Greetings.
I have been studying the Fa for two and a half years. For many years I jumped from one truth to another. When searching outwardly for my life's purpose I only found continuous dead ends.
Only when I made the wish to find the universal truth did my life take a new turn. My journey started with an 8-hour trip to support my mother at the intensive care unit that my stepdad was in, in Northern Ontario. He was in critical care for almost a month. My mom spoke often of a nurse that my stepdad really took a liking to, and wanted me to meet her.
When we finally did meet, it was like we had already known each other. We shared ideas and as she spoke of Falun Gong, I was delighted by what she told me. She invited me to watch a lecture video in an empty hospital room. I was amazed by what I learned and was able to come back for Lecture Two the next night.
When my stepfather passed away, I was surprised at how strong I felt, and wasn't an emotional mess. I stayed to support my family. Although, it took me a month to get back home, I read the Falun Dafa information over and over again, which the kind nurse had given me. I yearned for more but still did not quite realize what was offered to me.
Once home, I tried to order Zhuan Falun but the bookstores couldn't order it for me, and my computer was down so I couldn't access it over the Internet. Then after my computer was fixed, I tried to print out Zhuan Falun from the Internet but my printer started to act up. This went on for about a week. I said out loud to myself: nothing is going to stop me. Then the printer suddenly started to print out my first copy of Teacher's awesome wisdom.
I was lucky to be home alone, and I read for days. I had a hard time putting the book down. I cried when I realized that this was the Universal Truth I had wished for just weeks before. Falun Dafa is the beginning to my life-long quest to find my true self.
I shared the new Truth I acquired with friends and family with excitement, but they said, "Now what are you doing?" My family gave me a hard time for a while and my husband thought I was wasting time.
Two months went by. I learned the exercises and each day I read articles and lectures from the Clearwisdom website. I decided to call the number on the flyer that the nurse had given me. The gentle voice at the other end of the line said there was a conference in May on the long weekend, and she said that I could stay with her. I felt so excited. But after I hung up the phone, I thought, I can't go, my husband just went out of town and I promised to baby-sit and take the grandkids to the fair, it's too far, it's too expensive, and it's tomorrow. But although my mind was flooding with excuses, I have never felt so enabled. I called a travel agency and they got me the last seat on a flight, at a reasonable price. I did everything I was supposed to do within a few hours. Then the next morning I drove 8 hours to Toronto to catch the flight to Vancouver for the conference.
My family could not believe what I was doing and neither could I. I assured them this was right. I didn't know a soul when I got off the plane and didn't know were I would be staying, but I still felt like I was led by an unseen, compassionate force, so I just went along with it.
There were Chinese practitioners there that greeted others and me as if we were all family, and some offered me a place to stay. I got into a van with strangers that did not speak too much English but I trusted the universe to guide me. I was driven to a motel to get a room and the driver gave me his cell phone number so I wouldn't get lost. The next morning I went to the lobby after doing some exercises and was surprised to see three practitioners from Spain waiting for the same driver.
We all were driven to a large park and were assembled behind banners of different countries to demonstrate the exercises. Then I participated in my first parade with over 2,000 practitioners. There were so many amazing experiences that weekend but the one that stands out the clearest was the experience sharing conference. After hearing the compassionate stories and experiencing the trust between fellow practitioners, I knew I was in the right place at the right time. Then Master Li walked in. I experienced an energy so awesome it was like being in a bubble of joy, and tears rolled down my face. What I learned that weekend was that practitioners are caring people that reach out with kindness everywhere they go and that Master is here to bring us salvation.
The night I got home I experienced a 2-hour body cleansing. My body was quaking and shivering in spasms and I was soaked with sweat but freezing cold. As I lay there wide-awake, I thanked Master for the purification. Over the last two years I've experienced a lot of body purification during the exercises and realize my karma is huge, and how benevolent Master is to help me.
At first, when I read about the three things that Master requires us to do, I wasn't sure how to approach people to clarify the truth. After all, just seven months before, I had moved 30 minutes from the nearest city, to the woods on purpose, to get away from the corrupted world. Now I knew I had to change my thinking. I had a responsibility to help others know about the Fa. The Dafa websites and practitioners' communication over the Internet helped me to keep updated and in touch with my new extended family of fellow-practitioners. I felt that I wasn't doing enough just passing out flyers a couple times a week. I decided to volunteer at the Finnish Rest Home in town. When I did, things seemed to change. My husband started to read Zhuan Falun. He got about three chapters read, but when he had to leave town again for work, he didn't find the time to finish it.
I heard about the Falun Gong Cross Canada Car Tour for Justice that would be coming through my area that fall. I felt the need to take the opportunity to help the practitioners in the car tour with their task, but really they were helping me. One morning on my way to the nursing home, I was wondering who our mayor was (after all, I didn't even vote). Then as I stopped at a red light, I noticed a poster for the upcoming mayoral election, and quickly wrote down the name of our mayor for reference.
A couple of hours passed, and it was time to go home. I stepped out of the elevator to see a large group of people. Then I noticed the face from the election poster, and realized it was the mayor! As he chatted with the residents at the nursing home, I quickly went to my vehicle and put together a package of information. I laughed with happiness to myself and in my heart I thanked Master for this opportunity to clarify the truth.
