Elevating Myself in the Fa

(Minghui.org) I am a high school teacher, and I started practicing Falun Dafa in the spring of 1995.

Obtaining the Fa Miraculously

Just after the Chinese New Year, a woman who I had met only once asked me if I would like to go to the provincial capital and attend a lecture for a qigong that she was learning. We went there, but the lecture was canceled. We didn’t do anything in the morning and headed home in the afternoon. We hadn’t driven back very far when she stopped. She got out of her car and I stayed in the car. A woman shouted loudly from the other side of the road: “We are teaching Falun Gong here.” I was surprised hearing this. This was the first time I had heard of Falun Gong (also called Falun Dafa). I wanted to go there very much, but I hadn’t asked for leave from work. I felt that I shouldn’t be absent from work without making prior arrangements. There were no cellphones at that time. But I expected that Falun Gong would spread to my city soon. 

I came across a young male qigong friend after I got back home and asked him to tell me if he heard that Falun Gong was in my city. Two months later he told me happily that Falun Gong had indeed spread locally. He told me the time and place of the video lectures and brought me a copy of Zhuan Falun. He said a practitioner who knew me had sent it to me. When I opened the book, I saw Master Li’s photo and was surprised because I felt like I had seen Master somewhere and was familiar with his face. When I looked at Master a second time, Master looked like he was smiling. I was amazed and curious. 

It was the weekend. I had a nap after lunch. I told myself not to sleep too much or I might miss the lecture. I woke up suddenly after half an hour. Three red characters “Zhuan Falun” appeared before my eyes. I joined my hands together to pay respect to Master. I went to the lecture venue immediately. People came one after another. They played Master’s lecture video. I saw strong lights above Master and behind his back. The energy field was very strong. It was very quiet. Everyone was deeply attracted to the profound Fa principles. 

After I attended the nine-day lectures, I quickly finished reading Zhuan Falun. This was not an ordinary book and not an ordinary practice. This book was different from any qigong book I’d read. It was a great Fa of high levels for cultivation and provided a ladder to Heaven and told many heavenly secrets. This was the Master and the Fa I had been searching for. I determined to cultivate in this Fa. 

I was in a state of excitement every day during that period of time. I read Zhuan Falun and Master’s other articles whenever I had time. Sometimes I stayed up reading the Fa all night with only a small nap. I read the Fa again as soon as I woke up. I grabbed every opportunity to participate in various activities to introduce the Fa to others. Master repeatedly emphasized the importance of studying the Fa more. Thanks to Master and the Fa, I managed to come through despite the brutal persecution.

Elevating Myself in the Fa

As I studied the Fa more and in depth, the realm of my mind was elevated. I knew that people came to the earth not to be human but to cultivate themselves according to the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, assimilate to the Fa, and return to their original selves. I knew why Master spread such a huge Fa at the end times. Master came for this cosmos and for sentient beings. Disciples must assist Master in Fa-recitfication and save sentient beings. I learned that cultivation is to rid oneself of human attachments and look within during conflicts. This is the key to improving xinxing. 

Master designed and arranged many opportunities for me to improve my xinxing when I just started practicing Falun Gong. 

Our school needed renovations to pass an inspection from the superiors in 1998. The walls needed to be repainted and the desks and chairs needed to be repaired. I was nearing retirement age. Other elderly teachers and staff members were given light tasks, but I was asked to carry water from the pond at the back of the schoolyard, then walk uphill, pass a big playground, and then into the buildings from the first floor and up to the fourth floor. When I finished carrying the water, I was asked to carry the old desks and chairs from the fourth floor to the first floor for repairs. I went up and down without any breaks. It was very tiring.

I later learned that an elderly colleague had felt sorry for me and went to argue with the deputy principal: “Why are you treating her like this? She is near retirement age. What if she falls down?” The colleague later told me this. I thanked her for her concern. But I didn’t have jealousy or resentment over this issue. I guessed that the adminstator who arranged the job didn’t know my age, because I looked young. I was calm in my heart. I am a Falun Gong practitioner and I should do something for the school. 

Getting Rid of the Fear of Getting Dirty, Jealousy, and Taking Personal Interest Lightly

I was then asked to clean the toilets and paint the wall of the bathroom. There were two bathrooms, one big and one small. The big one had male and female toilets with broken interior walls, but it was cleaner. The small toilet was never used or looked after since our school moved into that site. When I first went into the small toilet, I saw feces outside the toilet and flies everywhere. I backed out immediately. I stood outside and didn’t know what to do. I felt sad. Why did they ask me to clean such a mess! The school hired part-time laborers. Why not let them clean it? My complaints arose. But I cooled down and thought about it. Were my thoughts correct? Was I nobler than the part-time laborers? Should they do the dirty work?

