(Minghui.org)
I. Beginning to Practice
I began to practice Falun Dafa in April 1996 when I was in college. It appeared to have happened pretty easily, but I now know it was not a coincidence at all.
I used to have multiple medical conditions, including serious allergic rhinitis, arthritis and athlete's foot. These all disappeared after I started practicing Dafa. Besides going to classes, all I did in my spare time was attend group Fa study and group practice as well as introduce Dafa to others with fellow practitioners. Every day I felt very fulfilled and was full of happiness.
After graduating from college, I lost the group environment because the Chinese Communist Party had started persecuting Falun Gong. I failed to pay attention to telephone safety, and the police traced me to my house. They ransacked all my Dafa books and tapes. In addition, driven by fear, I did what a Dafa disciple should never do: I wrote the “Guarantee Statement” and betrayed my fellow practitioners. It was a living death for me!
Every time I thought of how the police ransacked my Dafa books, I burst into tears and was heartbroken. This situation lasted until 2006, when a fellow practitioner from out of town reached out to me and told me, “I dreamed of riding a red carpet to come to rescue you.” I knew this was Master's merciful arrangements because He knew that I, a disappointing disciple, did not give up Dafa in my heart after all. With this fellow practitioner's help, I wrote a solemn declaration (to void my “Guarantee Statement”). I made up my mind: no matter what tribulations lie ahead, I will never betray Dafa and fellow practitioners again.
II. Resuming Cultivation and Facing Tribulations
I resumed practicing cultivation. In the beginning, because of fear, I only studied the Fa and did the exercises at home. I dared not get in touch with fellow practitioners or clarify the facts to people. I was anxious about my state. Master knew this and sent help: a fellow practitioner gave me a copy of Zhuan Falun and all of Master's articles, as well as mp3 files that contained Master's lectures and the exercise music. Through studying the lectures, I came to understand that Dafa disciples must do the three things well, what a “Fa-rectification period Dafa disciple” is, and the great responsibilities we shoulder. It is just like Master said,
“Dafa disciples
Great is the task upon their shoulders”
(“Dafa Disciples” in Hong Yin Vol. II )
So I started clarifying the truth among my relatives and friends, and I found my fear decreasing little by little. Later on I started clarifying the truth to my coworkers and students and fulfilled my vows.
One day, a fellow practitioner/coworker told me that the principal had talked to her, telling her that a parent had reported her to the Board of Education for speaking about Falun Dafa to her students. The principal asked her to write a “Guarantee Statement.” I asked her to repeat what she told the students to the principal to clarify the truth to him. I also shared my understanding about what part of her reaction was in accordance with the Fa and what wasn't. I told her that we can never write the so-called “Guarantee Statement” or give verbal commitments to any unreasonable demands. We also sent forth righteous thoughts together. But in the end I said to her, “I would not know what to say if the principal said that to me.”
This unrighteous thought provoked trouble. The next day the principal, along with two vice principals, spoke to me. He said to me with a sullen face, “Why were you promoting Falun Dafa to the students? A parent reported you to the Board of Education. I told them I will take care of it. You need to write a 'guarantee statement,' so I can do my job.” I was very nervous, but I also knew that it was an illusion, created from that unrighteous thought of mine. I told myself, “This time you have to talk, even if you don't want to.” (I had been afraid to clarify the truth to my coworkers.) So I got a grip on myself and thought of Master's Fa,
“Should you have fear,
it will seize upon you
If thoughts are righteous,
evil will collapse
The cultivator’s mind
is loaded with Fa
Send righteous thoughts,
and rotten demons explode
Gods walk the earth,
validating the Fa”
(“What's to Fear?” in Hong Yin Vol. II)
I told myself, “I will not discredit Dafa whatsoever.”
So I sent forth a thought toward the principal and two vice principals, “Master, please strengthen me to eliminate the evil beings and evil elements behind these three people that control them to commit crimes against Dafa and persecute Dafa disciples.” I told them, “Falun Dafa teaches Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and teaches people to be good. I taught my students to be sincere, compassionate and tolerant; there is nothing wrong with that.” In this battle with the evil, as my fear was disintegrated little by little, I felt my entire body expanding, while the three of them were shrinking dramatically.
