(Minghui.org) Greetings, esteemed Master and fellow practitioners!
I was born in a remote village and grew up in a very traditional family. Both of my parents are honest and simple people. We were poor and our lives were difficult. When the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched the persecution of Falun Dafa, I was in high school. There was no television at home or at school. I almost never read the newspapers or magazines. As a result, I did not know about Falun Dafa, nor was I poisoned by the CCP propaganda that slandered it. All I had in mind was studying hard, getting into a good university, and making money. In 2003, I failed the college entrance exam. I was very disappointed and gave up on myself. My self-esteem was so low that I tried to avoid people in the village, including my parents.
I met a Falun Gong practitioner in 2004. He was in his thirties and was an official in our town. He was very able, and appeared to be very decent. He clarified the facts of the persecution of Falun Dafa to me. I was so shocked, because I did not know that such evil could happen in my country and had lasted for so long.
A few days later the practitioner brought me a copy of Zhuan Falun. He told me to cherish it, to wash my hands before reading it, and to finish reading it in a short time. The first time I saw the picture of the Falun, it appeared three dimensional. I then saw many rotating Faluns. When I looked at Master's photo, he was smiling at me. I finished reading the book quickly. I cried afterward, thinking that the book was amazing. I said to Master's picture, “I will follow the teachings in the book and truly be a good person.”
I prepared for the next college entrance exam by attending a senior class. Although I had to study a lot, I made it a point to study the Fa every night until midnight. I found the profound principles in the book fascinating. I finally knew the purpose of life and the standards by which to measure people. All my questions since childhood were answered, and I felt that my body was clear and pure. I was full of energy at school, and my grades went up quickly. I later learned the five exercises.
Before the entrance exam, I studied all of Master's lectures before 2004 twice. I wondered why I walked into the practice so late. I felt at a loss because I hadn't known of Master when he was teaching in China and when other practitioners went to Beijing to validate the Fa regardless of the ongoing persecution and the possibility of losing their lives. It was as if something was trying to prevent me from learning about the existence of Falun Dafa. I almost missed the opportunity that I had been waiting for for tens of thousands of years. I was encouraged by Master's article “On Reading Weathering the Storm”
“Born into a sphere of suffering
Man struggles just to survive
One day, behold, the Great Law gained
Cease not your steps on the path of return”
Increasing Wisdom
When I entered the university, I brought with me all of my Falun Dafa books and tapes. My family was worried, but after I clarified the facts about Falun Dafa to them they finally agreed.
At school, I was able to read articles on the Minghui website and watch the videos. After the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party was published, I read Master's articles “Turning the Wheel Again” and “Turning the Wheel Towards the Human World,” and I realized the importance of clarifying the truth and helping people quit the CCP and its affiliates.
In the beginning, I talked to my close friends as a third party. Though they understood what Falun Dafa was and knew that the CCP was lying about Falun Dafa, they did not want to quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations. I looked within and found my attachments to arguing about and defending my point of view. I looked down on those who refused to listen the truth. I thought, “If the CCP goes down, you can go with it.” That was definitely not saving people.
Master said,
"Here is a thought on the subject. I told you a long time ago that a Dafa disciple, or a cultivator, has no enemies. The only thing you have a role in is saving people, and you have nothing to do with using human means and human principles to punish or pronounce judgment on people. This is a fundamental issue!" ("Teaching the Fa in the City of Chicago," June 26, 2005)
Establishing a Truth Clarifying Materials Site
I met a practitioner who helped me start a Falun Dafa materials production site. I said to Master's picture, “Please help me use this site to save more people.” The site operated well until I graduated from college. I did everything myself, from purchasing materials, to printing, binding, and burning DVDs, to distributing them.
While I was in school, I studied the Fa in the afternoon after classes. I went to nearby high schools to distribute materials at night. I always had a backpack filled with fliers and distributed them in schools before evening classes began. I sent righteous thoughts in front of the building, then started delivering the fliers from the top floor on down, and didn't miss a single floor. I usually left a copy of the Nine Commentaries and a DVD in each classroom on the podium. I put fliers in the books the students left on their desks. I left fliers at every corner where the students most likely would see them.
I typically arrived home at 9:00 p.m. and studied the Fa until 11:00 p.m. I purchased the supplies to make the materials during the weekends. I never bought more than I needed for the coming week.
I went to almost every high school in the city where I attended college. I was in a very good cultivation state and I did the three things diligently. The reason I did well was because I studied the Fa well. My schedule was very flexible in college and I had enough time to study, and Falun Dafa opened up my wisdom. My grades were excellent, and I was on good terms with my classmates. I was able to master the skills needed to run the materials production site. I was glad that by following the teachings I could resist all the temptations in this secular world. I used the Fa teachings to evaluate everything I did. My classmates liked to talk to me. I used those opportunities to clarify the truth to them and help them quit the CCP and its affiliates. I knew that Master gave me the wisdom so that I could save more people.
Balancing Cultivation and Living in the Mundane World
After entering the adult world, I was lost in my career, sentiments, personal gains, and fame, and I made many mistakes. At one point, I was attached to the transitional Chinese government promoted by overseas Chinese and the future University of China on the Internet. I wasted a lot of time on these things and found many excuses to obscure my attachments. This ended when Master pointed out my wayward ways with the Fa.
For young practitioners who live in the secular world, how can they better balance sentiment and the wish to achieve fame and personal gain with the requirements of a practitioner? I believe that for a practitioner, his or her career, personal gains, and marriage are all prearranged. When there are troubles, it can be a test for our xinxing or a result of our strong attachments. It is like what Master said about eating meat, that letting go of an attachment to something is not the same as letting it go. The only things a practitioner can and should do are the three things to fulfill his/her prehistorical vows. For young practitioners who live in this tempting and skewed society, this is especially important.
Master says,
“One's lifetime is limited. Oftentimes you plan things quite well, but do you know whether you will have sufficient time left for your cultivation? Cultivation practice is not child's play. It is more serious than anything of everyday people—it isn't something to take for granted. Once you miss the opportunity, when will you be able to get a human body again in the sixfold path of reincarnation? Opportunity knocks but once. Once the illusion that you cannot let go of disappears, you will realize what you have lost.” ("Practicing Cultivation After Retirement" from Essentials for Further Advancement)
Every moment now is time Master has extended despite tremendous suffering. It is for us practitioners to be more mature and to save more people. Considering where we are in the Fa rectification, if a practitioner is still addicted to secular things and finds excuses not to give them up, he or she is truly a disappointment to Master.
Master said,
“That is why it's said that always cultivating as if you were just starting will surely result in achieving your ultimate rank.” (“Fa Teaching at the 2009 Greater New York International Fa Conference”)
I remember I did the three things so well when I was in college. I studied the Fa diligently and my mind was pure. Though I was poor and had a lot of schoolwork, I felt at the time that I was the happiest person alive. After I began working, I didn't study the Fa on a regular basis and was flooded with all kinds of attachments. When I read “What is a Dafa Disciple,” I felt ashamed when I asked myself, “Have you fulfilled Master's requirements for being a practitioner during the Fa rectification? How many of your prehistoric vows have you realized?”
Last year I was illegally imprisoned by CCP officials. Compared to the evil environment and the terrible things I went through, the trivial things in the secular world no longer matter. I feel much better now because I am able to take many of these trivial things lightly, as if I was just starting.
Finally, I wish to encourage fellow practitioners with what Master said in “What is a Dafa Disciple,”
“I hope that you all cherish yourselves, cherish others, and cherish this environment that you have. Cherishing the path that you travel is cherishing yourselves.”
