(Minghui.org) I have been practicing Falun Dafa for more than 10 years. I can't see things in other dimensions, nor have I had many dreams as hints in my cultivation. Nonetheless, I am clear on the path I'm taking and where I'm headed.
Deep in my heart, I know that Falun Dafa, with the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, helps me to understand life and nurtures me to grow.
After the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began to suppress Falun Dafa in 1999, group exercise sites no longer existed and I wasn't able to receive any updates about Dafa or Master. Feeling like a lost sheep who couldn't find his flock, I lived in sadness and depression.
In early 2000, I heard about a website called Minghui.org that is run by Dafa practitioners. I wanted to access it, but didn't know how.
I was forced to leave my job because I wouldn't give up my belief. This gave me extra time to find a way to get online. When visiting a friend one day, I asked him how to access the Internet. He told me, but I had no idea what he was talking about.
Nonetheless, with a old computer and dial-up connection, I was able to get online after a lot of trial and error. By repeatedly trying to access proxy servers, I finally arrived at the Minghui.org homepage. I was so excited, like a child finding the way home!
Because of my poor computer skills and having an old computer, the connection was not stable. However, I could view Master's articles, which gave me guidance on what we practitioners should do amid the persecution.
I was able to print Master's lectures and articles for other practitioners, sometimes up to 60 copies. No matter what happened and how severe the persecution was, I always kept visiting Minghui.org to read Master's latest teachings and experience sharing articles from other practitioners. They've helped me through these years as a Dafa practitioner.
Many practitioners often talk about keeping up with the process of Fa-rectification and becoming genuine Dafa practitioners. To me, the most important thing is to study the Fa and understand the Fa principles; without that, everything else we do would be meaningless. Another thing, especially for those of us who live in China where the suppression continues, we should visit the Minghui website regularly so that we are clear on what needs to be done.
For example, right after Part I of the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party was published, I downloaded it and printed it out. I did this when the other parts of the series were published. I read them and passed them on to others to read.
Because Master directly guides Shen Yun, I know it's very important, and always do my best to introduce it to people. The same thing happened with the lawsuits against Jiang Zemin. I also filed a criminal complaint against him for the persecution of Falun Dafa.
There are many types of articles and materials on Minghui.org. By visiting the website and reading the articles often, we can do better to validate the Fa and save people.
My non-practitioner friends initially helped me to buy a computer and get online. But I needed to produce Falun Dafa materials, and couldn't ask them for help because of concerns for their safety. So I decided to learn these skills myself.
When reading through Minghui and other websites on printing Dafa materials, I paid attention to detail and saved many articles for reference. By keeping the files well organized, I could easily find technical information when the need arose.
One example was installing the Windows 7 computer operating system after Microsoft ended support for Windows XP. I read many articles on this and tried to do the upgrade on various types of computers. In the end, I was able to install a clean version of the software correctly for myself and other practitioners.
Since most practitioners are not computer experts, I often remind them of what I had learned and help them whenever they need it. I have installed and maintained more than 10 computers over the past few years, and they have run smoothly since.
I also learned how to use various pieces of software to produce materials, including some to bypass the CCP's Internet blockade. I am very grateful to practitioners who wrote articles on this topic and also answered my questions in forums, or helped me in other ways. Meanwhile, for those practitioners who are intimidated by technical skills or lack patience, I hope my experience can serve as an example for us to do better.
In addition to figuring out computer skills on my own, I've also helped other practitioners to do the same. For example, one practitioner used to obtain printed Minghui articles from me. We talked about accessing the Minghui website and I helped her install her computer and taught her how to use it, step by step. This practitioner learned quickly and now often visits Minghui.org. She thus made great progress in her cultivation and often produces materials for others, too.
One elderly practitioner spent a lot of effort distributing Dafa informational materials and talked with others about Falun Dafa. After hearing she purchased a computer and wanted to get online, I helped her set up the computer and taught her the basics. I even wrote down detailed instructions on how to operate the computer.
She was a slow learner and my patience was running thin. However, I was able to remain calm and in the end, she learned how to use the computer, produce materials, and get online to submit name lists of those who agreed to quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations.
I hope that by supporting each other, more practitioners can access Minghui.org so that we are able to do better in our cultivation and save more people.