(Clearwisdom.net) I have practiced Falun Dafa for ten years, and before that I was a lay Buddhist. One time by coincidence I met an old monk who was 150 years old. His face looked quite familiar to me. We talked for several hours and most of what he said was new to me. He said, "There will be a catastrophic disaster happening to the human world and so many people will die." He also told me that in the future people will be able to fly over the roof and run on the walls. I asked him curiously, "Where are these people now?" He told me that they were all living outside of society and would come forward then. I asked what the disaster was going to be. He said that it would be a plague. I asked him whether there would be a way of saving oneself. He said, "There is. Whoever will have obtained it will be saved." I also asked him, "Do I have a master? Do I have a mission?" He smiled, "Of course you have a master; you also have a mission, but it is not time yet ..." After I met the old monk, I could not sit at home anymore. I always wanted to go look for my master. I went to many Buddhist and Taoist temples in many places, and I also went to several qigong classes. I wasted a lot of money and got very tired after traveling around for several years. However, it was all in vain as I did not find my master that way.
One day a friend told me that in the park people practiced a qigong called Falun Gong. He told me that it was very good, many people practiced it, and asked me to go take a look. I said, "No, no, practicing qigong will not get me a master. It is just wasting money." He said that this qigong did not ask for money. I said, "I will not go even if they do not ask for money." Several days later, he brought me a book called Zhuan Falun. I paid him for it and left the book on the shelf. Some time had passed when one day I noticed the book and wanted to read it. When I saw Master's Li's picture, it felt very familiar and kind. I saw that Master Li was smiling at me. At the time it was like my body was being shocked with electricity and no matter how hard I tried, I could not remember when I had seen Master Li before. From that day on, I began to read the book. I felt that I had heard the words in the book before. The sentences and words were like magnets that completely drew my attention. Tears were falling down my face as I read the book. I was also holding a pencil and marking on the book, wishing that I could read the whole book in one sitting. In "Enlightenment" of Lecture Nine, Master said, "Some people just cannot improve their enlightenment quality. They casually make marks in my book." When I saw that sentence, my hand began to shake and my body was sweating. "What can I do?" I thought in my mind, "I made mistakes even before I started cultivation." I put my palms together while looking at Master's picture, and said, "Master, please forgive me." This copy of Zhuan Falun has been with me for 10 years now. Whenever I get to the part with pencil marks, tears well up in my eyes and I put my palms together and say, "Sorry, Master ..."
When I began to practice Falun Dafa, it was like a fish that gets to water. With Master's profound Fa principles guiding me to cultivate to high levels, I improved very quickly in all aspects. My body and mind were purified. I finally realized that this Zhuan Falun was the teaching that I was looking for in traveling to all kinds of places. I cried in front of Master's picture; I knelt on the ground, put my palms together and asked, "Master, I have been lost from my way home! Please accept me as your disciple!" I vowed that I would follow Master to cultivate until the end.
After July 20, 1999, I suffered from interference. My husband is a military veteran. People around me all knew that I practiced Falun Gong. There were people who turned me in and wrote me anonymous letters. Every day there were more than 10 people coming to talk to me as well as my husband. My husband and children were under a lot of pressure. Thus they did not allow me to do the exercises anymore and I could not help but stop doing the exercises. The feeling of not being able to do the exercises was very bad; it was like someone who has lost his soul. Back then I had the attachment of fear so that whenever others were harsh to me, I would give in. Thus I was pulled along by my family. After thinking about it, I realized that I was not in the right state. I should be able to control my mind and should be able to do what I think is right. So I began to study the Fa and do the exercises after my family went to sleep. Once, they found me studying the Fa, and they took my book away. But this time I did not stop and kept secretly studying the Fa and doing the exercises. Several months later, they saw me again. This time my husband wildly screamed and cursed at me. He threatened to divorce me. He screamed and screamed as if he had gone crazy. He said that the Communist Party is a wolf, but he was willing to be the fur of the wolf.
In spite of his behavior, I remained calm. I kept a clear mind and realized that I must search within myself. Because I had too much human emotion and my attachment of fear was too strong, I was not able to let go of the human mindset. With a momentary slip I walked on the wrong path. Now I must face all these things with righteous thoughts and act correctly. I said to my husband, "Go ahead and turn me in. I am not afraid of anything. I am absolutely not afraid of divorce. I would rather give up this family than leave Dafa. Go ahead and be your wolf's fur!" After saying all that, I felt much more relaxed and understood Master's Fa principles of "one righteous mind can subdue one hundred evils" (Zhuan Falun) and "just by remaining unmoved you could handle all situations" ("Teaching the Fa at the 2005 Canada Fa Conference")
My husband could not say anything for a while and in the end he said, "Whatever... Whatever. I will not bother you anymore. Just go ahead and practice at home. Don't let others see you."
