(Clearwisdom.net) I am a farmer and I have experienced numerous hardships in life. But it is also my great fortune to have become a Dafa practitioner. Following instructions from Teacher, I have walked my own cultivation path.
Starting to practice amidst hardships
My wife passed away when I was 30. My child and I lived together in poverty. In late 1996, I was sick and could not turn over onto my back in bed or walk with my back straight. What could I do? The child was too young to go to work, so I lived in anxiety and despair every day.
One day, I decided to visit my aunt, who lived 40 to 50 kilometers away. It was not easy for me to walk there, but I made it. After arriving, my cousin gave me a copy of Zhuan Falun. I could read most of the words in the book. On the second page, Teacher said:
"I do not talk about healing illness here, and neither will we heal illness. As a genuine practitioner, however, you cannot practice cultivation with an ill body. I will purify your body. The body purification will be done only for those who come to truly learn the practice and the Fa. We emphasize one point: If you cannot relinquish the attachment or concern for illness, we cannot do anything and will be unable to help you."
I started to practice without any other thought. Within several days, Teacher helped purify my body and the illnesses that had plagued me for years were gone. I began a new life.
Two years of solid cultivation
Two months later, I went to the city looking for a job. I was able to find some work to do, and read the Dafa book in my spare time. I also met an elderly practitioner. He took me to group exercises in the park and group Fa study in his home.
When I first started to do the sitting meditation, I did 45 minutes on the first day, and one hour on the following two days. On the fourth day, my legs were severely swollen and I could hardly walk. I thought, "This will not stop me." Because I had to work during the day, I chose to do the sitting meditation after 10 p.m. when Fa-study was over. Then, after getting up at around 3 a.m. I did the sitting meditation again, followed by group exercises in the morning. I slept about four hours every day. I also disciplined myself with Dafa to improve my xinxing.
About half a year later, one day when doing the exercises, I suddenly felt the Yuzhen acupuncture point in the back of my head open. On another day, when doing the second exercise and holding the Law Wheel, I saw a wonderful scene. The same thing happened during sitting meditation, and I saw some very wonderful places. Another time, I saw one person--who appeared to be me--smiling at me and watching me do the exercises. I thought, "What is this? I am doing exercises here." Oh, he was my Assistant Spirit! I personally experienced many situations described in the Dafa books, including the great heavenly circuit.
In the beginning of Lunyu, Teacher said, ""The Buddha Fa' is most profound; among all the theories in the world, it is the most intricate and extraordinary science. In order to explore this domain, humankind must fundamentally change its conventional thinking." I learned the Fa with my heart sentence by sentence. I also relinquished all human notions and was not afraid of hardships. I continued to get up at 3 a.m. everyday. Two years passed and it laid a solid foundation for my cultivation later.
I cannot live without the Fa even for one day
Just like many other poor farmers throughout China, I left my hometown to go make a living. It took six years. During this period of time, many bad things were removed and I also improved a lot.
In February 1999, one of my relatives introduced me to a job in her area--a mountainous area that is hundreds of miles away. I worked in the mountains during the day and stayed in her place at night. In the beginning, she said she did not care if I read in the evenings. Later, she asked me to stop because of the electricity bill. Then how could I study the Fa? So I brought Dafa book with me. I tried to do my work quicker and do more. In this way, during break time, I could study the Fa for a while on the hill. One evening, I saw a neighbor's house had some light. I immediately took out my Dafa book and read under the weak light. So the Fa-study difficulty was resolved, and I was very happy. I did not stop studying the Fa even for one day. At work, I sometimes recited Hong Yin. One day at work, two big Falun emitted out of my eyes. I knew Teacher was encouraging me.
Once at work, I was not very careful and a steel wire rope hit me in the eye. Warm blood immediately came out of my eye, and soaked my clothes. I covered my eye and went back to my relative's place. I went directly to my room and stored away the bloody clothes. During the five days of recovery, I studied the Fa. Little by little, I was able to see some shapes, then my sight returned to normal before I realized it.
Soon afterwards, my relative told me, "I heard you are practicing Falun Gong. It is banned now, so you'd better stop, or we could get into trouble." In fact, the persecution had already started by that time, but I had not heard any news, nor did I know any other practitioners. Nonetheless, I still got up at 3 a.m. to do the five exercises, and at night, I studied the Fa under our neighbor's light. In this way, I did not stop even for one day studying the Fa, doing the exercises, and improving my xinxing. One and a half years passed.
Validating the Fa, improving xinxing and rectifying myself
On September 14, 2000, my friend introduced me to a job in another company in the same area. The first difficulty I encountered was that there were so many people in the dorm that it was impossible to study the Fa or do the exercises. In Zhuan Falun, Teacher said:
"When a wise person learns of the Tao, he thinks: 'Finally I've obtained a righteous cultivation method. Why wait and not start to practice today?' The complex environment, in my view, is instead a good thing. The more complex it is, the greater the persons it will produce. If one can elevate oneself above and beyond it, one's cultivation will be the most solid."
