(Minghui.org) Greetings, revered Master! Greetings, my fellow practitioners!

I began practicing Falun Gong in June 1996. Sixteen years of Dafa cultivation practice has brought me profound enlightenment that is unattainable except for a cultivator. To obtain the Fa, we descended through the levels of heavens to this mundane world, where we had countless reincarnations before encountering Dafa in this life. In his eagerness to save us, Master was at our side taking care of us all through the whole process, despite all the hardship and bitterness that he endures. Dafa purifies my mind and body, and my gratitude toward Master defies description. To meet his expectations I will do well the three things with consolidated faith in Dafa and Master. I have suppressed much interference to write this article about my cultivation in the Fa rectification era. By sharing my experience with the readers of Minghui, I hope I can do better in validating the Fa, with more diligence and courage. Please kindly point out anything improper.

Meeting with Dafa and Cultivating Diligently

I had been casually aware of some pre-destination since I was a young girl, which perhaps was the manifestation of random memories left from my past lives. My subconsciousness kept reminding me that I was not supposed to be an ordinary human being in this mundane world, but that I was here to look for someone and wait for some event to happen. I once mentioned my perception to my father but he simply thought I was crazy and warned me to stay level-headed.

To find the answer to the enigma, I sought my way for 42 years until I was suffering from cancer in June 1996. Death was imminent, but my wish to find the answer of my enigma was unfulfilled. I lamented that I had come to this world and attained nothing. Extremely frustrated, I asked a friend to support me in going to a river bank, where I sobbed to the firmament and earth in grief. When I passed by the home of a friend of mine who was a Falun Gong practitioner, I suddenly found myself unable to move on when I was about ten meters away from her door. I was reminded by a voice from my mind at the time, telling me to stop there and visit her when I resumed my ability to move. I am pretty sure it was a hint from Master to bring me to Dafa. In this way, I met with Dafa and began my cultivation.

At my friend's home, I listened to Master's Fa lectures in Jinan City, Shandong Province. When I heard “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance,” it was like a thunderbolt striking my ears. When it came to the issue of “wanting to get things,” I found that what Master was teaching was all directed at me, as if he was right in front of me. His voice sounded so amiable and familiar to me. My memory was unlocked and I sprung to my feet yelling “I finally found it! This is exactly what I have sought for so many years!” I was like a long-lost child who found his parents. Forty-two years was a long wait! A warm energy flow circulated in my every cell and my tears flowed. My excitement defied description. Dafa broke through the blocks in my mind, aroused my memory that was left from my past lives, and revealed to me the true meaning of my life. In front of my friend, I pledged to Master, “I will stick to Falun Gong until I obtain the Dao and return to my genuine home with Master.”

I read Zhuan Falun like a thirsty person, free from any distractions, and the truth embedded in Dafa unfolded in front of my eyes layer by layer. When I read the Fa or listened to the audio Fa lectures, I sat in the lotus position with my hands conjoined like I was doing the meditation exercise, and I could sense that my body was encircled by an energy field, so compassionate that I could not hold back my tears. My body was so light, while being unable to move, like I was in another world that was free from any disturbances. Master's Fa unfolded a new world before me and brought me there. It was so tangible and enlightening. The mighty power of Dafa brought my xinxing up so quickly and Master purified my body. I never expected that I would survive the cancer, but I now find myself in perfect health, free from disease. It is splendid!

Four months after I began practicing Falun Gong, I developed gong energy and had a Cultivated Infant six months later. As I went further in Dafa cultivation, more and more supernormal phenomenon surfaced in me. So magnificent and significant is cultivation in Dafa! It is very real, and Master is right at my side!

