(Minghui.org)
Greetings to our great Master!
Greetings to my fellow practitioners!
I am a senior practitioner who obtained the Fa over a dozen years ago. I grew up in the countryside and I have never written an experience-sharing article before. With encouragement from fellow practitioners, I am reporting my Dafa experiences to our Master and I also would like to exchange cultivation understandings with fellow practitioners.
I. What good fortune to obtain this magnificent Fa
One day in March 1997, I was at my parents' home when my mother happily told me, “I have learned Dafa.” I asked, “What is Dafa?” She replied, “Falun Gong. I just finished reading the book Zhuan Falun. Master has already begun purifying my body. Falun Gong's mission is to teach people to follow the principles of Truth, Compassion, and Forbearance and to be good people. It cultivates both body and mind at the same time. It is the highest level of the Great Cultivation Way.”
Looking at my happy mother with her eyes filled with a glimmer of hope that I had never seen before (my mother was incapacitated before due to all kinds of illnesses), I asked her to show me the book. She said, “It was an Aunt who lent me the book to read. I’ve only read it once and then your cousin's wife wanted to read it. I still have some of Master's articles. You may go ahead and take a look at these.” I opened the first page and Master's portrait was right in front of me. I had a surge of reverent feelings and thought that Master looks so cordial and familiar. I carefully put the book in my handbag and my mother told me that in a few days Aunty would return for the book Zhuan Falun and also teach us how to do the exercises. She said, “You can come at that time,” and I replied that I most certainly would!
A week later, Aunty taught me the five sets of exercises. She also gave me Master's portrait and a copy of the book Zhuan Falun. Not long after that, my cousin and his wife also began to learn Falun Gong.
II. Benefiting both physically and mentally
I finished reading Zhuan Falun within two days and felt then that I would never put it down. I often felt touched by Master's advanced Fa principles and began to understand the true meaning of life.
Before practicing Falun Gong, I was short-tempered, attached to self-esteem, and would not give in if I was doing something wrong. My husband had to follow what I said, so we often quarreled with each other. I especially could not handle my husband's bad habits, such as playing poker and gambling. I often had resentment for these pastimes. I could not eat well, nor sleep well. I was not happy with my family, my marriage, and thought that life was really bitter. Sometimes I even thought of divorce. However seeing my little kids, I decided I would never do that.
This Chinese society of materialism was destroying both my mind and body. Yet right when I was feeling painful, anxious, and helpless, I was so fortunate to encounter Dafa, which completely changed my view of the world. Master guides us to walk the golden road to return to our true selves and go home. Each day I would read two to three lectures of Zhuan Falun. If I had time, I would copy and memorize the Fa. Dafa's profound principles purified my heart at every moment and also made me truly understand the concept of how to be a human being. I realized that nothing is accidental and everything has a predestined relationship.
Master said,
“Under all circumstances, we must be good and kind to others, not to mention to our family members. We should treat everyone in the same way. We must be good to our parents and children and be considerate of others in all respects. Such a heart is thus unselfish, and it is a heart of kindness and benevolence.” (Zhuan Falun)
Soon our family became harmonious. I became cheerful and my body underwent a huge change. Before, I had stomach problems, dizziness, inflammation of tonsils, neurasthenia, nervous headaches, insomnia, and rheumatism in both hands and feet that I’d had since I was a young kid. After practicing Falun Gong, all these illnesses disappeared. My family saw a huge change and felt happy for me. My husband also stopped many of his bad habits.
During that time I went to my cousin's house every night to join the group practice. First we had three people and later we had over a dozen. At that time, I was very diligent in my cultivation every day. I would go out with my cousin’s wife to promote Dafa whenever I had some spare time. In order to let new practitioners watch Master's Fa lecture videos and exercises, I would walk several miles and borrow a fellow practitioner's color TV and video player (because we did not have those in my home at that time.) Most of the older practitioners in our area did not have much education. When we had group Fa study, I really needed to be patient. But I never felt tired of helping them.
