(Clearwisdom.net)
Revered Master: Greetings!
Fellow practitioners: Hello!
In the winter of 1996, my husband, my three children and I were blessed to obtain Falun Dafa. At that time my business was ankle deep in red ink and I just collapsed. My family, friends and neighbors all knew that I was a savvy businesswoman. I was ashamed to be trapped in debt. I was desperate and saw no way out. It was then that my whole family started practicing Falun Dafa. Master gave me a second life and he saved my family. I want to share with you the experiences of my recent years following Master to validate Dafa.
How We Did the Three Things Before Being Compelled to Become Homeless
After the persecution began on July 20, 1999, my family had fewer opportunities to see each other. In the afternoon of July 20, 1999, police officers and persecutors from the street Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Committee ransacked my home and took my husband to a custody center. I was heartbroken when I found out they had taken Master's picture. My children and I studied the Fa and did the exercises in the evening, and we clarified the truth to our friends, relatives and neighbors during the day.
On the evening of September 29, 2000, a dozen fellow practitioners and my family were distributing truth clarification materials in our county. On the afternoon of October 5, my husband and I were illegally arrested and taken to a detention center. My three children were attending school and I had no income. My children stayed home with their grandfather, who was in his late 60s.
I did not act with righteous thoughts and righteous actions, and wrote a guarantee statement. My husband and I were released after three months of detention. I deeply regret writing the statement, and I felt I had let Master down. I was quite pessimistic, but I had righteous thoughts. I felt that compassionate Master still wanted to save me, and I was determined to study the Fa well. I studied the Fa whenever I had time. I got up at 4:30 in the morning to do the five sets of exercises.
Once I met a fellow practitioner who said, "I didn't do well in front of the evil. I feel really down." I encouraged her, "Although you trip, get up and keep going forward!"
Master said,
"Validate the Fa with rationality, clarify the truth with wisdom, spread the Fa and save people with mercy --this is establishing the mighty virtue of an Enlightened Being." ("Rationality" from Essentials for Further Advancement II)
In order to do well with the three things Master requires of us, I studied the Fa, did the exercises, sent forth righteous thoughts and clarified the truth. The outcome was very good!
Before the spring of 2002, Minghui weekly and truth clarification VCDs were rarely seen in our area, and we only had a few of Master's articles. One day in the spring of 2002, practitioner A from another city contacted us. He gave us weekly truth clarification materials and VCDs and also sent us Master's latest articles. This practitioner was later arrested and sent to a labor camp, and practitioners in our county then no longer had access to Master's new articles and Minghui Weekly. We eventually obtained a few of Master's articles. My children and I hand-copied them and my husband delivered them to practitioners in the countryside.
In the spring of 2003, a practitioner from our town who was living away from home got in touch with a practitioner who was making truth clarification materials. My husband went to his city each week to pick up truth clarification materials, no matter how busy he was. The SARS epidemic was at its peak and only a few buses were in operation. My husband never missed a single batch of truth clarification materials.
Rainbow After the Storm - How We Established a Falun Dafa Truth Clarification Materials Production Site after We Were Forced to Leave Home
Right after my husband and I were compelled to leave town, we agreed that we have to validate Dafa, no matter where we are. We must assist Master in the human world and deliver Master's articles and the Minghui Weekly to fellow practitioners who don't have access to them. We picked up truth clarification materials and sent them to local practitioners. Two weeks later the practitioner who was producing the materials was arrested, and the production site was destroyed. Our source of truth clarification materials was cut off. At this time, we didn't have many production sites. Most of the practitioners relied on us for truth clarification materials.
Master said in "To All Students at the Nordic Fa Conference,"
"So in clarifying the truth, don't wait, don't rely on others, and don't just hope for changes in external factors." (Essentials for Further Advancement II)
Through Fa study we decided that although we have omissions and are homeless due to persecution, nothing could stop us from validating Dafa.
We discussed the idea of buying a copying machine to make truth clarification materials. We looked for practitioners who have the drafts for truth clarification materials. We couldn't find anyone in our area, but found one practitioner in another area who said he could receive the Minghui Weekly and truth clarification materials. I said to my husband, "Let's buy a machine here, make pamphlets and send them to practitioners in this area." The next day we went outside and waited for the practitioner. The practitioner acted rather non-forthcoming and aloof however, and did not mention anything about the truth clarification materials.
My husband said, "Let's go back, since we can't find anyone in two regions who wants to do it." I said, "No, we can't. Other practitioners are waiting for Master's articles and truth clarification materials. How can we go back empty-handed? Let's keep looking." "But where?"
We went back. One practitioner found a place for us to stay, and we studied the Fa and looked inward. Why did we encounter such difficulties? Master said in "Teaching and Explaining the Fa at the Metropolitan New York Fa Conference,"
"It's cultivation, so don't be intimidated by difficulties. No matter what, no matter how hard it is, you are definitely able to come through on the path given to you by Master. (Applause) As long as you raise your xinxing you can make it through."
We must overcome this setback. We must buy the copying machine and find the truth material drafts.
