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I Am Proud to Cultivate Falun Dafa

August 22, 2011 |   By Yiheng, a Falun Dafa practitioner from Hebei Province, China

(Clearwisdom.net) I acquired the Fa in May 1999 and have walked on the path of cultivation for the past 12 years. During my cultivation, I have experienced joy, tears, beauty, and tribulations. My biggest gain is having a clear body and mind after understanding the Fa principles. My friends who are everyday people have said to me, “I think you and your husband (my husband is also a practitioner) have lost a lot during the past 12 years.” I told them that I gained even more. I have a healthy body and a happy family. Most importantly, I improved my moral standard. These are not things that money can buy. I understand that the goal of my life, that which gives meaning to my life, is to return to my true self.

In October 2000, I went to Beijing to validate Dafa with seven other practitioners. We were arrested in Tiananmen Square. That night we were illegally detained. When I arrived at the dentition center, I saw many practitioners from my local city, county, and district. We recited the Fa together and did the exercises. I could not recite Master's recent Fa lectures and felt much regret. Then I took out my handwritten copy of Hong Yin to read. During my detention for 40 days, I learned to recite Hong Yin, Essentials for Further Advancement, and Lunyu from Zhuan Falun from memory. I saw my gap relative to other practitioners. I told myself that I had to study the Fa diligently and that I must be able to recite the Fa.

Rectifying Myself According to Master's Requirements to Do the Best

In September 2002, the security department where I worked told me to write the guarantee statement to stop practicing Falun Gong within three days. They threatened to send me to a brainwashing facility if I didn't. When I got home, I looked inward and tried to find what kind of attachment I had that was being taken advantage of. I thought maybe I did not let go of my human emotions, because my husband had been sent to a forced labor camp and my only young daughter was left alone at home. I discussed it with two practitioners who were also ordered to be “transformed” like me, and we agreed that we should not passively let ourselves be sent to a forced labor camp, that we should take the initiative and eliminate the evil. We decided to leave our homes. In the first few days after I became homeless, when I thought of my husband, who was still in the detention center, and my daughter, who was still very young, I could not help crying. I never thought that cultivation would be so difficult. The practitioners who left home together with me saw my situation and suggested we study the Fa together. After we concentrated on studying the Fa for a long time, I gradually merged into the Fa. In the daytime, we studied the Fa, did the exercises, and produced truth-clarifying materials. During the night, after we sent forth righteous thoughts at midnight, we went out to distribute the materials. We usually spent most of the night giving out materials. The longest time we spent was when we went to four villages to pass out materials in one night.

As we distributed the materials, sometimes we got separated from each other. I walked through villages I had never been to before and put materials on every door. I thought, “Sentient beings, please wake up. Dafa disciples have come to save you.” When I felt the fear of darkness, I remembered what Master said,

“A great Arhat walks the earth,
Gods and demons fear with awe.” (“Benevolent Might,” Hong Yin)

Every time after I had passed out almost all the materials, I saw the other practitioners again. We smiled and gave thanks for Master's protection. One day I suddenly had the thought in my mind that I did not commit any crime and that I should not have to be homeless. I suddenly woke up and realized Master had enlightened me: I should go home. So we returned home.

My family members told me, “The CCP's 16th National Congress is coming up. You should hide for a little longer.” I said I wouldn't go away anymore. We needed to face the police and clarify the truth to them. We had to tell them that Falun Gong was the righteous Fa and that persecuting Dafa disciples would incur karmic retribution.” Master said,

“Wherever there's a problem, that is where you need to clarify the truth and save people. Don't take a detour when you run into difficulties. When you see something that does us harm, or when you see something blocking our validating the Fa, don't take a detour -- you should face it, and clarify the truth and save those beings. This is the compassion (cibei) of a Dafa disciple, and it's our saving lives.” (“Teaching the Fa at the Washington, D.C. Fa Conference”)

As our thoughts are rectified, our environments will be naturally rectified. My employer did not give me a hard time. Instead, he came to my home and asked me to come back to work. I went back to work.

While my husband and I were away, our daughter dropped her eyeglasses while she was playing and a lens popped out. She asked a neighbor to help her put the lens back in. But a few days later, she dropped them again and her classmates smashed them. She realized that her eyes had returned to normal and she did not need to wear glasses anymore. My daughter frequently read Zhuan Falun. My daughter originally had astigmatism, amblyopia, and strabismus. The doctor said that if it was not treated in time, she could become almost blind. I was very worried about her eyes and I wanted to get another pair of glasses for her, but she said, “Don't worry. My eyes are really good now.” Her vision continues to be very good.

