(Minghui.org)
Greetings, compassionate and revered Master! Greetings, fellow practitioners!
I am a 65-year-old Dafa disciple and have been practicing since 1996. When the online experience sharing conferences for practitioners in China took place in the past, I thought about writing articles but always felt that my education was too limited to produce anything good enough. This year, with my fellow practitioners’ encouragement, I made up my mind to report to Master and share with everyone what I have done during the past 17 years of my cultivation.
I’d like to thank one of my local practitioners for helping me proofread and edit the final version of my article. All mistakes are mine and please kindly point out anything inappropriate.
I Became Illness-free after Dafa Cultivation
My husband died in his 30s, and I raised our son and daughter by myself. The hardships of life left me plagued with numerous illnesses. Though I tried different kinds of qigong practices, nothing really helped.
I was fortunate enough to come across the precious book Zhuan Falun in June 1996 and I began to read it right away. Just a few pages into my reading, I started to itch all over and had to rub against the bed sheet to lessen my symptoms. That whole night I couldn’t sleep well. I enlightened to the fact that Master was cleansing my body, which had been messed up due to the qigong practices I had tried in my early years.
Miraculously the itch stopped the next morning.
I ran to my parents and told them, “Mom, I just found the true Buddha Fa! It’s so miraculous! Please practice Dafa with me. Buddhism is no longer effective!”
My mother, a lay Buddhist for many years, agreed to practice Dafa right away, and so did my father, younger brother, and older sister.
I changed into a totally different person in just three months of my practice. I became illness-free and felt full of energy all day long.
When I Let Go of Human Notions, I Enjoyed a Harmonious Relationship with My Daughter-in-law
Since the very beginning of my Dafa cultivation, I was diligent in Fa-study and worked hard to improve my xinxing. I tried my best to be considerate of others and to look within to find my own faults amidst conflicts. Little by little, I became gentler and calmer. Nothing seemed to be able to move my heart.
After my son got married, he and his wife lived with me. Thus came the question of getting along with my daughter-in-law. I put myself in her shoes and realized it was even harder for her to get comfortable in our new family structure. My son and I only needed to get used to her; but she had to get used to the two of us.
I worked hard to care for her in every respect so she could feel my kindness.
When my son went out of town for half a year, my daughter-in-law was left to live with me alone. Whenever I saw her in a bad mood, I asked if there was anything I could have done better to make things better. She often smiled and said everything was fine.
After she got pregnant, I remembered to buy her favorite fruits every day when I went out to clarify the truth. I also reminded her to maintain a healthy diet and cared for her as best as I could.
When the baby was born, I made three round-trips to the hospital every day to deliver homemade meals. During her six days in the hospital, I took the bus to the hospital but walked home so that I could talk to people about Falun Gong.
My daughter-in-law’s mother came to visit her after she returned home with the newborn. However, her mother did nothing to help, and I ended up having to take care of her, too. She was often sarcastic, but I was never bothered. When my daughter-in-law asked why I didn’t get upset, I told her all I saw was happy things and I advised her to stay upbeat, too.
One day I was busy tidying up the house after doing the dishes when my daughter-in-law’s mother complained to me there was no hot water. She was eating fruit and watching TV, but never thought to boil water herself. I knew as a cultivator I couldn’t behave the same way. I said to her, “I'm sorry I forgot to get hot water ready.” Her own daughter couldn’t stand her and told her to boil water herself. She didn’t expect her own daughter to say such things to her and stormed out of the house.
I comforted my daughter-in-law and asked her to forgive her mother.
Because of me, my daughter-in-law was very supportive of my son, also a practitioner. When she became pregnant the second time, my son asked what they should do. I of course urged them to keep the baby and they did.
When they had the second baby, they hired a nanny to take care of the mother and the infant. In order to not take up too much of my time to do the three things, my daughter-in-law quit her job to focus on her two children.
Since the house became too crowded, I moved out to live on my own. Whenever they needed help, I went to lend a hand. I got along really well with my son’s family.
When I did well as a practitioner, everything else went well.
Making a Breakthrough in Persuading People to Quit the Party
I used to teach newcomers the exercises in my hometown, so a lot of people knew me. After the persecution began, I clarified the facts to everyone I met. Representatives from my workplace, street office, and police station all came to talk to me, but I told them firmly that Dafa saved my life and there was no way I’d stop practicing. They never harassed me again.
