(Minghui.org) I am a young Falun Dafa practitioner. Although I obtained the Fa when I was a child, I did not do the three things until recent years. While regretting I wasted so many years, I am lucky to find the true way.
My mother told me she had a dream a few days before I was born: she heard gongs and drums outside. When she opened the door, she saw an elderly fairy holding a small child wrapped in yellow cloth. The fairy told my mother this is a three-year-old girl. “She is your baby. Please raise her well.” My mother took the baby and put her on the bed, and started to unwrap the many layers of cloths. Each layer was in a different color. There were many golden-covered books inside. My mother opened a book but she could not understand what was written. She then woke up. I was born a few days later.
When I was seven in 1992, a coworker of my mother tried to introduce Falun Dafa to her. At the time my mother was into leading an ordinary people’s “good life.” She did not practice although she felt Dafa is good.
My mother began to practice Dafa in 1998 after a neighbor talked to her about Falun Dafa again. She got Zhuan Falun and an audiotape of the exercise music. She told me she would practice Falun Dafa and follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. When I heard the word “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance,” I immediately felt this is what I wanted. I thought I will practice Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance at the age of 13.
Every Sunday, my mother took me to a practitioner’s home to read Zhuan Falun with a dozen other practitioners. I still remember the portrait of Master Li (Dafa’s founder) and the Falun symbol hanging on the wall.
In the summer, my mother heard that there was a weekly Fa-study for children. So I joined their Fa-study group.
I only attended several sessions before the Chinese communist regime initiated its persecution of Falun Dafa. At the time I had not read Zhuan Falun from the beginning to the end even once, yet Dafa was already deeply rooted in me. I knew I was a Dafa disciple. I came to this human world for Dafa.
Right before the Beijing mass appeal on April 25, 1999, a practitioner invited my mother to go to Beijing with her. My mother did not go for she was busy opening a breakfast stand.
We soon moved to a new location. We lost our association with practitioners, as well as the environment for cultivation.
My mother was in a state of solitary cultivation. She was reading Zhuan Falun. But, she did not get Master’s new lectures and did not know about the process of the Fa Rectification. Occasionally she picked up some truth-clarification booklets thrown away by someone. She always read them thoroughly and kept them as if it was a treasure. From those, she learned certain things. She kept wondering when practitioners were distributing truth-clarification materials. She wished to meet them. It was painful when she lost the environment for cultivation, and could not find any practitioners.
I knew Dafa is good. During my puberty, I was lost in the human world. I did not know the meaning of life.
My mother finally found a practitioner through a relative in 2005. The practitioner gave my mother all the new lectures and introduced her to a Fa-study group nearby. My mother has since returned to cultivation, doing all three things. As for myself, I did not really practice Dafa until 2009 when I got married and my life stabilized.
I experienced a difficult time in 2010 after my daughter was born. My husband did not help me, and our family budget was tight. I also complained about my mother-in-law. Yet one thought was firm in my heart: no matter what, I will cultivate in Dafa!
During the difficult time, I spent a lot of time reading Dafa books. I looked forward to when my daughter became older so I could go out to clarify the truth about Dafa.
When my daughter was about to go to daycare, I found I was pregnant again, but I was unhappy about it. I really did not wish to have another child. But as a practitioner, I could not kill a life. How long will I have to wait before I can do the three things? I thought, Fa-rectification is ending soon, and I have no time!
I was in despair, as I was basically doing solitary cultivation. I did not know I could have participated in other truth-telling projects instead of talking to people face to face.
I met several practitioners in 2015. They helped me a lot. Sometimes my mother-in-law helped with watching the younger child, I then brought my older daughter with me to distribute calendars with Dafa information.
My older child started elementary school, and the younger one went to daycare in 2016. Finally, I had more time to distribute Dafa materials in residential buildings. I also joined a group of practitioners who periodically clarified the truth in the surrounding countryside.
One evening in 2017 after the New Year, our group went to the countryside to distribute Dafa materials. We planned to distribute materials first, and then talk to people face to face. Suddenly, a drunk man appeared and threw an ax at the passenger window of our car. The window broke. The ax hit a bag of materials, bounced, and then flew toward the driver’s neck. It scratched the skin of the driver’s neck and landed behind the driver’s seat.
The driver, a practitioner as well, kept calm. He continued driving. The cold wind went in the car through the broken window so all of us put our hats on. We sent righteous thoughts. Only after returning home did I feel a bit scared. Without Master’s protection, the result of the incident could have been disastrous!
We distributed materials in the countryside twice a week. When it became warmer, we had covered all nearby areas. We then switched from distributing materials to talking to people face to face.
During that time, my life was fast-paced, as I worked part-time and took care of two children. I did not miss studying the Fa, doing the exercises, and clarifying the truth. I was not tired at all. Looking back, at that time all that was in my mind was to do the three things well as Master told us to. Nothing could stop me.
Master said,
“As long as you improve your xinxing, you can overcome them. Unless you, yourself do not want to do so, you can make it, provided you want to overcome them. ” (Lecture Four, Zhuan Falun)
When facing difficulties we spent a lot of energy pondering whether things could be done. In fact, the key is whether we really wanted to do it.