At that time, I was really very diligent in Fa study and doing the exercises. All of that laid a solid foundation to later practice in the Fa-rectification.
III. Breaking through tribulations creates a good practice environment
On July 20, 1999, Jiang's regime launched the vicious persecution of Falun Gong. On the evening of July 21, a fellow practitioner walked by my house and asked me to go to my cousin's home. With a heavy heart, he told me the news, saying the situation was very serious. At that moment I did not panic but I was worried about those new practitioners. The next morning I visited each one of them and told them to keep up their xinxing and study the Fa more.
At home my husband was watching TV with an acquaintance. When he saw me, he said, “Where did you go? Something has gone wrong. Come and have a look on the TV.” I said, “I don't want to watch it. I already know what has happened. And I know what I should do!” I thought to myself: None of the negative things that were being said against Dafa and Master should be able to go into my brain. I knew in my heart that Dafa is the most righteous Fa. Our Master is the greatest and merciful Master. Dafa was deeply rooted in my heart.
After July 20, I still insisted on doing the exercises in my cousin's home. The persecution escalated. My husband began to become fearful. He said to me, “If you go there again, I will destroy all of your Dafa things.” I did not respond to him so he rushed upstairs and tore apart Master's portrait. Then he burned it (later he issued a solemn statement to void what he did). I was anxious and cried for not being able to protect Master's portrait. At that time, I picked up all pieces of the ashes and sent them to my cousin's home and asked my cousin's wife to store them for me. Regardless of how severe the situation was, how evil it was, I kept righteous thoughts and believed that there is nothing wrong with Dafa, there is nothing wrong in longing for Truth-Compassion- Forbearance. It is the evil Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that cannot tolerate the righteous. I thought that no matter what kind of environment we are in, we should study the Fa and continue to do the exercises. I often recited Master's Fa in this regard:
Master said:
“It is under the circumstance of demonic interference that you can demonstrate whether you can continue your cultivation, be really enlightened to the Tao, be unaffected by interference, and be sure-footed in this school of practice. The great waves shift the sand, and that is what cultivation practice is all about. What is left in the end will be genuine gold.” (Zhuan Falun)
“If we change the situation in human society and reverse the general climate, then let’s see who still says that Dafa is good” (“Huge Exposure” from Essentials for Further Advancement)
In fact, Master told us long before about how we should do things, and that he had given us everything. The only thing for us is whether we can truly be enlightened. When Dafa is suffering persecution, and Master is wronged, what should we do? Each of us Dafa disciples has the responsibility to safeguard and validate the Fa! One after another, fellow practitioners went to Beijing to appeal and validate the Fa. I also thought of going to Beijing. I told my mother, who is also a practitioner. She said, “I also want to go! I feel the need to explain the facts to people and ensure justice for our Master and Dafa.”
In November 1999, my mother, two female fellow practitioners and I finally stepped on the train to Beijing. When we arrived at the West Train Station, we did not know where the appeal office was located, so we went directly to Tiananmen Square.
At Tiananmen Square, we saw many fellow practitioners. Among them, three young female practitioners were there from Sichuan Province. One of them was pregnant (about 7-8 months and almost close to giving birth). They told us that they arrived two days ago and still could not find the appeal office. They asked us to do the 2nd exercise with them. At that moment, a group of police came and forcefully took us to the police station behind the gate of Tiananmen Square. Later, we were picked up by police officers from our local police station.
The director of the township police station viciously said to me, “You have committed a mortal sin.” I was very shocked at what he said, but I was not afraid because what I did was the most righteous thing. I was surprised when a government official said such words rebuking a practitioner who cultivates Truth-Compassion-Forbearance and just wants to be a good person. He asked me again, “Who organized you guys to go to Beijing?” (At that time they picked up 11 fellow practitioners from Beijing). I replied, “There was nobody organizing us and we are all volunteers. We just want to correct the facts for Dafa, as our Master is innocent.” He said, “You are so stubborn.” He ran towards me and then slapped my face several times and then punched my cheek several times. He used a lot of strength in hitting me; however I did not feel any pain. I only felt a little numb, and my mouth bled. He was very fierce. I was not afraid; neither did I have any hatred toward him. I was very calm. He asked me what I was planning to do in the future. I told him that we follow Truth-Compassion-Forbearance in our cultivation to be good people and I would be persistent in my practice until the end. Later we were illegally detained in the detention center.
