(Clearwisdom.net) It's been 12 years since I became a Falun Dafa practitioner. Dafa and Truth-Compassion-Forbearance are deeply rooted in my heart and in my life.
Looking back on the last 11 years, which were comprised of assisting Master in the Fa-rectification, saving sentient beings, and resisting the persecution, I was able to pass the tests in the most difficult moments thanks to Master's care, as well as my strong faith in Master and the Fa. This faith comes from a cultivator's righteous enlightenment and solid cultivation based on the Fa principles. This faith is also what distinguishes divine beings from humans.
Master Takes Care of Genuine Practitioners Everywhere
On May 14, 2003, four months after I was released from a two-year term in a labor camp, I was illegally arrested again and held at the county detention center for nearly 40 days. During this time, my husband (also a practitioner) and my son, who was in middle school, were forced to move twice. Our lives were very difficult. It was very hard for me to find a job. My husband, who was laid off years ago, was working hard labor. He was making 600 yuan a month and we could barely make ends meet. In the winter, we couldn't afford coal for heating and had to cut dried grass as fuel to cook and heat the house. Back then, I didn't enlighten to the need to negate the old forces' persecution. I told Master in my heart, “Master, I can bear the hardship, but I don't know what I did wrong. I don't want Dafa to be misunderstood because of my mistakes.” I was determined to cultivate Dafa. Nothing could have led me astray. No matter what the situation was, I knew I needed to listen to Master and assist Master in the Fa-rectification.
Although we only had very little money left, I spent quite a bit of money on special paper and made small white lotus flowers with leaves. I wrote the characters “Truth-Compassion-Forbearance” on them. They were nice little gifts. When fellow practitioners heard about it, they came and picked up the flowers. Some also helped make them. My mother happened to be visiting. She met other practitioners and decided to become a practitioner herself. At that time, my home was not well heated. Everyone who came thought it was cold. I used to be very afraid of cold. But since I became a cultivator, I didn't feel cold at all, even when I worked until really late at night and then did the exercises. My heart felt very warm.
In the beginning of 2004, a fellow practitioner helped me find a job that was not very time-consuming or difficult. Soon after that, unexpectedly, we had enough money to buy an apartment. My parents and sisters all urged me to buy it quickly. I thought about how much time and energy would be involved in moving, renovation, furnishing the apartment, and so on. I did not make a quick decision. In the fall, to our surprise, we were able to move into a renovated apartment with all utilities already connected. It wasn't very expensive, didn't take a lot of time, and provided a good place for group Fa study and sharing. My relatives and friends were all surprised, and fellow practitioners were happy for me. Master takes care of genuine disciples wherever we are.
In the fall of 2006, many practitioners in eastern Shandong Province were arrested. On October 15, eight to nine practitioners in my area were detained overnight. This sudden instance of persecution caught me by surprise. I wasn't sure what to do. At that time, I had just learned how to print truth-clarifying materials from the computer. Other practitioners all told me to hide the equipment and make materials later when the situation became less severe. I was sure that a practitioner should not be in hiding when a problem arose. However, my mind was not calm. When I sat down to study the Fa, as soon as I opened the book, Master's words appeared in front of my eyes,
“So, as Dafa disciples you should do well what you are supposed to do. Don't worry about what's going to transpire in the future, it's enough if you know inside what you should do, carrying the Fa in your mind, doing whatever needs to be done, and doing whatever you wish to do, as long as Dafa needs it.” (“Teaching the Fa at the Fa Conference at the U.S. Capital”)
Suddenly a bright light shone in my heart, and I felt as firm as a rock. I decided to continue printing as usual. The Fa was in my heart. I was doing what a genuine practitioner should do at critical times.
Position Ourselves Correctly in Cultivation
Since my husband was laid off, for nearly ten years, he did hard labor lifting and moving boxes. Our relatives often said, “You are almost 50 years old. How can you keep doing such hard labor? You should look for other ways to make a living.” We were not concerned. What's the big deal for a practitioner to be doing physical labor? Every day, after we did the exercises, we felt so great and had more energy then we could use. We knew our first priority should be doing the three things that Dafa disciples should do. Master would arrange everything for us.