I waited patiently for the mayor to finish talking, then approached him. He sat with me as I clarified the truth. I told him about the Car Tour for Justice and asked him about a proclamation. He said that he thought China's human rights issues were getting better and he couldn't give me a proclamation but he did accept the informational package with a VCD. The mayor then told me to call his office for an appointment.
When the car tour group came, we set up pictures and a table of information in front of the food court at a large mall. There weren't many people as we were setting up, but then the mall was suddenly full of people. Time slipped by quickly as we demonstrated the exercises and clarified the truth. Then we hurried over for our appointment with the mayor. One practitioner stayed at the mall while the other practitioner and I went to our appointment.
As the other practitioner clarified the truth further to the mayor, I had the opportunity to see his righteous thoughts at work. The mayor asked his secretary to get the file on China. The secretary brought him a couple of booklets. One booklet said something like Falun Gong is a [slanderous term omitted]. He asked us if this was ours. When we told him it was part of the hate propaganda issued by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that we had told him about, he was suddenly enlightened to the lies of the CCP. He said, "I will give you your proclamation."
My husband was happy to meet and talk with the other Dafa practitioners. We talked about the conference in Atlanta, Georgia and we decided to go. At the conference, my husband was amazed at all the kind and trusting people, and bought his own copy of Zhuan Falun.
In the spring, I officially applied for the proclamation, not realizing the process it takes. While I was preparing my presentation for the council meeting, I received a call from the mayor's office asking me not to talk about the persecution. When I walked into the council meeting there were about 50 people, and TV cameras. I was so nervous I could hardly breathe. I was never good at talking in front of a group of people. I turned around and recited the formulas for righteous thoughts in my mind to calm my heart. As the other proclamations were read, I felt more confident and relaxed. Finally, it was my turn and it only took a few moments. I respected the mayor's request and only talked about how good Dafa was, even though I wanted say more. At the end of my presentation, I passed out flyers to the council members. I felt that I had accomplished something good, but couldn't have done it without the help of my fellow practitioners and of course the Fa. When we celebrated Falun Dafa Day last May, the kind nurse who first told me about Falun Dafa traveled 8 hours by bus to help make the day a success.
In 2005, I asked for another proclamation, and there was no problem. I arrived at the council meeting early to put flyers on every seat, and handed a flyer to the people who came in the room. There were cameras from at least 4 different TV stations and a radio station. I sent forth righteous thoughts in my mind while I waited my turn. No one had called to tell me what not to put into my presentation, so I wrote a complete paper about the persecution, exposing the propaganda from China and how I had received hate propaganda phone calls from China. When the mayor walked in, I saw him looking at me. I felt that he was wondering what I was going to say. Suddenly I started to have doubts, and I wondered if I should read the whole presentation or leave out some parts. My turn came quickly. As I read the presentation, I noticed some of the councilors looking over the flyers in front of them and some looked uninvolved, but I realized it was nonetheless making a difference. Then, I had no doubt that I should read the whole paper. The room was silent. The mayor didn't know what to say at first, but then, he said, I was deeply committed to my belief and he read the proclamation. Everything seemed to be falling into place for Falun Dafa Day, and we secured a huge room at a popular community center for the art exhibit.
Although my husband hasn't finished reading Zhuan Falun, he totally supports everything I do. He offered to pick up the paintings for the exhibition from Toronto since he was in that area on business. This was the day before the exhibit. He ran into continuous interference and was getting pretty frustrated but he didn't give up. After the art was packed in the truck, he made it up to Northern Ontario with no more problems.
Back home, I called to check on the room, and was told that we were moved to a smaller room, and only had an hour to set up because they had received a grant to do construction on the larger room, and it had to be done that week. I refused to acknowledge any interference. Everything went smoothly after that. The same kind nurse volunteered again, along with two other practitioners, who traveled 8 hours to help with the art exhibit. They arrived the night before. We were all happy to see my husband drive in not long after, and had a chance to relax and share. The next morning after righteous thoughts, we were prepared for the big day.
The seeds of Dafa were planted in a lot of hearts that day. My two grandchildren even helped. At four years old my grandson passed out flyers and my ten-year-old granddaughter showed people how to make lotus flowers. Many children were drawn to the room and even encouraged their parents to come in. My son, daughter and husband came to see the exhibit and also helped to pack up when it was over. I felt really honored to be able to witness the art exhibit with fellow practitioners and together as one body clarify the truth. Falun Dafa Day was successful because of the efforts of many amazing people. I have no doubt that the Fa guides our righteous thoughts, and it's up to us to reject anything that isn't good. I see the Fa changing my life and am learning to upgrade my xinxing.
When I feel I am not as diligent as I should be, reading what other practitioners share encourages me to stay focused and go forward. I learned that keeping my thoughts righteous, and sending righteous thoughts especially before I do something important for Dafa helps the path to be clear. When I read about other practitioners doing so much for Dafa, and how they are sharing and reading together, I feel happy for them and think about how lucky they are. But I realize that Master has a plan for us all, no matter where we live or our place in society. Even in the woods where I live there are opportunities and tribulations. I feel it's not by luck, or chance, but that we are predestined to know the Fa.
In my travels over the past two years, I have never met a practitioner that wasn't truthful, compassionate and tolerant.
I have learned to trust the universe without expectations and to do what needs to be done. I never feel alone in my new predestined life, knowing that we are all a particle of Dafa, connected as one body for the good of all. I know that with Master, we are all just a Righteous Thought away.
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Category: Beginning Cultivation
