(Clearwisdom.net)
A Brief Summary:
By cooperating with fellow practitioners and having a small family dinner, my husband came to realize the purpose of distributing truth-clarifying materials. He realized that we are not opposed to the government as the propaganda led him to believe. Instead, he learned that in fact we speak out about the truth and save people. We listened to what he had to say and used our intellect and wisdom to dissolve his worries. This might seem somewhat inconsequential, but it was beneficial in developing an easy and loose Fa-rectification environment at home, and also helped to establish a base for my husband's future.
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Purifying Myself - My Path in Validating the Fa:
First, I send greetings and express profound gratitude to our benevolent and great Master! I also send the highest respects to every fellow practitioner!
I first learned Falun Dafa in May 1997. After July 20, 1999, Dafa practitioners changed direction from personal cultivation to Fa-rectification cultivation. Due to the learning time being so short and the fact that I was physically suffering at that time, I was unclear in my thinking and hesitant in the face of the insane persecution that started on July 20, 1999. However, after I saw the videos exposing the truth about the self immolation in Tiananmen Square, I was astonished. Taking the Fa as Master, I realized the wickedness of Jiang's regime and felt duty-bound to walk into Fa-rectification cultivation again.
1. Beginning little by little, letting go of my fear
On April 25 and July 20 of 1999, many local Dafa practitioners went to Beijing to appeal to the government to stop the persecution of Falun Gong. Due to my fear and for other reasons, I lost this opportunity. Minghui/Clearwisdom published the article "Serious Teachings." To obey the Master's serious and kind teachings, many practitioners walked out to protect Dafa and distributed truth-clarifying materials to people. However, some practitioners were over anxiousness for quick results and provided the evil with loopholes and the loss was huge.
All of these shook me a lot and I thought I should not wait or depend on others. With my righteous belief in Master and Dafa, I start to do things little by little; mailing and distributing truth-clarifying materials with fellow practitioners. I progressed from writing a few letters at first (wearing gloves while doing it so as not to leave fingerprints) to later distributing large numbers of truth-clarifying materials. I began with clarifying the truth to my family members only, and later began clarifying the truth to friends and colleagues using different methods. I can move beyond the various thoughts and constraints of an ordinary person today due to my righteous belief in Master and Dafa.
2. Fa-rectification cultivation, not hiding the truth from family members.
There are three members in my family. My daughter and I cultivate but my husband does not. My husband saw his parents and other relatives improve mentally and physically through practicing Falun Gong. Therefore he knows that Dafa is good and he does not oppose our practicing it. He works for a government organization and he abides by the law and does his duty. At the beginning of the persecution, my husband was afraid of meeting with a mishap, he urged us saying: Dafa is good and you can practice at home, but never talk to others. You know the practitioners who appealed to the government were put on a list? They were detained and sentenced to forced labor camps. My husband thought: "If Dafa is good, why don't good things happen to practitioners?" He made the mistake of judging Dafa based on the false propaganda spread by Jiang's regime .
In order to not give my husband too much to worry about, I did not tell him that I distributed truth-clarifying materials with fellow practitioners. Fellow practitioners' relatives also agreed not to tell my husband. This continued for more than a year.
I always felt it was not right to do things furtively instead of open and aboveboard. One evening, after I posted a truth-clarifying poster and went home, I saw that my husband had come home early. My husband asked what I had been doing. I thought, "I am a Dafa practitioner and I do the most righteous things. I should tell him the truth, cool and composed." After listening to the truth, my husband could not accept it at all and was very angry. He quarreled with me for half the night and he said that if I continued doing these things, the house would never have a peaceful day. He also said that he would notify my parents and prepare to divorce me.
I sent righteous thoughts at that time and said, "You brought up the issue of divorce. I don't agree. If you are serious and really mean it, I have to let you do it. But please don't make a scene by broadcasting to my relatives."
He wanted me to promise that I will not distribute truth-clarifying materials again. I did not answer. I saw Master's picture at that time and Master was smiling at me. My righteous thoughts were strengthened. Seeing the threat of divorce did not work, my husband refused to eat the food I cooked for two days.
