(Minghui.org) I am 70 years old and have benefited tremendously since I took up the practice of Falun Dafa in 1997. Basking in the immense grace of the Fa, I am healthy and happy. I no longer argue with my husband over small things and just let him have his way when conflicts arise. Compared to my old self, I am now more willing to help others.
I worked at a hotel’s customer service desk in 1998. A guest approached me one day and asked for a discount on her room. She had traveled from Northeast China to Beijing seeking medical treatment and needed to stay longer than expected due to a complication. Although I didn’t have the authority to lower the rates, I was very sympathetic of her situation. I took out my wallet and gave her some money to treat her and her family to a nice meal. She was moved and thanked me. I told her I was happy to help because I practice Falun Dafa. I didn’t exactly know what validating the Fa was about, but I wanted to tell everyone that Falun Dafa is good.
Targeted for My Belief
The Communist regime in China couldn’t tolerate a spiritual practice that teaches people to be good. Falun Dafa, commonly known as Falun Gong in China, was banned by the government the following year and a nationwide persecution campaign against the practice was launched. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) fabricated lies, slandered and smeared Dafa. Propaganda was broadcast on state-run media outlets in full force. When some hotel guests said disrespectful things about Master Li (the founder of Falun Dafa) and Dafa, I told them it was not true. I explained why the propaganda was full of lies and asked that they don’t say those things anymore. They hung their heads and fell silent.
In the summer of 2000, a customer told me he saw droves of Falun Gong practitioners from out of town petitioning at Tiananmen Square. She said they shouted something before the police chased after them. I too wanted to petition the government for my right to freely practice my belief. I went to Tiananmen Square in late July where I met some practitioners from out of town. We went back to my home and made a banner that said “Falun Dafa is good.” Back at Tiananmen Square, we raised the banner and shouted, “Falun Dafa is good! Restore Master’s reputation!”
I was arrested by the police that day and later given one year of forced labor. After being released, I was fired from my job. Officers from the local police station and the Residents’ Committee monitored me around the clock and frequently harassed me at home. I was arrested again in January 2002 and put through intense brainwashing. It was such a dark time—I lived in constant fear and anxiety, which took a toll on me. I left town to avoid the never-ending harassment and looming arrests.
I bought a second apartment unit in 2003 far away from the district where I was registered as a resident. I was so naive and thought the police wouldn’t be able to find me this way. Before the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, the police arrested many local practitioners to prevent them from petitioning the government during the international sports events.
The police visited my former supervisor who sent a co-worker to take them to my husband’s workplace. They were after me and trying to track me down. At the last minute, my supervisor came to realize the police’ plan and stopped cooperating with them. For protecting a Dafa practitioner, this supervisor received a blessing later on and was promoted to bureau director. Master eliminated a huge tribulation for me.
Predestined to Run a Materials Production Site
A practitioner once came to a group Fa study at my new apartment and mentioned, “Your neighborhood is nice and quiet, surrounded by beautiful nature. It is ideal for a truth-clarification materials production site.” I didn’t think much of it at the time. To be honest, I was still very much traumatized from being arrested multiple times and put through brainwashing and forced labor.
Soon, two production sites in the area were raided. My name was mentioned during the interrogation in both cases and the police were after me. I had to go on the run again. Although the police never found me, I was discouraged and had serious doubts about my cultivation state. I didn’t give the slightest consideration to running a materials production site.
Fast forward to 2010, I moved back to my apartment and joined a local Fa study group. The practitioners and I studied the Fa, did the exercises and clarified the truth together. Being among other practitioners helped strengthen my righteous thoughts. I gradually opened up to the idea of running a materials production site at home.
I asked a trusted practitioner for her opinion and she was very supportive. I felt more confident and started planning and purchasing supplies. I’d worked as a typesetter at a design house for eight years, so I am familiar with the process of page setting, printing, and binding. I’d also learned how to use a computer as a hotel customer service representative, where all bookings were processed electronically. Master equipped me with all the skill sets needed for operating a materials production site, and therefore, it has been smooth sailing from day one.
Making High Quality Truth-Clarification Materials
The process of operating a materials production site is also a process of cultivating and improving myself. I made quick breakthroughs in my cultivation and consistently elevated to new levels. Such changes were noticeable to other practitioners. “How come you seem different from before,” they often asked me. I told them, “I shift to a different state of mind when making fliers and booklets.”
I have a strong sense of duty and an awareness of my responsibilities to the Fa. The materials that I produce have to be visually pleasing and neat to be effective in saving sentient beings—there is no other way around it as far as I’m concerned. I go through a strict quality control process to make sure all booklets are printed and bound correctly. Another practitioner joins me every night to send righteous thoughts before we go out to distribute the materials.
There used to be another materials production site in the area. One time, a batch of two-sided single page fliers were printed incorrectly; with the back side upside down. However, the fliers were still distributed with such a major error. The coordinator told me about this so I visited the practitioner in charge. I told him, “The fliers were printed incorrectly. We can’t distribute them like this. How are people going read them?” He brushed me off, “Look, like this. Just flip it when you get to the back. You can still read it. It’s all the same.” I suggested he take this matter more seriously but he insisted it was fine. Shortly after that, this practitioner was reported to the police and arrested. He was given two years of forced labor. It was a serious lesson for all of us.
