Studying the Fa Solemnly Helped Me Get Through Difficult Situations

(Minghui.org) My father is 90 years old. He began needing help in 2020. As the only child, the responsibility of caring for him fell on me. After a few months, his health rapidly declined and he needed a bed pan, a catheter, and an IV every day. 

In 2021, he stopped using an IV but needed pain-killers. I told him to recite the auspicious phrases: “Falun Dafa is good; Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good,” and his pain reduced greatly. But he still needed a lot of care. 

After taking care of my father, I was interfered with by stray thoughts when I read the teachings or did the exercises. I tried to eliminate this interference by sending righteous thoughts, but the effect was limited. After looking within, I realized that the interference was only an external factor. The real reason was that I wasn’t paying attention when I studied the Fa, did the exercises, and sent righteous thoughts. I was only going through the motions. 

I remembered something a practitioner told me. Her husband was a miner, and the employer did not pay the workers for a long time. The couple didn’t even have enough money to buy rice. After finishing her chores, she read the Fa. Her husband was surprised that she could read so calmly when they didn’t even have food to eat. She replied that one must solemnly study the Fa when one is in a serious situation, that nothing else would help. She read Fa while her husband remained flustered. 

After she finished reading, she told him to go pick up his wages from the mine. He did not believe her, but didn’t argue about it. He went to the mine, and his supervisor told him they heard about his situation and prepared a check so he could eat. When the other miners heard about this, they also went to pick up their checks. But the supervisor had already left for the day.

This situation helped me understand that taking care of my father doesn’t interfere with my Fa-study. I take care of my father in the morning and play songs written by Dafa practitioners for him. I remind him to recite the auspicious phrases every day. Afterwards, I start my Fa-study and do the exercises. It was quite difficult in the beginning, but with determination and by sending forth righteous thoughts, things got easier. 

Solemnly studying the Fa has helped me break through my ordinary notions and so- called tribulations. For instance, our neighbors installed a surveillance camera and a practitioner suggested that I turn it with a stick so it wouldn’t monitor people when they came to my house. After they left, I recalled something Master Li said, 

“The thoughts of those who do spiritual practice can summon powers to do things, while a regular person’s thoughts direct the limbs or sensory organs to do things.” (The Ninth Talk, Zhuan Falun) 

I didn’t physically move it, but just held the thought that the camera does not work and would malfunction. Three days later, two people came to take the camera down. When I walked by, I saw them removing it. Someone asked why they were taking it down. They replied that the customer promised to pay after the camera was installed but failed to do so.

Soon after I began practicing Falun Dafa in 1999, the persecution began. My family and I were terrified. After the alleged Tiananmen Square Self-Immolation, my family and relatives threatened me to make me quit cultivation. My husband even threatened to divorce me. I was determined to continue practicing despite the pressure. They were scared for themselves and asked me to live elsewhere if I refused to give up. I agreed.

In the summer of 2002, I stayed with a relative who lived on a farm in the mountains. I picked wild vegetables and mushrooms to eat. I was able to study the Fa and do the exercises, but I gradually became less diligent. During my time there, I became familiar with the area.

In the fall of 2004, I returned home and joined our local Fa-study group and participated in truth-clarification projects. At the end of 2004, the Nine Commentaries on Communist Party was published. By 2006, we had basically delivered the book to every non-practitioner in our area. 

I contacted a practitioner I met when I stayed at the farm. She told me that they only distributed the Nine Commentaries to a few areas in their region. We decided that she would provide the brochures and financial support, while I would map out the area and have three other practitioners distribute the materials. In this way, we were able to cover the entire area. 

The purpose of my writing about this experience is to illustrate that, when we fall down and get separated from the group, we need to hurry and catch up. Master will give us opportunities to make up for our mistakes, but we have to seize them. 

I also want to share with those practitioners who have been less diligent, been arrested by the CCP, or have been going through tribulations, or might feel doubtful about whether or not Master is still looking after them. Don’t think that way. That is exactly what the old forces want us to think. We should calmly look within to see what the root cause is and what attachments we need to eliminate. We must study the Fa more, get rid of the attachment, elevate our character, and not just go through the motions. 

Every practitioner cultivates themselves by going through tribulations and various forms of interference. These are great opportunities for us to strive forward.