(Minghui.org) Soon after I began practicing Falun Dafa in 1999, the persecution started and I lost my Fa study environment. As a new practitioner at the time, I did not truly understand the teachings.
I had an illness tribulation, and I thought that I must have been eliminating karma, so I kept enduring the suffering. I did not know about sending righteous thoughts to negate the persecution. My family insisted on sending me to a hospital. I was diagnosed with heart and kidney failure and the doctor prescribed dialysis. I knew that the illness was an illusion, so I refused to go. Every time the illness symptoms worsened my family took me to the hospital. Because I did not have righteous thoughts and could not view the situation as a cultivation test, I could not get out of the cycle.
Reading the Fa with Full Concentration
I knew the importance of studying the Fa. But if I just stayed home, I stayed in bed. I read the Fa in the morning, sent righteous thoughts at noon, and went out to do face-to-face truth clarification in the afternoon. I looked within for my attachments but I just could not find them. The illness symptoms tormented me, but I felt that not being able to identify my attachments was even more difficult. I said to Master, “Please let me find a practitioner who cultivates diligently as I need a good cultivation environment.”
One day while I was waiting for the bus I met a practitioner. We decided to set up a small Fa study group that consists of three practitioners. We sent righteous thoughts at 7 p.m. and read a lecture in Zhuan Falun. Afterwards, we memorized one paragraph together.
While studying the Fa, I discovered that the other two practitioners maintained a slow and calm speed when they read and they seldom made mistakes when they read. When Ms. Wang recited the Fa from memory, she seldom made mistakes.
I saw the amount of effort that practitioners put in to internalize the Fa, so I asked them how to memorize the Fa well.
Ms. Wang told me one of her experiences. She and another practitioner had a conflict. She was upset and just could not get over her feeling of being treated unfairly. She knew something was wrong with herself, but she could not let it go. She thought of memorizing the Fa.
She kept memorizing the Fa until her thoughts calmed down. She continued to memorize the Fa until every word and punctuation mark appeared before her eyes. She kept memorizing until noon when the sun shone straight into her window. She discovered that the sunlight was no longer glaring—instead all that filled her sight was the Fa.
She understood that this universal Dafa that we cultivate requires us to put our hearts into it when we study the Fa. From this, she learned the importance of studying and memorizing the Fa.
After we talked I deeply reflected on myself. In the past when I read the Fa with other practitioners, I always focused on their mispronunciations. So I did not study the Fa with full concentration. My mind sometimes drifted off while the others read.
I told Ms. Wang and the other practitioner that I had difficulty identifying my attachments when I got into conflicts with others. Ms. Wang told me how she improved her xinxing when she met with conflicts. She also pointed out the attachments she saw in me, namely wanting to be stronger than others, competitiveness, hatred and jealousy, and she also kindly suggested how to get rid of these attachments.
I was determined to get rid of these attachments. I was grateful to Master for reminding me through a fellow practitioner. In the past, I also helped other practitioners who had illness tribulations—but I realized that I treated those practitioners with a demanding attitude. I was impatient to get results, so I did not truly help them.
During my cultivation, I never felt bitter no matter how bad my physical condition became. Even in the face of life and death, I did not feel that I was suffering. It is only when I could not identify my attachment that I felt the situation was really torturous. The reason I could not identify them was because I studied too little Fa and I did not truly concentrate when I read the Fa.
Saving People with Compassion
After I began truly focusing when I read the Fa I was also able to seriously put my heart into clarifying the truth. When the pandemic came, I realized that time was tight. I read the Fa in the morning and went out to clarify the truth face-to-face and encouraged people to quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated organizations every afternoon. I took note of what I said and how I behaved. I wanted people to have a positive opinion of Dafa and practitioners.
Once when I was on the bus, and the driver was waiting for the traffic light to change, an older woman thought that the bus had reached the stop so she shouted for the driver to open the door for her. I said, “The bus has not reached the station. We are now waiting for the traffic light. Don’t be anxious, I am also getting off at the next stop.” When the bus reached the stop, I got off the bus first and stretched out my hand to help the woman get down. I said, “The steps are high, please step down slowly.” The woman said, “Why are you so kind?” I said, “My Master asks us to cultivate Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance and to think for others.”
From the woman’s accent I realized that she was not local. She told me that her home was in Chongqing and she was visiting her son. However, due to the pandemic, she could not go home. The pandemic seemed to ease and she was preparing to go home.
