(Minghui.org) I started practicing Falun Dafa in 1996, at the age of 40, and have cultivated for more than 20 years. Before that, I was an elementary school teacher. For me, removing attachments was painful, but xinxing elevation was joyful.
Let the Children Receive Dafa's Blessings
My class was with me from first grade to graduation. The children's faces had innocence written all over them. However, I was concerned about their future when I saw the content of the textbooks and looked at the regulated teaching methods. I wondered how I could spare the children from the Party indoctrination. I searched Zhengjian.org (pureinsight.org) for ancient myths and incorporated the content in my daily lectures.
For example, I told the children the story of Nuwa creating mankind and helped them to understand that humans did not really descend from apes. I told them the difference between humans and animals and advised them not to cheapen themselves by thinking the two were equal. I also told them Nuwa gave up everything to save mankind when humans faced a disaster.
By doing this, I helped the children not accept atheism. To help them maintain high morals, I often told them stories from ancient times.
For example, I told them that with no automobiles or bicycles, ancient people typically walked or rode horses. One day, a woman set out on foot to visit the home of her youth, but midway realized she had forgotten something at home. So she put the basket of eggs she was carrying on the ground, drew a circle around it, and headed back home to fetch the forgotten item. When she came back, the basket of eggs was still there.
I told the children that people at that time were of high morals and understood that the circle meant that someone owned the eggs. People knew not to take others' belongings, because it would cost them virtue. I told them, “Virtue is the most precious thing. Without virtue, a person will not be protected by the divine. Therefore, you must have high morals, so you will be protected by the gods.”
They all enjoyed listening to what I told them.
To encourage the children to study diligently, I told them the origin of Chinese characters and brush pens, such as the story of Cang Jie creating Chinese characters. I also told them the stories of Yue Fei being faithful to the country and Hua Mulan joining the army – not for her personal gain. The children learned to be kindhearted.
With the basic values taught in these stories, I was able to teach the children the universal values of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, and they accepted them easily.
To encourage them to live by the principles, one day I told them, “Class, from now on you can remain seated at the start of my class. I want you to say, ‘Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance’ in your heart for one minute. You still need to stand up for other teachers.”
It worked very well. Their behavior improved, and the students could focus and learned very fast. The class was often praised for having the highest grade average.
The children all knew I practiced Falun Dafa, and some parents knew it, too. The parents could feel that I kept the children in my heart. Some teachers asked me, “What is your secret to training the kids so well and inspiring them to make such good grades?” I said, “All I had to do was to let them say in their heart, ‘Falun Dafa is good! Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good!’”
The children followed the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. One day, two boys got into a fight and were brought to my office, where they continued to argue. I said, “Stop! I'll give you two minutes. You must first think about what you have done wrong yourself.
A moment later, they both said that they had been in the wrong and apologized to the other. In the end, to my surprise, they bowed before me and left with their arms around each other's shoulders.
A girl had very good grades and was very quiet. I arranged for her to sit in the back. Some mischievous kids gave her a hard time, but she never complained. In a class assembly, someone mentioned she'd been bullied a few times. I asked her why she didn't tell me. She said, “Teacher, didn't you teach us to be tolerant? 'With tolerance one will find the seas and the skies boundless.'” Everyone applauded.
The girl's virtue and actions moved others, and they voted her to be the class leader.
Time flew, and the children were in sixth grade. I was thinking about how to help them quit the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) youth organization the Young Pioneers. One day after a school event, it was very hot but they still had to wear that red scarf around their necks. I said, “It's so hot, isn't it very uncomfortable to wear that thing around your neck?” They answered, “Yes!”
I said, “Let's stop wearing it from now on and declare before heaven that we will quit the Young Pioneers. Raise your hand if you agree.” All the children raised their hands. I helped them quit the Young Pioneers.
The school normally held a flag ceremony every Monday. I was in a dilemma because I could not ask my students to put the red scarf back on for the ceremony.
Monday morning, I arrived at the school early and saw a big sign at the entrance: The flag ceremony was suspended due to construction in the schoolyard. As students were passing through, I noticed the only ones who were not wearing the red scarf were in my class.
The school was to hold a sports meet in a few weeks, and each class was supposed to walk in a square with the red scarf. I did not give it too much thought.
On the day of the meet, my students still did not wear the red scarf. “Coincidentally,” our class was assigned to hold flowers and flags, so nobody could see my students were not wearing it. I understood all of us were under Master's protection.
Besides teaching the core subjects to my class, I also taught elective subjects to other classes, namely, moral education. I often talked about traditional Chinese culture. One day, a boy whispered, “Teacher, do you practice Falun Dafa? My grandma does.” I smiled.
He put the textbook in front of me, which was showing the chapter of “Tiananmen Self-immolation,” and asked, “How would you teach this lesson?”
I walked up the podium with an empty Sprite bottle in my hand and said to the class, “Let's pour some boiling hot water into this bottle and see what happens.”
The students all tried to stop me, “Teacher, no! The bottle will melt.” I said, “How about throwing it in a fire?”
I talked about the Sprite bottle in the picture in the textbook and told the students the “self-immolation” was staged. I told them that the incident was a hoax, because if it were real, the Sprite bottle would have melted.
This way the students came to know the truth about the so-called "Tiananmen Self-immolation."
Because corruption has become the norm in China, schools were not spared. On “Teacher's Day,” I asked my students, “Please do not gift me anything you have to buy. This year, I want you to write me a letter with your true thoughts.” The students all liked that.
When the students received truth-clarification materials, they would bring it to me, “Teacher, you would like this.” I told them, “Please share it with your family and friends. Anyone who reads it will be blessed.” They all did so.