No long after I began practicing Falun Gong, I received a hint from Master, “Only three years for diligent personal cultivation,” although I did not know what it actually meant. Knowing that the time for cultivation is limited, I had no idea what would happen next, but I was sure that there must be something ahead for me to do. I thought it to be a pre-destination, and also a reminder of my responsibility. I had a dream one night in which the gate to the heavens was opened. I saw many divine guards in golden armor safeguarding the gate with their weapons in hand. One of them with a golden body flew to me with his weapon in his right hand and a large bag on his left shoulder. The bag was filled with Dafa books and was radiating golden rays. He flew to me and spoke out from above, “Ciyi, Ciyi! Is that Ciyi?” I responded, “It is me!” Upon hearing my voice, the guard cast the bag upon me and the bag went directly into my abdomen. It hit me so heavily that I woke up and sprung up, so abruptly that my husband beside me woke up. Without thinking further, I thought it was a hint from Master about the importance of Fa study. I realized that with my mind filled with Dafa, the cultivation path will be set straight ahead of me and I will be endowed with great compassion. I mentioned the dream and my understanding about it to a fellow practitioner. After some discussion, we decided to set up the first Fa study group in our locality. From then on, our group Fa study has been continuous, and has become a precious environment where we are all tempered, and improve together in the Fa.

When tribulations fall upon me, I can uphold my xinxing with the conviction that I could certainly go through them given that I have firm belief in Dafa and Master. I did not hit back when my husband beat me for no reason. When I was maltreated by others, I tried to look into myself to see if I had done anything improper. My employer twice considered me for retirement based on health issues but I rejected his offer. When my husband received keys for a new apartment that his employer had assigned to him, I asked him to return it to his employer so that the house could be given to those in most need of it. Soon I became accustomed to melting in the Fa and measuring myself against the Fa when I was in trouble with others. All these set a solid base for my validating Dafa and saving sentient beings in the later resistance of persecution of Falun Gong.

Fulfilling My Prehistoric Pledge on the Path of Validating the Fa and Saving Sentient Beings

Three years after I began practicing Falun Gong, the persecution of Falun Gong began in China. I suddenly perceived the meaning of “only three years for diligent personal cultivation” although I had no idea what to do. No fellow practitioners in my locality had access to the Internet, and we were completely cut off from any Falun Gong information. It seemed that I could not do anything for help. As a practitioner of Falun Gong, I knew that Falun Gong was the best and I had the right to speak up for Falun Gong. I then wrote many letters to various levels of government to tell them what Falun Gong actually was, using my own experience as examples. Hoping that they could withdraw their negative conclusion about Falun Gong, I told them that they could send medical experts to exam me to validate what I said.

I wondered what I should do, anxiously seeing the escalating persecution and people being misled by the slanderous propaganda against Falun Gong. In December 1999, I read an article by a fellow practitioner which reminded me of a hint that I had received from Master before. I realized what I was supposed to do. I could not bear this any longer, so I went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong with full determination.

My appeal for Falun Gong stirred up quite a sensation in my locality and I was considered the top “troublemaker” by local authorities. Using all means, they tried to extinguish my faith in Falun Gong in the following years in various ways, including extorting money from me, ransacking my home, arrest, detention, brainwashing, and imprisonment. Yet, I never wavered despite all the suppression. I believed in what Master said,

“Dafa can rectify the universe, so it certainly has the Fa’s power to repress evil, eliminate disorder, harmonize everything, and remain invincible.” ("Definitive Conclusion," from Essentials for Further Advancement)

I refused to bend to the oppressors. Their ruthless strikes on me did not blow me down, but fortified my steadfastness, rationality, and conscience in resisting the persecution.

I was often visited by governmental officers, the local police, and officers from the local residential area. They attempted to make me relinquish Falun Gong but I made use of such occasions. Each time they came to me, I clarified the facts about Falun Gong to them no matter who they were. Frustrated to see that they could not change my mind, they later simply left me alone. With my righteous thoughts that I acquired from Dafa, I created an environment that was relatively favorable to my cultivation.

Amidst mundane plight, Dafa practitioners march forward in cultivation. By studying the Fa well we understand the teachings and keep up with the progress of Fa rectification with the Fa as our guide, so as not to lose hold of ourselves in tribulations. Master said,

“A Dafa disciple's wisdom comes from righteous thoughts--divine thoughts...” ("Teaching the Fa at the Meeting with Asia-Pacific Students")

Dafa would reveal itself to us on our cultivation paths that are arranged by Master, as long as we walk the path. As divine beings in mortal shapes, we will not let lose our sense of responsibility to sentient beings, and will certainly rectify all that has run astray.

