(Clearwisdom.net) This year I am 16 years old and in high school. It has been eight years since I learned the Fa in 1998, so I guess I could be considered a "veteran practitioner." Although many tribulations have arisen and I even had some doubts about Master and my path during these eight years, I have never given up Dafa. I will always follow Master's teachings and do what Dafa practitioners should be doing.

After I obtained the Fa in 1998, I often went to the exercise site with my parents to do group exercises and Fa study. Because of school, I had to quickly finish my homework after getting home each day, eat, and then join my family at the exercise site to study the Fa. During weekends, my family and I attended the group exercises. Although the second exercise was very tiring and the fifth exercise was very painful (meditating while cross-legged), I clenched my teeth and got through it, which was a very satisfying experience. I learned much from studying the Fa and wherever I went, I began treating others with compassion by considering others first, avoiding conflicts, and letting others have their way. Though I would also make mistakes at times, I was always able to correct myself with Master's help. My body became stronger and healthier, and my mood became lighter and more joyful.

After July 20, 1999, Dafa was declared illegal by the CCP. Many practitioners went to appeal, only to face persecution, arrest, and imprisonment in labor camps. At the end of May 2001, both of my parents were illegally arrested and imprisoned for half a year each, leaving me, when I was only 11 years old, alone in the house. I was scared and cried a few times, but I believed in Master, and I knew that Master would protect me and that my parents would get out of prison with righteous thoughts and Master's protection. Some others looked at me with a critical attitude, but I did not take it seriously. Some of my relatives who did not know the truth came to criticize my parents' actions. I told them that Dafa was the righteous path and that my parents were not wrong for what they did, but rather it was due to the actions of the wicked CCP. I told them I wasn't going anywhere, except home, to wait for my parents to come back. So I went to school and lived by myself while waiting for my parents to return.

After my parents were imprisoned, I began to be less strict with myself, and my xinxing began to slide downwards rapidly. Even though it slowly recovered after the return of my parents, I still wasn't able to hold myself to very high standards and began to have less interest in studying the Fa, even not paying much attention to Master's hints.

One day, however, I was at home with my parents sending righteous thoughts when I suddenly felt my main consciousness leaving my body. It rode up my gong column (gongzhu) to a different world. The scenery there was all black, and there was a shabby, run-down house, some dead trees, and absolutely no signs of life at all. Then I heard a voice shouting. I looked down and saw thousands upon thousands of pale and stricken people kneeling at my feet. They cried to me in unison, "Lord! Please save us! Lord! Please save us!" Facing all these crying people, I began crying myself. I asked them to send forth righteous thoughts with me, and then all of a sudden the darkness began to fade away, and a glow appeared on everyone's face. Then the life began coming back to the place, and everything turned golden.

After I told my mom this, she said that it was because Master was afraid I would drop down and decided to show me something from another dimension. From that point on I decided to be more diligent in my cultivation.

Ever since 1999, the state media has been relentlessly attacking Dafa with all sorts of falsehoods and poisoning the minds of many people. Sometimes during class my teacher would say a few unkind things about Dafa and my classmates would make disturbing noises. I would begin sending righteous thoughts to eliminate the evil forces. I began to clarify the facts to my classmates who have been infused with the evil Party culture. It was very hard. First of all, they are very practical people, and they will not believe what they cannot see. Also, due to their age, there are many things they haven not witnessed or understood very well. But even more importantly, they have come under the influence of the CCP's brainwashing. However, I kept trying by sending forth righteous thoughts as I clarified the facts to them, explaining that Dafa teaches "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance," among other qualities that make one a better person, such as being truthful and considerate of others and avoiding conflicts. I also explained that practitioners are forbidden to kill, and it is a sin to commit suicide, and that the "Tiananmen self-immolation" incident was all contrived by the CCP to deceive people.

Sometimes I would see "truth-clarifying" materials lying discarded on the side of the road and would pick them up so I could give them to someone with a predestined relationship. I know it is not easy to make those materials, since my fellow practitioners must use the money they have saved up on their own to pay for them, so I must treasure them even more. In short, I must make greater strides to hold myself to a higher standard in the future.

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