(Clearwisdom.net) It has been 12 years since I started practicing Falun Gong in April 1995. I would like to write down some of my cultivation experiences to share with fellow practitioners.
1. Studying the Fa with sincerity manifests in righteous thoughts and righteous deeds
In July or August 1994, a fellow practitioner gave me a copy of Falun Gong, which he copied himself. When I lifted my hands for the second exercise, "holding the wheel above the head", I suddenly felt the Falun (Law Wheel) revolving powerfully above my head. I was not able to stand and had to lie down on a desk. Then many colorful and miraculous scenes appeared in front of my eyes. I was stunned and thought that this cultivation method was unlike any other. I started to seriously cultivate Falun Gong in April 1995 and have remained steadfast ever since. During these years, my mind and body have changed fundamentally and completely. Another fellow practitioner and I established a practice site with nearly 100 people practicing. We took on the responsibilities of being assistants at that site until July 20, 1999, when Jiang Zemin's regime started persecuting Falun Gong.
On February 27, 2002, I was detained for 10 days because I went to the city government to appeal and practiced the Falun Gong exercises there. After I was released, all kinds of tests and tribulations came up, and my family and other people also pressured me. I was working for the city government. I diligently read the Fa and with Master's strengthening I broke through the tests and tribulations. In 2002, I went to Beijing again to validate Dafa. My mind was very calm at that time and I positioned my mind correctly. My employers were anxious because they could not find me and did not know where I was. I safely returned from Beijing and traveled by train for two nights and one day. My work unit did not find out that I had gone to Beijing and I was able to get through a difficult situation. Everything had been arranged for me by Master, for which I was profoundly grateful.
For several years, I remembered that Master taught us to diligently read the Fa. Therefore, no matter how busy I was, I continued reading the Fa and doing the exercises daily. Nothing could move me, and I broke through one difficulty after another. For several years, the management at my work and my colleagues never gave me a hard time. One day in August 2002, every one of us was asked to go to the front entrance of the city government's office and sign their names and slander Dafa. Nobody was exempt. The management at my work unit was afraid that I would not go and talked to me beforehand. I firmly refused to go downstairs. They then told me that if I did not want to sign the paper, I could pretend to go downstairs and then sneak away. I still refused. I prevailed in the end, and they did not give me any trouble afterwards. The residential committee and the police station of my residential area came to my workplace and my home to harass me, but I did not cooperate with them, and they did not know what to do with me.
Since the persecution started, the city's national security personnel have tracked me. They recorded my phone conversations and reported the contents to the provincial national security department. Personnel from the national security sub-divisions, street police stations, and the local residential committee came to my home, trying to arrest me. But with Master's protection, I escaped every time. During that period, people from the organization department of the City Party Committee and the Party Committee of the local government authorities had conversations with me many times, but I never cooperated with them. In the end, they expelled me from the CCP. Afterwards, I used my real name and announced my withdrawal from the CCP. I still passed on informational material to several dozen fellow practitioners using the convenience of my job without any difficulties. As the persecution escalated, the management at my work was afraid that they would encounter more trouble because of me, so I had to retire early. After I retired, I started to produce information material about Falun Gong at home, which I'm still doing today.
Because of my cultivation environment and the responsibility I was shouldering, I knew from my heart that I would be safe, but only if I diligently studied the Fa and did the three things well. Therefore, I have been strict with myself and no matter how busy I was, I never gave up looking for opportunities to clarify the truth. After the fall harvest in 2004, I went to the countryside, where I had joined a production team 33 years ago, and introduced the Fa. On the way there, I asked Master to strengthen me. In a small store at the village, I told the facts about Falun Gong to people and nearly 30 people started to practice Falun Gong at the village. The husband and wife of the family I stayed with started to practice as well and have continued to practice. Last year they came to my home and asked me to help them find a picture of Master to place in their home. I shared my experiences with them and prepared many Dafa materials and Falun Gong exercise tapes for them. I helped this couple, as well as their children, to withdraw from the CCP and its affiliated organizations. After they went back home, they started doing the three things and have persistently learned the Fa and done the exercises every day. Last year, many domestic animals of the production team died due to a plague, but the animals of this family were unaffected. This year, they have enjoyed a very good harvest.
While I was waiting for the bus at the county bus station, I met a woman from the countryside. She needed the support of her daughter-in-law to walk. When her daughter-in-law went to buy things, I asked her what happened to her. She told me that she had cataracts and the hospital wanted 2,000 yuan for the surgery. I told her that I could help her to relieve the pain and she did not need to spend even one cent. I started to tell her the facts about Falun Gong and that Falun Gong is miraculous. She sincerely listened and was very receptive. In about half an hour, I noticed that her eyes changed some and I asked her about the change. She told me at that moment with excitement, "I can see everything! There is a row of slogans on the wall and there is a row of small characters below the slogan." (She could not read) She was extremely excited and suddenly knelt down in front of me. I hurriedly helped her up and told her that she should thank the Master of Falun Gong and that it was Master who helped her. Later, I gave her several pamphlets. I told her that she should tell everyone in her village about what happened to her and distribute the pamphlets to every family, and teach the adults as well as the children to say "Falun Dafa is great". I told her that if she could do that, she would be saving lives and at the same time accumulating virtue for a good future. She agreed and thanked me repeatedly.
