(Minghui.org) What a glory it is to be a Dafa practitioner and to be with Master during the Fa-rectification period! Although I have a son who is mentally challenged and unable to speak, I regard it as a good thing. This not only helps me to repay karmic debts, but it also helps me improve my xinxing. Every day my mind is full of doing the three things, and even in my dreams I clarify the truth. I'm 73 this year. Even young people find it hard to catch up to me when I am walking or riding a bike.
Starting to Practice
I started practicing Falun Dafa in October 1998. At that time, I was sickly and faced the misfortune of recently losing my husband. I didn't care if I died, but I had an 80-year-old mother-in-law and a son unable to take care of himself. They needed me. I was really desperate.
One evening after dinner, my daughter-in-law said to me, “Mom, I will take care of my brother-in-law. You go outside and take a break. There are some people doing exercises outside. Maybe you can learn it and do the exercises at home later.” I forced myself to go out and watched the others doing the exercises.
An acquaintance said to me, “Don't just watch, come and join in.” I followed them to do the exercises. On the fourth day, the person in charge told me, “It's not enough to just do the exercises. You should read the book to study the Fa.” I got the book Zhuan Falun and two exercise tapes. I was immediately attracted to the book once I started to read it. It answered many questions I had wanted to know the answers to before but had never been able to find. This was just what I needed. After reading the whole book just once, my sickness was gone. Dafa is really amazing!
The persecution of Falun Dafa started just six months after I attained Dafa. I was not affected by it. At that time, I had just studied the following:
“I was also told: 'You’ve made their cultivation too easy. People only have that little bit of hardship of their own. There is only that little bit of trouble among them. They have a lot of attachments that they still can’t give up! It remains a question of whether they can understand your Dafa itself while they are in the midst of confusion and tribulations.' It involves such an issue, so there will be interference and tests.” (Lecture Six in Zhuan Falun)
I made up my mind: “I must pass the test. I want to be true gold, not sand!”
A Call from the Accountant
One day, the accountant where I worked called me and asked me whether I was still practicing Falun Dafa. I answered, “Why not? It's such a good Qigong that all my diseases are gone. Do you think I should stop practicing it? I don't need to take medicine, which has saved me a lot on medical bills. It's beneficial to the company as well as to the government. Why do you ask?” He started, “The authorities …” then hung up the phone and didn't finish. I didn't hide the fact that I was still practicing Falun Dafa. I thought I might be arrested since several local practitioners had already been arrested.
At that time, I had no fear at all. I knew my life was given by Dafa and that I must validate Dafa. Otherwise, where was my conscience? If someone told me I could not practice Dafa, I would ask if he could guarantee that I would not get sick and not die. If so, then I would agree to give up the practice. What is righteous or evil? Only the practitioner can decide that for him or herself! Somehow, no one came to arrest me. After I read the poem “What’s There to Fear” in Hong Yin Vol. II, I understood the reason. Master said:
“If you have fear, they will grab youOnce your thought is righteous, evil will collapsePeople practicing cultivation, filled with FaSending righteous thoughts, exploding rotten ghostsGods are in the world, validating Fa”
I realized my righteous thought had eliminated the evil behind any issue of my being arrested. After understanding the principle, I have less fear.
The Police Understand the Truth
One morning in 2009, I went to the hospital to deliver food to my younger sister's daughter-in-law, who had just had a baby. A patient in the same ward asked me, “How can you look younger than your younger sister?” I told her that I practiced Falun Dafa, but my sister didn't.
She was surprised, “Do you still dare to do it?” I answered, “I have the right to determine my own belief. It's my right.” Then I started to explain the truth to her. All the other patients in the ward listened to me, too. I didn't stop talking when a nurse came in.
However, the nurse reported me to the police. A police officer appeared and started to question everyone in the room. I knew he had come for me. I immediately asked Master to help me eliminate the evil behind him.
I calmly said to the officer, “You don't need to ask them. I know why you're here. It's me you are looking for. Let me tell you what it's about. My sister's daughter-in-law just had a baby and is in the hospital. I came to deliver some food. This lady here asked me why I looked younger than my younger sister. I told her it's because I practice Falun Dafa and, since then, all my diseases are gone. Falun Dafa is really good, which the whole world knows. Someday, the truth about Falun Dafa will come to light. Give yourself time to think about it. What I said is all true.”
