(Clearwisdom.net)
Greetings, most revered Master. Greetings, fellow practitioners.
I have been a Falun Dafa practitioner for 12 years. Looking back, although there have been some detours along the way, I feel that I am doing better at walking the path of cultivation arranged by Master.
I am a medical doctor. I work in a hospital. My workload was very heavy and I had a lot of responsibilities. I had to work night shifts and overtime. I didn't have time to take care of my family or my child. I had become used to such a lifestyle, and was suffering from many different illnesses even though I was only in my 30s. I thought I had to work as long as I could get out of bed. I was totally stressed by work and did not know when I could escape it.
In 1996, I was fortunate to learn about Falun Dafa. Since I began the practice, my health improved dramatically. I understood I should have a less-demanding job if this was a part of my cultivation path. However, I didn't believe I could find an easier job, so I didn't give it too much thought.
After the persecution began in July 1999, I went to Beijing three times to appeal to the central government and was detained six times. After I returned to work, the hospital only paid me 300 yuan of living allowance per month. Even though I worked hard every day, I could barely pay for utilities. Sometimes I even had to borrow money from the hospital. However, because I was a practitioner, I was always considerate of the patients and never accepted bribes or kickbacks. My integrity won me a good reputation, and my medical skills were widely recognized. Everyone could see that practitioners are good people. As a result, my work environment changed. One hospital wanted to hire me at a high salary. Another hospital wanted me to be the director of a department. In the end, I became the director of a division in a general hospital. My workload was lighter than before. In my workplace, I have resisted corruption. Now it is commonplace for doctors to accept kickbacks for prescription medicine. The kickbacks often amount to tens of thousands of yuan per month. Patients need to give bribes or expensive gifts to be taken seriously by doctors. In contrast, I have rejected all kickbacks offered by pharmaceutical companies. I also explained to them that the teachings of Falun Gong told us to be good people. After I clarified the facts about the persecution and the nature of the Chinese Communist Party, some pharmaceutical company representatives immediately decided to withdraw from the CCP. One representative said, "I have been in this job for many years, and have never seen anyone not accepting kickbacks." Many patients tried to give me bribes or gifts. I always returned the money or gifts to their families or gave it to the hospital as a part of their medical payment. Through this, patients and their families learned that Falun Dafa is great. They said, "The CCP officials chase us for bribes. Falun Gong practitioners wouldn't accept any even when offered."
I always try to prescribe the least expensive drug to treat a particular set of symptoms. Often, the patients would come to me with a prescription by another doctor costing them hundreds of yuan, and I could find some other drug that cost only a few dozen yuan or even just a few yuan. Once a patient had a hemorrhage, and I paid for the blood transfusion out of my own pocket. Another time, a patient's money was stolen from the hospital, and he had no money to buy food. I quietly gave him some money. When his family members came to the hospital to pay back the money, they didn't even know my name. They went to the administrator of the hospital, and the administrator knew it was me, because I often helped others this way. Sometimes the patients hear some rumors, and they would come to me for an answer. They knew I practice Falun Gong and would not lie to them. Before I came to this hospital, there were often disputes between the doctors and the patients. The patients would go to the administrator of the hospital and cause a ruckus. Since I came, there were very few disputes. Even the hospital administrator thought things "quieted down." Some hospital staff said, "It seems like you are very good with the patients. No one came to the administrator to complain anymore. The only ones that came were to give you compliments."
However, when I was attached to fame or wanted to outperform others in my career, my coworkers became jealous and excluded me. They spread false rumors about me or even bribed the administrator of the hospital to keep me out of the loop. They also went to the 610 Office and the local police to tell lies about me. I completely denied the persecution while looking for my own attachments to competitiveness, jealousy, and especially fame. I was able to expose their lies and tell them that I would protect my name. I asked those who were involved in persecuting me to openly apologize to me. Within a month, the people who went to the "610 Office" to tell on me were fired because of two serious medical accidents.