Why did I encounter such an incident? Because I was afraid of getting dirty. I am a practitioner. Suffering could eliminate karma. I gritted my teeth and decided to do the job well. 

In the end, I didn’t get any pay for working on a Sunday. I didn’t get any material goods such as souvenirs and small bags. I asked my director about it, and the director said these goods were given to the part-time laborers. I was not concerned by that. I didn’t want them and didn’t talk to anyone about it. I let go of my jealousy and took personal interest lightly. 

One day the school accountant paid me incorrectly. I told him that my salary was wrong. He said that it was impossible because he and his son had counted the cash together. I told him that I was given an extra 600 yuan. He was surprised. He counted it again. He said, “Falun Gong is good. Master Li is good. His disciples are good under his guidance.”

I validated the Fa through this action. The accountant was a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) member. His whole family later withdrew their memberships from the CCP and its affiliated organizations. 

Letting Go of Attachments to Fame and Personal Interest and Treating Others with Tolerance

The management team for the school came to talk to me and asked me to be the accountant for the logistics department. I had been a teacher for decades and had been a head teacher who taught core subjects. I would lose face if I worked in the logistics department. There would be a lot of social pressure on me. I didn’t accept it right away. 

I had to go through this kind of test because I had the fear of losing face and had a strong ego and vanity. It might have been arranged by Master. I went to see the management team the next day and accepted the arrangement. 

It was not actually being an accountant. It was manual labor. I had to get up at 4 a.m. and began work at 5 a.m. making buns. I had to wash and pick vegetables in the morning and the afternoon. I didn’t have any spare time. One colleague repeatedly mocked, ridiculed, and taunted me. I was upset initially, but I didn’t argue with him or get angry with him. When he joked, I laughed with him. We got along well after I passed these tests. 

I was asked to go back to teach classes again. During my last class I told my students that I was going to retire and that this was my last class. Many students cried and didn’t want me to leave. I told them that there would be a better teacher to replace me. I told them to keep working hard, do better every day, and become more excellent. 

Letting Go of Life and Death and Passing a Test of Sickness Karma

Before I practiced Falun Dafa, I suffered from many diseases such as atrophic gastritis, breast hyperplasia, uterine fibroids, rheumatoid arthritis, and neurasthenia. As my xinxing improved, my health became better. I became better holistically. 

One summer day I helped out by sorting books in the library. I read a hand-copied book, which had messy content. I forgot about Master’s teaching. It was dangerous to see messy things. I developed symptoms of heavy bleeding from uterine fibroids. I hurried home. I felt dizzy and couldn’t stand up. I felt it was hard to breathe. I was trembling. I could hardly bear it.

My mother and aunt were at my house. My aunt helped me to bed. My mother brought a pen and paper to me. I wrote down the following three points: first, whatever happened to me, please do not blame Dafa for it. It was me that didn’t cultivate well and it was my choice. Secondly, please take good care of my foster mother until the end of her days. Don’t let her feel she had no one to rely on. Third, please look after my eldest child well. I felt calm after I finished writing. With Master and Fa with me, I left everything in Master’s hands. 

The bleeding lessened. I went to the park to practice the exercises over the next several days. I gradually recovered. The messy thing interfered with me for a long time until I saw Master clear it out completely. Thank you, Master for your saving grace. 

Clarifying the Truth and Saving Sentient Beings

Dafa practitioners fulfill their prehistoric vows by clarifying the truth, saving sentient beings, and assisting Master in Fa-rectification. There are various ways to clarify the truth. The main method I use is to clarify the truth face-to-face. Many people are illiterate and cannot read the materials that Dafa practitioners hand out. When I clarify the truth to people, I can learn where their misunderstanding are and I can explain things to them more clearly. 

I clarify the truth to my friends and relatives, to my acquaintances, to strangers, to businessmen, to vendors in the markets, to the leaders of organizations, to intellectuals, to business owners, and to students. 

I had a friend who I had lost contact with for more than 20 years. I didn’t have his phone number or address. My son and I had the same thought of clarifying the truth to him. We decided to give it a try. We took a long-distance bus to his hometown. I pleaded with Master to help us. After we arrived, we approached locals to ask about the places that we could visit. I heard the name of a place that I remembered my friend had talked about. We decided to go there and try our luck. 

We got there and asked people whether they knew such such a person. I gave them my friend’s name. We found him. Master gave us wisdom. He was surprised to see us and asked us how we had found him. He was very happy to see us. We stayed there for one night and had dinner with him. I clarified the truth to him. All his family accepted the materials we gave them and agreed to withdraw from the CCP and its affiliated organizations.