Eighty-Year Old Practitioner: There Is No Reason to Slack off in Cultivation

(Minghui.org) I am an 80-year old retired elementary school teacher, who is full of gratitude to Master Li Hongzhi (Falun Dafa's founder) after looking back at my path of Fa-rectification cultivation over the past 20 plus years.

“This Is What I Want”

My husband went out for a walk one night in November 1998 and saw a group of people doing some exercises in a field. One of them enthusiastically introduced him to Falun Dafa, a cultivation method that guides people to be kind and good and does miracles for improving one’s health. She also described her own experiences to him.

My husband excitedly told me about it when he got home and asked if I would go with him next time. We went and learned the five sets of Dafa exercises, which we faithfully did every day.

I was able to meditate for half an hour in the full lotus position within a couple of weeks, and experienced the feeling of being “... very comfortable as though you are sitting inside an eggshell.” (Lecture Eight, Zhuan Falun)

I also felt what Master said,

“… after sitting for a while the legs disappear, and one cannot recall where the legs went. The body disappears, the arms disappear, the hands also disappear—only the head is left. As one keeps practicing, one finds that the head disappears as well, leaving only one’s own mind, a little thought that one is practicing here.” (Lecture Eight, Zhuan Falun).

The feeling was just wonderful.

I used to go to the temple on the 1^st and 15^th of the lunar calendar month to burn incense and worship the Bodhisattva. I felt Falun Dafa was so good and true after I learned it that I stopped going to the temple.

I was so lucky to have come across such a good practice. This is what I want. It is my destiny. I am determined to follow Master and practice cultivation to the end, no matter what.

Persisted in Clarifying the Truth and Denying the Persecution

Domestic security officers came to our home to harass us often because I persisted in studying the Fa and doing the exercises after the persecution started on July 20, 1999. They opened a brainwashing center in December 2010, and I was the only one taken there. They took me there in the morning, and let me go home in the afternoon.

I persistently denied the persecution and clarified the facts. I told them the wonders of Dafa and that Dafa was taught around the world. I told them about quitting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated organizations and managed to get two of them to quit the Party. I stopped going there three days later.

A relative, who I had once introduced to Dafa, was arrested for distributing Dafa pamphlets at the police station. Her non-practitioner aunt gave them my information, and the police ransacked my home.

I was there at the time, and they confiscated my computer and printer. After I returned home, I thought if they came again I would just clarify the facts to them. Indeed they came, and one of them quit the CCP after listening to what I had to say.

Accomplishing One's Mission

At the beginning of the persecution, my husband used our retirement pension to buy tapes and recorders. We recorded Master’s lectures and gave them to fellow practitioners. People around us were all poor at the time. My home was a Dafa information center. We bought a computer, printer, and other consumables. We also gave our extra savings to practitioners to make Dafa informational materials.

I learned the importance of saving people and recognized my own mission from Master’s lectures. I have been out to clarify the facts almost every day over the past twenty-some years, whether in the bitter cold or scorching heat. I walked every street in the city, and have visited every home in the villages. Sometimes I went out right after I finished sending forth righteous thoughts at noon and told people the wonders of Dafa and how the CCP persecutes good people.

I clarified the facts to everyone I met, be they male or female, young or old. Sometimes, when I saw a group of people chatting I went up to them, told them about Falun Dafa, gave them pamphlets, and answered any questions they might have. I never felt tired or thought it was hard because I knew that I was fulfilling my mission.

Involved in Accidents Many Times, But Master Always Protected Me

I went out on my bicycle to clarify the facts one day when I hit a large rock on the side of the street having been forced to swerve away from a bus at a turn. My whole face was bruised, but it didn't stop me from telling people the facts about Dafa.

Once, I collided head-on with a motorcycle. I was knocked to the ground, my left arm bled and was severely bruised. The motorcyclist was worried and blamed himself. I kept comforting him, and said, “Don’t worry. I am a Falun Dafa practitioner. I will not cause any trouble for you. It was just an accident. No one wanted it to happen.”

I told him about Dafa and urged him to quit the Party.

I lived next to a busy road and often went out on my bicycle. One day I went out and was knocked to the ground by a motorcycle again, with the motorcycle on top of me. Soon my back felt sticky. I found blood on the ground when I got up.

