Cultivators Are Guided by Master

(Minghui.org) It was during a stay at my eldest daughter’s house in the summer of 1996 that I first heard a recording of Master Li Hongzhi’s lectures in Dalian. His voice was so endearing and everything he said rang so true to me. I was hanging onto his every word and ended up listening to the whole lecture series over the ensuing days. I regretted not having found out about Falun Dafa earlier – I was four years behind from the time Master started teaching it.

As a proud new practitioner, I attended a nearby practice site to learn the exercises and study Master’s teachings with fellow practitioners. I had the time of my life.

Master Pointed Me in the Right Direction

After staying for more than a month at my daughter’s, I went home with the precious book Zhuan Falun, full of hope and enthusiasm. I thought I should be able to find a practice site in our county town since the number of practitioners had swelled around the country, and everyone was following Master’s instruction to participate in group exercise and Fa study.

Soon after that I had a dream. Master visited me as I was working in my yard. He smiled and said, “Why don’t you go to the southeast?” I woke up wondering what he’d meant.

Not long after, a friend told me there were people practicing Falun Gong in front of the old cinema in our county town.

I could hear the familiar exercise music from afar and was delighted to see a dozen people doing the exercises. I sneaked in at the back and joined them. As soon as the music stopped, everyone crowded around me to talk. Everyone was so friendly, and it seemed as if we had known each other for ages. They invited me to their Fa study group and gave me the address and time.

On my way home, it struck me that the practice site and study venue I had been advised of were both located in the southeast. Master had directed me there.

Searching Within: Overcoming Sickness Karma

I was 56 years old when I started practicing Falun Dafa. I was relatively healthy with no known health issues. Of course I became even healthier after that. I was light on my feet, almost as if I was floating when I walked. I was happier than I had ever been.

My journey of cultivation had its ups and downs. While I had managed to pass some major xinxing tests, I was tripped up by some very minor matters when I did not behave as a practitioner should.

It happened over 10 years ago, but I still remember it well. I joined a group of practitioners going out to the surrounding countryside to distribute Dafa truth-clarification materials. We did a lot of walking in those few days and I was very tired. That should have been the signal for me to look within—I had been busy and neglected my Fa study. I made it known at home that my legs were really tired and sore, hoping that my daughter-in-law would take on a bigger share of the housework.

My daughter-in-law passed me the little plastic hand massager she was holding and said, “There, have a go. It’s very comfortable.” Without thinking further, I took it and started pounding my legs up and down. It indeed felt quite nice. I used the massager all over my body for the next two days. Soon after, all the joints in my hands started to ache, and the pain quickly spread to my arms and the rest of my body.

The pain was somehow bearable initially but it soon intensified, accompanied by the swelling of the joints. My hands became useless because I could not hold anything and I couldn’t move my legs. In a matter of a few days, I was transformed from a fully-functioning healthy individual to being bedridden.

My son and daughter-in-law were shocked. They had never seen me in such a sad state and were panic-stricken. Although I realized I must have done something wrong, thereby giving the old forces an excuse to harm me, I hadn’t thought too deeply about what may have caused it. While trying to assure my family there was nothing to worry about, I was in fact getting worse. I could not hold my chopsticks, and the pain in my body was excruciating.

Other relatives pressured me to go the hospital, but I refused. My son called up his two sisters who lived far away. Being practitioners themselves, they very quickly came to my rescue. They were visibly shocked by my appearance as they have never seen me that sick before. They said, “Thank you for looking after Mother the last few days. Don’t worry. She is a Dafa practitioner, and Master will look after her. She will be alright. You can go to work and leave Mother to us. We will take care of her.”

After my son and his wife left for work, one of my daughters cooked for me, while the other talked to me. She reminded me to look within and think about what I might have done wrong to allow the old forces to exploit my weakness and harm me. I discovered some flaws in my xinxing, including the feeling of resentment for my family, jealousy, fear of losing face, unwillingness to accept criticism, lack of verbal restraint, use of aggressive language, treating others unkindly, and so on. My youngest daughter was quite pleased that I had put genuine effort into searching within myself, “Mother, you have already improved your xinxing! You are a Dafa practitioner, you have to listen to Master and do the three things. You can’t just stay in bed and do nothing, because that would mean you are treating yourself as a sick person!”

