(Clearwisdom.net) I have cultivated in religion for thirteen years and had become a nun in the Daming Mountain and Xiaomiao Convent. Because religions are in the Dharma-ending period, I was not truly cultivating. As a result, my xinxing had not improved, and my body had not changed, which resulted in my poor physical health. I could not even look after myself. In September 1997, I got a hold of the book, Zhuan Falun. The course of my life was altered. In the beginning I did not study the Fa well, leading to a poor comprehension of the Fa. I also regarded the Fa as a safety net. I thought that once I was introduced to the Fa, I was assured of safety and thus took it for granted. I didn't regard the Fa as the most important thing, but made it into a tool for self-protection.
I have made some mistakes along my cultivation path. Although I didn't deviate from the Fa, I havent done very well. I harbor doubts, lack courage, and I am afraid of meeting strangers. After the persecution began on July 20, 1999, my attachments were exposed, including the attachment to fear and to myself. In addition, I dared not clarify the truth. With the help of many practitioners, I began to distribute truth-clarifying materials and persuaded a few people to withdraw from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Since I am a nun, I have few opportunities to clarify the truth alongside other practitioners. Although I dont clarify the truth well and also have myopia, merciful Master has always lent me strength. One time when I distributed truth-clarifying materials very early in the morning, there was a step that was six or seven inches high. I had not seen it clearly and thus had not taken a secure step. However, when I took a step I felt it firmly. Had it not been for Masters help, I would fallen hard for sure.
I left the convent after I began Fa study and have not returned there since the persecution began. Because the CCP had overtaken all the temples and destroyed many of them, I have no fixed place to live. In 2000, I was illegally detained for half a year. In 2001, the evil interfered with me to the point where I could no longer live at my older brothers home. In addition, I could not return to the convent. I had to wander about and endured the hardships of an arduous journey. I had no truth-clarifying materials to distribute during that time. I used kids paper food bags and turned them inside-out, and then wrote some truth-clarifying words on them. With a small stick I fixed them on the walls of street-side booths or used string to hang them from tree branches. Thanks to hints from Master, I escaped from dangerous situations several times. I dont feel afraid because I know that Master is beside me at all times. I slept in a cave once, which was actually a dangerous place, but with Masters hints I left. When I was nearly asleep, I heard a voice telling me to cultivate diligently.
During the persecution of Falun Gong, there have been a lot of monks or nuns who are Falun Dafa disciples. I often read articles on the Minghui/Clearwisdom website about practitioners' insights and experiences, written by Dafa disciples in secular society. Never have I seen articles written by monks or nuns who are Dafa disciples. My literacy level is not high and I am afraid that I cannot write well. A fellow practitioner said that we should write down what we had done during these years, regardless of how well or poorly we did. As long as each of us cultivates in Dafa, we all have worthwhile experiences to share. At the same time, during the process of writing, many of our attachments become apparent to us.
These years I have had no fixed place to live and have passed many nights in temples. In temples, monks or nuns have to go chant the scriptures at the main hall, and I was not sure what Dafa disciples were to do. Sometimes I lived with disciples of other religions, and went to the main hall in the morning and evening. They chanted the Buddhist scriptures loudly, and I recited Lunyu with a low voice. When I lived in a temple alone, I didnt go to the main hall to chant the scriptures. I only burned incense in the morning and evening. At that time I didnt have Master's portrait hung up, as at the time it was not appropriate to have Masters portrait hung up in temples. At that time the interference was very strong. After living at one temple for a year, I left. Recently I went to a small temple, in which there were three statues. On the first night I made a request to Master for consecration. However, the inference was still enormous. I was too afraid to fall asleep. The next day I shared experiences with local fellow practitioners, and a practitioner told me that it was not necessary for me to worry because I had already made a request to Master to eliminate the interference. I returned to the temple and asked an old lady to accompany me. I used water to write the word "mie" ["eliminate"] on the body of the statues. Moreover, I burned all the things that should and could be burned, and made a request to Master to eliminate all the deviated factors in that environment. After that I no longer felt afraid and fell asleep. I asked Master to consecrate the statues if they could still be consecrated, and if not, then to please eliminate the evil factors from them.
