(Clearwisdom.net)

1. Making a Choice

One day in May 1997 one of my friend's said, "I am learning some kind of exercise that is rather good. Besides that I'm reading a book. It appears that the founder of this practice is the true incarnation of Buddha. Would you also like to read the book?" I replied without hesitation, "Please, bring me the book."

I sat down and couldn't take my eyes off the book Zhuan Falun. I couldn't wait to read the next sentence and find out what more the author had to say. I read the entire book in one go. I didn't remember much of what I had read, but it felt just right. When I returned it, my friend was surprised that I had already read the entire book. I then read all the other Falun Dafa books, one after the other and each in one go.

She said, "Come with me to watch the video lectures. They begin tonight." After we finished attending the nine lecture series, we learned the sitting meditation. I sat for half an hour. Then my friend told me, "There is an evening Fa study group just across the road from where you live that meets daily. Would you be interested?" Without hesitation I said, "Yes!" A few days later she said, "There is a group exercise site where they practice every morning. You should join it." I thought about it because I like to sleep in, and since I need to go to work, I finally joined the practice site on Saturday.

Learning the second exercise, "Falun Standing Stance," I suddenly felt wheels spinning between my arms. They turned right nine times and then left nine times. I was very surprised and kept looking at my arms. Later I learned that this was a Falun. Since then I studied the Fa, practiced the exercises and went to experience sharing meetings. I always smiled, walked with ease and felt my heavy heart become light. I became healthier and attained a positive attitude. Ever since then, studying the Fa has been my daily routine. The more I studied, the more I understood. I came to believe that learning Falun Dafa was the best choice I ever made.

2. "Magic Weapon"

Over the past ten years I forgot much, but I will not forget that by looking within I learned to understand others and to look at everything from other's perspectives. I completely changed my point of view, set a high standard for myself and learned forbearance.

Before I practiced Falun Gong I was the boss at home. Since I was not in good health my husband and child had to suffer my bad temper. After I learned Falun Dafa I became healthier and more even-tempered. I finally understood the hardship my husband endured over the past years and began helping with the chores, shopping and cooking. I thought that the changes in me would make my husband happy. Instead he changed from a good to a bad-tempered person.

Teacher said,

"Thus, he thinks that Teacher has said that as practitioners we should not be the same as others and must conduct ourselves better."

(Zhuan Falun)

However as I did not have a good understanding of the Falun Gong principles I couldn't tolerate the changes in my husband and felt wronged. I kept holding my anger inside, but one day I went into a rage over a trivial matter. My husband was stunned and did not know what to do.

After venting my grievances, I picked up Zhuan Falun and left, slamming the door behind me. Walking away my tears kept falling and I decided to let him have it after returning home. When I reached the practice site I found a painful purple mark in the middle of my palm.

While studying the Fa I looked calm and composed, but my heart was in turmoil and anger was boiling inside me. I did not talk to my fellow practitioners about it for fear of losing face. I felt exhausted. I went home and was too exhausted to do anything. I opened Zhuan Falun to find an answer to my bad state of mind. I looked down and read,

"Someone may have irritated you today, someone has upset you, someone has mistreated you, or someone suddenly speaks to you with no respect. It is to see how you will react to these issues. "

(Zhuan Falun)

I asked myself, how should I deal with the changes in my husband?

I thought that I must listen to Teacher and "Take the Fa as the Master." I read from page that section of the book several times and finally calmed down. I learned the Fa principles of why unpleasant things happen, how I should deal with them and what kind of state of mind I should maintain. I wondered why, though I study the Fa daily, I kept forgetting this?

I thought about the situation for a long time. I felt ashamed and was determined to set higher standards for myself. After all I am a practitioner. My physical and mental pain disappeared and I only wanted to smile. I realized that there was nothing wrong with my husband. I should be blamed for being narrow-minded. I was really grateful to Teacher for giving me the opportunity to improve my xinxing, help me understand many Fa principles and how to look within for my shortcomings. One line from Teacher's poems was engraved on my mind,

"Behind the unbelievable wonders lies wrenching sorrow;"

("Who Dares Renounce Human Attachments?" from Hong Yin)

Gradually I began to understand why Teacher always emphasized the importance of studying the Fa. From then on I studied diligently and began to memorize and transcribe the Fa. All this laid a solid foundation for my cultivation.

For a cultivator, looking within is a magical tool. Now I had this tool and I promised myself never to forget to use it.