My husband was a soldier for his entire life. The Party culture has poisoned him very badly and he has a very bad temper. He was hurt very badly and is also very sick. Basically, he cannot take care of himself. This definitely affects me in regards to going outside to validate Dafa. I realized that all these things are arrangements by the old forces. They want to stop me from saving people. I must completely negate the arrangements by the old forces, think righteously and act righteously. Every day I am very busy taking care of my husband and also taking care of the frequently visiting guests. All of the daytime is occupied, so I can only study the Fa and do the exercises at night. One day several guests came to my home. During the meal I clarified the truth to the guests in front of my husband. I told them about how Dafa is persecuted. My husband got very angry and cursed at me in the presence of all the guests. Later he said that I was very disgraceful to him. I told him that I wanted to save his friends. He said, "Other people have nothing to do with me." My husband has many bad habits. He listens to my phone calls, he always looks in my bags, and whenever he sees Dafa materials, he asks me about them very thoroughly. He also stirs the kids up to pressure me. He does not have a single good word for Dafa.
One day Master gave me a hint. I saw a very big square pond. Around the pond, as well as in the pond, there were crocodiles everywhere. I was sitting on top of the biggest crocodile in the middle. Later, I realized that my current cultivation environment is very complicated and there are evil spirits interfering with me everywhere. I firmly remembered Master's encouragement and changed my method of spreading the Fa. I stopped talking about Dafa to the guests in front of my husband. Instead, I would go outside before my husband to see the visitors out, and then try to find some way to make the guests wait for a bit and tell them the facts. Though there was not a lot of time, I could always use different ways to talk about it. The results are pretty good and most of them can accept and agree to quit the Party.
One time an old Party member and his wife came to visit. He was 86 years old and during the wars he was an underground Party member. When they left, I hurried to see them out. On our way downstairs I smiled and said, "My old brother, I heard that you were an underground Party member. What do you think about the Party right now?" In the beginning he would not say it, but I could see his expression of not knowing whether to cry or laugh. I again smiled and said, "You are at such an old age, of course you would know all the movements that happened in China. During the Cultural Revolution, every day they denounced this and that; even the sage Confucius was denounced. Were you denounced, too? After the Communist Party took power, they killed so many innocent people. The divine beings and humans are both angry at it. The gods are about to destroy it, so what is the point of protecting it? Just quit." He said, "Yeah, now the Party is very bad and so corrupt. It will be over soon and this Party should have been over a long time ago. Please help me quit." I gave him a pseudonym and he was very happy. His wife's health was not very good. I told her, "Old sister, your health is not very good. Let me tell you a way, and as long as you recite it with your heart, your health will get better." They immediately asked me what it was. I told them, "Falun Dafa is good! Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance are good!" They happily accepted it. Watching them as they were leaving, I was very glad that they were saved.
One must be careful with the methods of spreading the Fa to people who have high positions. They are afraid of losing their positions and reputation, and thus it is a bit hard to communicate with them. I knew a high ranking army official very well and thus I talked to him in a very direct manner. We talked about things that happened inside the Party. He also agreed that the Party is very bad, but when I asked him to quit, he got very scared. His face turned red and said that I was doing wild things. Aiming at his fear, I smiled and said to him, "I am really doing it for your own good. When people do something, it is really for the divine beings to see. There are gods right above us. Today what we talk about will only be known to you, me, and the gods. Now I will give you a name on a piece of paper and if you agree to quit the Party, I will burn it in front of you. Who else would know? Today I come here just to save you, because you are a good person. How could I harm you? You should not worry at all." He said, "Okay, okay, I believe you. I will do whatever you say." I gave him the name and he agreed. After I wrote it down, he found a match and I helped him burn the paper. I held his hand and said, "Thank you for trusting me." Tears fell from my eyes. Another being was saved.
When spreading the Fa to lay Buddhists, I usually ask them what schools of practice they are in. Most of them are in the school of Pure Land Buddhism, but some also practice in other schools. I ask them, "Do you want to cultivate more quickly? Do you want to cultivate to Buddhahood successfully?" They would all say, "Of course." Then I say, "Let me tell you a way. Simply recite nine characters, and do things according to the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, then your goal will come true soon." Generally they can accept it.
This is how I clarify truth to different kinds of people in this environment. Some of these people are from local governments, some from the army, some are with the military affairs and information bureau, some are writers, artists, and intellectuals, some work in courts, and some are guards in different places. I have two relatives; one is a regional police officer and the other is a policeman from the police department. They have both arrested Dafa practitioners before, but because I spread the Fa to them early, they both got to know the facts, stopped participating in the persecution, and both quit the Party. I went to a village one time to take care of some things and was able to get half of the Party members in that village to quit, including the village's Party General Secretary, and I also spread the Fa to them.
