(Shared at 2001 New York Conference)
I had been battling with sickness before I obtained the Fa. In order to have my problems diagnosed accurately, I went through more than a dozen famous hospitals in Nanjing and Shanghai. But, every hospital diagnosed my problem as a "terminal disease."
With little hope, I learned qigong, four different kinds in total. They did improve my health a little, but could not completely cure my problem. Somehow, I was still hopeful in this desperate situation. I felt I was waiting for something.
On June 27, 1997, my husband and I took a walk in a park to see if we could find what we were looking for. Yes, we saw a yellow banner of Falun Gong. We immediately learned the movements. Three days later, I stopped all my medication. From that day on, I started my journey of cultivation practice.
Through exercising and studying of the Fa, a short while later, the karma elimination began. It was really like everything inside of me was being turned upside down. During those ten days, I couldn't eat, get out of bed, or walk. I coughed and vomited as if all my internal organs were being shaken up. Days later, things returned to normal. Since then, I have become much stronger. Together with fellow practitioners, we promoted the Fa to others and practiced exercises. My husband and I came to the United States to visit relatives in February of 1999. In March, we were very fortunate to see Master.
On one of the Sunday mornings in late Fall last year, outside the exercise site, I was crossing the road, going toward the home of our assistant to get the cassette player so we could play the exercise music. Just as I reached the middle of the road, I felt as though I had been hit by an object on the hip. I shot out like a ball, and then felt on the ground. I automatically got up and saw a car stop in front of me. A Westerner came out of the car toward me looking very frightened. I then realized that I had been hit by a car. But I felt fine.
The practitioners who were still at the practice site heard the accident and came toward us also. A practitioner told me: she clearly saw that the car wheel went over my foot. But I only sensed a little discomfort in my foot when standing up, nothing more. The driver was very nervous. I said to my husband, "I'm ok. Let the car go." I went back to the practice site with the others to exercise and study the Fa.
Around noontime, I felt my foot swelling up quite big. I wasn't able to stand up anymore, nor was I able to walk. My husband helped me get home. I thought, "If without the protection from Master's Fashen, how would it have been possible for me to not feel any pain when I was knocked down by the car and shot out like a ball? I didn't feel anything when the car went over my foot, either." After a few days, I was able to walk. The incidents described in Master's Fa lectures happened to me. It was a xinxing test for me. So, no matter how painful it felt in my foot during walking, I always managed to bear it without disclosing it.
On some occasions when I was promoting the Fa in front of a library, the pain in my foot would suddenly hit. I couldn't sit down. In order not to let others know, I stood on the steps next to the staircase and press the painful spot against the staircase. My husband noticed what I was doing and asked me to go home. I insisted on going home with him only after the activities were over. I remembered Master's words: "The great Fa is boundless. Cultivating it depends entirely on your heart. As to how high your cultivation level can reach, it all depends on your endurance and your ability to bear hardships." (Zhuan Falun) I encouraged myself with Master's words. Regardless of spreading the Fa at exhibitions or in front of the Chinese Consulate, or participating in parades, even though I was still in the painful karma elimination period, I tried my best to be part of the activities and not to be separated from the group.
Last July, in order to spread the Fa and clarify the truth to the public, we practitioners in Flushing set up a Fa-promotion site in front of the library. As a Dafa particle, I stepped out of my home and joined the others to clarify the truth. We handed Dafa flyers into people's hands, and started to make contact with people of different ways of thinking. During the process of clarifying the truth, and in the complicated environment, I ran into people who got angry and scolded at me. There were moments when I was surrounded and scolded. They were true tests for my xinxing. Whether I could handle them with sincerity and compassion when faced with insulting comments and accusation was a true test for my understanding of the Fa. So I required of myself to spend more time studying the Fa, and I carefully read over the contents of all the Dafa materials. When others inquired about Dafa, I would do my best to introduce them to read the materials I had in hand. I felt it was very effective that way.
Those who had some benevolent thoughts left in their hearts always left with some materials in their hands. As I continuously improved my xinxing, I could deal with those who had ulterior motives with calm and sincerity. At those moments, I truly felt that our benevolent Master wanted every practitioner to become a genuine enlightened being to offer salvation to people. I realized that spreading the Fa and clarifying the truth is not only an opportunity to offer salvation to people but also the best time to upgrade our xinxing. So, we are determined to maintain this Fa-promotion site in Flushing over the long term.
In the past, we used to see how one individual who came over to slander us would do damaging things: he would take away all the materials we had placed outside and put them in his plastic bag. But now, we see him pass by our site and always stop for a short while, read what we put out, and then leave. I don't know what was on his mind, but there have been more and more people wanting to learn about Falun Dafa. Sometimes, passersby wave to us; some drive up to us, roll down their car windows and ask for a copy of the Dafa materials. Quite often, we have people coming from a distance, like Long Island, driving here to find out if there is a practice site near where they live... These instances inspire us to continue to do a good job with this Fa-promotion site.
Recently, due to severe weather with heavy rain and snow, we didn't go to the site for a short period of time. When we finally went there one day, someone even came up to us and said, "You finally came back! I'm really glad. I thought you had been scared off by them because those people were indeed very vicious!" My husband and I were very touched by his words. We told him that we couldn't be here because of the weather, and that we were not afraid of them because they were simply making rumors and threats. We said that the more they did that, the more we should let the public know about the truth, and that we have nothing to be afraid of.
I realized that even though it was a coincidental episode, it revealed that people have expectations of us in their minds. We bear quite some responsibilities. Master pointed out in his new scripture: "Everything that Dafa disciples do at present is resisting the persecution of Dafa and Its disciples. Clarifying the truth, at the same time as exposing the evil, restrains the evil and lessens the persecution; and exposing the evil is at the same time clearing from people's minds the poison of the evil's lies and deception it is saving people. This is the grandest mercy" "Persons in Charge of the European Conference and All Attendees."
The evil will soon be eliminated. As a Dafa disciple, I shall cultivate diligently and assist our Teacher in this human world.