At the detention center, we recited “Lunyu,” Hong Yin, and clarified the truth to the inmates. At night we insisted on doing the exercises. Although it was cold in winter, the police officers would pour cold water or urine on us. We did not give up our righteous faith and one month later, I was released.
They arranged some people from the village to monitor me. They also forced my husband to monitor me and threatened him, “If you do not do your job well in monitoring her, we will not allow you to do your business. We will lock up your store and confiscate all your property, and will not allow your kids to go to school.”
They forced him to pay money to guarantee to monitor me well and also asked him to sign a contract for me (not to practice Dafa). Under this evil pressure, my husband made a lot of obstacles in my practice. He strictly monitored me and would stop me from studying the Fa and doing the exercises. As soon as he saw me studying the Fa or doing the exercises, he would beat me or make a fuss. Once, after he left home for a short while, he came back. When he saw me doing the sitting meditation he hastily knocked on the door several times. I did not respond. He walked over to me and slapped my face several times. He pushed my legs down. I put them back to the full Lotus position. He got very angry and poured a half-bucket of urine on me. It took me a while to catch my breath.
On another occasion, my father-in-law came in while my husband was beating me. He said, “Are you still practicing?” He told his son, “Focus, and hit her on the major body parts. We have the government backing us.” I got up and said, “I am a divine being. Why should I be afraid of evil demons? You cannot touch me. You are not allowed to touch me.” Both of them were shocked and stepped back a few steps (in fact it was evil that was afraid.) Since then my husband has never hit me again.
Policemen often came to my home to harass me. Once, over a dozen of people from the town and district government and the police station broke into my home. They searched everywhere in my home and asked whether I still continued with my practice. I replied, “Why should I give up such a good practice?” They arrested me again. Several other fellow practitioners were also arrested at the same time. They forcefully detained us in the detention center and also hung big posters on our bodies and took us out to parade in our local area. Two weeks later, I was released.
During those wicked and crazy days I was forced to become homeless for a while. After three months of a displaced life, I thought to myself that I should not stay outside and I should go back home to start my own cultivation environment. I should do things that a practitioner should do. Then I wrote letters to the village secretary, the head of the village and clarified the truth. Then I called the village secretary who said, “Come home. You can practice at home. If there anything comes up, I will deal with it for you.” (That village secretary understood the truth and she also withdrew from the CCP and its affiliated organizations.) Later I called my husband and told him that I must return home and I must have an environment to practice. He said, “Well, you can practice the exercises once a month.” I told him that would not work for me; I must do the exercises and study the Fa every day and do those things that I am supposed to do. He said OK. A real cultivation environment was created and I understood that as long as we understood and became firm in our belief, Master will help us. It was really like this:
“Cultivation depends on one’s own efforts, while the transformation of gong is done by one’s master" (Zhuan Falun)
IV. Saving sentient beings while denying the old forces' arrangement
I finally had a free environment for Fa study and doing the exercises. My husband also gradually understood the truth. He watched the CD of Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party and other truth-clarification CDs. He also withdrew from the CCP's affiliated organizations. In order to make up for his mistakes, he issued a solemn statement to Master and Dafa to void what he said and did before. Later, no matter what I did for Dafa, he never interfered. Sometimes I came home around 2 to 3 a.m. after distributing truth-clarification materials, and he only reminded me to pay attention to safety.
