(Minghui.org)
I am a 57-year-old female practitioner. I started to practice Falun Dafa 15 years ago, on August 10, 1998. Thanks to Master who has shown me compassion and fellow practitioners who have selflessly helped me, I have walked a solid cultivation path for 15 years. The China Fahui on the Minghui website provides a way to report to Master my experiences in cultivation. I ask my fellow practitioners to kindly point out anything inappropriate in my sharing.
Illnesses Disappear, Miracles of Dafa
I often tell people that if I hadn't started practicing Falun Gong, I wouldn't be alive today. According to my mother, I was sick even in her womb. She just couldn't stop coughing when she was pregnant with me. I have been very weak since childhood and as I got older, my entire body would often ache. I developed high fevers for no apparent reason and often felt dizzy. I suffered from rapid heart rate; inflammation of the pharynx that caused a sore throat; inflammation and swelling of the bronchial tubes; hay fever; bleeding in the uterus; pain in my breast, legs, and lower back—I had illnesses from head to toe.
Usually people get dressed once a day. But I would change my clothes several times a day. I would be cold one moment and hot the next. I was never comfortable.
When I was younger, I developed a boil on my back that exuded pus whenever it rained. After I started practicing Falun Gong, the boil healed without me even noticing. I also had a dream that the lump in my breast was smashed, and after that I no longer had any pain in my breast.
I experienced a miracle one day when Master adjusted my body. This was similar to performing “surgery” in other dimensions. He removed the karma accumulated on my rectum, and after this I had a perfectly healthy body.
The first time I was “operated on” I was half asleep. I had a vision of a pile of intestines and one section had been removed. I wondered, “Whose intestines are those?” And then suddenly realized, “Oh, they are mine!” My unhealthy intestines caused me excruciating pain. The second time I was “operated on" was while I was studying the Fa. I had a vision of a small knife and a plate with a piece of intestine on it. I knew full well that it was Master purifying my body. If Master had not “operated on" me, I would have been diagnosed with colorectal cancer.
Through cultivating in Dafa, I became healthier than I have ever been. I have not taken any medication or gone to a hospital for 15 years. The remarkable transformation that my body has gone through proves that Dafa is the most extraordinary science. Falun Gong has miraculous effects in healing illnesses and keeping fit.
Look Inward as a Cultivator
Look inward as a cultivator because “...true improvements come from letting go...” (“Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Philadelphia, U.S.A.” from Teaching the Fa at the Conference II)
I regained my health through cultivating in Dafa. I also constantly strove to upgrade and improve my moral character. I remember when I first started practicing Falun Gong, I acted like everyone else and didn't look inward when there were conflicts. One time on my way home from watching Master's lecture videos, a young man rode over my foot with his bike. I immediately said, “Watch it! Are you blind?”
The more I studied the Fa, the more I no longer handle things that way.
A van hit me on my way back from attending a relative's wedding. The person I was with was astonished. I immediately got up, brushed myself off, and left without complaining.
I try to follow Master's teachings to be a true cultivator of Dafa. Through this, my family and society will benefit. Twenty years ago, many members of my family lived in the same household. My brother-in-law's family and my in-laws lived in the same family compound. My husband and I bought the unit that my in-laws lived in and paid for five barns to be built on the lot. In turn, my father-in-law gave their unit and one of the barns to us. He also changed the name on the deed to that of my husband. After my mother-in-law passed away, my father-in-law remarried. Before he moved in with his new wife, he gave the deed of the property to my brother-in-law because our family had moved away.
Last year, our family compound was going to be torn down by the city. Property owners were to be compensated with new apartment units. My brother-in-law's wife called me and asked for my husband's ID so they could claim the apartment unit. Without questioning, I dropped off my husband's ID card and my brother-in-law's family moved into the new apartment. This unit was legally ours.
We did not have much money at the time. My son was in debt and we could have used some help.
“Ordinary people have their pursuits, and we don’t seek them. As for what ordinary people have, we also aren’t interested. Yet what we have is something that ordinary people cannot obtain, even if they want to.” (Zhuan Falun)
Because I was a cultivator of Dafa and looked inward, I let my brother-in-law's family claim the apartment unit, which was really ours. I was able to calmly given up personal gain without being affected.
My father-in-law's new wife, who is almost 20 years younger than he, left him earlier this year. He is in his 80s, and the caregiving had become too much work for her. He was in poor health and had spent all of his savings.
