(Minghui.org) I have practiced Falun Dafa for 23 years. Dafa cultivation has changed my life. I cannot express in words my gratitude to Master and Dafa.
My father was the sole support in our family of seven so we were poor. We barely had enough money for food or clothes, and sometimes couldn’t pay the tuition for me to go to school. I graduated from junior high during the Cultural Revolution. I was taken to the countryside and later returned to work in the city.
My hard life as a child gave me a strong desire to make lots of money. I was involved in various businesses, and money was my sole focus in life. But, once I had money, I felt an inexplicable sense of loss and emptiness. I was living in a muddle-headed way, but I felt that I was not a bad person. I still had a conscience and knew that there were certain things that I absolutely shouldn’t do.
In October 1997, I went for a walk in the park near my home and saw a banner with the words “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance” written on it. My heart suddenly lit up, and I felt that Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance was great, so I asked a practitioner at the site, “How do you do this practice?” She said, “There are books about Falun Dafa here. You can read the books first to have some understanding.” I bought a copy of Zhuan Falun, the main text of Falun Dafa.
I didn’t leave my home for three days to finish reading Zhuan Falun. I said, “I want to practice this!”
I was no longer confused about life—I finally knew what the purpose of life is. It felt as if I suddenly woke up after being asleep for many years.
After practicing Dafa, I completely changed from the inside out. In the past, I was addicted to alcohol and developed a stomach disease. The illness would come and go once every two or three months, and the pain was unbearable every time. I was also addicted to smoking and played mahjong all night long. I had a very bad temper and no one could say no to me at home. My wife was afraid of me but couldn’t do anything about me. The atmosphere at home and my relationship with my wife were extremely tense.
After I started practicing Dafa, I participated in group exercises and Fa study, and watched Master’s lecture videos. I required myself to do things based on the principles Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. I constantly improved my moral behavior, and quit all my bad habits. I recovered from my stomach disease. Six months later, when I had a stomachache, I realized that I was not sick—instead, Master was cleansing my body and eliminating karma. As soon as I had that thought the pain disappeared. I haven’t been sick since then.
Both my relationship with my wife and the atmosphere at home became very good. Our neighbors all said about me, “How did he change so much? He’s such a nice person now!”
When I first began to practice Dafa, I often drove with fellow practitioners to spread the Fa in the countryside. I told others about my own experiences so that more predestined people could practice Dafa and benefit from it. That period of time was so wonderful. I was so happy every day and constantly smiled. I was immersed in the happiness and joy of being able to cultivate and return to the origin of my life.
I was detained and persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) many times because I refused to stop practicing Falun Dafa. I realized that the more I was afraid of the persecution, the more the CCP would persecute me. The evil factors are scared when practitioners really strengthen their righteous thoughts and let go of life and death. When we truly keep our righteous thoughts strong and believe in Master and the Fa, Master will always help us!
I went to Tiananmen Square in Beijing on October 1, 2000, to validate Dafa and was arrested. After being taken back to the local area, I was illegally sentenced to a forced labor camp for three years. During this period, because of my firm belief in Dafa and refusal to “transform” I was subjected to various tortures and was later transferred to a different labor camp. The authorities extended my incarceration for another six months in the labor camp.
When I was in the labor camp, the guards saw their “ideological work” could not make me waver, so they instructed the inmates to use violence to “transform” me. They used all kinds of inhumane ways to torture me. Because I refused to wear the prison uniform, they shocked me with electric batons. In ordinary society, I was the kind of person who was tough and unyielding. So, at first, I used human stubbornness to handle my being tortured. When I was stunned with electric batons I refused to scream. They saw the electric batons didn’t do anything, so they arranged for inmates to beat me. One night, they put me in a small cell, and five inmates took turns stomping on my legs. When they woke up in the middle of the night, they burned my chin with lighters and tortured me all night. The next day both of my legs and shins were black, and I couldn’t move for two weeks.
Practitioners who refused to be “transformed” became targets. Although I was very firm and knew that I couldn’t be “transformed,” I still didn’t have a clear understanding of the Fa principles on how to resist the persecution based on the Fa, and how to use righteous thoughts to dissolve the persecution. Each time I was persecuted my fear surfaced, and I always wanted to use human methods to deal with it.
