(Minghui.org) Greetings, Master! Greetings, fellow practitioners!
I am 60 this year and I started to practice Falun Dafa in 1998. I would like to share my experience on how I got a driver’s license and learned to install computer systems when I was 55. It was something I would never have dreamed of had I not practiced Falun Dafa.
I made my home a materials production center, and supply local practitioners with all kinds of informational materials about Falun Dafa for distribution. Although my family owned a car, I didn’t know how to drive, thus I always had to ask for help when I needed to buy office supplies. It would be more convenient if I could drive.
In 2017 when I was 55, I made up my mind and signed up for some driving classes. But as soon as I finished the registration process, I became scared. I hated taking examinations when I was at school. Now I was over 50 and I had to memorize all the driving rules! What if I failed the written test?
I reminded myself why I decided to take the exam and that as a Falun Dafa practitioner, I should think positively. I memorized each page of the driver’s manual. With the help of my cousin (also a fellow practitioner), I was ready for the test in a short time.
On the test day, I was nervous and kept reciting the phrases “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.” Soon, I calmed down. I passed the written test! I gained some confidence for the road test.
For the road test, even some young people had a hard time passing it in one shot, let alone someone at my age.
Every time when I was practicing driving, I listened carefully to the instructor and practiced more. In the mock road tests at the driving school, I always got a full score. However, the instructor was still a bit worried about me when the official test was approaching.
The road test had two test items. On the first day, the man in front of me failed. I asked if he knew the reason, and he said, “The car is too old, and it stalled after stopping on a hill.” (The car used for the exam was provided by the motor vehicle department.) He told me to pay extra attention to avoid the issue. I prayed to Master in my mind, “Master, I have to save more people, and time is precious. Please bless me to be able to pass the test today.” No surprise, I passed the test.
The final test was the advanced road test. My instructor told me that if we bribed the examiner, I would pass the test for sure; otherwise, the examiner might give me a hard time during the test. But as a practitioner, I couldn’t condone this kind of impropriety.
There were three test routes and the third one was the most difficult, which was the one I got. I stayed calm because I always remembered the reason why I needed a driver’s license.
During the test, the examiner quietly watched me drive, and I passed the test successfully. A woman asked me if I bribed the examiner, I said no and suggested that she should not do it, “Maybe you can try to recite the phrases: ‘Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good’ and you will be blessed.” She was very happy. I took the chance to persuade her to quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its associated organizations, and she agreed.
I am grateful for Master’s compassionate blessing for me to successfully receive my driver’s license in such a short period of time. It provides me with great convenience to clarifying the truth in the future.
My computer needed an upgrade in 2014 and I tried to ask for help from a young fellow practitioner. But because he had a full-time job, he could only come on the weekend to help me. Many fellow practitioners in our area needed his help, which made him so busy that he barely had time to study the Fa.
I realized that we couldn’t depend on him like this. I asked him if I could learn how to install the computer system from him. He replied, “Whenever you need help, just call me.” I was a little uncomfortable with his words because apparently, he didn’t want to teach me. But then I thought, “I know almost nothing about computers, and I have to learn from scratch. He is very busy already, how can he spare more time to teach me?”
However, I never gave up on the idea. Then Master helped me.
One day a fellow practitioner Qiang with a technical background came to visit practitioner Mei. Since Mei knew that I always wanted to learn computer skills, she asked me to go to her home. I followed Qiang when he was installing the system. He taught me with great patience and answered all my questions. I brought the tutorial back home, followed it step by step, and repeated the installation process until I succeeded.
When I got more familiar with system installation, I offered help to other practitioners. With a deeper understanding of computer systems, I felt much easier to update my computer. I also helped local practitioners update their computers in time.
In 2021, there was some additional security protection required on our computers, but the installation manual was very complicated. I had to spend a lot of time understanding how to install it. But at that time, I was working with fellow practitioners every day to clarify the truth to people face to face. I was hesitant to spend time on the system installation.
I believed that Master must have seen my worry and he sent another practitioner to help me.
One day practitioner Bing told me that she was set to retire in a few months. I said that practitioners’ computers needed to upgrade with the new security protection, but I was too busy to read the manual. She said, “I have time. Please give me the manual, and I’ll study it by myself.”
After she learned the steps, she came to my home and explained it to me. Then we worked together to figure out how to install the toolkit. After many tries, we finally succeeded. Then we helped more practitioners. Each computer was different, and the issue we encountered was different. We learned a lot during the installation process and accumulated a lot of experience.
We found out the computer dealers replaced the original hard disk made overseas with domestic ones to purse higher profit. However, the domestic hard disks had a backdoor installed by the CCP, which posed a big security risk for practitioners when accessing the Minghui website. Fellow practitioners provided a testing method for detecting whether the hard disk was secure. What we needed to do was to run the test on each computer and replace the hard disk if necessary.
One day practitioner Kai came to us saying that the computers of fellow practitioners in the surrounding counties had not been upgraded to a more secure system and their hard disks had not been tested either. They were worried about security. My first thought was that I didn’t want to spend a whole day on a computer system, and driving alone would take four hours round trip.
Soon I realized that my thought was selfish. I remembered that Master said, “The next person’s things are your things, and your things are his things.” (“Fa Teaching Given at the 2002 Conference in Washington, D.C.,” Collected Teachings Given Around the World Volume II) Security is important for every fellow practitioner. I immediately corrected myself, “I will go with you.”
When we arrived, practitioners brought in many different laptops, new and old. We started to test the hard drive, backing up each one before replacing the problematic one. Some local practitioners stayed with us and learned every step we did.
Kai also tried to replace a hard drive, but after the replacement, her laptop wouldn’t start. I helped her with troubleshooting and told her the correct way. She was very happy, “I am glad you came; otherwise we won’t have been able to finish checking all these laptops.” Before we left, we tested and replaced all hard drives and installed the new security tools on all laptops.
There is a senior practitioner in our region who is always eager to help others. She often helped other seniors purchase computers so that they could access Minghui too. However, she didn’t know how to install or update the system and often asked for my help. Gradually she hesitated to come because she felt she took up too much of my time. I encouraged her to learn how to install computer systems and she said, “I tried many times already.”
Since then, whenever she came with a computer, I taught her while installing it. I repeated the process with great patience and she learned carefully and wrote down every step. Finally, she got it. She was very happy and said emotionally, “I finally learned how to install the system. Thanks to Master’s arrangement.”
If I hadn’t practiced Falun Dafa, I would never imagine that I would be able to get a driver’s license and learn how to install a computer system in my 50s. It is because of my faith in Master that I am able to do anything with courage and without fear. I personally experienced the mighty power of Dafa.
I have been practicing Falun Dafa for 24 years. The only way to repay Master is to try my best to do the three things better and fulfill my oath.