I looked at the situation and really thought the "cold war" between us should not go on any more. My husband behaved in such a way was because he did not understand the truth of Dafa and the persecution. Therefore, I discussed it with some of my relatives who are also practitioners and we decided to face the problem and solve it. We sent righteous thoughts together and I clarified the truth to my husband.
With cooperation from fellow practitioners and through a small family banquet, my husband realized the purpose of distributing truth-clarifying materials -- that we don't oppose the government, that in fact we speak the truth and save people. We listened to his opinions. We used our wisdom to dissolve his worry. In order to let my husband witness what I was doing, I asked him to accompany me while I distributed truth-clarifying materials. In the process, he realized I handle the task well. From that moment on, my husband was not worried and let me do these things on my own.
This event seems very small, but through it, the Fa-rectification environment at home became easy and loose. This also established a base for my husband to walk into Dafa in the future.
3. Refuse to participate in corruption and thereby validate Dafa
Corruption is rampant in the government in China, and the area that I work in is no different.
I work in a government organization that administers the law. When I am offered bribes in the course of carrying out my work, I always refuse in a tactful way. I never used to mention that I practiced Falun Gong and was not taking these opportunities to validate Dafa. In China, the Jiang regime's cruel persecution of Falun Gong knocked the wind out of people and left them breathless. Even the leader at my office did not know I practiced Falun Gong at that time. When people saw that they could not bribe me, they looked for other staff who accepted their bribes and had their business done in an unlawful way. Later the people who paid the bribes thought I was stubborn and timid. Gradually, fewer persons came to me looking to do unlawful things. Well, it was OK with me, at least I could live in a way not against my conscience.
However, cultivating in society is not easy. I remember in 2001, the leader of the work unit told us to get over it. My colleagues and I could not say no, and were forced to accept bribes. Once the door was opened, it happened again. One by one we subsequently got the extra money. The leader thought that he was right to open the way for people to make more money. Salaries in China are not very high, so improper ways to increase personal income are often used. That is not the way a practitioner behaves, though. I wanted to make excuses not to do it and not to get the extra money. However, the leader and my colleagues were watching me, caused trouble in the workplace and held grudges against me if I didn't accept bribes as they did.
If I accepted the bribes, I was disobeying the requirements of Dafa, so I explained to a colleague in an open and dignified manner that I was a Falun Gong practitioner and that accepting bribes does not conform to the standards of Dafa.
One day, the opportunity matured and I prepared to clarify the truth to my boss. However, the weather was gray, giving me an unusual repressive feeling. I wanted to withdraw at that time, but I knew I should not miss this good opportunity
I closed the door and talked to my boss about work matters first, followed by talking about Dafa. I told him that I started to cultivate Falun Gong before the persecution and about its benefits to the body and mind. I explained how I use "Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance" as a standard and stated that I could not accept ill-gotten wealth from work. Only by doing that, could I fit in with a practitioners' criterion.
The leader said finally "What we do is for the sake of everyone, in fact, I do not want to do it. The right way of this man's world is upside down!" The leader was deeply concerned on our parting and urged me, "Don't tell others you practice Falun Gong. Nowadays people are liable to do anything at a critical moment!"
Since then, I have not accepted any more bribes. This conforms to what Master has said:
"The Fa can break all attachments, and can destroy all evil, the Fa can shatter all lies, and the Fa can strengthen righteous thoughts." (From "Drive Out Interference")
In a mighty torrent of Fa-rectification, I am like a grain of corn in the wide sea. The ordinary dribs and drabs of keeping thoughts and actions righteous let me clearly witness Master's benevolence and Dafa's greatness. In Fa-rectification cultivation, no matter what circumstances, firmly believe in Master, have the Fa fill the heart, keep thoughts and actions righteous, let go of human attachments, use intellect and wisdom to save people and then you can follow the good and correct path to accomplish the mission.
Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival, a time of family get-togethers. I firmly believe that the day Dafa practitioners and Master get together is not far away.
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