Pulling Out of Depression and Seizing the Time to Genuinely Cultivate

(Minghui.org) I began practicing Falun Dafa because of an illness. Master Li Hongzhi (the founder) helped me understand why we are here and gave me a healthy body. For 15 years I have not taken a single pill. 

I haven’t been diligent in my cultivation. I did not really understand the preciousness of Fa-rectification period cultivation. I did not put real effort into improving my xinxing. I merely did the three things for the sake of doing them, so I improved very slowly. Our merciful Master did not give up on me. 

Clarify the Facts as a Carpool Driver

It took nearly an hour for me to drive to work every day. A few years ago, I signed up as a Carpool Service driver and began driving people during my commute. I used the opportunity to clarify the facts and awaken the conscience of people. I had to use my real name and phone number to sign up, and upload my selfie picture. I knew the police could easily find my personal information by entering my license plate number.

At first, my wife had concerns over the safety of this truth-clarification approach, and kept reminding me to be compassionate and not cause my passengers to develop any negative thoughts. 

I felt people who rode with me must have a good predestined relationship with me, and I wanted them to hear about the beauty of Falun Dafa, realize the shamelessness of the CCP’s lies, and choose a bright future for themselves.

For this reason, I provided high-quality service for every passenger. For example, I contacted passengers ahead of time. I arrived early, and I would waive excess mileage or detour charges. 

I would also tolerate their bringing additional passengers (normally, the cost would increase by the number of passengers). I was actually glad because I knew the additional passengers were there to learn the truth.

One day, I drove three college girls to the train station. They were similar in age to my own children, so I felt responsible for helping them understand the truth so they could choose a bright future. Maybe because of this compassionate thought the girls all quit the Communist Youth League and Young Pioneers. 

Another day, my passenger was a college girl. As soon as she got in, I went straight to the topic of the staged “Tiananmen self-immolation.” She would not talk to me; instead she had a video chat with someone on her phone. I overheard her say that she was scared. 

I realized I was too “indoctrinating” and didn’t consider the girl’s feelings: riding in a stranger’s car alone at night. I must have “scared” her. 

From then on, I learned to first chat with my passengers to gain their trust, then I began talking about current social phenomena. This way I would not “scare” people.

One day, a young man was riding in my car, and my wife was present. We clarified the facts to him. My wife used a VPN on her phone to go to the Epoch Times' Three Withdrawals page, and helped him quit the Communist Youth League and Young Pioneers. He was very happy and learned how to overcome the firewall. 

Another time, a mother and daughter were riding in our car after shopping. My wife and I learned the daughter’s uncle is a Falun Dafa practitioner and lives in another city. Most of his relatives were deceived by the CCP’s lies and alienated the uncle. 

My wife and I took turns sending righteous thoughts and clarified the facts to the mother and daughter. In the end, they both agreed to quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations. The daughter was preparing for a civil service exam, and asked our opinions on which department she should apply to.

My passengers included nurses, community workers, court clerks, active-duty military officers, company employees, etc. The majority are young people. About 75% of my passengers agreed to withdraw from the three major communist organizations. 

Most of my passengers' feedback was very good on the customers' rating platform. Some even said, “I met a great person today.” However, two people left comments that I was “anti-revolutionary.” When I first read this I had fear, but on second thought, I realized I was awakening the conscience of sentient beings, and I must persist.

I had one thought: regardless of whether a passenger agrees to withdraw from the CCP or not, as long as they were in my car, I should let them hear the truth as much as possible. Even one sentence could make a difference. I regard it as my duty as a Dafa disciple. 

I continued clarifying the truth through the carpool service until August 2018 when the service was shut down due to a safety incident.

Saving People During the Pandemic

During the Chinese New Year of 2020, a worldwide pandemic struck without warning. All the holiday hustle and bustle suddenly ended. People’s helplessness and fear were palpable. I knew that understanding the truth could help people survive this catastrophe.