My relatives and friends all said, “You husband was sent to the forced labor camp and you had to become homeless and destitute. Your child was left alone at home. What do you seek?” I said, “We do not pursue anything. We just want peace of mind. I greatly benefited from Dafa and I want to appeal for Dafa and Master. Cultivating ourselves following the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is not wrong. Falun Gong is good. We need freedom of belief.” When I saw my daughter's bright eyes, happy tears came to my eyes. I fully experienced Master's compassion and Dafa's greatness.

Pass the Test by Remembering Master's Teachings

In 2006, my husband was arrested again away from home. I rushed to the detention center where he was detained to visit him. When I arrived, it was already after 5 p.m. The police in the detention center wanted to go home and did not allow me to see my husband. I sat in front of the detention center to send forth righteous thoughts until dark. Then I found a hotel. I had never been so far away from home alone. It is hard to describe my sadness, pain, and loneliness. In the hotel, I took out my MP3 player and started to play the songs written by Dafa practitioners. When I heard the song “Ode to Master's Grace,” I recalled that when Master spread the Fa during the previous ten years, he went through many, many difficulties and tribulations in order to save us. He worried about us so much. My suffering and pain was nothing compared to his. I immediately got rid of my pain and sadness and wiped away my tears. Dafa practitioners' songs unlocked my heart. I continued to send forth righteous thoughts. The next morning, I went to the detention center to visit my husband. I recited Master's poem to encourage him,

“Imprisoned as you are,
don’t be sorrowful or sad
Carry on with righteous thoughts and actions,
and the Fa is with you
Calmly reflect on the attachments you have
Remove your human thoughts
and evil will naturally die out” (“Don’t Be Sad,” Hong Yong Vol. II)

Two weeks later, my husband's employer notified me that my husband had been sentenced to one year of forced labor and told me to send him bedding as soon as possible. I took the overnight train to where my husband was detained, but I did not get to see him since he had already been sent to the forced labor camp. On my way back, I cried again on the train. Suddenly Master's words came to my mind,

“Cultivation is hard. It’s hard in that even when a terrible calamity strikes, even when evil madly persecutes, and even when your life is at stake, you still have to be able to steadfastly continue on your path of cultivation without letting anything in human society interfere with the steps you take on your path of cultivation.” (“Path,” Essentials for Further Advancement II)

Master's Fa enlightened me again. I understood that I was not treating myself as a practitioner in dealing with my husband's imprisonment. Even when I sent forth righteous thoughts, I had human feelings for my husband, so my thoughts did not have any power. Also, I did not clarify the truth to the police in time. I even prepared the money to be ready to bail my husband out. I totally treated myself as an everyday person. It was just like a practitioner reminded me, “A human cannot save a god.” From this I truly understood that each time, although I improved myself as a result of the tribulations, I always passively endured them. I still followed the old forces' arrangements. I had to get rid of my attachment and improve myself during Fa-study, rectify myself, and walk the path that Master arranged for me.

A Family Material Site Blossoms

For many reasons, I took on the divine responsibility to produce truth-clarifying materials. The family material site was established just like another blossoming flower. In the beginning, I was still fearful when downloading truth-clarifying materials from Dafa websites. Now I can do it with a calm mind. In the beginning, I was clumsy printing the materials. Now I can efficiently do all kinds of operations. During the process, I cultivated myself and got rid of many attachments, such as fear, irritability, zealotry, showing off, and many other human notions. In the beginning, once when I was making the back of a booklet cover, I could not feed the printer paper anymore. First I thought maybe the paper was jammed or the cartridge was misplaced. After I checked everything I found nothing wrong, but I still could not feed the printer paper. I had to take out all the paper and re-place it. Then I noticed I had put the booklet upside down. If the printer had started to print, it would have wasted a lot of paper. I realized that Master had helped me. I was very grateful for Master's help. I also thanked the small printer.

Under Master's protection, our family material site continues to run smoothly.

Conclusion

Every time I recall that I am a Falun Dafa practitioner, I feel pride as well as joy. I cannot be unworthy of such a divine title as “Dafa disciple.” I must regard a Dafa disciple’s responsibilities with all due seriousness and clarify the truth and save the sentient beings as the first priority. I must do the very best that I can.