Cherishing Cultivation Opportunities

(Minghui.org) I get emotional when I look back at my twenty-plus-year cultivation journey. Thanks to our benevolent Master Li (Falun Dafa’s founder), who takes care of me, I was able to weather the difficulties. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to repay Master for all the hardships he’s borne for me. All I can do is to cultivate as diligently as when I just started, not relax in cultivation, be strict with myself, and walk well the last leg of our cultivation path.

I started to practice Falun Dafa in 1997. I studied the Fa with my whole heart. I understood that Master spared no effort to save me from worldly confusion. I seldom attended the group Fa study because I didn’t have time due to my work. I cultivated by myself and I used every spare minute to read the Fa. Because I was respectful towards Master and Dafa, the Fa principles came into my mind and I remembered them. I occasionally attended group Fa study and was moved by the practitioners’ sharing.

Master purified my body at the beginning of my cultivation, and I soon became illness-free and my body felt light and comfortable. I wasn’t tired, instead, I felt energetic. My many illnesses disappeared soon after I started cultivation. One day on my way back home from the practice site, I felt an energy current flow from the top of my head to the soles of my feet. I knew Master was purifying my body. I was very touched and thanked Master.

I was transformed physically and mentally after I started practicing Falun Dafa. I was always happy and smiled. When my coworkers asked why I was so happy, I told them that I obtained the greatest Fa. Soon, they all knew that I practiced Falun Dafa. I applied the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance in my daily life and constantly improved my xinxing.

I was an accounting clerk in a shopping mall. Everyone knows that employees in this position get additional benefits. For example, when the mall gave the employees free things, I had first choice of the best items. One day the employees were given clothes. When a coworker asked why mine was better than hers, I reminded myself that I was a practitioner. I told her that we could draw straws to decide who should have my clothes. The other workers said that I should have it, but I insisted. I had just started practicing Falun Dafa but I knew this was a cultivation test. I was grateful to that colleague from the bottom of my heart because she helped me improve my xinxing.

Validating the Fa

In July 1999 the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched the brutal persecution against kind people who practiced Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. The police department, the local police station, and the work unit colluded and used malicious means to persecute Falun Dafa practitioners. We were monitored, dismissed from our jobs, fined, arrested, brainwashed and harassed. I was not afraid. I practiced the exercises and studied the Fa as usual. I knew deep down in my heart that Master and Falun Dafa were righteous. Nothing could stop me from practicing.

I wondered if the government made a mistake. I planned to go to Beijing to appeal for justice for Falun Dafa but my company monitored me. They threatened to fire me and tried to force me to stop practicing. My coworkers were worried about me and tried to protect me because they knew I had to take care of my son. Some tried to persuade me to stop practicing and said I should think of my son. I said, “Thank you for your concern. I won’t have problems. Our Master teaches us to be good people. What I’m doing is not wrong. Please don’t worry about me.” One day the managers warned me that I’d be summoned to the office. I thanked them.

Soon I was notified to go to the office. I was calm and not afraid. I thought to myself: “Master is good. Falun Dafa is good. Master is righteous. Falun Dafa is righteous. I will tell them the truth.”

Director Lu was in charge of “handling” this and asked me if I practiced Falun Dafa. I said yes. He told me not to practice because the government didn’t allow it. I said, “The government knows how good Falun Dafa is. It tells lies to deceive people.” He asked me to talk about it in detail.

I said, “Our Master asks us to be good people. Is that wrong? We comply with the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, be considerate, and don’t do bad things. Is that wrong? Falun Dafa practitioners don’t get involved in politics. Is that wrong?” He asked, “Is it true?” I said yes. He told me he had no more questions and I could leave.

Several days later Lu asked me again if I still practiced Falun Dafa. I told him that I practiced Falun Dafa after work and that what I did on my own time was beyond his jurisdiction. He asked me to sign a statement. I refused. When he couldn’t persuade me to sign it, he left. He came back and told me to go to the general manager’s office.

The general manager said, “Your coworkers and managers say that you are very good. Why do you practice this thing? The government doesn’t allow it so you’d better stop. We’re telling you for your own good. You’ve been given the ‘Advanced Worker’ every year. Please don’t damage that image, or you will lose your job. You just sign the statement to give up your practice. It’s simple.” I told him that I wouldn’t sign it and I would continue practicing. He was upset and jumped out of his chair. He pounded the table and shouted, “You must sign it even if you don’t want to. I am the general manager!”

I calmly looked at him. I smiled and said, “Please don’t be angry. Sit down and we can chat. Can you point out which company rule I broke? Which law did I violate? Before I practiced Falun Dafa, I chased after fame and self-interest. After I began practicing, I followed Falun Dafa’s principles and became a good person. I do my job well and am considerate. I no longer pursue personal interests or fame. Please point out anything I didn’t do well.”

He was silent after I finished. He quietly asked me to leave. I didn’t know that I was validating the Fa at that time. I only knew that Falun Dafa and Master are the best and most righteous and I was not wrong. I would definitely continue practicing Falun Dafa and nobody could change my mind.

The CCP staged the Tiananmen self-immolation incident in 2001. My company harassed me even more. But I made up my mind that no matter what the situation was, I would not stop practicing. I wrote letters and gave truth-clarification materials to the leaders in my company.

