(Minghui.org) I began to practice Falun Dafa on the 17th day after the Chinese New Year in 1998—a day I will never forget. When I first heard Master’s Fa, I wished I heard it earlier. I went to the group practice site every day to read the Fa and do the exercises, rain or shine. I had illnesses including stomach diseases, cervical spondylosis, and rheumatism for many years. After I began practicing Falun Dafa, they were resolved in less than two months. I didn’t know that Dafa could eliminate diseases. I just felt that Falun Dafa was so good and teaches people to become better. I just really liked to listen to the teachings.
My life was happy and fulfilling. I was like a lost child who found a home. I was so grateful to Master for purifying both my body and mind, as I went from being a selfish and greedy person to a kind person who did not compete with others.
Former Chinese Communist Party (CCP) head Jiang Zemin started persecuting Falun Dafa in July, 1999. Our group practice site could no longer continue, and so I practiced at home. My family members were poisoned by the CCP’s propaganda on TV and pressured me to stop. The police often came to search my home and harass me. My other relatives and friends who did not know the truth also came to talk to me. It really felt like the sky was collapsing on me. However, my heart was firm, and no matter what happened, I would never leave Dafa. I knew that Dafa is the most righteous, and Master is great. I knew that we did not do anything wrong in practicing Dafa.
Validating the Fa
At that time, I grew vegetables and sold them. I told the villagers about my experience of benefiting from practicing Falun Dafa, how Master taught us to be good people according to Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, and how Dafa is beneficial to the people. I talked about it almost everywhere I went.
When I went to a neighboring village to sell vegetables, a group of elderly gentlemen were repeating the lies they heard on TV about Falun Dafa. I patiently told them about my experience. “After I started practicing,” I explained, “I was more considerate of the elders in my family. I often think of my parents-in-law and bring them delicious food. I help them with living and medical expenses every year, and I never complain about it.” All seniors appreciate kindhearted daughters-in-law, and what I told them touched their hearts. When I then told them that kind people like us are being persecuted, they understood and realized that what they saw on TV was all lies.
In 2001, the CCP staged the “Tiananmen Self-Immolation Incident.” This made it even more difficult for us to clarify the truth. Several practitioners in our village began to distribute truth-clarifying materials. After we covered all the villages in our township, we distributed the information in the neighboring counties.
One winter, another practitioner and I walked twelve miles to distribute the materials. We left home as soon as the sun set, each carrying a large bag of materials. We started to distribute after about six miles from home, village by village. We usually started at the perimeter and distributed to the entire village. Some villages were large and had several streets, so we would separate and meet at the entrance of the next village. We didn’t talk, but we kept reminding each other to send forth righteous thoughts. After we finished distributing materials, we felt relieved. We’d distributed materials to thirteen villages.
On our way back, we saw people reading the materials and we were so happy! It was almost dawn and our heads and eyelashes were covered with frost. We know Master protected us. All we needed to do was just walk.
Eliminating the Desire for Profit
In 2010, I had a wish that I could do street vending in the market, as I would be able to conveniently clarify the truth while selling goods. Master arranged it for me, and I rented a spot. It was difficult to sell goods at the beginning. Many sellers used inappropriate ways to compete. They usually bullied the newcomers and tried to force them out of business. If I didn’t practice Falun Dafa, which helped me stay calm and compassionate, I wouldn’t have been able to continue.
Once, the woman next to my spot who sold cloth said that her son had a child and she needed to care for the child, and wanted to rent me her spot. She said, “I’ll be gone for seven months, so it would be 700 yuan.” I agreed and gave her the money. However, she came back after only four months. She brought a lot of goods and said to me, “I’m still selling at my original spot.” I said, “There are still three months to go, so you should reimburse me 300 yuan.” She said, “I won’t return a penny. This is my place. We didn’t have a contract. You can complain to whoever you want.”
After returning home, I thought about it. “What should I do? Won’t the people in the market laugh at me? I have a lot of goods; where should I put them?” Just then, I remembered Master’s teaching,
“Isn’t it you who suffers knowingly? Isn’t it your Main Soul that sacrifices? As to what you have lost among everyday people, haven’t you knowingly lost it? Then this gong should belong to you, as whoever loses, gains. Therefore, this is why our school does not avoid cultivating in this complicated environment of everyday people.” (Lecture Eight, Zhuan Falun)
I thought that it must be a test for me to get rid of my desire for profit and my competitive mentality. I tried to put my mind at ease, and I decided to arrive later the next day, so that she could finish placing her goods before I arrived. The next day, I saw that she indeed finished. She occupied three out of the four meters that she rented me, leaving me one meter. I didn’t say anything. When her husband arrived, he was a little embarrassed and offered to take us to eat somewhere. I just told him it wasn’t necessary.