When I was in prison, I was not allowed to do the Falun Gong exercises but I did them regardless. At that time, I was unaware of sending forth righteous thoughts. One day, the chief of the prison saw me doing the exercises. He started yelling at me furiously, with wild eyes. He ordered an inmate to beat me with a baton, “Give her a severe beating!” I didn't bother to open my eyes but said to him, “You will not beat me. If you do, you will suffer the pain.” The person was shocked by what I said and retreated.

One day at 11:00 a.m., a prison guard came to a fellow practitioner to shackle her feet and hands. When he was about to do that, I said with my eyes fixed upon him, “You will not shackle her. If you do, your wife and children will suffer the pain in their legs.” He was shocked by what I said and stood up without shackling her. He asked her, “Would you like to be shackled?” I said to her, “You will not be shackled!” But she said, “I do not fear being shackled.” He then shackled her. I admired her firm faith in Dafa but was anxious about her failure to negate the old forces' arrangement. I sent forth a thought in silence, “In three days you will remove her shackles. Otherwise, you will suffer the pain in your hands.” At 2:50 p.m., the prison guard went to her and removed the shackles. She soon realized that she was not conforming with the Fa by acknowledging the shackling. We then began to recite the Fa together every day.

In the detention center, we were fed diseased, gray, and black rotten pork and rotten rice mixed with feces. The food in the bowl was covered with a layer of black rotten feces and there was sand in the bottom with a pesticide smell. I thought we had done nothing wrong being Dafa practitioners and should not be subjected to any persecution. All the mistreatment that was inflicted on us was the persecution of Dafa, and it was a foul crime. We must not merely suffer the mistreatment without doing anything. We reached a consensus and began to go on huger strikes to protest. We knocked on the door of the detention cell and spoke loudly to the prison guards. We clarified the facts of Falun Gong to them and requested to see the mayor, the prison chief, and the chief of the police department to appeal the mistreatment. We refused to eat anything until the rice and meat in our food were officially tested for quality. Many asked us to give up but nothing could change our minds.

The next morning, the prison chief asked me and another practitioner to go to the storage house where two inmates separated the feces from the rice under our watch. From then on, the prison never fed us rotten meat or rice again. With the help of Master and our righteous thoughts and actions, we cleared the evil elements, deterred the perpetrators, and rectified the environment around us. The inmates from our neighboring cells who also benefited often chanted loudly in gratitude, “Long live Falun Gong!”

All inmates in the prison were forced to make paper boxes, including Falun Gong practitioners. Some practitioners succumbed to the coercion saying that we should do well so that the inmates in our cells would escape punishment. But I insisted that we should never succumb to the prison, and spent all my time reciting the Fa, and writing appeal letters and truth-clarification notes.

One day, the deputy chief of the prison, who was notorious for his treachery and cruelty, came to look around the workshop. When he saw me not working and instead clarifying the facts about Falun Gong to some inmates, he went into a rage and yelled at me, “You! How dare you put aside your work and talk about the most sensitive Falun Gong issues here in the prison!” I turned to him, “You are not in a position to charge me. I have done nothing illegal. You get out of my way!” He was agitated by my words. He stared and said, “I will not leave. I will stay here.” I pointed at him with my right hand and said with high authority, “Then you just stay there for a whole day. Don't move!” I then went on with my truth clarification while he simply stood there still. After a while the inmates began to murmur, “Look, what is happening to him?” I casually looked back and saw him leaning against the corridor rail with his head sticking forward and his mouth wide open. His tongue was rigid and his gaze was fixed downward and motionless. I thought, “He must have been stupefied by me.” I said to him, “You look really bad there. Just get out of the way!” Upon hearing my words, he was able to move and hastened downstairs in frustration saying, “Great power she possesses. Never stand in her way.” From then on, he never dared to come inspect the cell where I was held and would run away wherever he saw me.