The officer said just one thing, “The government does not allow it.” I said, “Jiang Zemin hijacked all the government media to tell lies. Why isn't a person allowed to say the truth? Where's the law against it?” The officer left without saying anything more. It is just as Master said:
“If upon encountering trying circumstances your thinking can be truly righteous, then, when faced with the evil's persecution and when faced with interference, just one sentence of yours fortified with steadfast righteous thoughts can instantly make the evil disintegrate (applause), and it will make those who are being used by the evil turn and flee, it will make the evil's persecution of you dissolve, and it will make the evil's interfering with you disappear without a trace.” (“Teaching the Fa at the Western U.S. International Fa Conference”)
A Police Officer Takes a Falun Dafa Brochure
One evening when I put a Falun Dafa brochure on a car parked on the street, a man about 50 years old saw me and called out, “What are you doing? Are you distributing Falun Dafa materials?” I said to him, “Falun Dafa saves people.”
He said, “Then let me see it!” He picked up the brochure. I told him, “It's called 'Heaven Bestows Great Happiness.' The stories in it are true. You should read it.” He said, “I work in the police department, but I will not arrest you.” I said, “You are doing the right thing. You will be rewarded for being kind to a Falun Dafa practitioner. I hope you have good future!”
Visiting the Local Residential Committee to Clarify the Truth
Just before the 2011 New Year's Day, I saw a “commitment card” outside every apartment in the building where I lived. Included in the “card” were accusations that slandered Dafa. It made me very sad. Master said, “Once a problem comes up somewhere, that's where you need to go clarify the facts.” (“Teaching and Explaining the Fa at the Metropolitan New York Fa Conference”)
So, holding the card in my hand, I visited every family to explain the facts: “You all know I practice Falun Dafa. I advise you not to fill in the card. It's a trap. Don't be fooled by the evil party. It wants to pull you down and be buried with it. Falun Dafa truly saves people.”
I asked the person in charge of the building who had distributed the cards. He told me it was the local residential committee. I had been thinking about clarifying the truth to that committee for a long time. This was my chance. I asked my fellow practitioners to send righteous thoughts for me. Before I went, I sent righteous thoughts and asked Master to help me.
I went to the local residential office and saw only one lady about 40 years old. I said, “I saw the 'commitment cards' distributed to every apartment in my building. Someone told me they came from your office.”
The lady said, “I don't know anything about it. I can ask the others when they return.” I said, “What the card says about Falun Dafa is a lie. I have been practicing it for more than 10 years and have never taken any medicine, which has saved so much money for the government.
"Falun Dafa is practiced in more than 100 countries. Why are so many people practicing it? Falun Dafa teaches Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. My family of four generations is very happy and we all get along. Freedom of belief is guaranteed in the constitution, but the Party doesn't allow us that freedom.
"I suggest that you quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to keep you safe. Have you ever joined any of the CCP's organizations? Let me help you to quit it.” She said, “I used to be a Young Pioneer. Please help me to quit. Thank you.” I told her, “Just thank my master. It's Master who asks us to save people.”
We had just finished talking when someone came in on business. I said to her, “I see you are busy, so I'll leave now.” Master arranged everything.
Distributing Truth-clarification Materials
I like to distribute informational materials, especially Shen Yun DVDs. Before I give someone a DVD, I always ask, “Do you have a DVD player or computer at home?”
When some people ask why I want to know, I tell them that I have a good DVD, called Shen Yun Performing Arts. I tell them that it is the top show in the world and has been performed in many countries. After my brief introduction, most people with DVD players want it. Some who work at construction sites have asked for two or more DVDs to give to their families and relatives in the countryside. Some have said they would play it at work.
By believing in Master and believing in Dafa, I have peacefully endured up until today. However, I still have a long way to catch up when compared with the Fa's requirements and with steadfast fellow practitioners. I still have attachments, such as to competitiveness, a show-off mentality, and jealousy. I will get rid of all my attachments and follow Master to go home.