I was able to clarify the facts to my coworkers, but did not do as well with management. I only found opportunities to clarify the facts to the managers I was familiar with, looked kindhearted, or I felt would not bring me any trouble. 

As the epidemic intensified, a sense of urgency prompted me to bring truth-clarification pamphlets to work every day. I decided to use every opportunity to clarify the facts. If there wasn’t enough time, I would give them a pamphlet and tell them it was something good. 

There are more than 10 managers in my company, and now I've clarified the facts to most of them. If one's health was poor, I lent him my video player to watch truth-clarification videos on the flash drive. 

Encourage Former Practitioners to Reconnect with Dafa

A practitioner who began practicing Dafa earlier than I stopped for various reasons. I found her during the epidemic. She regretted leaving Dafa, but felt it was too late to come back. I told her as long as the Fa-rectification was not over it wasn't too late. I encouraged her to resume practicing. 

I believed the reason I found her was because our benevolent Master did not want to leave her behind. After we talked she said she would try her best.

A former coworker suffered from severe back pain which worsened when it rained or snowed. A few years ago I recommended she read Zhuan Falun. After reading the book, her back pain was gone. She experienced how wonderful Falun Dafa is, and encouraged her daughter to read  Zhuan Falun as well. 

However, without an environment for her to study and practice, after a while she put the book down and stopped practicing. 

During the epidemic, I called her again to encourage her. I told her this was a precious cultivation opportunity and it is not just about keeping fit. She said she would resume practicing. 

Teaming Up with My Wife 

I read on the Minghui website about the harm the epidemic caused China and the entire world due to the CCP’s cover-up. As the death toll rose, and seeing the empty squares, streets, and neighborhoods, my wife and I felt anxious that we already missed many opportunities to awaken the conscience of people.

We read three lectures of Zhuan Falun each day and sent righteous thoughts. With Master’s strengthening we were able to go out of our residential complex almost every day to deliver truth-clarification journals, fliers, and other materials downloaded from the Minghui website. 

We hung the materials on door handles or under windshield wipers. We also put up self-adhesive posters in eye-catching spots at the entrances to apartment buildings. 

The situation kept changing. For example, the first day I saw some residential complexes had ropes across the entrance, the next day they were changed to iron plates, and the third day they were blocked with barbed wires. I really felt we were fighting with the old forces for a time.

Seeing us having the heart to awaken the conscience of people, Master helped us get into the residential complexes every time. One night we went to a large complex, and I felt the atmosphere there was very solemn. We saw a gap in the iron plate wall and squeezed in. We put up 40-50 self-adhesive posters and distributed other truth-clarification materials as well. 

After we came home we learned that complex had a serious virus outbreak. The next day, that complex had loudspeakers blaring non-stop and was guarded by police vehicles. I realized if we hadn’t gone there the night before, it would have been impossible for us to get in later. 

Another night, my wife and I were distributing the materials and we met a man walking up the stairs. He saw us and said, “It’s so rare to see anyone in the building now!” Master said, “People will feel close to whomever they come across.” (“What is a Dafa Disciple”, Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. XI)

As the severity of the epidemic escalated, all complexes were closed and vehicles were banned from the streets. My wife and I decided to send MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) to save people.

We first collected cell phone numbers of former classmates and coworkers, then saved the Minghui poster image into GPG format and sent them out by MMS. It was equivalent to handing out the Minghui’s poster to peoples' cell phones. 

We sent the most powerful righteous thoughts: May people pass the MMS on to others. May the sentient beings who have waited for millions of years for this moment to be protected by Falun Dafa, quit the three major Communist organizations, be spared from the epidemic and be safe! 

Rescued from Prison

While I was doing truth-clarification outside one day, I was arrested. Because I lacked solid Fa-study at the time and developed an attachment to doing things, my loophole was taken advantage of by the old forces and I was put in a detention center. 