A few days later, a thunderstorm suddenly came up. I collected my goods as soon as I could. The woman’s husband did not come that day. Her goods were cotton, cloth, floral fabric, and pillows, which were all easily damaged by water. I hurriedly helped her cover up her goods, and both of us were soaked. She said, “Thank you! I would have suffered a great loss without your help.” I said, “You are welcome. Falun Dafa’s Master taught us to be good people and to always help others.” If I hadn’t practiced Falun Dafa, I wouldn’t have been able to do this.
Eliminating My Competitive Mentality
One day in the summer of 2022, my son said, “Mom, I’m going to the market to sell melons tomorrow. Please leave me two meters of space.” I said okay.
My son got a cart of melons early in the morning. After he put them out on the ground, people began to come to the market to buy goods. Just then, the woman who sold local greenhouse melons came over, pointed at my son, and started to curse, “You brought so many melons. Are you trying to compete with us?” My son said, “You sell yours and I’ll sell mine.” But she kept cursing. My son stayed calm and didn’t say anything. I hurried over to tell her that we would not lower our price to compete with her.
Her mother and I had been in the market for many years and got along well. I often helped bring vegetables to her family. Her mother was also there, but this woman would not listen to anyone and continued cursing. After a while, she brought buckets full of melons and placed them around our spot. I said to my son, “Let’s just stay quiet.” Fortunately, my son had listened to Master’s teachings when he was young, so he stayed calm and didn’t argue.
The woman started selling her melons. She said loudly that our melons were stinky and her melons were great. Whenever someone stood in front of our melons, she would come to interrupt. We sold less than 2 buckets of melons out of the 30 buckets my son brought. My son wanted to go to other places to sell but there were cars everywhere and it was impossible to leave. When it was about 10 a.m., my son was finally able to get out and he went to sell the melons in the countryside. The woman’s melons sold very well, and she was very proud. Just when my son left the market, she stood one meter away from me and proudly showed off her ability to the people in the market, “I made him unable to sell anything! They will all rot!” She kept saying more unpleasant things.
I was about to say something, but I immediately remembered Master’s newly published poem in Hong Yin VI, “The superior man meets adversity head-on with a smile.” I used the Fa principles to require this of myself. I continued to silently recite Master’s poem, and was able to pass the tribulation.
After the woman left, many other sellers who were friends with me said, “Why are you afraid of her? Why did you and your son stay silent? When she placed the buckets in front of your spot, why didn’t you kick them away? She was bullying you so much! If it were me, there is no way I would let her do that!” Some gave me a thumbs up and said, “You are really good. I wouldn’t be able to do that.” I said, “Falun Dafa’s Master taught us to be truthful, compassionate, and forbearing, and to be good people. So I would not argue or fight with her.”
When I went home for lunch, my son and daughter-in-law both came back as well. I said, “You did great today. You were right to not argue with that woman. She scolded us all morning. The virtue she gave us couldn’t even fit in the cart.” My son said, “The melons sold well in the countryside today. I went to two or three villages and sold more than half of them already. There are only a few buckets left. I estimated that I could earn 1,400 yuan from this cart today. I knew that it was Master who helped us and our melons wouldn’t rot. Thank you, Master!
Eliminating Jealousy
The woman across the street from me sold the same goods as I. She and her husband had been doing this for many years. More people would come to me because I only sold genuine goods and I never cheated people on prices. Most of my customers were people who had bought things from me in the past. I often clarified the truth to my customers and people all knew I practice Dafa and did not lie. I also gave elderly customers discounts.
Once, a disabled woman stopped by with her husband. The woman wanted to buy a pair of trousers, but her husband said they didn’t have the money for it. The woman wept. I took a pair of trousers and said, “Take them and no need to pay.” The woman took the trousers and looked at her husband. Her husband told me, “No, I will definitely pay you when I have money in a few days.” When he returned to reimburse me, I didn’t want to take it. He insisted and then I just took the cost that I paid for the trousers. When people wanted to exchange goods, no matter how long it had been, I always allowed it, in order to satisfy them. As a result, I had more and more customers because of my honesty.
The woman across the street saw that there were many more people on my side, so she tried to get more people to her side. When someone was buying from me, and she shouted loudly, “Come here, come here!” She then gestured to my customer to go to her side. My husband found out and said, “If she does that again, you should scold her.” I thought to myself, “I can’t scold people. I am a Falun Dafa practitioner. If she does it again, I will pretend I didn’t see it. If she sells more, I will be happy for her. I know this is happening to get rid of my jealousy. I will get what I’m entitled to.”
Over the years, each step I took was filled with Master’s painstaking effort and care. We must listen to Master, do the three things well, cultivate diligently, and be Master’s true disciples.
(Selected submission in celebration of World Falun Dafa Day on Minghui.org)
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