The stalemate lasted quite a while until the principal said, “Are you going to defy the law?” I took this as a hint by Master. I thought, I'd rather die than betray Dafa, and only Master has the say in everything. I felt Master was indeed next to me. I said, “I will give you an answer tomorrow!” After I left the principal's office, it became very clear to the fellow practitioner and me that this was persecution against us and we could not acknowledge it, that we must form one body and work together to break the evil's plot. We discussed how to send forth righteous thoughts for this matter. At this time, my husband was trying to persuade me to get through it by writing a “Guarantee Statement.” I was not tempted to do so.
The next morning, the principal didn't make any move, neither did I go to his office. The fellow practitioner and I sent forth intensive righteous thoughts constantly. At the time, neither of us were diligent, and we rarely got in contact with other practitioners; so we didn't ask other practitioners to send forth righteous thoughts for us.
The principal came to me in the afternoon with a much different attitude; he no longer mentioned the “Guarantee Statement.” Instead, he tried to soften me with sentimentality: “What would your husband and son do if something happened to you?” I realized this was a loophole of mine being taken advantage by the evil, because I was moved by a text message from my son earlier. That evening the fellow practitioner and I paid a visit to the principal's home, intending to clarify the truth to him. He was not there, so we clarified the truth to his wife. The matter was dropped in the end.
My understanding from this matter is, as long as we believe in Master and the Fa, there is no test we cannot pass. Since then, from my personal experience, I have developed a deep understanding of Master's words,
“When disciples have ample righteous thoughts
Master has the power to turn back the tide”
(“The Master-Disciple Bond” in Hong Yin Vol. II)
III. Bringing up Young Practitioners with Great Responsibility
My son, Xiaolong, is 13 years old. I started reading the Fa to him when he was six. When he started going to school, I often read the Fa with him. In the beginning, he read very slowly and often made mistakes or missed words. When I pointed them out to him, he would not listen, which upset me a lot. I looked inside and found my attachments to impatience, my dislike of conflict, my blaming others and my resentment. I eliminated these, and he was soon able to read much more smoothly.
In the summer, I brought Xiaolong to the group Fa study, and he read very well. The fellow practitioners praised him. My attachment to showing off emerged, and he started making mistakes and missing words again. I looked inside and found my attachments to showing off and presumption. I got rid of the attachments, and Xiaolong read well again.
When school started, we couldn't attend the group Fa study, and Xiaolong slacked off. I had a thought and asked Master to arrange for a young practitioner who could study the Fa together with Xiaolong. Immediately Xiaolong dreamed of fighting a monster alongside a little boy. About a week later, Master arranged for Dalong to study the Fa with Xiaolong. From then on, I studied the Fa and did the exercises with Xiaolong and Dalong every day on weekends and school breaks. Their improvement in the Fa was very fast. In the process of bringing up a young practitioner, I have discovered a lot of my attachments, such as competitiveness, zealotry, showing off, bias, comparison, blaming, resentment, trying to change everyone but myself, jealousy, selfishness, self-abasement, impatience, dependence, agitation, etc. While constantly eliminating them, I was constantly improving as well.
IV. Cherishing Minghui
I work full-time and don't have much contact with fellow practitioners. Therefore I do not receive Minghui Weekly and Master's new articles in a timely manner. I gradually developed a wish to surf the Minghui website myself. Master saw this heart of mine of being diligent and arranged for a practitioner with technical skills to help me. After teaching me how to surf the Internet, the practitioner told me, “Do not surf for too long; stay under half an hour.”
I was very nervous, even though I asked some questions about safety, I could remember nothing but one sentence the practitioner said, “It's safest when there are no attachments.” I was able to surf the Minghui website from then on. In the beginning, I kept looking at the time in order to stay under half an hour, but I could not remember what I had read. Now I am at ease when I surf Minghui. In the process I removed my attachment to fear and my dislike of trouble.