3. Cultivating the Dafa of the Cosmos

I am a Fa-rectification period Dafa disciple. I have the Fa in my mind and all my power and wisdom come from this Dafa. After ten years of the bloody persecution I won't be turned away from my path toward Godhood. My belief in the principles Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is rooted in the universe. How can human beings shake it?

Between 1999 and 2002, I went to Beijing three times to tell the government about the great changes I experienced physically and mentally. Alas, I was arrested twice and detained for over 30 days, locked up in a brainwashing center twice for over 40 days and sentenced to forced labor for three years. My salary was cut and the local government extorted 3,000 yuan from my family. Our total economic loss was over 26,000 yuan. My family was under great pressure, but nothing would make me renounce my faith in Falun Dafa or stop me from strengthening my righteous thoughts.

a) Successfully Facing Extortionists

In 2001, the local political and security section extorted 3,000 yuan from my family because I went to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong. I decided to go to the local office to ask for my money back. Fellow practitioners advised me against it. They were worried that I would be asked to write the three statements. On hearing my decision my husband became scared and said with a trembling voice, "If they do not give us the money back we just forget it. Let's go home, hurry up!" I said, "Don't worry! I know what to do."

I arrived at the political and security section. The news that a practitioner was here to ask for her money back made the rounds and nearly ten people showed up. One, addressed as "head" arrived with a pen and paper in his hands. He said arrogantly, "Write! Guarantee Statement, Repentance Statement and Break-Up Statement! When you finish I will give your money back. If you do not write these statements you will not get a penny. I haven't seen anyone get their money back here." All eyes turned to me. I don't know how I got the courage, but I said without a second thought, "First, I came to be given back my money. Secondly, I did nothing wrong. I have never heard that in exercising a citizen's right to go to the appeals office one ends up detained and has to pay a large sum of money. Please, show me where it says that. Thirdly, if you give me back the money today I won't say anything further. If you think you are right you can temporarily keep the money but you must give me a receipt. You have to note the reason why you did not return the money and sign your name. The persecution of practitioners is wrong and it will be redressed sooner or later. At that time I can take this receipt as my proof and go to the appeals office." I gave him back his papers and totally ignored his request.

There was dead silence. They looked at each other and then left the room. I kept one thought in my mind, "I will wait for a few more minutes and hope they can make a wise decision." A few minutes later it seemed that they had made a decision. A man of about 40 years with a smile on his face said from across the room, "Here is the money. Sign your name!" I said, "No, I will not sign!" He said, "No signature no money!" I put the money in my pocket, but was in no hurry to leave. I talked about the beauty of Falun Dafa and the benefits I derived from practicing it. I also told him that the broadcasts on television were all lies and advised them to think rationally and read Zhuan Falun whenever they get the opportunity. He looked around and opened the drawer to take out a copy of Zhuan Falun. He shook it briefly before putting it back.

Recalling that incident I remember that my starting point was in the Fa and I ignored any old force arrangement. From this, I gained a better understanding of a sentence in "Lunyu,"

"In order to explore this domain, humankind must fundamentally change its conventional thinking. Otherwise, the truth of the universe will forever remain a mystery to humankind, and everyday people will forever crawl within the boundary delimited by their own ignorance. "

(Zhuan Falun)

b) Detained at Masanjia Forced Labor Camp

I was detained at the notorious Masanjia Forced Labor Camp. I was the only practitioner who refused to participate in the forced labor and five of us boycotted the morning drill. The camp authorities announced at a meeting that for those refusing to work the terms of detention would be extended by ten days for each month. I remained calm, did not think what the guards could or would do or how I should react, but simply sent forth righteous thoughts.

The head guard came towards me, shouting and yelling. I ignored him, so he walked away. A group of former practitioners who collaborated with the guards tried to get me to work. They said, "Don't you want to be a good person? You must learn from Lei Feng. Why don't you work? Tell me, isn't Lei Feng a good man?" I replied, "Lei Feng is a good person, but I am a practitioner. There's no comparison. They illegally detained me and want me to do hard labor. This is simply wrong." They responded, "You violated the camp law." I replied, "I believe in the principle Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. There is nothing wrong with that! It is every citizen's right and protected by the Constitution. Every rule and regulation that was established just for persecuting Falun Dafa is in violation of the Constitution. Therefore, they must be thrown out."

I felt sorry for these former practitioners who had succumbed under brainwashing and torture and given up the practice. I clarified the facts about the persecution and hoped to clear up their confusion. Once the guards realized what I was doing they transferred all collaborators and forbade them to talk to me. The guards feared that they might do a turnabout and thus "ruin" their quota of transformed practitioners. The guards changed their attitude toward me. This shows another manifestation of the power of Dafa.