Because of not looking inward in my cultivation for a long time, I was not able to deal with issues with strong righteous thoughts. I had huge family tribulations. First my father-in-law had a car accident and had serious injuries and needed us to care for him. Later my mother-in-law became seriously ill and was bedridden. I juggled both households, worked, and dealt with the pressures from the CCP. My husband dropped his own work and went to do another business. Since he was not familiar with the new business, he was always in deficit. Facing the emergence of family conflicts, I did not have the righteous thoughts to deal with that. Nor did I deny the tribulation. I was submissive, and that severely affected me in doing the three things well. This situation lasted for a long period of time, until after my parents-in-laws passed away. I learned that my husband's business was down the drain and at the same time he was addicted to gambling. He owed debts of hundreds of thousands of yuan. We even could not pay my son's college tuition. My husband went out and dared not return home for several months. Facing all these problems, I began to look inward and reflected on myself, while I spent a lot of time studying the Fa to improve my xinxing.
The rationale of what Master said during Fa-rectification constantly reminded me that accepting the persecution would cause endless huge difficulties, and even drag me into a terrible situation. The evil old forces want to destroy Dafa disciples' true faith. We are Dafa disciples. We are particles of Dafa. Our responsibility is to adjust all things that are not right according to Dafa, rather than being driven by everyday people or the evil. We should not accept the evil's persecution. We have blessings since we are cultivating in Dafa. We can also bring blessing to others. The emergence of tribulations is a good thing for one's own cultivation. When one becomes fearful it’s that a practitioner does not have a clear understanding of his/her own shortcomings and cannot truly view things from the Fa. No difficulties can obstruct a genuine practitioner.
Master said in the article “Expounding on the Fa” from Essentials for Further Advancement:
“If it continues endlessly and if there do not exist other problems in your xinxing or conduct, it must be that the evil demons are capitalizing on the weak spots caused by your lack of control. After all, a cultivator is not an ordinary human. So why doesn’t the side of you that is your original nature rectify the Fa?”
Fellow practitioners around me helped me and encouraged me from within the Fa. I was able to improve my xinxing and use the Fa to measure things happening around me and I guided my words and deeds based on the standard of the Fa. I used righteous thoughts to deal with tribulations as they occurred. When encountering the debt of over hundreds of thousands yuan, I did not feel pained, and neither did I have any resentment. I began to communicate with my husband, whom I had not seen for several months. I always treated him with kindness. I encouraged him and helped him balance the debts between all the debtors. I asked him to come back home and live as an upright, good person.
After he returned home, I asked him to read Zhuan Falun and he began to seriously read it. He finished reading the book in three days and then he told me that the book was really very good. He said he knew what to do from then on. He went back to his original work and after one year, we began to pay off his debts. My husband also looked healthy and had more energy. His temper improved and he was a totally different person.
In the subsequent days, he read the book Zhuan Falun several times and Master's other lectures. Sometimes he also did the exercises. Our family situation magically changed. My eldest son found a job with a substantial income. Within three to four years, we paid off our debts of several hundreds of thousands yuan. My eldest son also began to cultivate. My younger son also began to study the Fa last year. I can also do projects for truth-clarification and clarify the truth face-to-face and persuade people to withdraw from the CCP and all its affiliated organizations. As long as I can speak to people, the results are pretty good. In fact, all miracles happen through Dafa's boundless power and Master's compassionate care.
At first I helped my family members, relatives and friends and some acquaintances to withdraw from the CCP-affiliated organizations. When I first took some truth-clarification materials home, I did not distribute any of them and realized that I must break through this fear. The first time I went out I took six copies. In over one mile I distributed only three copies. I had three copies left so I walked to some houses across the road. Just as I approached, a dog began barking. Immediately several dogs nearby began barking all at the same time. I was not afraid and stood there sending forth righteous thought for a while. It then looked like someone was chasing the dogs, as they quickly ran away. So that night I successfully distributed all the materials and went home. The second time, I took over 30 copies and without any problems I distributed them all. Later I took my cousin's wife with me (who was over 60 years old) to help me distribute the materials and we covered all the villages around us.
This year I also learned how to make pre-recorded phone calls and how to send MMS to a group of people. All of this has been accomplished as a result of Master's compassionate care and the wisdom given to me through Dafa.
Thank you, Master! Thank you fellow practitioners!
Please kindly point out any mistakes!
