(Clearwisdom.net) This story is about a practitioner who began her cultivation in 1995 and is now in her 50's.
Full of illnesses and contemplating suicide, finding Dafa leads her on a new path
As she was getting older, in addition to her overall weak physical condition, she suffered from anorexia, gallstones, gastric disease, rheumatoid arthritis and other ailments. Her situation did not improve even after undergoing long term treatment. She gradually became pessimistic and weary of the world. Finding it hard to endure the painful torment from the illnesses, she often thought about killing herself. Each time it was her daughter who made her dispel the thought of committing suicide. Enduring these severe pains, she lived on. Hoping to heal her illnesses, she had practiced many other types of Qigong, but the effect was minor.
In October 1995, a friend loaned her the book, China Falun Gong. The more she read it, the more excited she became. She read it twice in a row and said to herself, "At last I found the right path!" That evening she was so excited that she cried for a long time. From then on, she stepped onto the road to cultivation.
Studying the Fa, obtaining the Fa; paying attention to cultivating the mind, remembering Master's teachings and becoming a good person
One day, after cultivating for a month, her legs and arms hurt the whole evening. Yet the next day she felt very light all over her body. Later she went to the hospital for a check up, but her illnesses had disappeared. Besides practicing the five exercises daily, in her daily life she strictly conducted herself to follow the words from Master, being considerate of others and being a good person.
Dafa is slandered; she goes to Beijing to seek justice
On July 20, 1999, the evil persecution suddenly started. The rumors and lies were spread everywhere. Seeing that the national media publicly slandered Dafa, seeing that bulldozers heartlessly ground up precious Dafa books, she felt like a knife was being twisted in her heart. Her tears kept falling. Unmoved by her family's objections, she insisted on practicing and studying the Fa at home. Several months later, when sharing with other fellow practitioners, they understood that as Dafa disciples, they should go out and say some words of justice. Therefore, they went to appeal.
In December 1999, after appropriately arranging everything at home, she and three other practitioners took the train to Beijing. Unexpectedly, someone reported them, and her work unit sent some people to fly to Beijing. As a result, the three of them and five other practitioners were taken back to the local detention center and illegally detained for half a month. Inside the detention center, faced with beatings and verbal abuse from the police, she insisted on practicing the exercises. Furthermore, she and fellow practitioners recited "On Buddha Law." Two weeks later, the police demanded of them to write the so-called guarantee statement (to stop practicing). She firmly refused. Her husband wrote one for her, but she tore it into pieces. Finally, her husband signed her name on an already written statement and took her home.
At home, to stop her from going to Beijing again, her husband locked her up and closely monitored her. She still insisted on practicing and studying the Fa at home. When she thought that her first trip to Beijing did not accomplish its goal, she felt sad.
In June 2000, after careful preparation, she broke through the obstacles and monitoring and went to Beijing by herself. On her way there she met another practitioner. However, when the train stopped at Jiaozuo in Henan Province, they were arrested. In the detention center she refused to tell her name and address and encouraged the other practitioners to resist the evil together. Several days later, unable to endure the torture any more, one practitioner who came from the same place as her, told the police her address. Hence, their work units took them back, and they were detained at the local police station.
The police used all kinds of methods designed to force her to renounce her belief. Practitioners then told the police their personal experience as a way to clarify the truth, and told them that Falun Dafa is good. They also told the police that Dafa was being falsely accused. Unable to get what they wanted, the police ordered her family members to come to persuade her to give up her faith. Deceived by the lies told by the government, five of them, her mother, sister-in-law, sister and two others started to take turns to "preach" to her. They told ideological stories, berated and beat her for a whole afternoon. Finally, her daughter wrote the "three-No-statements" [to stop practicing Falun Gong, not associate with other practitioners and not go to Beijing to appeal] for her. Another relative signed the statement, and after that she was released.
After she had gone to Beijing twice to appeal, under pressure and with lies from the police station and the work unit, her husband was even more resentful of her Dafa practice. He threatened her with divorce to stop her from practicing. She sternly advised her husband, "It is Dafa that gave me a second life. Now, Dafa is experiencing difficult times. It is time for me to stand up and speak the truth. If you want a divorce, that will be your choice. I will not give up practicing." Afterwards, her husband never mentioned divorce again. However, he still monitored her and did not let her communicate with other practitioners to prevent her from going to appeal.
Clarifying the truth nobly and with dignity; rescuing people with righteous thoughts and actions
As she continued to study the Fa, she gradually understood her responsibility - that is to use various methods to reveal the truth of this evil persecution to the people. She used her wisdom to get around the obstacles her family put in her way, contacted and reached fellow practitioners, obtained truth-clarifying materials, and then quietly went to distribute them.