After Master’s new article “Hurry Up And Tell Them” was published, I went to local parks every morning to tell people the facts about the persecution. Many people were interested and they surrounded me to catch what I had to say. I usually went from one place to another so as to make sure the local parks were well covered.
After I moved to a southern city, I began to distribute copies of the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party and encourage people to quit the Party. At the beginning I couldn’t even get one person to quit after a long day. Gradually I was able to help a couple of people. When I saw Minghui articles talking about how fellow practitioners got 20-30 people to quit the Party each day, I thought hard about why I couldn’t do the same.
I realized I still had a lot of attachments. For instance, I preferred to talk to older females, but avoided young people and males. I knew I was afraid that the latter individuals might not be so receptive and I worried about losing face.
I also saw that I was eager to get people to quit and often talked about inappropriately high Fa-principles. As a result, many people were turned off. I understood that I had to get rid of these attachments to achieve a better outcome.
One day I saw a middle-aged male who looked very kind and I thought I had to make a breakthrough that day. I asked Master to please strengthen my efforts.
I approached him and greeted him, “Are you having a day off today?” He said he was and told me he was from a northeastern city.
I was very happy and told him right away that I was also from the northeast. When I asked him if he had heard of the "quitting the Party movement," he said he had but admitted he never understood what it was all about.
I explained to him, “The Chinese Communist Party staged the Tiananmen Self-immolation incident and even harvested organs from Falun Gong practitioners while they were still alive. More than 3,000 people have been tortured to death just for believing in Falun Gong. The CCP has killed more than 80 million people since it came to power. It is so evil that Heaven will for sure destroy it. Whoever vows to remain loyal to it for the rest of their lives is in grave danger. When Heaven destroys the Party, its members will be annihilated as well. So quit the Party for your own sake.”
He admitted he was a Party member and agreed to quit. I also asked him to recite “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good” and he agreed again.
I knew that it was Master that gave me enough wisdom to talk so well and make the breakthrough. I became much more confident and got six more people to quit the Party in half an hour that day.
Clarifying the Facts Whenever Possible
My truth-clarification efforts saw better and better results. I no longer paid attention to gender, age, or social status; I just had a thought to save each and every person I met. Every day I carried a backpack of truth-clarification materials to pass around, and I also talked with people.
When I saw some elementary school pupils in a park one day, I told them that wearing the red scarf was not a good thing to do. The youngsters immediately gave me their names to help them quit the Young Pioneers. Before we parted ways, I asked them to recite “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good” and to be good people.
I also often clarified the facts to middle- and high-school students and teachers.
Once, I saw a family of three in the supermarket and managed to get the mother and daughter-in-law to quit the Party in no time. I figured I had to save the son as well, and with just this thought the young man came to join his mother and wife to look at clothes. I approached him, “Didn’t your mother just buy such a jacket?” He said he wanted another one. I asked him, “I suppose you’re some official by the way you carry yourself.” He was surprised and wondered how I could tell.
He admitted he worked in a government agency and was in charge of recruiting new Party members. I told him how bad it’d be to get destroyed along with the CCP and asked him to quit for the sake of his family. He agreed without any hesitation. I next advised him to no longer work so actively to recruit Party members. He said sincerely, “You’re so kind. I’ll follow your suggestions. Thanks so much!”
Race against Time to Save People
While taking a break to have a quick bite of steamed bun, I often worried how many of the numerous sentient beings could understand what Falun Gong was really about. Thinking about the number of people I could save every day, I got very anxious and couldn’t hold back my tears. Such a state of mind often motivates me to race against time to save more people from the deadly grip of the old forces.
When the disastrous earthquake hit Sichuan Province, I thought I had to use this great opportunity to talk to more people. I went to visit stores around noon time when the owners were taking a lunch break. They were all watching TV. I said, “How sad that so many people died in the earthquake. It’s the corrupt CCP that has brought disaster to our country. I’d say 'quit the Party' to ensue your own safety.”
They were all very receptive and I managed to get more than 30 people to quit the Party that afternoon.