None of my husband's siblings were willing to take him in, for various reasons. My husband was so worried that he couldn't sleep. I said, “If your father wants to live with us, he is welcome to. I will take care of him if no one else wants to. It is time for him to be with his family.” My father-in-law cried when he heard this. He was truly surprised because he knew how hard it was to live with and care for an elderly person. Yet, for a practitioner, it was not a big deal. I was only following the requirements that Master set forth for us to “...follow a higher and higher standard for yourself.” (Zhuan Falun) At a deep level I knew that true improvement does not come from gain, but comes from letting go.
Righteous Thoughts Are the Key to Changing Our Family Members
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched the persecution of Falun Gong less than a year after I started practicing. My parents and family members worried that I would get arrested and did not want me to practice. My father is a veteran Party official and had been completely brainwashed by atheistic theories. He did not follow traditions because he thought they were superstitious.
When he learned that I practiced Falun Gong, he sighed in despair and asked, “You're smart. How did you get hooked on this?” Seeing that I would give without complaining and no longer cared about personal gain, my youngest brother said that practicing Falun Gong had made me a “fool.” Master said,
“Listening, but caring not to hear -
A mind so hard to disturb.” (“Abiding in the Dao” from Hong Yin)
I remained unaffected no matter what other people said.
I was persistent in sending forth righteous thoughts to clear the field around my family members and disintegrate the evil factors that were controlling them. I unceasingly clarified the truth to my family and encouraged them to practice Falun Gong. I tried to show them through my actions how extraordinary and wonderful Dafa was. Together with another family member who was also a practitioner, we have helped most of our family members quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations. They have come to know that Falun Dafa is good. A few family members have started doing the exercises, and some have even started to read the book.
My mother gained tremendous benefit from practicing Falun Gong. Although she was almost 80, she regained her menstrual period and her skin became delicate and fair. She read the persecution articles on the Minghui website. She always reminded me that I needed to pay attention to safety because so many practitioners had died. She supported my efforts in doing Dafa projects and has also introduce the Fa to the elderly people in the neighborhood.
She went through some serious sickness karma and eventually passed away at the age of 80. I have regrets about my mother's death, because she had often said that she wanted to wait for Master's return to China. She wanted to attend Master's lectures in person, however, she was unable to wait that long. I find comfort knowing that she cultivated in Dafa and didn't suffer when she passed away. She looked young and beautiful even at 80, and her gray hair had turned black again.
Through spreading the Fa to family members, I have learned that, to save our family members and relatives, we must have righteous thoughts. We must play the lead role among ordinary people, and we must not be moved or affected by them. In addition to righteous acts and noble qualities, we must deal with all matters and relationships in a righteous way.
Righteous thoughts are the key to changing the minds of our family members. With perseverance, you will certainly see results. Dafa is harmonizing. We should use different angles when we bring up Dafa. We need to approach the subject using different methods and seize every opportunity to show them the wonders of Dafa. We must guide our family members by the example of our own actions, instead of forcing them.
Cooperate with Others and Validate the Fa
When the persecution started I was temporarily confused. I was at a loss and didn't know what to do. Fellow practitioners' articles on the Minghui website helped me regain confidence and direction. At first, our local practitioners made banners and put them up on major streets or around the city government buildings at night. We covered the entire city and the surrounding rural areas with truth-clarification posters and distributed fliers to all of the residential communities.
The pressure was huge at the time, and my husband warned me repeatedly that the authorities had given instructions to “shoot on the spot those who were found distributing Falun Gong materials.” He told me repeatedly, “Just practice at home.” How could I hide at home while truth-clarification materials were being printed and distributed by local practitioners? They were risking their lives to post and distribute them.
I asked myself, “Do I still want to cultivate in Dafa?” I strengthened my righteous thoughts and my fear lessened. I remember one time we received more than 80 banners, and I put all of them up in one night. Through continuously studying the Fa and upgrading ourselves, local practitioners slowly became better and better at cooperating with each other and gradually formed a one-body. We have grown and matured through working on various Dafa projects. Every one of us is validating the Fa in different ways and in different environments.
Another practitioner and I opened a small retail business around 2003. At that time, we didn't have any truth-clarification currency bills circulating locally, and only a few practitioners were using truth-clarification bills as a way to spread the truth. We used our retail store to clarify the truth. We stamped truth-clarification messages on paper currency during our down time.