Code of Conduct When Interacting with the Opposite Sex
When I used to deliver materials to the local coordinator, I often communicated with him to find out the needs of the local practitioners so as to adjust my production accordingly. After a while, the coordinator’s wife, also a practitioner, grew unhappy with him. She asked why he seemed happy chatting with me and not her. She accused him of preferring me over her and he didn’t like her tone of voice—the two of them fought over this often.
When I heard about this I told the coordinator’s wife that Master said,
“Dafa disciples: I said long ago that sexual attraction and desire are a fatal roadblock that a cultivator absolutely must overcome.” (“Fa Teaching Given at the 2004 Western U.S. Fa Conference,” Collected Teachings Given Around the World Volume V)
By quoting Master’s Fa teaching, I wanted to make clear to her that a true practitioner would not have such attachments to lust and desire—he or she would not even harbor such a thought. But, she held on to her belief and continued to find fault with her husband.
I turned to other practitioners for advice. I didn’t think I had the attachment to lust, and I felt that there was no attraction between me and the coordinator whatsoever. I talked to and treated everybody the same way and had nothing to hide. I acted in an upright and dignified manner and my heart was pure. “What have I done that is not aligned with the Fa?” I looked inward to examine myself, “Is it the demon of lust in my dimensional field that was responsible for this tribulation?”
I read an article on the Minghui website that suggests practitioners keep an appropriate distance from the opposite sex. I realized that I had not been strict with myself in this regard. I had been careless when interacting with male practitioners. Although I didn’t do anything out of line, nor harbored any inappropriate thoughts, I should have stayed out of the coordinator and his wife’s conflict. I decided to stop going to their house and no longer supplied them with materials.
In ancient times, a man and a woman wouldn’t face each other nor make direct eye contact when talking. The code of conduct regarding interactions with the opposite sex was very strict. As cultivators, we strive to restore traditional culture and values, and therefore should hold ourselves to even higher standards. The higher the level in which we cultivate, the more strict we should be with ourselves. In hindsight, I feel ashamed that I didn’t even measure up to traditional values, let alone the standards of the Fa. I need to cultivate more diligently and elevate myself to higher levels.
The coordinator and his wife started getting truth-clarification materials from another production site even though it was farther away. A couple of years later, the coordinator’s wife had serious sickness karma that lasted several years. She was hospitalized multiple times but didn’t seem to get better. After numerous treatments, she still relied on an oxygen machine to breathe. I thought, “All practitioners are part of one body. I need to pay her a visit—maybe I can help her.”
The coordinator’s wife and I had a long deep conversation during my visit. She told me she felt much better afterwards. I asked the couple, “How about a couple of other practitioners and I will come over to study the Fa with you?” They agreed. After a few Fa study sessions, the coordinator’s wife stood up one day and apologized to me in front of the whole group, “I am sorry. It was all my husband’s fault and had nothing to do with you. Please forgive me and don’t be upset with me. You’re welcome to our home anytime.”
I smiled, “If I were still upset, I wouldn’t be sitting here today, would I? As Dafa practitioners, we cultivate in an upright and dignified manner. It wouldn’t do if even the slightest thought of ours is not righteous, especially when running a production site. We have to live up to higher standards. The attachment to lust is a serious loophole and could easily be exploited by the old forces—they would absolutely not let you get away with it. If my actions and thoughts are not righteous, I wouldn’t have lasted this long and still be sitting here today.” All the practitioners smiled at her and were happy for her—she found her attachments and was able to apologize for her mistakes. She was improving.
Fellow Practitioners Protecting the Production Site
Practitioners from all over the country and even overseas filed criminal complaints in 2015 against Jiang Zemin, the former head of the CCP who launched the persecution against Falun Dafa. I helped many local practitioners draft and edit their complaints. After sending them out, soon the practitioners received confirmation that their mail was received by the supreme court.
Two months later, the local police started arresting practitioners who filed a complaint. When I filed mine, I used another practitioner’s address just to be extra careful since I run a production site out of my home. I told the practitioner that if the police came looking for me, just tell them I was a renter. This saved me. The police indeed went to the practitioner’s home looking for me and were told that I had already moved out.
The arrested practitioners were arbitrarily detained and interrogated. When asked who helped them with the complaints and how they printed them out, the practitioners held strong righteous thoughts and didn’t give away any information about the production site. They said they used retail printing shops. I am deeply grateful to all practitioners.
It is a risky business running a truth-clarification materials production site, especially with the persecution being relentless over the past few years. Some local practitioners were arrested while distributing fliers but never revealed the source of the materials. Everybody voluntarily protects the production site. I want to thank you all here—without your righteous thoughts and protection, without Master looking after it, I wouldn’t have been able to keep it going. Many thanks to everybody for your support.
Meeting Local Practitioners’ Needs
The persecution is still rampant in China after more than 20 years. My production site is the only one left within a 10-mile radius—all the other ones has been closed down by the police. I do my best to supply the local practitioners with truth-clarification materials and Dafa books.
