(Clearwisdom.net)
July 14 to 17, 1994 are days of remembrance for people in Chenzhou, as on this day our benevolent Master came to Chenzhou to impart the Fa to save people. More than 12 years passed, and even though I did not attend Master’s classes in person, I personally experienced the joy and the ascension of life with the Fa. Master has always been beside me.
I was sick to the bone in 1996. I looked like an old woman even though I was in my 30’s. My face was sallow and emaciated. My back was hunched over 75 degrees. I went into comas several times and could not be treated by the largest hospital in Hunan Province, the Xiangya Hospital. Doctors said, "Why did you come so late? Now you are in the terminal phase, which is very difficult to treat." Though they did not reveal the physical examination result to me afterwards, I knew I was reaching the end of my life. Amid the desperation, someone introduced "Falun Dafa" to me. When I heard the words, I felt like a soothing electric current went through my whole body. I decided to practice Falun Dafa. In less than a month, I went through a complete transformation, recovering physically. I could also sense that mentally I reverted back to the innocent, happy, worry free state of my childhood days. My whole perspective on life changed. I just could not describe the feeling of splendor after having obtained Dafa.
When the evil started persecuting Dafa in 1999, I had only one thought: "Guard the Fa with my life, Assist Master with my life." I went to appeal for Falun Gong in Beijing three times. Each time I was detained at a detention center, I was fined 16,000 yuan, and sentenced to a labor camp for two and a half years. I was tortured and persecuted in the labor camp and nearly died there. Without Master’s compassionate care and my own faith in Master and the Fa, I could not have gone through and survived it all. I felt Master’s immense kindness and caring for each practitioner. Master plucked us from hell, cleansed us from the most microscopic level, installed the brilliantly golden Falun in our bodies, and did all the splendid things that are beyond human understanding. Master protected us at all times. How could I not feel excited? Yes, the things given to us by Master could not be exchanged with all the wealth in this world. Gains and losses in the sentient world became rather insignificant.
At the detention center, a fellow practitioner who I shared a bunk bed with told me her story of attending Master’s lectures four times. She cried while telling me the story. She said, "I was still working at the time. I kept asking for vacation from my boss saying I had very important matters to take care. I followed Master wherever he went for a total of four times." She said that all she remembered was that she cried a lot during the lecture, and the whole lecture hall was full of people who could not stop crying. The feeling was just like what Master said in his poem, "Looking for the teacher for many years, One day the chance to meet appears" (Predestined to Return to the Sacred Fruit Status). Yes indeed, how many millennia had we reincarnated, how many levels of cosmos did we descend to the sentient world? How long did we wait until this very moment of meeting Master and listening to his lecture? Why? It was for the vow that we made eons ago, "Assist Master to Rectify the Fa, Save Sentient Beings." Since we came with sacred missions on our shoulders, then it is our duty to fulfill these historic missions. We could not stand to watch sentient beings to be wiped out, and we could not ignore them without saving them.
I remember that not too long after I returned home from the labor camp, one day I was reading Zhuan Falun at home after I got off work. Suddenly my boss and more than a dozen local police broke into my home. I politely got up and greeted them. My boss demanded that I hand over my copy of Zhuan Falun. Of course I refused. Immediately 4 to 5 police officers pressed me against the ground and ripped apart my clothes fully exposing my chest and back. They seized my precious book. I sat at the door and cried to all of my neighbors: "These Communist Party hoodlums bullied me and stole my book." I wanted to go after them to get my book back, but fellow practitioners stopped me. Those who saw this cried.
During the several months that I became destitute and homeless, I slept in fields, begged for food, and walked to clarify the truth. It was indeed a real test on my heart. Even though life was very harsh, I cherished every moment. I meditated and sent forth righteous thought throughout the night. I memorized the Fa during the day and clarified the truth, walking from one place to another. Sometimes I could not get any food by begging, so I had to get it from the garbage. I often remembered Master’s words in "Principles for Disciples Who Are Monks and Nuns":
"Disciples! As for disciples practicing cultivation at home, they will gradually, thoroughly abandon attachments to the secular world. But for disciples who are monks or nuns, this is a prerequisite that they must meet from the very beginning, as well as a requirement for becoming a monk or nun."
I remember once while it was raining, my feet were hurting, which made walking very difficult. People told me the next town was more than 20 miles away, and that the bus only cost one yuan. Since I had a few yuan, I thought about taking the bus. But then I thought, if I took the bus, then all the sentient beings along the 20 miles wouldn’t have a chance to hear me spreading the truth. I could not leave them behind. Finally, I chose to walk slowly. I talked to people wherever I went. As long as we clarify the truth with wisdom, sentient beings will understand.
One evening I was memorizing the Fa under an orange tree. Two people came by, and one of them was a teacher. I started to clarify the truth to them. I told them the story of "Red Eyed Lion Statue" and the beauty and splendor of Truth, Compassion, and Forbearance. All of a sudden another 20 people showed up, all local residents. They surrounded and listened to me. Some asked questions. I told them about how the Self-Immolation incident on Tiananmen Square was staged to frame Falun Gong. They asked me to go to their home to sleep. I replied I was already used to sleeping in the open. After they left, I left too. Later, while I was resting at a garage, a dozen people arrived looking around with flash lights. They walked directly toward me and said, "Ah, we were trying to find you." They brought with them a lot of things, including clothes and warm meals. But I only took a jacket and a pair of shoes. They wanted to give me some money. I told them that I could not take their money, but I really appreciated their kindness. After they left, more than a dozen workers from an area outside of the town asked me to warm up near a fire pit. While warming myself up next to the fire pit, I clarified the truth to them.
On another occasion I was memorizing the Fa in a quiet place. The weather was cold, and I was preparing a meal over the fire. A young man in his 20’s showed up and sat next to me. He started to molest me. He left after I refused his advance but threw rocks at me. After half an hour he came over again, and opened his wallet and wanted to pay me some money. I told him, "I do not want even a penny from you, I just want you to be a decent young man." Then I told him stories about Dafa and its splendor. Finally, he understood. He apologized to me, waved and left smiling.
I thought to myself while in the labor camp, "The very first thing that I will do once I get home will be to start memorizing Zhuan Falun." When I started to memorize, there was a lot of interference and difficulties. But I still memorized sentence by sentence. If I was on my last breath I would memorize the book. As long as I was persistent and persevered, the difficulty amounted to nothing. Finally I finished it without much fanfare. The more I memorized, the faster I memorized. At the beginning it took me half a year to memorize the whole book, then it took me a few months, finally it only took me one month, half a month, and one week to memorize the whole book. Memorizing the Fa would drive me to be more diligent and cherish the time. Memorizing the Fa allowed me to be bathed in the immense compassion of Master. Studying the Fa and memorizing the Fa was my most fortunate undertaking, the source of my life. It also made the three tasks that I do more sacred. They are part of my daily life, just like each day I need to eat and to breathe. From time to time I could sense that I slacked off in my effort to memorize the Fa, then I could not breathe well; it was just so critical. I also enlightened that clarifying the truth is easy and natural when the Fa is studied well, and significantly difficult when the Fa is not studied well.
After you let go of all attachments and memorize the Fa with a tranquil mind, you will find ascension of life and happiness with the Fa.