During my cultivation, I can sometimes pass the tests well and other times not so well. In the last several years, I tried not to miss any people with predestined relationships. I clarified the facts to them and encouraged them to withdraw from the CCP. I also continued to look inward to make myself more and more pure. When I let go of my attachment to my position at work, I felt that a bright new world had opened up to me.
One day last year, i was informed that in order to be eligible for a promotion, I must go to the countryside to work with farmers. The Health Bureau had a strict rule that the hospital where I worked before could not give me work assignments, so we could focus on the work in the countryside. This never happened before. I was one of only three people who were assigned to work at the rural hospital. We only had to work for half a day every five days. The rest of the time we could do whatever we wanted, as long as we were on call and were available during emergencies. I knew Master had arranged this for me. This flexible schedule allowed me to do well the three things required of us in the Fa rectification. I have also matured quite a bit in my cultivation over the last year.
When I returned to my old hospital from the countryside, the hospital administrator told me that I had been transferred to a new office, which had a very light workload. Many people would use bribery to get this position. I thank Master for his compassionate arrangement. I am determined to use my good environment to save more sentient beings.
After I began practicing Falun Gong, my health improved tremendously, and I became kinder to my family. Having seen these changes, my family members were very supportive of the practice.
Since the persecution began, I was detained several times. My family members were afraid of CCP retaliation, especially for the safety of themselves and my child. They tried all kinds of means to make me give up the practice. When it became clear that I was not going to give in, they were very disappointed. When I clarified the facts to them, my husband and father-in-law even humiliated me in public. However, I showed my respect to them. When they were arguing with me in public, I was upset because I had always cared about my public image. At the same time, I remembered Master's words,
"I will use any troubles or unpleasant things you come across--...no matter how good or sacred you think they are--to eliminate your attachments and expose your demon-nature so that it can be eliminated, for your improvement is what's most important." ("Further Understanding," Essentials for Further Advancement) I knew I needed to eliminate my attachment to my public image.
As the Fa-rectification progressed, and through studying the Fa, I realized that this persecution is not just one of people persecuting people. Behind the persecution is a battle between the righteous and evil forces of the universe. Although my family members had misunderstandings about the persecution, they were beings that needed to be saved since they had the predestined relationship to be a member of my family in this lifetime. I swore that I would save them. Of course sometimes my xinxing was not up to par, and I struggled and suffered inside. I knew they were manipulated by evil spirits and rotten ghosts, so I sent forth righteous thoughts to disintegrate the evil spirits, rotten ghosts, and the specter of Communism. Then I distributed truth-clarification materials to my family members. When they came to me seeking medical treatment, I taught them to say "Falun Dafa is great; Truth-Compassion-Forbearance is great." Gradually they began reading the materials I gave them. My father-in-law had the misunderstanding that distributing the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party was getting involved in politics. After I explained more about the persecution and the CCP, all of my family, which has more than 20 members, withdrew from the Communist Party. They all received good rewards as well. My mother-in-law's asthma had tortured her for many years. Every year, she had to get an infusion of medicine. Now she only needs to take a few pills and doesn't suffer much anymore. My grandma had a fall, but because she often chanted "Falun Dafa is great," she recovered within 10 days. My little niece had the highest score in a year-end township-wide exam. At family gatherings during the holidays, I often clarified the facts and encouraged my relatives to quit the CCP. Once at funeral, there were more than 100 family members and neighbors. I clarified the facts and gave them some materials. Almost everyone there learned the facts about the persecution. Those who were CCP members also withdrew from the Party.
There are so many natural and man-caused disasters in China today. Everyone is frightened and wants to remain safe. Family members who have learned the facts are disseminating the facts and materials about the persecution as well. Our lives have improved because of Falun Dafa. Many people whom I clarified the facts to also became practitioners.
Let us strive forward with diligence on the last leg of the journey of Fa-rectification. Walk firmly on the bright path guided by Master and save more sentient beings. Let us fulfill our vows!
(Shortened version of an article submitted for "The Fifth Internet Experience Sharing Conference for Practitioners in China")