(Clearwisdom.net) How fortunate I am to have become a Dafa practitioner, and have the precious opportunity to help Master during the Fa-rectification Period. Only by cultivating diligently and saving more sentient beings am I indeed a "Fa-rectification period Dafa Disciple."
1. I Came to Obtain the Fa in this Lifetime
When I was young I loved to make discoveries. In addition to art, I also liked practicing qigong. Nonetheless, after my art proficiency reached a certain level, I became quite confused, and I realized that I needed to improve my moral values. Consequently, I began to study ancient culture. I found it quite profound. Furthermore, I spent a lot of time reading the Book of Changes. I also wanted to learn the true meaning of life from religions. I read many Buddhist scriptures, but I still couldn't find the answer.
When I was very depressed, my girlfriend's relative came to her home and stayed there for several days. He put Zhuan Falun on the table. I read it and found it very good. It answered many questions I had about religions. I asked my girlfriend to read it. She also felt it to be very good. As a result, we both began to practice cultivation. That was on January 1, 1998.
2. Assimilating into the Fa by Reciting the Fa
I knew the day I decided to cultivate how precious the Fa was. Six months later I began to recite Zhuan Falun. It took me about seven to eight months to finish reciting Zhuan Falun. I have since persevered in reciting the Fa, which has helped me a lot, especially when I encounter heavy thought-karma. Quite often the thought-karma emerges to interfere when I am reciting the Fa, so I made a decision to recite it regardless of interference. Gradually the thought-karma was eliminated. I felt the beauty of assimilating into the Fa. In addition, really concentrating on Fa-recitation made me feel like a divine being who had very strong righteous thoughts. People easily accepted my attempts to clarify the truth, and it seemed that my words touched them.
Reciting the Fa helped me to gradually rid myself of attachments to prestige, personal gain and emotions. Prior to cultivation I was attached to art. Some renowned masters gave me direction, and I earned many national and international prizes. After I read Zhuan Falun I knew I had to make a decision. I would definitely not give up cultivating in Dafa, but art really cost me a lot of time. I was then unable to handle it well and was afraid I would be too attached to prestige and recognition, and personal advantages.
I completely gave up art. I spent all my free time reciting the Fa and spreading the Fa. Furthermore, it seemed that I had new comprehensions of the meaning of the Fa each day. Because of my zealotry, I stayed away from art, and many of my friends didn't understand it. It made them think that if one practiced Falun Gong one would do nothing else. That created barriers during the process of clarifying the truth. Eventually, Fa study let me handle things quite well. I no longer was attached to recognition, notoriety, and personal profit, and I also didn't avoid art. People felt the rise in the artistic level of my work. As a result, many people, including officials and other artists, who wanted to collect my work, learned the truth about Dafa.
3. Helping Master Rectify the Fa and Fulfilling my Vow
I returned to my workplace upon my release from a forced labor camp in 2001. I realized that everyone we meet might have predestined relationships with us. Everything we learn among everyday people should be used to save sentient beings. I have taught all the classes in our school, and almost all of the students know that Falun Gong was framed, and that Dafa practitioners are all good people. They understand that if one does things according to Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, one will have a good future. At the same time I had positive reactions when I explained the facts to my colleagues and boss.
In 2004, the Education Committee officials compelled the students in the IT class to watch a movie that slandered Dafa. When this happened we did two things: posted this event on the Internet to expose the evil, and mailed truth-clarification letters to the directors of the Education Committee and all of the schools. We also spoke with the school's director about the persecution and Falun Dafa. He agreed we should not let the students watch the slanderous movie. His righteous act prevented the students' minds from being poisoned.
After the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party was published, I asked all the students in class to quit the CCP's affiliated organizations. Furthermore, after my colleagues learned the truth, some obtained the Fa, some quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations, and some even wrote poems to praise Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.
My wife and I have been arrested many times because of the persecution. We had almost nothing left, which led to some misunderstandings in my family. The CCP had poisoned my father's mind so deeply that he burned my Dafa books. Moreover, he asked us to go away. After he burned the books he had many health problems, including a stroke and bone cancer. He was close to death. However, I still hoped he could learn the truth. He also knew that he was quite close to death and agreed to what I asked. He began to confess his past sins. Furthermore, he listened to Master' s taped Fa Lectures. Three days later he was able to eat. Prior to that, intravenous drugs had kept him alive for twenty days. He also became able to move, and gradually he recovered completely. He could sit in the half-lotus position for one hour and was able to work. He no longer opposed my truth-clarification work. What's more, he told his relatives the facts of his own accord. It worked very well.
Later, after my wife died as a result of the persecution, my father gave up cultivation, due to intense pressure and fear. He soon once again became half paralyzed and unable to take care of himself. He realized that he had made a big mistake, but was not able to return to cultivation. He made a wish that he would cultivate in his next lifetime. He studied the Fa every day until he died. My mother saw my father's big changes. After his death my mother began cultivating in Dafa. Now my sixty-year-old mother, my ten-year-old son and I have an exercise site at home. We practice the exercises every morning at 3:40, and study the Fa every night.
When we have get-togethers during the holidays I always explain the facts to my classmates. It works very well and is easy for me to do. Some classmates who have a sense of justice said that they would help people quit the CCP. What can I do for classmates who live quite far away? I write them a letter and tell them the truth about Dafa, which urges them to have a sense of justice. One of my classmates is a division supervisor. He returned my letter saying "I am in charge of Falun Gong. If we were not classmates I would send the letter to the 610 Office in your area." I sent righteous thoughts to eliminate the evil controlling him. I wrote a second letter and a third one, but I didn't directly say things about Falun Gong. Since he loves art, I approached the truth from the aspect of art and moral values. I told him how my level and expertise in art had increased since becoming a practitioner, and how it has raised my moral standards. Shortly after that he came to my city on business and stayed with me instead of in a hotel. We talked for a whole night. He said he would treat Dafa practitioners well.
I collected the addresses of the government departments and those on magazines to mail letters to them in order to explain the facts.
4. Improving Xinxing During the Process of Making Truth-clarifying Materials
In 2005 a practitioner who worked at a Dafa materials production site was arrested. My righteous thoughts were strong. I decided to establish a new materials site to fill the void. A computer-savvy practitioner came and helped me, telling me she had learned of the destruction of our site from the Internet. I learned downloading, printing, installing software, and repair. I studied the Fa and sent righteous thoughts. I knew that the old forces could not interfere with practitioners with righteous thoughts and actions.
Many miracles happened during the entire process. My technical level is so-so. I would rather spend lots of time studying the Fa than learning techniques, but I haven't faced any tough problems for several years.
I believe that by studying the Fa and eliminating our attachments we can do better.