On average, about 1,000 yuan worth of truth-clarification bills went out of our store each day. People liked to get the bills, and our business operation went smoothly. Some customers who didn't know the truth about Dafa, brought the money back with the fear that they would not be able to spend it. I calmly told them, “Just try to spend it. If someone refuses to take it, I will pay you back in full.” After hearing this, they were willing to keep the truth-clarification bills.
After seeing the truth-clarification message on these bills, some people asked, “Where can I find a copy of the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party? How can I get a copy?” Right away we would pass this request on to our coordinator. Fellow practitioners would distribute the Nine Commentaries so the sentient beings in our local area could learn the truth and be saved.
We closed our business after a few years, but I still use truth-clarification bills every day. I often go to supermarkets, rice shops, or fruit shops and use the small bills with truth-clarification messages to exchange for larger bills. At toll stations, I pay with bundles of truth-clarification bills and often offer the toll collectors to exchange their large bills for the small bills. Sometimes they even ask me first. Using truth-clarification bills has become so common among local practitioners that we all use them every day.
We started to promote NTDTV (an independent television station that broadcasts information about Falun Dafa and uncensored news about China) and install satellite dishes a few years ago. Many of our family members did not understand nor support us. This created a lot of difficulties for us to push this project forward. Local practitioners tried for quite a while to make progress, but not a single satellite was up. So I decided to be the first one to install a satellite dish.
I was under a lot of pressure because I did not discuss this with my husband beforehand. The satellite dish was installed where it was easy to see. I was very anxious because I lived in a one-story house that was less than 1,000 feet from the police station. The police often parked their cars right by my house. I talked to a neighbor and had the satellite dish reinstalled on their second story house. It might have been considered safer to install the satellite higher up. But, there had been a lot of construction in our neighborhood and many tall buildings had been built. There really wasn't a safe place to install a satellite dish. Because I truly wished to validate the Fa, Master protected me and even the police station moved to a new location this year. The satellite dish has brought a lot of goodness to our home.
Two years ago we were told that Master had asked practitioners to set up more truth-clarification material production sites. To meet Master's requirements, I started a small production site in my home. I was a novice at using the computer and printer and didn't even know where the cords and plugs went, let alone how to operate them. With the help of fellow practitioners, I learned very basic skills and took detailed notes as I progressed. Even in my dreams, the machines were pulling me forward.
I can now print out materials using a few different printers at the same time. I thank Master for strengthening me. Thought I am almost 60 years old, I feel like a young person, full of energy and wisdom. I am able to produce many elegant truth-clarification materials. My little production site was started late, but it saves people with full force. We always seem to be in short supply during holidays and the Chinese New Year. We stay up all night making materials and often don't have time to eat or sleep. We effectively produce and supply the truth-clarification materials to the local practitioners. We have harmonized the environment for clarifying the truth.
At this stage of Fa-rectification, I have become more mature and rational. Master, please rest assured as I will work even harder to nourish this production site. We will produce more truth-clarification materials of better quality.
Master Can Protect Us When We Have Righteous Thoughts
I have experienced many big tribulations and tests while validating the Fa. I have never encountered real danger because I believe in Master and the Fa. With firm righteous thoughts and Master's protection, I have always been able to turn a bad situation around and get away safely. This is the goodness and wonder of cultivating in the Buddha Fa.
Our local practitioners had not participated in distributing Shen Yun DVDs before 2010. I wanted to do this and asked Master to strengthen me. I started to distribute Shen Yun DVDs in person. I gave Shen Yun DVDs to small business owners, the person selling fish, the guy at the computer repair shop, and just about anyone I ran into.
Whenever there was a national holiday, a sports event, or a big sale at the supermarket, I gave out Shen Yun DVDs. One time, a fellow practitioner and I rode our bikes to a local farmers' market to distribute Shen Yun DVDs. When I gave a copy to a plainclothes police officer, he asked, “What is this? Let me see.” I said, “This is Shen Yun. It is traditional Chinese culture. Not just anybody can afford to see this show. Only celebrities and big stars can afford the tickets.” Hearing this, he started yelling at me. I said, “Why are you yelling? If you don't want to watch it, don't watch it. I am sure someone else will! Copies are hard to come by, so even if you want to watch it, you might not be able to!” He repeatedly asked, “Who made these DVDs? Where did you get them?” I grabbed the DVD from him when he wasn't paying attention and said, “Give it back to me if you are not going to watch it!” A vendor walked toward me so I gave him the DVD. I heard the plainclothes officer talking on the phone, “Hurry up. There are two Falun Gong practitioners here distributing DVDs. Hurry up!” While he was on the phone, I found the other practitioner and we quickly took off our jackets and blended into the crowd.
