(Minghui.org) Greetings, venerable Master! Greetings, fellow practitioners!
I am a Falun Dafa practitioner from Vietnam. I began cultivation five years ago. I truly appreciate Master Li (Falun Dafa’s founder) and Dafa for giving me a healthy body and helping me improve my xinxing. I’d like to take this opportunity to report to Master and share with fellow practitioners. Please kindly point out anything inappropriate.
I am a 48-year-old personal support worker (PSW) in Taiwan. I began Falun Dafa cultivation in September 2017 through my brother in Kaohsiung city. Prior to that, everyone in my family worshiped Buddha, but we didn’t know the true meaning of cultivation. Meanwhile, we kept searching for a true cultivation way.
When my brother saw Falun Dafa (also known as Falun Gong) on the Internet and watched video recordings of Master Li’s lectures, he found it very good. Six months later, he introduced it to me. I thought: I previously cultivated Buddhism. If I were to switch to learning Falun Dafa, wouldn’t Gods and Buddhas be mad at me? So I told my brother I’d have to think it over.
He said that Falun Dafa is a universal Fa, it’s the greatest Fa in the universe, and if I were to listen to Master’s lecture recordings, I’d understand what my brother was saying. He said there shouldn’t be anything that I need to worry about. Then he downloaded Master’s lecture videos and audio recordings to my cell phone.
It was only after I listened to Master’s lectures, that I understood what cultivation is about. I knew this was something I had been looking for. Meanwhile, I also followed along with Master’s exercise demonstration video to learn the exercises. As soon as I sat down, I could comfortably sit in the full lotus position. Later, I began to go to the practice site to do the exercises. Since then, I have never slacked off in doing the exercises.
Before I started practicing Falun Dafa, I had sinusitis, which resulted in pus often running from my nose and headaches. After I began to cultivate, those illnesses disappeared. Last June and July, I suddenly developed small blisters on my toes, which kept bleeding and emitting pus. They also felt very itchy. As soon as I scratched them, my feet became swollen to the point where I couldn’t wear shoes. Walking became very painful. This situation lasted for two to three months. I thought: As a practitioner, we shouldn’t have any illnesses. Thus, I did my work, studied the Fa, did the exercises, and sent forth righteous thoughts as usual.
The auntie I look after was very worried about my situation. She urged me to go see a doctor; otherwise, she feared that I’d lose my toes. I said to her, “I am fine. It’s Master who is cleansing my body and discharging bad substances.” She then asked if she could call my Master to verify what I said. I told her that our Master has one hundred million disciples; if every one of us were to call him for something, then our Master would have no way to look after saving people. Then she asked me to find a practitioner, so she could check with that practitioner. So I invited Ms. Yu over. Only after Ms. Yu shared with her, did she feel assured.
Ms. Yu also pointed out to me that the way I talked to the auntie wasn’t kind enough, and that as practitioners, we are supposed to be kind to others. After I was enlightened about that, I began to pay attention to the way I spoke and treated the auntie with more patience and kindness. A week later, my foot was completely healed. Seeing that, the auntie was very happy; her son also felt that it was miraculous.
Before I began to practice, I had a bone spur in my spine and went to the hospital for treatment, which seemed to cure it. My wrist also swelled due to inflammation of the bone, and my hands became crooked. At the beginning of my cultivation, I felt pain from time to time. I began to recall what Master said:
“As a result, everyday people have no way of knowing the actual truth about the cause of the sickness, and they are thus lost in delusion without being enlightened. Once ill, the person takes medicine or seeks various kinds of treatments, which in effect press the sickness back into the body again.” (“Sickness Karma,” Essentials for Further Advancement)
Thus, I thought it was Master who helped push out my karma, so I had to endure it.
A few times in a dream, I felt a few people pulling my hand, waist, and lower back. At first, I was very worried and kept reciting, “Falun Dafa is good! Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good!” After I woke up, I was enlightened that it was Master’s law body adjusting my body. Now, both of my hands are straight and the bones in my wrist are flat.
The auntie I take care of is 85 years old. I have taken care of her for seven years. In the beginning of my cultivation, she often went to the temple to worship. She also liked to go to the parks to practice other qigong. Even though I went with her, I understood the importance of not following a second school. Thus, I did the Dafa exercises and studied the Fa to the side. She also praised Falun Dafa to other people, saying that I had good health from practicing.
