I made vows to descend to this world to save sentient beings so I had to be selfless, to let go of my attachments and to bear hardships. I often asked myself how determined I was in believing and respecting in Master and the Fa, how well I did the three things, and how much I fulfilled my vows. Did I achieve the realm of “selflessness?” Did I achieve the status of “no single omission is found” (“Cultivating Amidst the Delusion”, Hong Yin)
This world is complicated and full of evil, and many people suffer. People seek personal interests by any means and back stab each other. Yet it is a good place for practitioners to cultivate and we have to harmonize with the Fa at this level. Master said:
To consummate yourself, reaping Buddhahood,Let joy be found in hardship.Physical pains count little as suffering,Indeed, cultivating mind is hardest.Each and every barrier must be broken through,And everywhere does evil lurk.Abundant troubles rain down together,All to see: Can you pull through?The world’s miseries endured,One departs the earth a Buddha. (“Tempering the Will”, Hong Yin)
I started to cultivate from the human level and had all sorts of human attachments. My moral character was at the ordinary person’s level at the beginning. It was difficult to improve even a small step because I had to let go of my attachments. When looking back, I have to thank those people because they have helped me improve.
I feel fortunate to be a Falun Gong practitioner. The four generations of my family now cultivate. I must do the three things well and fulfill my vows.