Last October, out of the blue, my husband's boss said that he wanted to give the business to us. He said he had to help with his son's wedding store and take care of his grandson. We only had to pay 2,000 yuan for tools and rent to take over this good business opportunity. Other people in the business and employees were surprised and wanted to buy it from the boss at a higher price. The boss turned them down. He said [about my husband], “I picked him for his character. He will not mess up the business, which I so arduously built up.”
We knew that Master gave us this precious opportunity to save sentient beings. The first thing we did was to change the name of the business and made new signs. We used everything we had to validate the Fa. Once, a practitioner who has supernormal abilities came to visit. He said that from afar, he could see the characters on the sign of our store shining a golden light. Even ordinary people knew that this was the good fortune bestowed on us because of our cultivation in Falun Dafa.
Many people come and go at our shop every day. Some are migrants from other cities looking for jobs. Some are students looking for internships. Some are employers looking for contractors. We have convinced almost all of them to quit the Communist Party. We treat our employees like family, caring about their daily lives and accommodating their needs. Everything we did was to showcase the wonder of Dafa. Some workers from other businesses also joined us. In less than a year, we expanded from seven or eight employees to more than 20. Our neighbors all said that we had more business than anyone else. As long as we position ourselves correctly in cultivation, everything else will run smoothly.
True Faith in Master and in Dafa
In the latter half of last year, I saw many articles on the Minghui website about using phones with pre-recorded messages to clarify the facts. I was inspired. In our local area, we had not done anything in this regard. The local practitioner who was good with technology was in Tianjin, helping his sister to raise chickens. I went to the coordinator and suggested that we begin the phone project to broadcast NTDTV's programs. We were planning on launching the project by the end of the year. A short while later, though, the coordinator's wife was in an accident and broke her leg. She was bedridden and needed care. At the same time, I read more articles from the Sixth Internet Experience Sharing Conference for Practitioners in China. One of the articles on using phones with pre-recorded messages touched me. I thought that, if we did the project with our hearts and expanded it, we would be able to meet what Master said, “to do better, to be more efficient, to have a greater impact, and to save more people.” (“Fa Teaching at the U.S. Capital”) I was anxious and thought, “Master, practitioners in other areas have all done so well. We can't be left behind. There are many people here who have not heard the facts about the persecution. We need to launch the pre-recorded messaging project. Master, please help us!”
A few days later, the practitioner who was good with technology came to visit me. He was coughing a lot. He told me, “I realized I shouldn't be raising chickens. The chickens were dying in large numbers, and they had the same symptoms I do: cough and shortness of breaths. Plus, I'd have to slaughter them later, which is also killing.” I was delighted to hear that he had moved back. I said, “I've been hoping that you would come back!” I explained my plan to him. He said there was a practitioner from a village who had experience with this project. The next day, the three of us met at my house to discuss the project. I first read an article from Minghui Weekly on the benefits of phones with pre-recorded messages. When we read the part that talked about the power of compassion through overseas practitioners' recorded voices, we were all moved to tears.
Next, the other two practitioners began researching online for equipment and materials. We needed some equipment from other areas, and the practitioners traveled to purchase them. When we were ready to distribute them, I first shared with other practitioners based on Fa principles, then the other two practitioners taught them the technology. In less than 6 months, we acquired more than 100 voice phones and they were very effective. (Our need greatly exceeds 100, but acquisition has been difficult.) The practitioner who was tech-savvy was also a hard worker. For the last several years, he has contributed a lot to meet our region's material, technology, and other needs.
The entire project of fact-clarification using phones with pre-recorded messages has been running smoothly. We covered every town, business, and government entity in our region. Practitioners all cooperate to send forth righteous thoughts as a group. The effect has been really good. Fellow practitioners all felt the boundless power of Dafa. We just needed to have true faith in Dafa and truly cultivate. Master is taking care of everything, yet he left the mighty virtue for His disciples.
The Minghui website (Chinese version of Clearwisdom) has published Milarepa's Cultivation Story. I first read it when I was a new practitioner. I cried a lot when I read about his suffering. Today, re-reading the story, I still could not hold back my tears. But now I was crying for a different reason. I thought of Master suffering to save the sentient beings of this universe; I recalled the poem “Master-Disciple Grace” (Hong Yin II); I reflected on all the things Master has done for us in the last dozen of years. I did “heshi” in front of Master's picture and said, “Great Master, with boundless mercy, I want to completely, 100 percent give myself to the mission of saving sentient beings.” I will forever have faith in Master and the Fa.