An acquaintance in the neighborhood passed by and saw us. He grabbed the driver to stop him from running away. I kindly said to my acquaintance, “I am a Dafa practitioner. It was an accident and we should let the driver go.” I took the opportunity to tell them about Dafa. The acquaintance later told my daughter, “Only a practitioner could do such a thing.”

I never made trouble for others after being in similar incidents. I only told them the wonder of Dafa and that I would recover very soon with Master’s protection.

I have experienced over 20 such accidents in the past 20 odd years. The injuries always healed in a short time no matter how serious they were. I never stayed at home to rest due to the injury.

“I Do Not Recognize the Illusion of Sickness.”

In the fall of 2016, I suddenly felt an acute pain in my stomach which made me break out in a cold sweat. It was so painful that I couldn't eat or drink. I thought, “Shall I still go out to tell people about Dafa?” Then I remembered Master’s words,

“If your mind doesn’t change, everything else you do means nothing. Outward acts mean nothing.” (“Teachings in the Conference in Europe”)

I knew it was interference, and said to myself, “I don't recognize the illusion of sickness, since it interferes with my time for saving people.”

So I got on my bicycle and went out to distribute Dafa informational materials to people in 18 apartment buildings. My health recovered in a week and I lost 30 pounds.

Running up and down the stairs of 18 apartments is very strenuous for a youngster, let alone to an 80-year-old woman who was suffering from symptoms of illness. Master saw my eagerness to save people and gave me the energy and power. As long as our minds are righteous, Master will help us.

There Is No Reason to Slack Off

My husband was not very diligent in his cultivation and passed away due to illnesses in 2007. I lived alone for half a year at first. I was crazily busy: reading three chapters of Zhuan Falun a day, doing the exercises for 90 minutes each; reading articles on Minghui.org, typing and uploading the list of people who had quit the CCP, and distributing Dafa informational materials.

I ate simple meals to save time. I cooked a large pot of rice at a time and added water to it for meals. I lay in bed without changing into my pajamas when I got tired and got up as soon as I awoke. I also found time to study Master’s lectures from different places and went through them three times. Being tired at the end of the day, I went to bed at around 8 p.m., and got up at 11:30 p.m., then stayed up for the rest of the night.

Whether it was hot or cold, or when my body felt uncomfortable, I never stopped. Studying the Fa, doing the exercises, sending forth righteous thoughts, and telling people the facts about Falun Dafa are things I need to do. I often reminded myself that saving people is the most important thing; I don't have any reason to slack off.

Many of us who started practicing Falun Dafa before July 20, 1999, are becoming elderly. But despite our age, we cannot stop being diligent and weaken our will to move forward in cultivation. No matter what, we cannot slack off even a bit. That would equate to destroying ourselves as well as those we need to save.

I cite two paragraphs of Master's lectures to share with fellow practitioners:

“What Master is most concerned about is that at present a number of you have become not diligent. When the persecution first began you were full of vigor, and you turned around that entire situation. But as circumstances have eased up, you have instead slackened. Cultivation… There’s a saying, and it’s one I’ve shared with you before: “Cultivate with the heart you once had, and success is certain.” (Enthusiastic applause) The reason many people didn’t succeed in their cultivation was because they weren’t able to make it through over the long haul. They might have felt lonely or bored, or they might have become so familiar with something or have grown so accustomed to something that they didn’t want to do it anymore. Anything can cause a person to become lax. So you should continue to be diligent.” (“Fa Teaching on World Falun Dafa Day”)

“Dafa disciples, all the way until their last step to Consummation, will be tested as to whether they can make it. There could be very, very critical tests for you all the way until you are just one step away from finishing. That is because every step becomes more and more critical to your cultivation and your tests, especially toward the end. You know, those lawless gods of the old cosmos will try to maneuver things until the very end, as long as they are still around. When you are not up to par, they will surely try to find a way to bring you down. They know that Li Hongzhi won’t abandon you, so they will use all kinds of methods to make you fall. Having just one single thought be off will make a person falter. So the closer it is to the end, the more serious and crucial the tests will be.” (“Teachings at the Conference in Los Angeles”)

I have walked on my cultivation path up to today, over the past 20-some years, with Master’s protection. I am grateful for Master's saving grace. All I can do is be diligent and accomplish my mission well.

Please correct me if anything is inappropriate.