Creating an Environment for Validating the Fa and Saving More People

How can I publicize the beauty of Dafa to the world's people? The mundane world is created for Fa rectification and all sentient beings have come to this world for Dafa. Everything in human society revolves around Dafa, and it is entirely reasonable for us to make use of it to publicize Dafa, validate the Fa, and suppress the evil. It is our obligation to bring the facts of Falun Gong to more people so that more people can be saved. I embarked on an exploration to create an honorable way of validating the Fa and saving sentient beings.

My fellow practitioners and I bought some paint pens and made many sheets containing Falun Gong facts. We bought some yellow cloth and painted the words in red, “Falun Dafa is Good! Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is Good! Falun Dafa is a righteous way! The world need 'Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance'! Heaven rules with karmic laws! Bring Jiang Zemin to justice on a global scale! Restore my Master's reputation! Restore Falun Gong's reputation!” We attached wooden sticks to these small banners and distributed them along with other truth-clarification materials in the countryside. Before we set out, we asked for Master's help, “Let the truth-clarification material be our powerful implements to suppress the evil! Let each place that we go be blessed and harmonized by the light of Dafa! Let all evil be eliminated! Let us be invisible to people with malicious thoughts and enlighten the goodness of people of good character.” We sent forth righteous thought while walking along. In every accessible place, including bridges, trees on the side roads, and utility poles, we posted our banners. We distributed the truth-clarification materials to every resident that we passed. Often, the police chased us and police cars patrolled around us, but we always safely returned home, thanks to Master's compassionate protection.

Waving in the wind, the yellow banners flashed in the air like a golden spectacle, manifesting Dafa's majesty, clearing out the evil and arousing people's long-lost conscience. Some banners have been there on the trees for more than six months. Many fellow practitioners overcame their fear and regained their courage to step out. Through Fa study, we realized that to make more people understand the facts of Falun Gong, we must do more, eliminate the evil elements in other dimensions, and cooperate as a whole body. One night, in two hours, truth-clarification messages were placed almost everywhere in our city, including utility poles, neighboring police stations, schools, factories, and hotels.

The next morning, people were shocked to see the spectacle and it became a hot topic among them. The Chinese Communist Party authorities, overtly frightened, gave orders that all the walls and utility poles that were painted with Falun Gong messages were to be repainted to cover the messages. In his talk in a meeting of the municipal government, the mayor openly announced, “If you had the spirit of the Falun Gong practitioners, the economy in our city would certainly boom.”

Cooperating together, all Dafa practitioners from our city remained active. We made the information sheets all day and all night, and distributed the truth-clarification materials in all villages, towns, and districts of our city, and other neighboring counties. We worked so diligently, only to validate the Fa and save the people. How can we truly save the people? By studying the Fa, I came to understand that our validating the Fa should conform with the progress of Master's Fa rectification. Amidst the overwhelming persecution of Falun Gong, we have no way to let our voices be heard. We are left with only this way to validate the Fa, suppress the evil, and arouse people's conscience. All that we do is paving the way to save people. As obstacles were cleared along the way, our environment became more favorable. We now need to continue to truly save the people by clarifying the truth to them face to face.

My face-to-face truth clarification began with people around me. Wherever I went, I brought the true story of Falun Gong to all kinds of people, including my relatives, friends, classmates, colleagues, pedestrians I met on the street, officers from the local residential area, shop owners, and the police who were involved in persecuting practitioners. In our talks, I used different methods to unlock people's hearts. Most people came to understand, and withdrew from the Chinese Communist Party and its affiliated organizations after only a short talk. I was happy for their right choice. Some people refused to do the three withdrawals, but I at least left them goodwill: “You will certainly understand in the future. I hope you will be given another chance soon.”

Dafa unlocked my wisdom. With Master's compassionate help and my own righteous thoughts, I have created my way of validating the Fa along with fellow practitioners as a whole body. It is an ever-broadening way of fulfilling my sacred prehistoric pledges.

Thank you, Master, for your compassionate salvation and protection. Heshi.