When five new Dafa books were published, everybody was eager to get their own copies, which I completely understood. To help me get these books out quicker, some practitioners volunteered to help. However, after spending some time at the shop they found that there wasn’t much they could do as each step involved many details and requires specific and technical skills. They were afraid to make mistakes and waste paper and I didn’t want supplies to go to waste either, so I ended up making all of them. Everyone was waiting to get their copies and I worked from dawn to midnight.
One day, in the middle of printing a file, the laser printer stopped working in the middle of a job. I tried sending a couple more files to the queue. It started back up, only to stop again after printing a few pages. It took me several tries to get all the pages printed. However, putting them in order was such an ordeal. I had all the printouts spread across two tables and just looking at them gave me a headache. What on earth was going on?
A practitioner helped take the laser copier to a repair shop. The technician hooked it up to his computer and said everything was fine after testing it. He suggested that it could be a problem with my operating system. After the practitioner reinstalled the operating system for me, I looked inward and found my impatience and attachment to getting things done quickly. I sent righteous thoughts to eliminate these human notions. I also started going to the local Fa study group regularly and readjusted my mentality. Things have gone much smoother since, and I’ve made more than 150 sets of the new Dafa books.
I also make copies of Zhuan Falun, the main book of Falun Dafa, regularly. Some practitioners lost their books during police searches and when released from prison or detention, they needed new books. The practitioners seem to like it better when I hand bind the books with thread because the books lie flat when opened and it’s easier to read the characters closer to the spine. When one binds with stapler, the books don’t stay flat which creates a lot of inconvenience. By popular demand, I now hand bind almost all Zhuan Falun books.
I keep the production of truth-clarification materials going during the day and bind books when I have time at night. Seeing that I work long hours, a practitioner told me, “It’s too much work for you to hand bind all the books. Why don’t you just use a stapler?” I smiled, “It’s easier to read a hand bound book. It’s not that bad. I am fine.” I am glad I can help when local practitioners need copies of Zhuan Falun or other Dafa books. I feel that I am contributing to their being diligent with studying the Fa and saving sentient beings.
I produce materials according to the needs of local practitioners. Each practitioner has his or her own ideas and style of clarifying the truth. They need different types of materials so each person can choose whatever works best for them and the sentient beings they are predestined to save. I try my best to satisfy everybody’s requests and produce a wide variety and quantity of materials.
Helping Practitioners Get Through Tribulations
When practitioners go through tribulations or sickness karma, they often need encouragement and support from others. This is a great opportunity to help fellow practitioners and improve oneself.
A local practitioner was going through serious sickness karma and asked for my help. I spent the day at her house to study the Fa and send righteous thoughts with her. It was late when I got home and I was exhausted. As soon as I climbed into bed, the practitioner’s husband knocked on my door. My husband came into the bedroom a couple minutes later and said, “Hurry, get up. He drove as fast as he could to get here. She is in critical condition.” I quickly got up and left with the husband. In the car, their daughter who was 14 or 15 years old said to me, “Ma’am. We’re sorry to bother you so late.” I smiled, “I’m fine. But I appreciate your consideration.”
Once at the practitioner’s home, I saw her mother, also a practitioner, pressing hard with both hands on the practitioner’s chest. The practitioner made a very strange whimpering sound which I can’t even describe. I told her, “Hurry. Ask Master for help.” Her mother said, “She can’t even talk right now.” I said, “Take a small sip of water, that may help.” The practitioner had a little bit of water and spat out a short plea, one character at a time.
I sat down and started sending righteous thoughts. Twenty minutes later, she was much better. She told me that countless CCP red guards from another dimension came to claim her life. I told her to recite the righteous thoughts formula and eliminate all evil. I sat by her side and strengthened her righteous thoughts as well. Another 15 minutes later, the red guards were gone and she was in a much more stable condition. Her mother thanked me and suggested I go home and rest but I told her I would rather stay and continue to send righteous thoughts.
The next morning, the practitioner sat up while chatting with me and seemed completely normal. Her husband was surprised, “Wow. She is fine now.” He was relieved and went to work. I stayed with her for the next two days. We studied the Fa and sent righteous thoughts together with her mother.
When going through serious sickness karma, practitioners could really use some help and support from fellow practitioners to strengthen their righteous thoughts. Someone once told me, “When other practitioners show up [while I go through sickness karma], even when they just sit there without saying anything, I instantly feel better.” My understanding is that when practitioners get together, our positive energy forms an enormous field that in itself is tremendously beneficial to the practitioner going through sickness karma.
Conclusion
Fa-rectification is nearing its end. Master recently published two articles in a row, one on August 31 and one on September 1, 2023. In “Stay Out of Danger,” Master said,
“Your Teacher owes you nothing. While saving you, your Teacher is also bearing sins and karma for you, and is trying everything to offset them. The fact is you owe your Teacher.” (“Stay Out of Danger”)
When I read this passage, tears filled my eyes. How can we ever repay Master? Our ever so compassionate Master endures the karma that we are not even aware of. Only when we cultivate ourselves diligently, save more sentient beings, and fulfill our historical vows, can we follow Master to our true homes.
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