(Minghui.org) I am 29 years old and have a PhD degree. Two years ago I met my current husband and was impressed by his good temperament. He was poised, calm, peaceful and never angry—quite different from most people I knew. He later told me that he practiced Falun Dafa and how his parents, who were also practitioners, had been persecuted by the Chinese Communist regime because of their faith. I was shocked by what happened to them and wanted to know why.
Learning the Truth and Becoming a Practitioner
A classmate of mine once told me that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) had staged the self-immolation incident on Tiananmen Square to defame Falun Dafa. He'd circumvented the Internet firewall, read a lot what the CCP didn’t want us to know, and told me how evil the CCP was. At that time, I didn’t think it had anything to do with me.
I watched the DVD my husband gave me and it terrified me. He had me listen to Master Li’s lectures but I had a hard time believing the content. He also had me recite “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.”
One night after I recited the phrase and closed my eyes, I saw a Bodhisattva surrounded by a blue light. It disappeared when I opened my eyes and reappeared when I closed them. After I repeatedly saw the Bodhisattva after I closed my eyes, I was very emotional because this challenged my belief in atheism. The next day I happened to listen to “The Issue of the Celestial Eye” (Zhuan Falun Lecture Two), and I suddenly realized that everything Master says is real.
I decided to become a practitioner. There were times that I saw Falun and Master’s image. Each time after this I saw some kind of miracle, and I would be studying the Fa related to what I saw. I knew that Master was encouraging me to be a better practitioner.
When doing the second exercise, I felt very warm when I held my arms above my head and cold in front of my abdomen. I believed that Master was purifying my body. I enjoyed doing the exercises every day. I used to have severe pain in my abdomen when I had my period. I would experience discomfort if I got cold or even ate fruit. I don’t have any of these problems anymore.
Memorizing the Fa and Improving My Personality
I used to be easily irritated and impatient. Not many people dared to confront me. Shortly after I became a practitioner, I had a fight with my husband. I got so angry that I threw all of his clothes out of the closet and kicked his door.
“What kind of practitioner is he?” I thought. Suddenly I realized that I was a practitioner too! I was controlled by my demon nature at that point. I picked up Zhuan Falun and started reading it. The more I read, the more relaxed I became.
I regretted being so angry. This scenario of anger and regret reoccurred many times. Each time I got upset, I simply couldn’t remember what Master said in the Fa. All I could do was struggle to control my temper. After a while, a practitioner talked to me about memorizing the Fa.
I began by memorizing “Lunyu”. At first, I had to recite a phrase dozens of times before I could remember it. It took me a week to memorize “Lunyu”. I’d come back and memorize it again and again. I felt more and more comfortable as I did so. Since then, when conflicts rose, I would recite “Lunyu” and the conflict wasn’t as hard to endure as before. I later memorized some of Master’s articles and lectures. Each time I finished memorizing, it felt like I had gained a treasure.
One day my husband did something that irritated me. Right as I was about to start a fight, Master’s words came into my mind.
“The interference will come from family, society, good friends, and even fellow cultivators.”
“All of those things can drag you back to being like an ordinary person. But if you can break through all of it, you can advance towards godhood.” (Both from “Teaching the Fa at the Western U.S. International Fa Conference”)
This was precisely interference from other practitioners. I didn’t say anything to my husband nor did I get angry. I realized that when I failed to study the Fa regularly, I couldn’t handle the conflicts well. When I frequently studied the Fa, there were barely any conflicts. It was truly as Master says, “the appearance stems from the mind.” (“Fa Teaching Given at the Epoch Times Meeting”)
I started to memorize Zhuan Falun a while ago because I wholeheartedly want to assimilate to the Fa.
Keeping Up with the Progress of Fa-rectification
Two months into the practice, I could only meditate half an hour in the half lotus position, with one leg on top of the other. One day I let go of an attachment I had at work and the next day I could meditate for a full hour. Another time, I put my leg down after 45 minutes and regretted it.
That day the incense sticks I burnt were all too short. It was Master hinting to me that I fell short of the goal. A few days later I was able to sit in the full lotus position with both legs crossed on top of the other when I meditated. Then I read in “Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Europe”: “the half hour point is a big hurdle.”
I knew that was my next goal, and I soon was able to meditate in the full lotus position for an hour. From then on when I thought that it hurt too much and wanted to put my leg down when I meditated, I would recite the lines that precede the fifth exercise. I would then be able to sit for an hour. I felt wonderful afterward.
Two weeks ago I couldn’t get up in the morning to exercise. One night I dreamt that Master sat in front of me meditating. Then He took out several pieces of paper and wrote a date and a time on it. The date was approaching really soon.