One day the general manager forced us to write so that he could check our handwriting. He asked me if I wrote the letter. I said, “Regardless of who wrote it, he must have a predestined relationship with you. He is either your relative or your friend. He wrote it for your sake. Please read it and you will benefit from it. It will not harm you.” He said I must have written it. I said, “You can check the handwriting and then you will know who wrote it. But the most important thing is that the letter will not harm you.” At the time I was really thinking of him and I wished him well. He didn’t do anything further regarding this letter.

After a while, the general manager wanted to talk to me again. I felt uncomfortable this time. I didn’t have fear at all previously when he asked me to see him and felt happy instead. What did he want? Why did he repeatedly insist on talking to me? This time I must have a serious talk with him.

I asked him why he called me in again. He said that it was about Falun Dafa and asked me to hand in my books. I said, “No. The book is my treasure. I’ve told you about Falun Dafa so many times. You also read the material I gave you.”

He told me that his wife read the book and said it was not good. I knew he was talking against his conscience. I must let him know this time not to harass me and do bad things again. I said, “A person’s fortune is accumulated during their reincarnations. Good is rewarded and evil is punished. We have nearly 300 people in our company. Do you think you were given the general manager’s position because you are capable? It’s because you accumulated De (virtue) and have been blessed for that.”

He agreed, “I believe it.” I then said, “Master teaches practitioners to be good. If everyone is good and doesn’t do bad things, society will stabilize and people will live happily. If your employees practice Falun Dafa and become good people according to Falun Dafa’s requirements, they will do their jobs well. The company will benefit. Will you still have to worry?”

Master opened up my wisdom, and I spoke fluently. He quietly listened. I knew from the Fa that compassion and dignity coexist. Practitioners can rectify anything unrighteous. I said to him seriously, “You should stop bothering me. You should not delay me for selling goods for the shopping mall or preventing me from making profit for the company. You should not make my colleagues work extra hours because of my absence.” He didn’t disagree.

The company hasn’t harassed me since then after I had reinforced my determination to practice Falun Dafa.

Remembering My Mission

As I study the Fa more, I understand that practitioners in the Fa-rectification period have great responsibilities. I am determined that I will follow the Fa and do the three things Master requires us to do. I used this opportunity and reached out to many people. I gave them Shen Yun DVDs and told them that this DVD was a show promoting China’s 5000-year history. It can also rectify people’s hearts and improve their morality and it was welcomed worldwide, and overseas Chinese were proud of it. Most clients liked it and thanked me.

Our shopping mall was renovated one year ago. I worked in a department store temporarily. The store had the owners changed three times who were all from the southern part of China. I only speak a dialect and can’t speak Mandarin, so it was difficult for me to communicate with them. I decided to learn Mandarin. During Fa study, other practitioners helped correct my pronunciation. I put my heart into learning. Soon I could speak Mandarin and talk to the owners. They praised me for my pronunciation. I understood that Master arranged for people from the Southern part of China to come to learn the truth and be saved.

I told them that Falun Dafa taught people to be good and that the CCP persecuted about 80 million people to death and harvested organs from living Falun Dafa practitioners for profit. When we were not busy, they came to talk to me about the facts of Falun Dafa. They liked to listen to me. One owner knew the truth and withdrew from the CCP and its affiliated organizations. He said, “You speak well. You are very kind and do a good job. I will give you a pay rise.”

When one owner learned the truth, he left the department store with his close employees. Then another owner came with another group of people. Within the two years, three groups of people came. I clarified the truth to them.

One day a previous colleague who I hadn’t seen for a long time came to buy bread. I clarified the truth to him and gave him a Shen Yun DVD. A lady beside him asked for a DVD too. I gave her one. She said with a big smile, “You are so kind.” She thanked me and left happily.

When the shopping mall finished renovation, I returned to work there. The clients normally would ask if there was any gift for them after they purchased something. I always gave them Shen Yun DVDs and said, “This DVD is about Shen Yun Performing Arts, which is a world-class show. There are many classical stories from various dynasties in China. The artists toured the five continents.” They were all very happy and thanked me.

So I took the opportunity of my position to clarify the truth to them. According to their different backgrounds, I gave them Shen Yun DVDs and different kinds of materials and helped them withdraw from the CCP and its affiliated organizations. I always told them to remember “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good” and they would avoid being implicated if they quit the CCP.

A woman in her sixties came to buy eggs. Suddenly she felt sick. Her face became pale. I helped her sit down. When she vomited I gave her a plastic bag. She said she didn’t have such symptoms before. I knew that she came to listen to the truth.

I asked her where she was from. She said she was from the Northeast and came to visit her relative. She learned about Falun Dafa. I told her to repeat “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.” When she asked if it worked I told her it would work if she repeated it sincerely. She said she heard that people were withdrawing from the CCP but didn’t understand why it mattered, so I explained. She agreed to withdraw from the CCP and its affiliated organizations and told me her name. Then she stood up and said she was fine. She repeatedly thanked me and said that I was very kind to help her. I said, “You come to learn the truth. Please thank our Master who told us to clarify the truth to people.” She said, “Yes, thank your Master!”

Master requires us to improve and elevate as a group. The practitioners in our Fa study group cooperated with each other and distributed truth-clarification materials to every corner of the city, and to thousands of households. Before we went to the villages to distribute the materials, we asked Master to strengthen us. Whether it was cold winter or hot summer, rain or shine, no matter how far we walked, we didn’t feel tired. Our hearts were filled with hope. We delivered the truth-clarification materials to every villager with smiles and delivered the Dafa blessings to tens of thousands of households.

Thank you Master for your compassion and salvation!