There was a farmer who sells vegetables at a market in my residential area. I explained the facts about Dafa to her two years ago and she accepted it. All her illnesses have disappeared, including a tumor on her neck. She happily told me about the miracles of Dafa that had manifested in her body. I went on to tell her about the Nine Commentaries and withdrawing from the CCP. She then helped her family members to withdraw from the CCP and its affiliated organizations. I frequently give her all kinds of Dafa informational material and the "Nine Commentaries" and tell her to pass the material on to others after she finishes reading them. She has been very open to doing that and displayed good understandings of what was happening.
In June of this year, I went to Tonghua. Before I departed, I asked Master to arrange it so that I could meet people with a predestined relationship. Soon after the train set off, an older man came. He was from Meihekou and he had suffered from cerebral thrombus for many years. He had retired from the military and was a CCP member for more than 40 years. He was receiving a 150-Yuan guaranteed low income living stipend. After he sat down for a while, he felt that his head felt very good, which he had not experienced for many years. At that time, I was listening to Master's lectures, and he believed that his improvement had something to do with me. He asked me what I was listening to. I asked him, "Do you want to listen?" He said immediately that he felt as though he has met an honorable person and his head felt so good, which he had not experienced for many years. I told him that he was right and that he was fortunate. I told him that he could listen to it, but I wanted to tell him a few things first. He said several times, while I was telling him the facts about Falun Gong, that he accepted what I explained to him. I then lent him my MP3 player and let him listen for nearly two hours. He was very glad and asked me to help him withdraw from the CCP using a nickname. Before we parted ways, I asked him to tell people about Dafa and the miracles of Dafa that had manifested on him to his friends and relatives. He gladly agreed to do that.
One young man next to me was from Jiangsu Province and going to Tonghua to work. He did not know how to get to his destination because that was his first trip to Tonghua. It was raining outside and the train was late, so he was very anxious and was afraid that he would not be able to find the place. I heard that he was going to the same place where I was going. I told him not to worry and that I would guide him there. I helped him and his girlfriend to withdraw from the CCP and the Youth League. He told me that he had not eaten anything for the whole day and I gave him the food that I had brought with me, and he was very grateful. After the train arrived at Tonghua, I called a taxi and sent him to the entrance of the factory where he was going.
On the train back from Tonghua, I met a junior student from the Beijing University for Political Science and Law. I told this young man the facts about Falun Gong for nearly two hours, and he listened attentively. I asked him whether he thought that the way I am thinking was not clear. He told me that I explained everything clearly and my thinking was very clear, it was just that he had never heard this before. Before we parted ways, I asked him whether he was willing to explain to his roommates about what I told him when he got back to the university. He said that he would and I then asked him to also tell the facts to his parents and his fellow villagers when he got back home to the countryside. He agreed to do that as well, and I was very happy for him.
Through these several years of cultivation, I have truly come to understand that as long as we study the Fa well, we can do everything well, and the answers we are looking for are all in the Fa.
2. Only with firm righteous thoughts, can one walk one's path well and with steady steps, and return to one's true origin
During my 12 years of cultivation, I have experienced all kinds of difficulties. When I could not pass a test and was trapped in the most difficult situations, Master's words echoed in my mind,
"A Great Enlightened One fears no hardship
Having forged an adamantine will"("Righteous Thoughts and Righteous Actions" in Hong Yin II)
I felt a warm flow filling my whole mind and body. Then steeling my will, I would soon pass the test.
When my personal interest was jeopardized, Master's words appeared in my mind and promptly corrected me, and I soon passed the difficulties smoothly.
"Fame, gain, emotion--cultivate each away,
And ascend to the Firmament at Consummation"("Success at Consummation" in Hong Yin)
Now there are 26 fellow practitioners working beside me. Because I have been responsible for producing information material and having to do everything, from buying the necessities to actually producing the material, I formed a bad habit during these several years. I told others to do what I said and often positioned myself above other fellow practitioners. In addition, some practitioners, out of appreciation, often praised me and often talked to me about their issues and asked for my advice. I therefore thought frequently that I was infallible and right, thus could not tolerate other people's opinions that were different than my own. Although I did not show it, deep in my mind I thought that I was better than them and did not look inside for the reason. This has been a big barrier in my cultivation and I must correct it immediately. For the past few years, I always told others what to do and fixated on their shortcomings, while ignoring my own. From now on I will do my best to correct this bad habit of mine as soon as possible and let go of my stubborn attachments and various mentalities. Only when I do that, am I worthy of Master's salvation.