At present, I go to the main hall in the morning and evening. As I rap on the wooden instruments there, I recite: "Falun Dafa is good," "Falun Dafa is righteous" (three times), "Salvation Again" in Hong Yin (one time), "Lunyu" (three times or nine times), "Salvation Again" in Hong Yin, and "The Great Kalpa" in Hong Yin II.
As I burn incense for Master, I recite as follows: "Master Li Hongzhi" (three times), and then recite,
"The incense burner gathers in all demons
that seek to wreak havoc on the Fa
Fine tripods incinerate those spirits
who defy the Fa"
("Buddha Law is Boundless" in Hong Yin II, Translation Version A)
"Its mighty sound stirs the realm of Fa
Resonances of Fa stretch in ten directions"
("Bell Tower" from Hong Yin II, Translation Version A)
"At the mallets drumming one knows to be diligent
The Fa drum rouses those lost in confusion"
("Drum Tower" from Hong Yin II, Translation Version A)
Several fellow practitioners in our region began to clarify the truth to people, but most of them still go to the temple to burn incense. These practitioners came to understand that these temples had a bad influence on people, so these practitioners went to a place near the temple and sent forth righteous thoughts. When they sent forth righteous thoughts, they could heard a huge voice, but they could not see anything. Sometimes they saw black, thick smoke. After eliminating the bad factors, they saw in their dreams that the small statues fell down and then perished. The big statues didnt perish, but could only remain fixed in place with their eyes blinking. Afterwards, they found that the local people were more readily open to the truth about Dafa, and some began to practice Falun Gong.
Nowadays, most Buddhist monks don't truly cultivate. Even the monks who truly cultivate have not seen the genuine Dao, so it is difficult for them to cultivate. Nevertheless, they know that the Fa in today's Buddhism cannot save people. As a result, they have to wait for Buddha Maitreya or the Holy Falun King to come save people.
When I clarify the truth to disciples of religions, I talk about prophesies of Buddha Maitreya or the Holy Falun King descending to the world to save people. There is a female lay Buddhist who often went to the temple. She found that the people in the temple placed an emphasis on money. Later on I ran into her and told her that religions are in the Dharma-ending period, and it was difficult to cultivate in religions. I talked about the relationship between Falun Gong and Maitreya or the Holy Falun King. As a result, she began to practice Falun Gong, and later on her family began to cultivate, as well.
Once I showed a male lay Buddhist some poems from Hong Yin. I told him that the poems were written by our Master and there were a lot of other poems. He asked for the book to read. Because I had no extra copy of Hong Yin, I copied all of the poems from Hong Yin for him. Three days later he said, "Your Masters poems are very good, do you have other books?" I replied that we had a variety of books, but the main one was Zhuan Falun. He said that he wanted a copy of the book. Several days later, I gave him a copy of Zhuan Falun. He said, "I want to bring all of this back to my hometown." More than ten days later, he came to the temple and said that the people in his hometown had welcomed the books he had brought back, and he was reading Zhuan Falun. In addition, he said that in the future he would become a Dafa disciple.
One time I went to a mid-sized temple that was located in a mountainous area and near the county seat. It hadnt rained before the New Year, and there was no water in the ponds, so it was very difficult to wash and drink. In addition, they had to carry water from the foot of the mountain. After arriving there, I asked the monks if they had read Dafa truth-clarifying materials, and they replied that they had never read them. I brought several pieces of truth-clarifying literature with me. However, I dared not distribute them initially due to the attachment of fear. I made a request to Master to help me, and then gave the first booklet to them. Immediately it rained heavily. Afterwards, I gave another booklet to them, and it rained once more. After another period of time, I gave the third booklet to an old man when he was clearing away weeds. I gave him the booklet and told him to return it after reading it. He said that he had no time to read it on a clear day, only when it rained. On the next day, it was rainy. He read the booklet, and sincerely thanked me for helping him to understand the truth.