From being “computer-illiterate” to being able to download any edition of Minghui Weekly, Fa conference articles as well as audio files with ease, none of these were done without our esteemed Master's strengthening. Moreover, I have personally experienced how supernormal and wonderful Dafa is. Right before the publication of the “20th Anniversary Fa Teaching,” I was suddenly unable to browse Minghui, even though I was able to get on the web. I consulted the technical practitioner, who told me it was the result of the evil blocking the Internet and that it happened a lot. I sent forth strong righteous thoughts to completely disintegrate the evil's Internet blockade and disintegrate all evil beings and elements that interfere with Dafa disciples' browsing Minghui.org. I connected with my computer to ask it to cooperate with Dafa disciples and help us complete the grand vows of assisting Master in Fa-rectification. The problem disappeared in a few days.
V. Validating the Fa in Various Ways
Through systematically studying Master's lectures, I have deeply understood the responsibility and mission of Fa-rectification period Dafa disciples, which is saving sentient beings while cultivating ourselves well. Therefore I have tried every possible way to validate Dafa.
1. Clarifying the Truth Face to Face
I started clarifying the truth with my family and friends; some accepted it, but some didn't. Later on I clarified the truth to relatives while visiting them. My understanding was that rural people were simple and kind-hearted, so it was relatively easy for them to accept the truth. (Now I have come to understand this was an attachment to bias.) I did not have fear, and the effect was very good. Once, I went back to my rural ancestral home to attend a wedding, and persuaded 30 people to quit the communist party and its affiliated organizations in three days. It was quite a breakthrough for someone like me who had just resumed practicing cultivation. Moreover, many of those people were strangers. This laid a good foundation for my truth-clarification later on. In the process I got rid of many attachments, such as fear, trying to save face, among many others.
2. Handing out Truth-clarification Pamphlets, Putting up Self-adhesive Fliers and Hanging up Banners
When I first started handing out truth-clarification pamphlets, I forgot to send forth righteous thoughts and was very afraid. According to fellow practitioners, I should first go to the top floor and hand out pamphlets floor by floor, walking downward. As soon as I walked up to the second or third floor, I heard footsteps on the floors above. My heart pounded and I turned around and left as if I were doing something bad.
In the end I gave out zero pamphlets, and my heart was still pounding even after I got home. I hated myself for doing so poorly. In what way did I look like a practitioner! I knew something was wrong, so I shared my experience with fellow practitioners for help. Later on, I sent forth righteous thoughts before leaving home, asking for Master's strengthening to clean away all evil beings that interfere with Dafa practitioners' spreading the truth and saving sentient beings in the dimensions that I was heading to, to let people with a predestined relationship see the truth and blind the evil. There was no interference after I did this. Sometimes I teamed up with fellow practitioners to distribute truth-clarification materials. Sometimes I went out alone or with young practitioners to put up self-adhesive fliers, hang banners and give out truth-clarification pamphlets, saving people in many different ways.
3. Saving People Using Truth-clarification Currency
Since I saw Master's approval of using truth-clarification currency, I started using it as well. In the beginning I didn't dare to use a lot; I used one bill once in a while. Later on I gradually increased to two, three or more... A few days ago I read a fellow practitioner's article that said that practitioners should not use money which doesn't have the truth-clarification messages on it. (The practitioner saw in other dimensions that all non-truth-clarification currency is fake money.) I was inspired and started to stamp truth-clarification phrases on those older currencies that didn't have the phrases printed on them. I used these bills very often and helped speed up the circulation of truth-clarification currency to fulfill a Dafa disciple's responsibilities.
Conclusion
I am fully aware that in today's rapid development of Fa-rectification, the Fa's requirements of us has been gradually raised. As a Fa-rectification period Dafa disciple, I know I am still far behind those who cultivate well, not to mention the Fa's requirement. But I will study the Fa more diligently and remove all my attachments as soon as possible, take great care in doing the three things, fulfill my prehistoric vows and follow Master to return home.