Every time I accompanied my husband when he needed to be hospitalized, I would spread the Fa to the doctors, nurses, cleaning staff, and other patients. I also try to convince them to quit the Party. I always have some truth-clarification materials in my pockets so that I can conveniently put them in the bicycle baskets around me, or in the passageways in buildings.
Before, I was very afraid of going out with my husband to see his comrades-in-arms and classmates, because when he is present it is very hard for me to spread the Fa. Later I realized that it was an attachment of fear. Master arranged this environment for me. It was a test for me and it was also an opportunity. People who are in this environment need to be saved and if my husband does not bring me to see them, then I would have no way to find these people to clarify the truth to them. Once I accompanied my husband to see one of his old comrades-in-arms. They talked for a while and then my husband went to the bathroom. Using the precious minutes, I clarified the truth to my husband's comrade-in-arms as well as his wife. They accepted what I said and agreed to quit the Party.
I get to meet people with very different backgrounds and literacy levels. When spreading the Fa to different kinds of people, the ways of doing it also need to be different. People who know a lot like to ask lots of theoretical questions and people with high positions are hard to communicate with. The common people are the easiest to connect with. I have met many such people. When I spread the Fa to them, after they get to know the truth, they are often so touched that tears fall from their eyes. They really do long for being saved by Dafa. There are also people who just would not believe anything. Perhaps their predestined relationship is not there yet.
We are Dafa practitioners in the period of Fa-rectification. We cannot just go outside to pass out fliers, clarify the truth, and do the three things. We must also remember to cultivate ourselves. We must be able to improve our xinxing. In this complicated human society, a sentence and an action could validate the Fa. If we do not take ourselves as practitioners, if we do inappropriate things among everyday people, if we speak very unreasonably, and if we say things that are bad for the image of Dafa in front of everyday people, all of these things are because we do not completely believe in Master and Dafa and have not assimilated ourselves with the Fa.
My family is also changing. My husband and son both quit the Party and often recite, "Falun Dafa is good." My son began to read Zhuan Falun and my daughter accepted an amulet and also often recites, "Falun Dafa is good."
There are fellow practitioners around me who are soldiers, teachers, government officials, hospital staff, factory workers, businessmen, etc. We treat the Fa as our master and when something comes up, we talk about it together. We are all very strict with ourselves and are able to search within when we encounter tribulations. We help each other out, study together, and advance diligently together. There have been times when we have had different understandings and some small conflicts, but through studying the Fa, all of these issues were quickly resolved. I am a bit older than all of them, so when fellow practitioners encounter difficulties, they all like to share their thoughts with me. In cultivation, I must first cultivate myself well. Fellow practitioners have helped me a lot. I still have many human attachments that I have not let go. I am not calm enough when things come up and when I hear things that are against my thoughts, I try to protect myself. "As one who truly practices cultivation toward high levels, you should give up various attachments." (Zhuan Falun) I will try to carefully memorize the Fa, let go of my attachments, clean out all the wrong thoughts and attachments from my mind, improve my xinxing and keep up with Master's Fa-rectification.
All of my fellow practitioners have difficulties of one kind or another at home, but we cannot let everyday people's affairs stop us. Saving sentient beings is most important and nothing can stop us. We study the Fa together once a week. When we go out to pass out truth-clarification materials, we always go in pairs and look after each other. Far or near, we try to cover every location.
In order to clarify the truth, we also travel to different places and bring along our families when we go. When we get there, we first settle down our families and then we quickly go out to pass out truth-clarification materials. In two years we have been to more than ten cities and brought the Fa to the sentient beings there. We have also been to more than one hundred Buddhist and Taoist temples of various sizes. We choose truth-clarification materials that are appropriate for them. When we get to a temple, we send forth strong righteous thoughts, completely disintegrating all the meddling deities in the Three Realms who are controlling these people, thus helping these people who are away from society know the truth. Whether it rains or snows, we are never affected by it.
With Master's care, everything we have done is just what one should do as a Dafa practitioner. In two years we have passed out tens of thousands of sets of different kinds of truth-clarification materials. We take doing the three things as a priority and everyone has insisted on memorizing Zhuan Falun several times. Fellow practitioners in the Fa-study group all voluntarily save money from everyday living and use the money to do different things to validate Dafa. When practitioners from other regions have come to our area, we immediately try to help them as much as we can.
We all took great risks and came down here with Master. Now again we are putting aside life and death to assist Master in Fa-rectification. We must follow Master closely in Fa-rectification and walk every step well and steadily. My cultivation state is still far behind Master's requirement. If there are things that I did not enlighten to or did not do well enough, please kindly point them out.