When I heard this, I knew that she was waiting to hear the truth. I said, “This pandemic is here to plague man.” She agreed and I said, “This is because the atheist CCP is so bad. People your age lived through the Cultural Revolution and the June 4th massacre. The CCP 'fought with Heaven and the Earth' and killed so many people. People who believe in atheism are not worried about the effects of their actions. Therefore, people nowadays dare to do anything without any consideration for the consequences. Our Chinese history goes back 5000 years. Our ancestors believed in divine culture which talks about Gods being everywhere and watching over people.”
The woman said, “People need to accumulate virtue and do kind deeds!” I said, “You are so kind. Please remember ‘Falun Dafa is Good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is Good’ and you can stay safe and blessed.” She agreed and said that she would remember the phrases.
I encouraged her to quit the CCP. She said that she wore the red scarf when she was a child (as a member of the Young Pioneers) so I helped her to quit. I also asked her to tell her son and family to not believe the CCP’s lies which defame Falun Dafa. I explained that Falun Dafa is practiced in more than one hundred countries and regions and is rooted in Buddhist tradition. If her family understands the truth, they will be blessed and protected by gods. The woman happily thanked me.
While clarifying the truth, I meet all sorts of people but I always feel that Master is watching over me.
One day I was very tired from walking, but I noticed a vegetable seller. I thought I would talk to him quickly so that I could go home and rest. I felt that he was not well educated and would be easy to clarify the truth to. So I asked him if he joined the Young Pioneers when he was a child. I did not expect him to immediately start shouting and scolding. I said, “It is for your own good that I ask you to quit the Young Pioneers. It will help you to stay safe and not be implicated for the CCP’s crimes.” He scolded me even more fiercely and threatened to call the police. A middle-aged man appeared from nowhere and stopped him. The man also signaled me with his eyes to get away quickly. The vegetable seller saw that I was about to leave and once again shouted to stop me from leaving. The middle-aged man kept stopping him and I quickly left.
Afterwards, I thought about what happened. It was such a cold day, how did that middle-aged man appear in the nick of time? I felt this was arranged by Master who watches over his disciples. Thank you Master! I made you worry again. I found that I had the attachment to hurrying for quick results, seeking comfort and looking down on others. I thought that stall sellers did not receive much education so it was easier to clarify the truth to them. When he scolded me, I even argued. If it wasn’t for Master’s protection, I do not know what would have happened. I try my best to cultivate away these attachments and continue to clarify the truth as we cannot stop saving sentient beings.
One day, while I was walking home, I saw a man clearing snow on the road. I said, “This year the snow is really heavy and the roads are icy. One of my neighbors fell and fractured his bones.” He said, “Yes! That’s why I clear the snow so that others do not fall.” I said, “You are very kind. I thought you are from the property management company and that’s why you were clearing the snow! Nowadays, it is rare to meet someone like you who can think of others.” He said, “People should have compassion.”
I started to clarify the truth to him and said, “The CCP killed university students in 1989 and began persecuting Falun Dafa in 1999. Falun Dafa teaches people to be good based on the tenets of Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance and talks about accumulating virtues and doing kind deeds.”
I said, “You are a kind person. A kind person will be able to hear the message that brings blessings. Please remember ‘Falun Dafa is Good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is Good’ and quit the CCP organizations that you joined. When disasters come, you will be safe and blessed.” The man said, “Okay, I quit.” I said, “Please tell your friends and family so that they can all understand the truth and obtain safety and blessings. Ask them to recite the phrases so that they can be watched over by the Gods all the time.” The man thanked me and I bid him goodbye.
Every day when I go out to clarify the truth, it feels like I am wandering around like a monk. Wherever I go, I clarify the truth. I never know how far I walk. In winter, it’s so cold that my back hurts. In summer the sun shines so brightly that sunspots appear on my face and my clothes are drenched in sweat. Sometimes, it rains heavily and my shoes are soaked. However, when I see rows and rows of names of people who have agreed to quit the CCP I feel really happy.
On World Falun Dafa Day I said to Master, “I want to save more people so they can stay far away from disasters.” That day, Master kept bringing people to me and they all agreed to quit the CCP.
There are no words that can express my gratitude to Master. Thank you Master for your benevolent salvation. I can only study the Fa more, study the Fa well, correct myself, fulfill my prehistoric vows and save more people.
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Category: Improving Oneself