Due to my fundamental attachment, together with family sentiment and desire to “get out,” I did a terribly wrong thing to Master and Dafa against my will. I felt my cultivation was over and I lost all hope. 

I was overwhelmed with guilt and thought I was just a walking corpse, I was not worthy of being alive. I couldn’t even remember any poems in Hong Yin that I had memorized, let alone having righteous thoughts.

One day, a murderer inmate was transferred to our cell and said that a Falun Dafa practitioner in his previous cell taught him to say, “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.” He said that practitioner told him many stories about the beauty of Dafa and taught him the exercises. He was transferred to our cell before he could learn all five exercises. 

The murderer inmate said if he ever got out of prison he would practice Falun Dafa. He respectfully referred to that practitioner as Big Brother.

I felt it was not a coincidence for me to hear this. Master must have arranged for an everyday person to tell me how diligent my fellow practitioner is, to enlighten me and encourage me. Master is so merciful! He hadn’t given up on me yet!

From then on, whenever I had time, I encouraged the murderer inmate to repeat the two phrases - “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good” with me, and invited other inmates to do the same. 

The cell had a free space of exactly eighteen-floor tiles. I could walk the tiles and recite the two phrases twice in one lap. If I walked 50 laps, I could recite the two phrases 100 times, and if I walked 100 laps, I could recite 200 times. I walked the laps every day whenever I could.

By repeatedly saying, “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good,” every day, I was able to recollect a lot of Master’s Fa. I could even recite many poems in Hong Yin IV which I could not memorize before. I could remember the songs by the Shen Yun Chorus as well. 

Every day, in addition to chanting the two phrases, I also sang Dafa songs. My righteous thoughts were getting stronger and stronger. I wrote the two phrases and the poem “Nothing Kept” from Hong Yin on the wall. From then on, the guards no longer tried to coerce me to sell out my fellow practitioners to earn “meritorious credits.”

What happened to the murderer inmate was even more magical. In the first few days, he kept saying he had nightmares in which dead people were coming at him. After we walked the laps while saying the two phrases for about a week, he said he no longer had those nightmares. In addition, he could do the second exercise, and hold the wheel in front of his head for seven minutes straight.

One day, the guards forcibly shaved our heads, and I developed resentment. The murderer inmate reminded me, “Time to do the laps!” I said, “Okay. Walk the laps and say the two phrases!” I announced loudly to the whole cell, “I don’t hate that guard anymore.” I suggested we walk a little more this time. 

As soon as we walked 100 laps, the guard called my name at the door, “Pack your things. You’re going home.” 

Master said: “...to sincerely repeat the true words are the best panacea and the best ways to save people.” (“Rationality” Team Blue Translation) 

Master is so merciful! No human language can describe even a tiny portion of Master’s compassion toward all living beings. I have committed the great sin of deceiving Master and slandering the Buddha, and yet Master rescued me from the evil den and held me in His hands!

After I came back, I read Master’s Fa, 

“As your Master, I have never kept account of the wrong things you have done in your cultivation; I remember only the good things you have done and your accomplishments. Dafa disciples have made it through during cultivation and unparalleled evil persecution, so they are deeply aware of the hardships in cultivation, and they won’t fail to understand the students who have gone down the wrong path.” (“Pass the Deadly Test” in The Essentials of Diligent Progress Vol. III)

“It’s not a big deal if you haven’t done well. Just do things well next time and try to find out where the problem was.” (“Fa-Lecture During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference”)

“If you regret it too much then that’s another attachment. Once you’ve done something wrong, seen where it was wrong, and recognized it, then do it well next time, do it over. If you trip and fall, and just keep lying there instead of getting up, (audience laughs) then that’s no good.” (“Fa-Lecture During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fregreeetita Conference”)

I regret missing so many opportunities to improve my xinxing and awaken the conscience of people due to my human attachments. I understand time is pressing. If one is not fundamentally resolute in the Fa, then everything else is out of the question. I will cleanse my stains with the greatest diligence, practice solid cultivation and do well.