(Minghui.org) I started practicing Falun Gong in May 2010. Early in 1998, my father, who just started cultivating Falun Gong, gave me a copy of the book Zhuan Falun , and asked me to read it. All the teachings seemed good, but I wasn't ready to take up the practice.
I was 23 at the time, and all I thought about was how to get rich. Cultivation? That seemed like something I might do after I retire, “I am still young, and I want to enjoy life. When I get enough money and become old, I will probably consider practicing Falun Gong.” Looking back, I realized how silly this thinking was.
My dream of making money seemed to have come true by 2004. I had a small business with some employees, but I was deeply mired in fame and personal gain. Meanwhile, my health was declining. I developed many diseases, including stomach pain, shoulder pain, hemorrhoids, prostatitis, insomnia, and frequent flu. Sometimes, each of my eyes would temporarily become blind.
I took a lot of drugs, but they didn't help. One of my employees said that I had taken a few “truck loads” of drugs during those years. He was not exaggerating.
I developed a skin disease in 2005, and visited many Chinese and Western doctors. They said that drugs could relieve the pain, but not heal the diseases. I spent a few thousand yuan on treatment every month.
I Woke Up and Started Cultivating
An old Chinese saying occurred to me one day, “All suffering comes from one's karma.” I thought about my behavior and realized that I had become corrupt. Maybe I was being punished for all my bad behavior.
I told my father about my thoughts. He said that only cultivating Falun Gong could save me. I had no other choice, so I read the book Zhuan Falun . I realized this time that this book was teaching people how to cultivate. I thus started my journey of cultivation.
When I first started practicing, I smoked while reading the Fa. I also took drugs and injections for treating my diseases. However, smoking and drugs made me sick and I threw up. After reading Zhuan Falun several times, I understood the relationship between sickness and karma, so I threw away all the cigarettes and drugs. I am now healthy and all my diseases have disappeared. Many friends have said that I look good and am full of energy. I told them that it was due to practicing Falun Gong.
I had many bad thoughts in my mind before I started practicing, which had formed a large amount of thought karma. The thought karma often interfered with me when I first started cultivating. I didn't know how to deal with it until I read Master's teaching in “Teaching the Fa at the 2004 International Fa Conference in New York.”
Master said,
“If it's something truly bad, then eliminate it. And sometimes there is another approach that has good results, and it's not necessarily an extreme way to handle it. You can have this thought: 'During the Fa-rectification of the cosmos, I can make a reasonable arrangement for those of you who don't interfere with my validating the Fa; I can have you become beings in the future. Those of you who seek a benevolent resolution should leave me and wait in my surroundings. If you really cannot leave me, then don't have any part in interfering with me. In the future I will be able to achieve Consummation, and I will offer you a benevolent resolution. Those who are completely bad, who still interfere with me and who cannot remain will, according to the standards, have to be eliminated. Even if I don't eliminate you, the Law of the cosmos won't let you remain.'”
I memorized this paragraph, and recited it every time I sent forth righteous thoughts. The bad thought karma gradually disappeared. I thank Master for purifying my mind and body.
The moral standards in modern society have declined. For example, many people make and sell counterfeit products. I run a wholesale store. The dealers often requested me to label the forgeries with genuine trademarks so that they could raise the price.
Becoming an Honest Person
I had low standards before I began practicing Falun Gong, and comforted myself by thinking, “I am deceiving people, but it is my dealers' request.” I learned from the Falun Gong teachings what Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance was, and about the principle of “no loss, no gain.”
I threw away all the packages of counterfeit products with genuine logos, and labeled all the products with their own appropriate trademarks. Although the price was lowered by half, I was not touched, because I cultivate “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.”
It was very easy for me to cheat in business in the past, but I changed, and I no longer lie.
After reading all of Master's new articles, I learned that as a Falun Gong practitioner, I should tell people the facts of Falun Gong, but I didn't know how. I met a practitioner from another city in May 2012. He taught me how to break through the Internet blockade and read articles on the Minghui website. I learned a lot from the experience sharing articles on Minghui. I also realized the severity of the persecution.
I started telling people the facts about Falun Gong. I also tried to persuade my friends to quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). I would like to thank the practitioners who have contributed to the Minghui website, and for teaching me how to fulfill my responsibilities as a practitioner.
Master asked us to join group Fa studies, but I didn't know any local practitioners. I was eager to find them. In their experience sharing articles practitioners often talked about clarifying the truth in parks, so I wandered around in all the local parks, hoping that I would run into a practitioner. However, I was unlucky.
Master saw my heart and helped me. In October 2012, I found the local Fa study site through an overseas practitioner. I cherished this opportunity, and never missed any group study except for when I was on business trips.
I read a lecture in Zhuan Falun every day, and read other new articles whenever I had time. I sent forth righteous thoughts four times a day.
I now make Falun Gong informational materials and organize them in individual bags. I then go to residential buildings and hang the bags on doorknobs. I also make phone calls, and convince people to quit the Chinese Communist Party. I sometimes distribute Shen Yun Performing Arts DVDs.
I still have many notions and attachments. I haven't tried to persuade a stranger, face to face, to quit the CCP. I will rectify my thoughts and behavior, cultivate well, and not let down Master's salvation.