When Master’s article “A Suggestion” (Essentials for Further Advancement II) was passed into the labor camp by practitioners, I memorized it overnight. When the people tried to “transform” me again, I recited the entire article to them from memory. This really shocked the guards and those people who were doing the “transformation” work. They couldn’t imagine how I memorized it in that kind of environment. During that time I frequently dreamed that I was flying. I knew that Master was helping me and encouraging me! I recited the Fa and the new article repeatedly. My fear lessened, and my whole body was filled with the power of the Fa. I became firm and determined.
When I was transferred to another labor camp, the guards arranged for one of the most brutal inmates to watch me. At that time, my fear was about to come out again, but I immediately realized that “I can’t be afraid. I must disintegrate the evil factors with righteous thoughts.”
As soon as I held this thought, something amazing happened: that inmate got sick and couldn’t get up. The persecution had ended. Master saw my righteous thoughts and protected me. During the last year of detention, none of the guards or inmates dared to do anything to me. I saw that they actually admired the steadfast Falun Dafa practitioners.
On October 1, 2009, I was arrested while staying in a hotel on a business trip and was illegally sentenced to a forced labor camp for another year. During the process, people from the procuratorate wanted to increase the detention term. I realized that I should resist the persecution. I didn’t publicly go on a hunger strike, but I gradually ate less and less and I became thinner and thinner. I went home a month early. This was something that I could do at my xinxing level at the time, as I was able to put off life and death. Master helped me dissolve the tribulation.
I went to a commercial center to distribute truth clarification materials in November 2017 and was reported by someone who did not know the truth. I was taken to the police station and locked up in a small room. I sat in the full lotus position and sent forth righteous thoughts. In the afternoon, two officers from the 610 Office came to interrogate me. I didn’t cooperate, but because of my fear, I did not clarify the truth, either. I just said to them, “It has been so many years and you should know what Falun Dafa is all about. I’m not doing anything bad.” I sent righteous thoughts the entire night and I thought, “I won’t cooperate with whatever they ask me to do tomorrow.”
The next day, when the police came and asked me to go with them, I lost my righteous thoughts and “obediently” went with them. I felt that they were taking me to the hospital for a medical examination, which was required for being taken to a detention center.
I forced myself to calm down and thought, “I can’t be in this kind of state. I can’t cooperate with them anymore.” Once this thought was set into my mind, my righteous thoughts became stronger, and my fears lessened. When the car arrived at the hospital, I didn’t get out. I didn’t cooperate. I didn’t answer their questions. In the end, they put me on a wheel chair and pushed me into the hospital for a medical examination.
Afterwards, they took me back to the police station. That afternoon, the police handcuffed me and took me to the detention center. A guard in the detention center asked me if I took medicine. I said no. They then asked if I had even been sick before. I still said no. The guard there said to the police, “We can’t take him. We need a report from the hospital and we can then discuss it.” I was released and returned home.
After this tribulation, I came to a deeper understanding of what Master said:
“And you shouldn’t acknowledge them either. Do things well in an upright and dignified way, negate them, and strengthen your righteous thoughts some. “I’m Li Hongzhi’s disciple, I don’t want other arrangements or acknowledge them”—then they won’t dare to do that. So it can all be resolved. When you can really do that, not just saying it but putting it into action, Master will definitely stand up for you.” (Teachings Given on Lantern Festival Day, 2003)
Persistently Doing the Three Things Well
I joined a Fa study group to memorize the Fa in 2016. I said to myself, “It’s difficult for me to even memorize just one paragraph. How difficult it would be to memorize the entire Book of Zhuan Falun!” The fear of it being difficult made me want to give up. However, I also knew clearly that the environment of a Fa study group was the best assurance of succeeding in memorizing the Fa.
Master said,
“When you are overcoming a real hardship or tribulation, you try it. When it is difficult to endure, try to endure it. When it looks impossible and is said to be impossible, give it a try and see if it is possible. If you can actually do it, you will indeed find, “After passing the shady willow trees, there will be bright flowers and another village ahead!”” (Lecture Nine, Zhuan Falun)
So, I stuck with it.