Dedicated to Truth-clarification
My life changed after I retired, but studying the Fa well, cultivating ourselves well, doing truth-clarification and saving sentient beings are must-dos for Fa-rectification Dafa disciples. Therefore, I have prioritize Dafa in all circumstances and am always driven by the three things.
From giving out fliers, hanging up banners, putting up self-adhesive posters, and spraying short phrases on walls, to making phone calls and sending texts and images; from making individual phone calls to making automatic phone calls, and then to face-to-face truth-clarification, every step was filled with practitioners' selfless efforts and wisdom gifted by Dafa.
Clarifying the Truth
I was released from prison in February 2010. My cultivation state was not very stable, and I figured the best way for me to do truth-clarification at the time was through phone calls. I approached fellow practitioners and learned how to do it using cell phones.
I carried three cell phones with me every day, and called the phone numbers found on street advertisements, and clarified the facts to whoever answered the phone. I generated new numbers by changing the last digit of the phone numbers, and then the second last digit.
I made many phone calls rain or shine. I shared the skills with elderly practitioners and supplied them with sim cards. I bought more than 100 sim cards a month regularly until the real-name system was put in place. It happened around my retirement, so I changed to do face-to-face truth-clarification.
The transition was very smooth given my truth-clarification experience over the phone. I teamed up with a few practitioners, and rode electric scooters through streets and alleys to clarify the facts to people of all ages and backgrounds.
I told them of the preciousness of Dafa and persuaded them to quit the Party and its youth organizations, no matter if they were public officers or street janitors. Most people were willing to listen and agreed to quit, but some people refused to listen or even cursed at us. I was not bothered, because I knew this precious opportunity wouldn't last long.
Our compassionate Master Li imparted such a wonderful Dafa to us and let us assist Him to awaken sentient beings, I would not let Master down, and I would not let down the sentient beings who have put their hope in me to save them. I knew I must follow Master's requirements.
I invited the fellow practitioners who were too afraid to do face-to-face truth-clarification to join me, encouraged them to have righteous thoughts, and taught them how to persuade people to quit the Party. For example I shared how to keep people's negative thoughts at bay, letting them follow our logic, guiding them to the truth, and quit the CCP.
The size of our truth-clarification team has grown to a dozen. Every one of us can work individually or as a team now.
Young Man Wanted Me to Be His Godmother
I was heading home after parting with a fellow practitioner at 9 p.m. I met up with a young man and clarified the facts to him. He happily agreed to quit the Party organizations. When I was about to leave, he asked, “Could you do me a favor?” I said okay.
He said, “We're total strangers, but you care for me so much. I want you to be my godmother. A fortune-teller told me to find a godmother this year, and I want her to be you.”
I recovered from the surprise and replied, “If you want a godmother because you want to be safe, I'll tell you the best way to stay safe. I'll give you an amulet. You just need to recite ‘Falun Dafa is Good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is Good’ often, it beats however many godmothers you can find.”
“Because it is the Buddha Fa, you will be protected by Buddhas and gods. You have knowingly quit the CCP. You are safe already.”
I gave him a copy of every truth-clarification material I had with me and told him where to find the information to break the firewall. I told him if he shared the truth with his family, that they would be blessed too.
He called me “godmother” many times that night and escorted me across the street. He warned me to be careful and wanted to visit me in the future, but I turned it down politely.
Young Man Learned the Truth and Helped Hang Poster
A practitioner and I went to a new residential area one summer evening. Not many people had moved in yet, and there were no street lights. Someone was singing, so we approached him, praised him, and suggested he sign up for a singing contest. He told us that had no money, as he was a migrant worker.
I took the opportunity to talk about the social problems and pointed out the CCP was the culprit, and that it was facing destruction by the heavens. I also told him that Dafa was widespread within China and around the world. He quit the CCP.
I told him not to sing that song in praise of the evil party anymore, because the Party had done so many bad things, and praising it would be harmful to others and to himself. He said he understood now.
When the practitioner and I walked to a school and looked for a spot to hang Falun Dafa truth-clarification posters, the young man who had followed us came up and asked, "What are you guys doing?" I showed him the posters. It was full of information about Dafa, as well as criminal complaints being filed against Jiang Zemin (the former communist party leader). He helped us hang up the posters.
Veteran Police Officer: “It Is Too Risky!”
When I was riding a bicycle, a middle-aged man was riding next to me. I initiated a conversation with him and told him, “I'd like to share with you a blessing. Please remember ‘Falun Dafa is Good! Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is Good!’ and you will be safe.” He smiled at me, “I know. I've read your materials.”
I asked him, “Do you know how to be safe?” He replied, “Quit the Party”.
I asked him if he had quit, but instead of answering my question, he asked me, “Do you know who I am?” I replied, “No matter who you are, you need to be safe.” He took out his police ID and showed it to me. He said, “I'm a veteran police officer. I'm retiring next year.”
I said, “There are kindhearted people like you in the police department. You must be a party member. Has anyone helped you quit yet? How about quitting it using the name Lao Lai Fu?’ Just like the name suggests, I wish you lots of blessings in your later years.” He quit the CCP.
I caught up with my two fellow practitioners. We clarified the facts to people along the way. Suddenly, someone patted my shoulder, and I turned around, it was the veteran police officer. He asked, “Are you together? It's too risky! If someone was following you, all of you would be caught.” We thanked him and quickly turned into an alley.
During truth-clarification, whether the person accepted the truth or not, we knew he was predestined to meet up with us. What we did were merely moving our lips and stretching our legs, and Master was the one actually saving people.