Master's Fa teaching affirmed disciples' righteous thoughts and actions, which gave her tremendous encouragement. Bolstered with this confidence, she courageously stepped out of the door and clarified the truth of persecution to the people nearby. Besides constantly studying the Fa and practicing the exercises, she went out every day to clarify the truth. She told the facts to everyone she met. Every time she went out, she carried Dafa truth-clarifying materials and cards with her, and used the example of her personal experience to tell people about Falun Gong. After the person had understood, she then handed that person cards or materials. The results were very good.
At home, she invited close friends and neighbors to come to her home, told them her own story of being persecuted and played the truth-clarifying videos to them, letting them truly witness the viciousness of this persecution with their own eyes.
It often happened when she went home after shopping that she carried a huge amount of vegetables. Her daughter asked her, "Mom, you bought so much vegetables. How is it possible to eat all this?" She said, "When I encountered those vegetable farmers I could not help telling each one the fact about Falun Gong. After I talked to each one, I bought some vegetables from him."
On the road, when she saw the workers pushing carts going uphill with difficulty, she went over and helped them. On the public bus she gave her seat to others. When she saw other people having difficulties, she went over to help. When the other person experienced the warmness and kindness of a Dafa practitioner, she told them about the persecution and the beauty of Dafa.
At home, when a stranger accidentally knocked on the door, or when there was a sales person promoting merchandise, or when she received people's phone calls who had dialed a wrong number, she would take all these opportunities to tell the people the facts; she used every available opportunity to tell people the facts about Dafa.
Previously, when she was with her friends she didn't talk much. After she went out to clarify the truth, the more she talked, the better she could talk. The more she talked, the better results she achieved. She didn't have much education, but her words were flowing with sincerity, kindness and enthusiasm, letting the other people truly experience the compassion and genuiness of Dafa.
Local police and people from the Security Section at work often harassed her by calling her or coming to her home. This practitioner realized that those people are also the ones who need to be saved. She therefore took the initiative, telling them about Dafa, telling them about her own miraculous experiences, that after cultivation, her illnesses were healed without treatment; and she told them, "Don't persecute Dafa practitioners anymore. During this special period, whoever gives support to Dafa shall earn a wonderful future. Whoever helps the tyrant shall receive karmic retribution for sure in the future." She spoke with the righteous thoughts, and her words were full of wisdom, such that the police became speechless. They felt so ashamed that they could not raise their heads. After the police understood this, when they met her again in the streets, they pretended they didn't know her. This practitioner worried that they didn't understand the truth completely, so she went over and talked to them. The officers commented as they listened, "Alright, alright, we all know!" The practitioner let go of their hands. The officers walked away hurriedly, never coming back to bother her again.
Because she courageously told people the facts face to face, some practitioners didn't understand her, feeling that she didn't pay attention to safety. After she learned that, she judged her behavior with Dafa's standards and was convinced what she did was not wrong. She said, "Master kept telling us that we must cherish the time to save people and clarify the truth. I found that face-to-face truth clarification was very effective. It can leave a very deep impression in people's heart, completely changing the person's misunderstandings of Dafa. It's a good thing! Why shouldn't I do it?" She also shared her understanding with fellow practitioners and told everyone her own experiences. This is what she said, "When I first came out to clarify the truth, I was also a little afraid. But I realized that fear is a kind of selfishness. It's something that we should let go of in cultivation. Once we gradually get rid of it, we may get better results when clarifying the truth. By contrast, if we use the excuse of safety to cover our fear, then we allow a field to develop, exist and grow. This will become bigger and bigger, finally causing our own Fa-rectification process to become obstructed. I didn't want everyone to talk the same way as I did, as I understand from Master's teaching, as a cultivator, there is no example to follow, the path everyone takes is different. You send out fliers, I clarify the truth. He hangs a banner. Someone did this, someone did that; everyone is doing something to help Master to rectify the Fa. We are all taking our own paths. The crucial point is that through doing these deeds, we get rid of attachments." From this experience sharing, some practitioners started letting go of fear and bravely clarified the truth to people. As such, many people in this area understood the truth about Dafa.
In the process of clarifying the truth, she also met some very stubborn people. This practitioner painstakingly told them the facts, that Dafa and Master are the most righteous, are the best, are innocent and being slandered, and gave them the VCDs. Most of them could understand and support Dafa. Some of them said, "Actually, after the Cultural Revolution, nobody has quite believed the Chinese Communist regime. Using such low and brutal methods to persecute Falun Gong, they won't have a good ending. We look forward to the day when the good name of Falun Gong is restored."
2003-7-24
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