After a while, we tried to leave by way of the back door and found that the plainclothes officer had blocked the back door with his car. We asked Master to strengthen us so that he would not see us or recognize us. We walked right by him and went home in a taxi. We changed our outfits and went back to the market to retrieve our bikes.
During a very cold winter, I had severe pain in my legs. Some practitioners and I went to a rural area to distribute truth-clarification materials. A female practitioner was dropped off at a village that was entirely covered in deep snow. It was late at night and very dark outside. All the dogs in the village were barking. I worried about the safety of the girl and asked the driver to drop me off there, too. As soon as I got out of the car, I realized that I couldn't walk because of the pain. I thought, “How is this going to work? We still have a lot of truth-clarification materials that need to go out to sentient beings.”
I thought to myself, “If I can't walk? I will run!” With that thought, I started running. We covered the entire village that was 4 miles across. The practitioner asked curiously, “You are able to walk now?” I said, “Yes, am able to walk. The pain has gone away!” Master helped me because I was only thinking of saving people. “If thoughts are righteous, evil will collapse.” (“What’s to Fear?” from Hong Yin II. As long as we have righteous thoughts and righteous actions, Master can do anything to protect us.
Sometimes while distributing truth-clarification materials, I didn't have a righteous mind. One cold winter night I went to distribute truth-clarification materials in a rural area. It was late at night and there was a lot of snow on the ground. The entire village was dark. A fellow practitioner and I wanted to finish distributing all the materials before the Chinese New Year and we became attached to doing this. Master gave us many hints that we had gone astray, because we kept getting lost. Later that night, we were arrested and taken to a forced labor camp. Ten days later, we were released.
Although being arrested didn't have much affect on my cultivation, both sides of my family were upset. The 610 Office officials threatened my younger brother who had already quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations. He ended up signing the paperwork that made him a so-called “guarantor” that I would stop practicing. He did this against my will. I am heartbroken every time I think about it.
I Became More Diligent
Over the years I have often said that I am the luckiest person in the world. I was born at a precious time when Dafa was taught to the public and spread in the world. I have the most compassionate and magnificent Master who gave up everything to save sentient beings. I feel very fortunate to have the predestined relationships with our group of practitioners. They have helped me tremendously.
Two years before I started practicing Falun Gong, practitioners would call me and encourage me to join them at the practice site. However, the Party culture and atheistic thought was instilled in me and prevented me from learning more about Dafa. I repeatedly found excuses and turned them down. Yet, they never gave up on me. I started to feel embarrassed after making so many excuses. I thought to myself, “Why is this group of people so nice? I have rejected them over and over again, yet they still haven't given up!”
It took me two years before I finally went to a practice site. The kindness I felt from the practitioners eventually touched my heart and I was awakened from the material world. Looking back, I still feel very touched. This revealed the difference in levels between myself and the fellow practitioners and the state of our cultivation.
Master said,
“Study the Fa and gain the Fa,
Focus on how you study and cultivate,
Let each and every thing
be measured against the Fa.
Only then, with that,
is it actually cultivation.” (“Solid Cultivation” from Hong Yin)
Compared to the other practitioners, I was ashamed that I lacked the type of selfless compassion that they had.
I often got very worried and angry when I saw practitioners not being diligent. Sometimes their actions do not comply with the Fa. Sometimes they don't have enough righteous thoughts when they have sickness karma. They look for reasons to cover up their attachment to having their illnesses healed.
I have complained about them instead of finding unconditional harmony. Through the selflessness of other practitioners I have learned to be more diligent, truly cultivate in Dafa, harmonize the one body, and truly achieve the state of being “selfless.” The local practitioners also follow Master's requirements, do the three things well, and remain diligent on the divine path.
When I look back on my cultivation path over the last 15 years, I have feelings that are hard to express. I know that I have a great responsibility. “...real Buddhas are guardians of the cosmos and are responsible for all righteous elements in the cosmos.” (“Teaching the Fa at the Western U.S. Fa Conference” from Guiding the Voyage)
We have the great mission of assisting Master in Fa-rectification and shoulder the responsibility to save countless sentient beings. We must walk the rest of our paths well and righteously.
Again, I thank our compassionate and magnificent Master!
