(Clearwisdom.net)
A "Prodigal" Improves
I started practicing Falun Dafa in May 1998. Before then I had a bad temper, I fought, gambled, said many dirty words, and did many bad things. Once a boy from our village beat up my son. When my son came home crying, I was so angry that I rushed to that boy's home, and within a few seconds, I had started to fight with the family. I almost beat that boy's father to death. By my early 30s, I already suffered from many diseases and had problems with my heart, back, legs, shoulders, and stomach, among others. Before I started cultivation practice, I was selfish, desperate, and in constant pain.
By what seemed to be an accident, I started to practice Falun Dafa and stepped on my path of cultivation. Within a month of practicing, all my illnesses disappeared. Teacher cleansed my body and purified my soul, and I learned how to behave myself. When I looked back at my life, I was horrified to see what I had done. Without Teacher's compassionate saving grace, I dare not imagine where I would be heading and what my final destiny would be.
When practicing, I followed the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and was strict with myself. I also taught my son to be a good person and to follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. I used to teach my son to beat up others. Now I teach him to endure losses and to be tolerant. Together, we tried to get rid of our bad habits. I now also get along well with the people with whom I used to fight with and those I might have conflicts with.
A person I once knew offered me a deal from the city. He said that they had several used cars for sale, and that if I gave him only two thousand yuan, then I would get seven thousand yuan in return. At the time I had only been cultivating for a few months. I began to think about the situation and debated with myself, "Should I earn this dirty money?" Finally, I chose to give it up. I told myself, "I want to be a genuinely good person. I will stop doing things that are not consistent with the principles of Dafa."
Once, the driver of a four-wheeler hit the back tank of my new three-wheeler. My partner insisted that I get money from him for the damages, otherwise he would not let the driver go. I knew the driver did not intend to hit my three-wheeler, so I didn't want to ask him for money, but I couldn't persuade my partner to do otherwise. I took the driver to one side, gave him some money, and told him to give it back to me so that my partner could see. At first, he dared not accept the money. Then I told him that I was a Falun Dafa practitioner, and he did as I asked. After the driver left, my partner said, "The money was yours, wasn't it?" I said, "If I didn't do it that way, you wouldn't have let him go. He still had a long way to travel." My partner said I was a kindhearted person.
Several months later I experienced the principle of "being tolerant of others is actually equivalent to being tolerant of myself." I met the driver who had hit my three-wheeler again. He came over to me and said hello. He suddenly noticed that the semi-axis screw on my three-wheeler was coming loose and told me to have it tightened immediately. The consequences could have been devastating. Then I thought, "If I had insisted on asking him for money the other day, then he might not have helped me today, and the outcome would have surely been different."
No Fear in the Face of Evil
After July 20, 1999, Jiang Zemin's regime started to defame our Teacher and persecute Dafa practitioners. We lost the environment for group Fa study, which really saddened me. At the end of 1999, when I went to Beijing to appeal, I was detained by the police. Due to a poor cultivation state, I wrote things that were against Dafa and Teacher. The police extorted 2,000 yuan from me and then released me. Whenever I think about it, I still feel bad. In a dream, compassionate Teacher hinted to me that he had never given up on me and asked me to do well.
From then on, I decided to cultivate well, study the Fa well, and cultivate my heart. Teacher taught us to be good people. There is nothing wrong with wanting to be a good person. I was firm in my belief. Whenever I got the opportunity, I would clarify the truth to people. Falun Dafa is righteous and I would never cooperate with the evil.
As I studied the Fa and practiced, I gradually became very steady in my cultivation. On or about July 20, 2000, officials from the brainwashing center told me to show up. I didn't want to cooperate with them, so I didn't go. In 2001, several local practitioners went to Beijing to appeal. The officials were so upset that they came to my home and ransacked it. I asked them, "Why don't you go to catch thieves instead of harassing kind people? Which law did I violate? Why do you ransack my home?" I told them, "I buried the dead cats, dogs, and rats lying in the streets because I was afraid people might contract contagious diseases; I filled up the holes in the streets because I was afraid people would stumble over them; everyone is confident about eating the things I sell--even you police buy my groceries because you know Falun Gong practitioners are truthful. Don't you know these facts? What was I like before? And what am I like today? Aren't you clear about this?" Later they wanted to take my fingerprints, but I didn't cooperate with them. After several head-on clashes with them, I knew that I had straightened up my life.
Honoring My Prehistoric Vows
As Teacher has pushed the Fa-rectification process forward, the evil has been eradicated in large quantities. Under Teacher's guidance, I have kept righteous thoughts and actions. The police do not bother me anymore. The officials from the village all have a good impression of Dafa and of me. When high ranking officials asked about me, they only had good words to say. They said if everyone could behave like me, it would be great. Because I made such great positive changes after practicing Dafa, many people came to learn the wonders of Dafa. Though the persecution is still going on, my cultivation environment has always been very good, and there are good opportunities for me to clarify the truth and save sentient beings. I am still making great efforts to honor my prehistoric vows.
I know that I still have many attachments and have much to improve on to live up to the requirements of Teacher and the Fa. But I believe that everything will be rectified in the end.
July 28, 2009