Master said, “Cultivation depends on one’s own efforts, while the transformation of gong is done by one’s master. ” (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun)
One day, a practitioner and I saw several workers on the side of a road. We gave them some Dafa materials and talked about Falun Dafa and the persecution. They listened carefully and agreed to quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Suddenly, a police car stopped next to us. When two policemen got out of the car, I looked at my watch. It was nine a.m. I thought: I have two hours to clarify the truth to the police before picking up my children from school.
A policeman asked the practitioner what was in her bag. The practitioner opened her bag which was empty. She had removed all materials and left them in the courtyard. Another policeman grabbed my arm and yelled, “What is in your bag?” I looked straight into his eyes and said, “I have not done anything illegal.”
I pushed his hands away and turned to leave. I thought he would grab me again, but nothing happened. I quickly walked away without looking back. Meanwhile, I asked Master to help me and sent righteous thoughts. After walking about 100 meters, I looked back and noticed that the police were gone.
We went back to the courtyard and picked up the Dafa materials. On our way home, we distributed all the materials.
From this incident, I experienced what Master described:
“Dafa disciples are able to righteously look the evil people straight in the eyes, and the evil people immediately try to avoid eye contact. That’s because the righteous thoughts scare off the evil beings that manipulate the evil people since they know that if they flee just a bit too slowly they’ll be instantly eliminated by Dafa disciples’ righteous thoughts.” (Touring North America to Teach the Fa)
After the incident, I looked inward. I wanted to find the gap in my cultivation. I did not find my problem right away. Later, I understood the problem was that my state of mind was not pure when I was clarifying the truth to people. I was not completely righteous. As Master told us,
“The old forces don’t dare to oppose our clarifying the truth or saving sentient beings. What’s key is to not let them take advantage of the gaps in your state of mind when you do things.” (“Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Boston,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. II)
I did not realize I had a big hidden attachment when clarifying the truth – my selfishness. When I did the three things Master asked us to do, my purpose was not purely for saving people. I was afraid I would fall behind, and would not be able to consummate.
After I understood my problem, whenever this selfishness surfaces, I remembered Master’s words:
“In religious cultivation of the past, the Buddha School taught emptiness, that one should not think about anything and should enter the gate of emptiness; the Tao School taught nothingness, that there is nothing, that one should not want anything, and neither should one pursue anything. A cultivator believes he should only focus on practicing, without paying attention to obtaining gong. In cultivation and practice, one should be in a state free of intention. As long as you focus on cultivating your xinxing, you will make breakthroughs in your level and certainly get things you deserve. If you cannot give something up, isn’t it an attachment? ” (Lecture Two, Zhuan Falun)
I should cultivate and improve my character. Nothing can be accomplished if we do not truly cultivate the self.
The pandemic was getting serious in January 2020. My workplace was closed. In the beginning, I was glad that I had free time so that I could go out to clarify the truth to people every day. I always envied those practitioners who were able to clarify the truth to the public every day. I could do it too finally.
But soon, my area was put on lockdown. Many restrictions were imposed on outdoor activities. Not many people were outside. Many local practitioners who used to clarify the truth in public stayed home. There are still so many people who have not been saved. We have no time to waste!
A practitioner discussed the situation with me. “I wish to visit our fellow practitioners and encourage them to break through the interference,” she said. “They are veteran practitioners who went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong during the hardest time. Now, sentient beings are in great danger, we practitioners must hurry to save them!”
I suggested she write what she said down and submit it to the Minghui website so every practitioner can see it. She was worried that even if the article appears on the Minghui website, it may not appear on Minghui Weekly. Many local practitioners had difficulty visiting the website and only read Minghui Weekly.
I thought we should let more practitioners know it. So I wrote an article based on the practitioner’s idea. Several days later, it appeared on the Minghui Weekly, just as we wished.
Once more I experienced what Master said,
“Cultivation depends on one’s own efforts, while the transformation of gong is done by one’s master. It is good enough if you have this wish. ” (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun)
Master is protecting and helping us all the time!
Recently when I read Master’s “Another Stern Warning,” I thought of two types of cultivation states among practitioners. One type is those who are like me, who did not do well at the beginning and are trying to catch up. These practitioners are very diligent in doing the three things. But why are they so diligent? Is it for saving more people, or for making sure they won’t fall behind themselves? In another word, it is an issue of doing things for others or for self. It is a very important issue.
Master said: “Spiritual cultivation is about progressing to divinity, and all human attachments act as impediments. ” (“Another Stern Warning”)
Another type of practitioner had been doing well since the beginning. However, with the environment getting relaxed, a notion of seeking comfort and complacence appeared, and their willpower was weakened. So those who have been doing well should pay attention to Master’s Fa: “You have made it through the toughest leg of the journey, so it makes no sense to fail miserably at something so basic in the end! ” (“Another Stern Warning”)
I also wanted to say this to young practitioners: If more young practitioners can find the time to clarify the truth in public, it will change how some people think of Dafa. In the past when I talked about Dafa, people were often surprised: “You believe this? But you are so young!” Most of the time they only encountered elderly practitioners telling them the truth, thus they thought only the elderly who had nothing else to do would practice Dafa. If more young practitioners came forward, people will know that Dafa practitioners can be of any age and any profession.
The time for us to cultivate and awaken people is limited. We will grasp this fleeting opportunity and do well what we should do. We will let go of our selfishness, always consider others first, and reach the standard of the future new universe. Let us remind each other, cultivate diligently, and walk well on the final path!