(Minghui.org) Looking back over my 20 years of cultivation and fulfilling my mission, I feel it is difficult to start writing because Master Li has given us so much.
His magnificence and mercy can’t be expressed using ordinary language. He offered us salvation, cleansed our bodies, and bestowed us with the title of Fa-rectification period Dafa disciples.
I started practicing Falun Dafa in April 1997. I thought, “Human society is very chaotic. How good would it be if everyone studied Falun Dafa.” Dafa can bring hope and blessings. I then decided to help spread Dafa so that more people could benefit from it.
I started by visiting families, inviting them to my home to study the Fa and watch Master Li's video lecture series. In the morning, we did the first four sets of exercises in my yard, and at night we did the fifth exercise. Everyone who participated felt relaxed, energetic, and disease-free.
There was a teacher with a skin disease. She visited different hospitals and tried various remedies, but nothing worked. She didn’t expect her disease would disappear soon after practicing Dafa.
There was an announcement on April 25, 1999, that Chinese Communist Party (CCP) members weren’t allowed to practice Dafa. One woman said, “If anyone comes to ask me what I want, Falun Dafa or the CCP, I will tell them I want Falun Dafa.”
There was another practitioner who had suffered from epilepsy since she was a child. She was very weak and looked so pale, even in her lips. After she began practicing Dafa, she became very energetic with a rosy complexion. Her epilepsy disappeared as well. People saw the changes in her and asked where she received treatment. She told them that she was cured because she practiced Falun Dafa.
Upon witnessing these miraculous cases, more and more people became practitioners. Just when we were all immersed in happiness, the CCP began persecuting Dafa on July 20, 1999.
We were heartbroken when they broadcast slanderous propaganda. “Falun Dafa is so good. We haven’t seen a practice like this before. Why doesn’t the government allow us to practice? What is going on with the country? Isn’t this the end of the CCP? Can’t it judge good from bad?”
Master Li said:
“For a Fa-rectification period Dafa disciple, personal liberation is not the goal of cultivation: when you came, saving sentient beings was your great aspiration, and that is the responsibility and mission history has bestowed upon you in Fa-rectification. Thus great numbers of beings are to be saved by you. Dafa disciples, don’t forsake the magnificent responsibility that has been bestowed upon you in Fa-rectification, and even less should you disappoint those beings, as you are now their only hope for entering the future. For this reason, all Dafa disciples, students both new and veteran, should get to work and begin comprehensively clarifying the truth. This is especially so for the Dafa disciples in mainland China: each must come out and clarify the truth, bringing it to every field and valley, mountain and hill, not omitting a single area where there are people.” (“Let Go of Human Attachments and Save the World’s People,” from The Essentials of Diligent Progress, Volume III)
After Fa study, everyone looked within and realized we hadn’t systematically covered the rural areas to clarify the truth, although we went to distribute materials there many times. After we shared our experiences, we all agreed that we should go there again to distribute brochures.
We made sure to study the Fa well and send forth righteous thoughts, and with that we were able to handle everything well. We knew how important it was to keep our minds pure and clean.
Each time before we went out, we sent forth righteous thoughts together and bowed in front of Master’s photo asking Him to strengthen us: “Please eliminate all evil beings and factors wherever we go; Master please strengthen us to distribute materials smoothly so any sentient beings with predestined relationships can be saved.”
We gathered all the materials and left in our vehicles. For safety concerns, we usually left after dark. And as our destinations were far away, we sent forth righteous thoughts on the journey.
After practitioners who went to distribute materials left, the rest of the practitioners sent forth righteous thoughts together. Through Fa study and experience sharing, we realized we were a whole body and should support each other.
Sometimes, we sent forth righteous thoughts for 30 minutes and studied the Fa for 30 minutes every hour until the practitioners who went out to distribute materials returned.
We often didn't get home until after 11 p.m. or midnight. We didn’t feel tired but felt very happy instead.
On one occasion, we were almost finished distributing brochures when there was severe interference. Several practitioners were stopped by the police and taken to a local police station.
The practitioners told them the truth about Dafa but the officers didn’t listen. They thought because they had caught so many Falun Dafa practitioners it was an opportunity for them to be rewarded.
Many practitioners began working to release them. A group of practitioners went to the police department to clarify the truth in the morning and study the Fa in the afternoon. Another group did the same but the other way round. Some practitioners sent the related information to the Minghui website, and practitioners overseas worked on this case immediately as well.
Truth clarifying phone calls were like weapons that dissolved the evil factors. Some police officers said that the news spread extremely fast. Their names were exposed.
On the second night, the arrested fellow practitioners were taken to the city police department. The original decision was to hold them for 10 days but they were released nine days later.
During those nine days, they memorized the Fa, sent forth righteous thoughts, clarified the truth, dissolved the evil factors, and returned home in a dignified manner. The practitioners were not required to pay the police for so-called boarding fees or other expenses, as is often the case.
Because there was such a big interference, we looked within and found our zealotry and attachments to showing off. We realized the seriousness of cultivation. We should strictly check our thoughts so Master won’t worry too much about us.
There is always room for improvement in my cultivation. When I notice I have a problem, I change it immediately and do better next time.
I consider the obstacles in my cultivation as a foundation for further advancement. I have always thought that I should treat them as a chance to improve my xinxing. Cultivation is like this so that we are tempered.
During my 20-plus years of cultivation, I make good use of time and never slack off in studying the Fa, doing the exercises, and sending forth righteous thoughts.
I get up at 3:10 a.m., burn incense for Master, do the exercises at 3:20 a.m. and send forth righteous thoughts at 6 a.m.
I eat two very simple meals a day. I clarify the truth, share experiences with fellow practitioners, and help practitioners who are dealing with sickness karma.
I still have many ordinary notions and shortcomings. I would like to make good use of my time during this precious period, look within, pay more attention to improving my xinxing, and be more diligent so I can return home with Master.