When I was in the strictly controlled division, all practitioners refused to cooperate with the evildoers. We didn't work, refused to do the morning drill, didn't wear uniforms and prison number tags, did not line up nor answer when our names were called and did not go to the dining hall for meals. Therefore, they forced us to sit in an army corps position for around eighteen hours each day. We sent forth righteous thoughts and recited the Fa. We used every opportunity to shout, "Falun Dafa is Good! We Demand Freedom of Belief!" and "Stop the Persecution." We exposed the evildoers' machinations and sued a prison guard. We demanded that they stop detaining us in the small isolation cells and went on a group hunger strike.

The prison guards were angry. They took each practitioner to an office and tortured her. When they wanted to torture me, I had one thought, "I am a disciple of Lord Buddha. No one can touch me." They pushed me into a dark room with no windows. One guard tried to interrogate me. I refused to cooperate. She was furious. She grabbed a pair of handcuffs and handcuffed me. I grabbed her right arm instantly and said in a deep but very solemn voice, "You should never treat a practitioner like this! This is a sin." She was dumbfounded and loosened the handcuffs. She was silent for a minute. Then I clarified the facts about the persecution to her and told her that doing good deeds is met with good rewards, and being evil is met with evil returns. Despite my holding her arm, she remained silent. I held her arm and walked to her office. No one was in the office and there were only several pairs of handcuffs hanging on the pipes of the central heating system. Her superior passed by and shouted, "XX, what do you want to do? Do you want to kidnap your division leader?" I replied with a smile, "I just want to talk to her." She walked away. The guard whose arm I still held said, "You can go now. Don't violate the rules again." I said, "Thank you! Don't handcuff practitioners! I should be the last one." This was the end of the torture. We cooperated as one body and so witnessed the power of the Fa. Our righteous thoughts eliminated much evil.

c) Gaining Insight into Fa Principles

I gained an insight into the following sentence,

"When you try to ward off someone's attack, the gong will also be there already."

(Zhuan Falun)

This sentence has a deeper inner meaning during the Fa-rectification. On three occasions, when guards beat practitioners, I used the Fa principles and stopped the evildoers from doing harm to practitioners.

Overcoming many tribulations over the past ten years, I improved and rose in cultivation levels. I understood more and more about the grand historical mission shouldered by practitioners during the Fa-rectification period. I also felt the weight of "helping Teacher with the Fa-rectification." I have immersed myself in the Fa, therefore my life belongs to Dafa. Since Dafa is all encompassing, I only need to be within the Fa, eliminate my human notions and validate the "greatness of the Buddha Fa." I must walk a straight path, adhere to the Fa principles and achieve the demeanor of a divine being through cultivation. This will allow the gigantic cosmic body I represent to become a shining particle and help sentient beings walk out of the old, and into the new cosmos.

4. A Tiny Flower Has Taken Root

I set up an informational materials production site, as we needed materials to clarify the facts about Falun Gong. In the past, we relied on fellow practitioners for materials about Falun Dafa and the persecution. Not only did we not have enough materials but also the materials were crude.

We all had computers, so I looked for practitioners with technical know-how. They brought an old printer to my home. We were successful and thanked Teacher

During this effort, no matter how busy we were, we diligently studied the Fa. As Teacher pointed out,

"the Fa will be with you when your thoughts are righteous, and this is the greatest assurance."

("Fa Teaching Given in Manhattan")

Now, almost every practitioner can download materials from the website, print, bind and distribute them. We have a variety of materials, including pamphlets, CDs, fliers, color cards, all kinds of self-stickers and paper money with truth-clarification messages. We also talk to people face to face, send short messages, post letters, offer kind words, besides distributing large quantities of truth clarification materials.

We share experiences and find our shortcomings, which helps us improve very quickly. We helped many people quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated organizations, and feel strong in our ability to save sentient beings.

Several processing sites work independently and cooperate when needed. It is a reflection of the Fa principle Teacher taught us,

"Together there's a form, and separated there are particles."

("Explaining the Fa During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference")

I'm doing the three things Teacher asked of us, and I'm diligent in my Fa study and have melted into the Fa. Teacher said,

"The Dafa disciples in all regions of mainland China--not just those in Changchun--will manage to do all three things well at the same time. Only by doing so are you truly accomplishing what you should, and only then are you advancing diligently as Dafa disciples. "

("Fa Teaching at the 2009 Greater New York International Fa Conference")

Please kindly advice of any shortcomings.