Master was hinting to me that I should cherish the time and progress diligently and save more people. The time was 3:40 a.m. , which is the time for all practitioners in China to exercise together. I realized that Master wanted me to keep up with everyone’s progress.
I used to be lax and find excuses to convince myself that I still have plenty of time. Now I knew that at this point in history, I must cherish the time I have even more.
Clarifying the Truth
When I told my friends the benefits of practicing Falun Dafa and some of my experiences, they understood and some of them quit the CCP. When I suggested that they listen to the lectures or read the books, they told me that they were afraid to because of the persecution.
The same situation happened a few times. I started to look within and realized that I spoke too much about the inner meaning of the Fa and had a notion of zealotry. The things I talked about were hard to process for those who were brainwashed by the CCP.
I decided to talk to strangers about Falun Dafa. One day a man asked me for directions and he happened to be heading in the same direction I was. I was a bit nervous about talking to him about Dafa, but I sent righteous thoughts and asked if he’d heard about Falun Dafa. It turned out that he was a practitioner from Changchun!
Master said, “every person in the entire world was at one point part of my family” (“Explaining the Fa During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference”)
It meant that everyone in the world is also my family and we shouldn’t be scared to talk to people.
One day as I was downloading some materials from the Minghui website, I realized that it wasn’t hard to make truth-clarification materials. I developed the wish to make these materials, as Master said,
“to have a large number and wide distribution of materials production sites.” (“Fa Teaching Given at the 2015 New York Fa Conference”)
I quickly set up a printer to make copies of pamphlets and went out to distribute them with my husband. I was relieved that more people could be saved as a result.
I met a woman on a bus who told me that she wrote and posted a lot of articles on an Internet forum. Her articles were all blocked by the CCP. I thought that she was unusual and had independent thoughts for someone who'd grown up in China.
I began to talk to her about the lack of freedom of speech and the twisted educational system in China. She agreed with me that the CCP has destroyed the traditional culture and values.
She was also impressed by the depth of my thoughts. I told her about Falun Dafa and the truth of the persecution. She told me that a friend of hers, who was a practitioner, quit the CCP, moved to another country, and became a lawn care provider. She said that her friend looked great now and was a very kind person. She has also seen Master in person and had been very impressed.
I believed that she had a predestined relationship with Dafa and suggested that she read Zhuan Falun. She told me that many people had suggested this to her and she was going to do it this time.
“In China, if a person can hold on to his belief and is able to actually have faith in something, the person is truly magnificent,” she said.
Cherishing the Limited Time and Opportunity
Master has suffered tremendously to prolong the time for Fa-rectification and we must cherish the extra time we've been given. A practitioner told me that he couldn’t stop thinking about when the Fa-rectification would end.
Master says,
“There’s a saying, and it’s one I’ve shared with you before: “Cultivate with the heart you once had, and success is certain. The reason many people didn’t succeed in their cultivation was because they weren’t able to make it through over the long haul. They might have felt lonely or bored, or they might have become so familiar with something or have grown so accustomed to something that they didn’t want to do it anymore. Anything can cause a person to become lax. So you should continue to be diligent. In the past, there would be sudden tests for cultivators even at the very last step. If you grew increasingly lax, you certainly wouldn’t be able to pass that test.” (“Fa Teaching on World Falun Dafa Day”)
Master also says,
“In history the old forces arranged many, many things, and they made extremely thorough and intricate arrangements. And to make sure that nothing would go wrong with what they arranged they did a practice run with the previous earth. Think about it--how could they not be attached to it? Could they possibly let go of what they wanted to do? But even so, if our righteous thoughts are very strong, then we're in line with a law in the cosmos, and this law holds in both the old cosmos and the new one: a being's choice is up to him, even if he made some kind of vow in history. At critical moments it's still up to him what he wants to do. And this goes for things that are positive and negative--it's the case for both.” (“Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Philadelphia, U.S.A.”)
My understanding is, we shouldn’t be thinking about something that has nothing to do with us or find excuses to be lax. We should only listen to Master. He has arranged the path for us to reach consummation and we should cultivate wholeheartedly instead of coming up with negative ideas.
An ordinary person makes his choice to listen to the truth and side with the good. We practitioners also make the choice as to whether we want to believe in Master and the Fa and progress diligently.
It’s sad that an ordinary person chooses not to listen to the truth and faces elimination in the future. It is also sad that we are given such a great opportunity to cultivate and we choose not to cherish it.
My fellow practitioners, we should never become lax and miss this once and only chance in history. Master has told us clearly in Zhuan Falun, “not to lose it easily just because you have obtained it easily.”