We Must Remember to Send Forth Righteous Thoughts during Truth-clarification
One thing I've learned through the years is that we must send forth righteous thoughts when we explain the facts face-to-face. That way we can get rid of interference and rectify any unrighteous thoughts the person we are speaking to may have.
Once, I asked a security guard to quit the Party, and he threatened to report me to the police. I told him I feared nothing since I was doing a good thing to save people. He immediately changed his attitude and explained he never meant it. I urged him again to quit the Party and he agreed to right away. When he thanked me, I asked him to thank our Master instead and advised him to recite “Falun Dafa is good and Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.”
When I reflected on what had just happened, I realized it was Master that gave me wisdom to have such a good outcome. Master said in “Teaching and Explaining the Fa at the Metropolitan New York Fa Conference in Teaching the Fa at the Conference III,”
“Actually, with a lot of things if you calmly and gently talk to people and handle those things rationally, you'll find that your wisdom will flow forth like a spring, and every sentence of yours will get right to the point, and every sentence will speak the truth.... When you know what to do, just go ahead and do it, and while you do it your wisdom will continually come forth, because at that time the side of you that's been successfully cultivated will fuse together with the side of you here. That's a God, who's omnipotent! So of course a small issue will be resolved in no time, and your wisdom will come forth--it's different then! And if you get stuck Master will give you wisdom (laughs). (Applause)”
I knew the human side of me wasn’t capable of doing such a good job clarifying the facts and it was my divine side that was responsible for the good outcome. Of course, Master often gave me wisdom if I didn't have enough to begin with.
Dafa disciples must mind our every thought while doing the three things; otherwise it’d be everyday people doing Dafa projects.
There was another incident that attested to the importance of sending forth righteous thoughts. Once, I got several people to quit the Party at a shopping mall, but to my surprise, the very first person to quit the Party reported me to a mall manager.
When the manager came to check on me, I immediately sent forth righteous thoughts to disintegrate the evil elements controlling him. He wondered what I was promoting at the mall and asked me to just focus on shopping. I kept sending forth righteous thoughts while talking to him.
When I moved away, I realized he was still following me. I stopped and waited for him. When I learned he was a Party member, I urged him to quit. He said yes right away and then asked me to leave the mall to avoid possible trouble.
It seemed to me that all sentient beings wanted to be saved and it was just that the way they approach us might be different.
It is not guaranteed that Dafa disciples won’t face any danger. Our attachments may be exploited by the evil. I was reported and arrested three times during the past few years, but fortunately, under Master’s protection, I walked out of the police station in just a few hours each and every time.
Concluding Remarks
I’ve never stopped clarifying the truth for even one day since 2005. Wherever I go, I talk to people about Falun Gong. On the train I chat with my fellow passengers. Once I know their destinations, I make sure to have them quit the Party before they get off. On the airplane, I do the same thing. During the holidays, or even when my father was hospitalized, I talked to people about Falun Gong. I live in the south where people enjoy nightlife, so I often clarify the facts late into the night. It is common for me to return home close to midnight.
Time is just too precious, and I always feel there’s not enough time. I can only manage to squeeze time out of my meal breaks and sleep. For instance, I make one big pot of porridge and can eat that for a whole day without having to cook three meals.
Every morning I do the exercises before sending forth righteous thoughts. After a quick breakfast I study the Fa. Every afternoon I go out to clarify the truth.
No matter how busy I am, I make sure to have enough Fa-study time. In addition to daily Fa-study on my own, I attend two group studies every week.
I also pay attention to my every thought and focus on cultivating xinxing.
I've never slowed my pace because of family obligations. Every day I can enable 10-50 people to quit the Party and its affiliated organizations. The past eight years I have assisted in around 70,000 withdrawals.
I am still cultivating, so there are times when I feel lazy and don’t want to do anything. But once I realize that my mindset is not right, I study the Fa to get rid of my attachment to seek comfort.
Cultivation is really serious, and we must remind ourselves to be diligent at all times.
Though I am trying my best, I know I still don’t meet Dafa's standards on a lot of things. I’ll be strict with myself and do even better.
My deepest gratitude to Master for His compassionate salvation.
I thank my fellow practitioners for their help. I hope we can all cultivate diligently and follow Master to return to our true home.