"For a practitioner who is truly determined to practice cultivation, I would say that it turns out to be a good thing. "
It was indeed this case. I could only do the five sets of exercises outdoors. I set a rule for myself: I did the exercises regardless of the weather. Wind, snow, or other bad weather--nothing could stop me. When there was heavy snow, I cleaned up a small area, put a mat on it, and sat down for meditation. At work, I was able to study the Fa for a while during the break. During this period of time, there were several life-threatening occasions. With Teacher's care, there was no real danger from any of them.
Dafa enlightened my wisdom, and I made breakthroughs at work. The company's profits also went up. Soon afterwards, I became the manager for logistics. I was responsible for all the purchasing. In this way, tests arrived for fame, material interest, and lust.
Once a business partner invited me to a sauna. I arrived and found many young girls standing on either side. "Whoever you are interested in, she will bathe with you." I determinedly refused: I am a Dafa disciple, regardless of what other people do, I will not do anything immoral. After these girls left, before I had totally removed my clothes, another, even more beautiful girl came. I refused again. In this way, I did not leave any loopholes.
For accounting, I followed the requirements for a Dafa disciple, and everything was clearly itemized on the records. Some people wanted me to do them favors for personal gains, but I did not agree. I disciplined myself with Dafa's requirements and remained undisturbed in the face of fame, material interest, and lust. This triggered complaints and hatred on the part of some people. Thus, an accounting audit was initiated. It went on for three days, from morning to afternoon, but no problem was found. The audit was then gone through again--but more carefully--still no problem was found. Later, the director of the board asked my relative, "Exactly what kind of person is your relative [me]?" My relative replied, "He does not pursue personal gain. He practices Falun Gong and wants to be a better person." In this way, many people came to the company and left, but I was in the same position all the time.
During that time, many things happened but I remained undisturbed. After being unable to get any personal favors from me, some people wanted to report me to the police for practicing Falun Gong. The company director heard about this and asked me directly, "Are you practicing Falun Gong?" "Yes," I replied. "Falun Gong is banned by the government," he said. I told him that Falun Gong is good and gave him some examples. The director then said, "Falun Gong is against the Party." I said, "Even the CCP needs to allow people the right to speak. I do practice Falun Gong. If someone wants to say Falun Gong is not good, take me as an example. Why wouldn't practicing Falun Gong not be good?" The director went silent. By then, righteousness prevailed. The attempts to send me to the police were in vain.
People around me often reported their successes in order to receive a bonus. In contrast, I did not receive a bonus in spite of my hard work. I was undisturbed. Every day, there were people monitoring me, but I did not stop Fa-study or doing exercises even for one day. When they slept, I would go outside to do the exercises. When they searched my personal belongings for so-called evidence, I would hold the Dafa book on me. They also tried other ways. One day my relative came: "Right now, the situation is very tight. Please give me the books and I will take care of them for you." I handed him the books and he left. After accompanying him out and returning to the room, I found the books were still there. I was very excited! Teacher did not want me to stop studying the Fa even for one day.
During the Chinese New Year, I returned to my hometown and received Teacher's new articles from fellow practitioners. I became more diligent. On the trip back to work, I carried lots of truth-clarification materials. Everyone's bag needed to be searched except mine. On the train when I was sleeping, four thieves attempted in turn to open my bag to steal money, but none of them could make it. There were many miracles like this.
Assisting Teacher with Fa-rectification and saving sentient beings in my hometown
In 2005 when I returned to my hometown for my son's wedding, there was a meeting of local coordinators. Practitioners explained the current situation: some practitioners had passed away due to illness; some were trapped by illness karma; some were unable to step forward; and some coordinators did not do things according to the Fa. After hearing these, I shared my understanding, "This could be due to strong human notions. Without a clear understanding of the Fa, the old forces can easily take advantage of our loopholes. The main reason could be a lack of a group Fa-study environment." I suggested that we form Fa-study groups as soon as possible. Based on the area, five or six groups could be formed. Whenever something happened, practitioners could follow Dafa's requirements and get things resolved.
In this way, with faith in the Fa, we overcame lots of difficulties. Practitioners could handle things based on the Fa-principles. Practitioners solved many practical issues regarding the preparation of truth-clarification materials such as financial needs and manpower. Material production was thus spread everywhere. Moreover, practitioners helped with various things: some clarifying truth face to face, some distributing truth-clarifying materials nearby, and some delivering materials to rural areas to save more sentient beings. Every group has been doing the three things well.
Assimilating to the Fa
During the past 11 years, there has never been a single reason for me to stop Fa-study or doing the exercises. One day in 2007, I went out at 6 p.m, to deliver truth-clarification materials and did not return until 3 in the morning. When doing the sitting meditation afterwards, I saw myself as a universe, which is transparent. I saw my body sitting in the center--also transparent. I looked at the scene for two or three minutes. I deeply know that Teacher has sacrificed and endured tremendously for me. And this motivates me to be more diligent.
Dear fellow practitioners, the splendid scene will appear soon. Please hurry and catch up with the things we have missed. Please hurry to save sentient beings. Our benevolent Teacher is waiting for us at every minute. It is time for us to relinquish all human notions. I sincerely hope that every practitioner can do well.