I was very weak because I had not eaten much for a few days, so I had real trouble sitting up or holding my chopsticks. My older daughter said as she fed me, “You need to eat more. When you have enough to eat and drink, you can get up and study the Fa, do the exercise, and send righteous thoughts. We mustn’t worry Master. He is watching us!” Of course she was right.

In the days that followed, the three of us did not waste any time chatting away; we spent all our time together studying the Fa, sending righteous thoughts, and searching within ourselves. I improved very quickly. I gradually lengthened the time I was able to sit up and my appetite improved. However, my joints still hurt. Something in my cultivation was amiss.

The penny dropped one day when my daughter-in-law poked her head in the room to look for her plastic hand massager. I remembered I’d used it until a few days before. My daughters called out in unison, “That’s the problem!”

Master said: “...cultivation is the best form of rest.” (Teachings at the First Conference in North America)

As cultivators, we can rejuvenate and heal our bodies by doing the exercises, and there really is no need to seek remedies elsewhere. Ordinary treatments and therapies normally have karma attached, including the harmless plastic hand massager. It’s a serious matter in cultivation if we lack faith in Master and Dafa.

I apologized to Master and sent forth my strong righteous thought: “I am a disciple of Master Li Hongzhi. I am cultivating to become a divine being and will continually search within myself to rectify any shortcomings I have. No one and nothing whatsoever can use any excuse to inflict harm on me. I respectfully ask Master for your intervention.” I also extended the time I spent sending righteous thoughts. After that, I recovered very quickly.

During that time, my daughter-in-law was curious and took regular peeks at what the three of us were doing inside all day. Witnessing my quick recovery, she and my son were amazed and relieved. Everyone understood that my recovery was due to the power of Dafa.

Fulfilling My Historic Mission

The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) persecution of Falun Gong that began on July 20, 1999, unleashed a level of oppression and brutality never seen before in China. Chinese people not in the know, having been indoctrinated by the lies and propaganda made up by the CCP, were hostile toward Dafa practitioners. Even families of Dafa practitioners turned against them.

Master said:

Lost beings each foment chaosKnowing not the great peril at hand

(“Diamond-like Will,” Hong Yin, Volume II, Translation Version A)

Sentient beings are in great peril if they are opposed to Dafa. Our cultivation journey thus encompasses assisting Master in Fa-rectification and awakening the conscience of sentient beings. I have seized every opportunity to clarify the truth, including talking to strangers face-to-face over the last 10 years or more.

I was not outgoing, but I changed quickly and went where the crowds were. I would attend every wedding, birthday, or any other gathering I knew of. My excellent health was ample evidence of the power of Dafa and people tended to believe what I told them about the persecution. I have also managed to get in touch with friends or relatives I had lost contact with. For that, Master had a way of making my wish come true by his clever arrangements.

Later on, I studied the Fa in the morning, sent righteous thoughts, and went out in the afternoon to clarify the truth. I was not confident at first about talking to strangers because Chinese nowadays are very wary of strangers. I normally greeted them politely and just spoke casually for a while, which naturally led to talking about their education, work backgrounds, and so on. From there, I’d bring up the Quit the CCP topic and then it was a matter of gauging how receptive someone was to hear about Dafa.

It has become easier now to talk to strangers about the ‘Quit the CCP’ initiative, because many people have already received truth-clarification materials or phone calls. The Minghui website has also done a lot to promote it since the outbreak of the coronavirus by reporting extensively on real stories of people who either avoided contracting, or recovered from the virus because they had quit the CCP.

Once I ran into a lady I had persuaded to quit the CCP a few days before. She thanked me again this time and handed me a list of her family members who wanted to quit the CCP. I was really touched. “It’s a very virtuous thing you have done,” I said. “Please don’t thank me. It’s Dafa’s Master you should thank.” She responded loudly, “Thank you, Dafa’s Master!”

I am very much encouraged by how receptive many people are to our truth clarification efforts. I will continue to do my best to spread the truth and save more people, while fulfilling my historic mission of assisting Master in Fa-rectification.