My employer’s family was all supportive of my practicing Falun Dafa. I spread the Fa to the auntie’s son. He read Zhuan Falun and knows Dafa is good. One time, the auntie had to have surgery on her spine. As I took care of her, she recovered very quickly. Her son said, “It’s only because you practice Falun Dafa, that my mom recovered so quickly.”
The auntie used a wheelchair in the past. Now she walks on her own with some support and goes everywhere without a wheelchair. When I made truth-clarification calls, she often quietly sat there, either watching TV or reading books. I thought it was the energy field of a Fa-rectification cultivator that benefited her.
After listening to Master’s lecture recordings for a while, a practitioner helped us get a full set of Dafa books in Vietnamese. Upon opening Zhuan Falun and seeing Master’s picture, I was so excited and became teary. Before that, I often complained that life was hard, as I was in a foreign country alone. For a long time, even though I wished to cultivate Buddhahood, I didn’t understand the meaning of being human. After reading Zhuan Falun, I resolved many of my questions about life. I also came to understand the predestined relationships in one’s life. The feeling of unhappiness disappeared. Now I study the Fa for two to three hours every day. I feel fulfilled and my life feels meaningful.
In childhood, I was poor and only received a very limited education. The first time I participated in our local group Fa-study, practitioners read the Chinese version, whereas I read the Vietnamese version. I felt so envious of them, thinking when I can study the Fa in Chinese like Chinese practitioners. A year later, I made up my mind to study the Chinese version. I bought a copy of Zhuan Falun with Pinyin. When the other practitioners read the Fa, I listened while reading my book. In the third month, I tried to read it myself. Six to seven months later, I could finally completely read through Zhuan Falun with Pinyin. Now, I can study the Fa with local practitioners in Chinese.
Through Fa-study, I came to understand that I must do the three things well. As my work was taking care of elderly people at home, I couldn’t make myself available to go outside. I had the thought: since I cultivate Dafa and have benefited greatly from it, I also want to listen to Master who said we need to clarify the truth and save sentient beings. Thus, I believed Master would make the arrangement for me to do so.
Last summer, a practitioner told me about a truth-clarification tool for making calls. Because I had never used a computer, I declined her suggestion. After a while, encouraged by other practitioners, I thought as long as I had the wish to save others, Master would empower me. So, I got in touch with my niece who studied in Taiwan and asked her to help me buy a laptop. She told me that she had one she could give me. She then brought the computer to my home and showed me some basic operations.
I went to the telephone platform to receive training, where the coordinator taught me very patiently. Even though I didn’t help a lot of people quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated organizations, many of them got to learn the truth. I also gained some experience in truth clarification.
Later, a fellow practitioner introduced me to another truth-clarification platform, where I press a key to play truth-clarification recordings to help people quit the CCP. It would be working with other Vietnamese practitioners. On the first day, I helped two people renounce their memberships in the CCP organizations. I knew it was Master encouraging me, after seeing my wish to save people. Over the past year, through working with other Vietnamese practitioners, we helped more than 1,300 people quit the CCP organizations.
I deeply felt that sentient beings have waited for the truth for a long time. Their knowing side greatly longed to be saved. Many people wanted to learn Falun Dafa and asked me about Dafa books, including Zhuan Falun. One time, when I talked to someone about the “staged self-immolation incident” at Tiananmen Square, he said he wanted to quit immediately. He also mentioned that he wanted to learn Falun Dafa a long time ago, but couldn’t find a source for it; since he ran into me, he was really happy. So I asked a Vietnamese practitioner to send him the electronic copy of Zhuan Falun, Master’s exercise demonstration video, and the website for breaking through the Internet blockade. He greatly appreciated it.
Since then, I joined the platform to make truth-clarification calls with other Vietnamese practitioners for two hours every day. I also encouraged other practitioners to join the project. I enlightened that: Everyone has his or her sentient beings to save. As long as we have the wish to save people and righteous thoughts and actions, Master will arrange everything well and only wait for us to do our part. Meanwhile, I strengthened my sending forth righteous thoughts. At the 6 p.m. global time to send forth righteous thoughts, I tried to extend it to 30 minutes. By doing so, it helped greatly and improved the results of our calling people to save them.