I memorized Zhuan Falun nearly four times in the Fa-study group. Although my progress was not fast, the benefit was enormous. Without my even realizing it, my attachments that were very difficult to eliminate in the past became much weaker, and they couldn’t control me anymore. Memorizing the Fa also made me feel at ease. I was often in a calm state. Ordinary people’s things no longer moved me. Memorizing the Fa helped me improve my xinxing and fundamentally changed my cultivation state.
I felt very fortunate to join the group. I was able to see my shortcomings by comparing my behavior with the Fa. This helped me do the threethingsdiligently and persistently.
Apart from studying the Fa in the Fa-study group, I also memorized the Fa on my own, did the exercises, sent righteous thoughts, and clarified the truth. I have been eating only one meal a day for many years and I am used to it. It saves me a lot of time. I clarify the truth and distribute truth clarification materials provided to me by fellow practitioners. I distribute dozens every day, and about 10,000 a year. I have been doing it for over a decade, I don’t ever miss a day. I don’t get affected by weather and distribute Dafa materials no matter if it is windy, rainy, hot, or cold.
When communities were closed down due to the pandemic, it still did not stop me. Master has given me the wisdom and ability to handle it – I always had a way to go out and distribute the materials. Because saving people is one of the three things that Master requires us to do, it is the mission of Dafa practitioners, and I have to do it every day persistently, no matter what the circumstances.
I always have a plan when I go out to distribute materials. I keep in mind every place I distribute, and I do it region by region. Because I live in a densely populated big city, there are still many areas where I have not distributed even after so many years.
Distributing materials is a process of saving people, and it is also a process of cultivation. I have encountered various situations and tests during this process. Once, I was about to put some materials on a door of a household, and it suddenly opened. A man came out and said, “You are pretty brave! How many years have you been doing it?” I said, “They are good for people. You can take a look.” He returned the information to me and left. I could tell that he was not an ordinary person, as his tone was very much like that of a police officer.
Another time, when I was posting information on a door, a middle-aged man came out. Because he felt resistance as he opened the door, he was a bit angry when he saw me and asked me what I was doing. I said, “I’m distributing DVDs.” He grabbed me and said, “What are you distributing? Come to the community office with me.” I said, “I’m giving you something good.” He let go of me and I apologized to him. At that time, I had already posted the materials on his door. I hoped he and his family would take a look at them later and be saved.
I have also encountered many people who understood the truth. Once, when I walked into the corridor of a residential building on the first floor, a resident happened to come out. She asked me what I was doing. I told her frankly, “I’m distributing Falun Dafa materials.” She said, “Ah, Falun Dafa materials are well written. I have read them.”
On another occasion, I was about to post the materials on a door. Someone came out and I handed it to him. He bent over to tie his shoelace and placed the flier on the ground. I asked him, “Do you want it?” He hurriedly said, “Yes, I do.”
Indeed, all sentient beings are waiting to receive the materials and waiting to be saved!
There have been many extraordinary phenomena in the process of distributing the materials. For example, sometimes a door is open and there are people inside, but as I post the materials, the people inside do not seem to notice me. Sometimes when I walk past a person, he doesn’t seem to see me – it is as if I have entered another dimension.
As things became smoother and smoother, my fears became less and less, and I stopped paying attention to safety. For a while, I selected places such as commercial streets, high-end communities, and high-rise buildings to distribute materials. I thought to myself, “I can leave the small buildings and easy-to-access ones for the older practitioners. I’ll do the areas that are more difficult.” At this point, my heart of saving people was no longer pure—instead the thought of validating myself was getting stronger. The attachments of zealotry, showing off, and looking down on others became prominent. As a result, the evil factors took advantage of my shortcomings and I was arrested when distributing Dafa materials.
Although the persecution was disintegrated under Master’s protection, the experience taught me profound lessons and awakened me. I truly realized that in cultivation, I must solidly cultivate my own heart in a down-to-earth manner. Only by improving my xinxing in cultivation can I do well in saving people and fulfill the historical mission as a Dafa practitioner. Saving people cannot become a formality and we can’t treat it like a task. We must do it with a pure and compassionate heart in order to truly save sentient beings.
Although I am still too far away from Master’s requirements and the standards of the Fa, I will cherish the path I have traveled, learn positive lessons from it, and constantly cleanse myself and correct myself in the Fa. I will treasure the precious remaining time that Master has arranged for us, diligently cultivate, and do the three things well.