Two months after I began to cultivate Dafa, I attended the Taiwan Fa Conference. At the conference, I ran into a practitioner from Vietnam. While sharing with her, I learned that Vietnamese versions of Dafa books are only sold in Taiwan. Six months later, she asked me to help practitioners in Vietnam order Dafa books. Later I helped not only Vietnamese practitioners from Vietnam but also those in other countries to purchase Dafa books.
Practitioners ordered large quantities of books, and with fluctuations in the exchange rates, orders placed at different times would result in different costs. Some practitioners suggested that I charge them fixed prices. But I thought: We practice Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, I might end up charging them more than they cost if I charge fixed prices. Only by following the exchange rates at the time of purchase, can I do what’s right and walk my path well.
One time, I shipped some Dafa books and clothes with Dafa things embroidered on them to Europe. After a month, they still hadn’t received them. So I went to the Post Office to check on it. The postal worker looked it up in their system, but couldn’t find them. It seemed that they had gotten lost. Then the person said, “How much did you pay for them? We can compensate you for the cost of those goods.” I said to him, “I practice Falun Dafa. They were all Falun Dafa items, which are very precious. I don’t believe they were lost. Please keep looking.” A few days later, I was informed by the postal staff that my package was found and would be returned to me. The only thing was that they couldn’t refund the shipping fee.
I told the European practitioner about this incident. We both looked inward. The European practitioner said she found her attachment to self-interest, as buying from Taiwan directly costs less. She felt she was fully responsible for that. I told her that I also had attachments, such as zealotry and a show-off mentality. So both of us were responsible for the consequence. So, we decided to split the shipping fee evenly between us. Probably because we both improved ourselves. A few days later, I noticed that the screen door leading to the backyard, had 20 plus Udumbara flowers blossoming on it. I felt so grateful for Master’s encouragement.
During these past couple of years, due to the pandemic, some of my friends from Vietnam asked their employers for a pay raise. Some tried to talk me into finding another job, by referring me to employers who offered higher pay, yet I wasn’t moved. I thought: What Master has arranged is the best, I don’t want to change my cultivation environment on my own. Even though my pay was comparatively low, my employer’s family treated me very well. Moreover, I also had more free time to do the three things. So I wanted to leave it alone.
After a while, when I overheard my friends saying that so-and-so was paid so much, it triggered my attachment to self-interest. But I still felt it wasn’t quite right. So, I shared with a practitioner in another city. She said to me, “Now, paying for a PSW is too low. Therefore, many PSWs have asked for a salary increase to bring their pay up to between 25,000 and 30,000 yuan. If you ask for a pay increase of a few thousand yuan, it’s totally reasonable.” I thought about it, then I decided to call my agent to have him check with my employer to see if there was any chance for me to get a salary increase. It was still up to my employer to decide how much of a pay increase they wanted to offer me, if they were willing to do so.
Three months have passed since I made the request, and my pay has remained the same. I was suddenly enlightened by something Master said:
“We know that we won’t be deprived of what is rightfully ours, and shouldn’t labor to get what is not.” (The Seventh Talk, Zhuan Falun)
That night, when I made calls, I helped 12 people quit the CCP. Ten of the others didn’t hang up until they finished listening to the recording. I came to enlighten that when I improve my xinxing and let go of my self-interest, Master encourages me by having me save more sentient beings. Later, the Taiwan government made an announcement to increase the salary for PSWs, and my pay was raised accordingly.
It was after I had been in Taiwan for a long time, that I began Dafa cultivation. I treasure it greatly. I also came to feel that Master arranged for me to obtain the Fa here; I have my mission. Even though my cultivation state occasionally wasn’t good, I knew that our time left to cultivate was limited, and I needed to seize this opportunity. Going forward, I’ll work diligently in doing the three things and solidly cultivate, so that I can complete my sacred mission in assisting Master in Fa-rectification and saving sentient beings.
Thank you, Master for your saving grace. Thank you, fellow practitioners, for your help.
(Presented at the 2022 Taiwan Fa Conference)