During the time we lived in the countryside, we saw it was expensive to make truth clarification materials. One flyer sheet costs 20 cents, and one pamphlet costs 70 cents. I was pained to see it cost fellow practitioners so much money to make pamphlets. It strengthened my resolve to get a machine and the drafts.
In January 2003, practitioner A left the labor camp with the power of righteous thoughts and got in touch with us. My first thought was other practitioners would now be able to read Master's articles and Minghui Weekly. Soon, practitioner A helped us buy a secondhand copying machine through some other practitioners. On my way to deliver copies of Master's new article, the Minghui Weekly, and other truth clarification materials to a local practitioner, I caught my foot in the motorcycle and it went around the wheel twice. My thoughts were not righteous at the time. Two wounds on my foot, each one about two inches long, were dripping blood. I gritted my teeth and went to the agreed meeting place to connect with the fellow practitioner. To my surprise she had changed her mind and refused to accept the materials. In the end she reluctantly took them. I could hardly hold my head up on the way back.
I looked inward and tried to find out where the problem lies. Master said,
"The old forces don't dare to oppose our clarifying the truth or saving sentient beings. What's key is to not let them take advantage of the gaps in your state of mind when you do things." ("Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Boston")
I truly realized why my foot got hurt, and why the practitioner refused to take the materials. For a while I had not studied the Fa well and was attached to doing things. I was busy collecting data to expose the persecution, and I was busy getting the copying machine. After the pamphlets were distributed, the show-off mentality, complacency and attachment to the work itself emerged, but I didn't realize it.
On the fourth night after I hurt my foot, practitioner Xiao Lian, who helped us buy the copying machine, was arrested. We had to move again. I thought, "Why did I hurt my foot less than one month after I bought the machine? Why did Xiao Lian get arrested?" Master said,
"No matter how difficult your environment is, no matter how busy you get, you cannot forget to study the Fa. You must study the Fa, because it is the absolute, most fundamental guarantee of your improvement." ("Fa-Lecture at the Conference in Florida, USA")
During this period I had not studied the Fa well and the evil and old forces took advantage of my gaps. They created great tribulations for us because we had omissions, and they were trying to paralyze the production site.
We went to another practitioner who spent a whole day looking for a place for us but couldn't find anything. We had no choice but to take off on the motorcycle. I was quite upset because I didn't know where we were going, but then I remembered Master and that I am a Fa rectification period Dafa disciple, and that thought made me happy. I knew Master would look after us. After riding for about 30 miles, we arrived at the home of practitioner Qing. I cried when I saw her. She helped us find a place to live. I continued to make truth clarification materials, even when my foot was still recovering.
Some practitioners suggested, "You've made lots of materials. Let us take over so you can study the Fa a lot." So my husband gave the machine to fellow practitioners in another village. At first I was unhappy because I still wanted to make truth clarification materials. Two weeks after the other practitioners started making the materials the machine broke down. My husband located practitioner B from another city, but he couldn't fix it. We again lost access to new articles and Minghui Weekly. I looked inward again and realized that I was insincere. I didn't want fellow practitioners to take the machine, but I couldn't bring myself to say no to them.
Master said,
"As Dafa disciples you should be more clearheaded, and before the evil has been completely destroyed you still need to work hard on clarifying the truth and saving the people of this world, and do well the things Dafa disciples should do. All of the things that Dafa disciples do today is Dafa disciples' validating the Fa, and is your walking a divine path. You can't slack off in the final stages; keep doing well with what you should do." ("Teaching the Fa at the 2004 Western U.S. Fa Conference")
Through Fa study I knew even more clearly that clarifying the truth and saving the world's people is our sacred mission. We cannot slack off. The old forces are trying to block us and create troubles for us, because we have omissions. They want to destroy our will and defeat us. We must firmly follow Master in Fa rectification and do well with the three things we should do. We must reestablish the production site and make more materials to rescue more people, so we can live up to Master's compassionate and arduous salvation. As long as I study the Fa and look inward, I will do well. I knelt on the floor and made the gesture heshi. I burst into tears and said, "Master, I feel horrible because fellow practitioners don't have your articles and truth clarification materials! Master, please help me and allow me to deliver Master's articles and truth clarification materials to fellow practitioners."
With help from fellow practitioners our site went back into production, although not without difficulties. When reading the Minghui Weekly, I saw that a CD burner costs 300 yuan. We went to another city and bought a CD burner. Practitioner B said, "Now go and make lots of CDs." When we went home, my husband read aloud from the user's manual, "First, shut off your computer." I asked, "Why? We need a computer to use it?" We don't have a computer. I was so disappointed and wanted to cry. Why am I so poor? I don't have any savings. If I did, I would immediately buy a computer and use it to save people.
Several days later practitioner B sent us drafts and I told him, "We can't make any CDs without a computer!" After a few days, practitioner B came with his Dafa practitioner son Zhen. He had persisted in Dafa practice and was held at a labor camp for four years and was illegally fired from work. They brought their home computer. Zhen taught my husband and son some basic operations.
Practitioner C, also from another city, gave us a color inkjet printer and a laminator. Master saw our determination. Some practitioners suggested it would be great to use a colorful plastic cover, but we couldn't afford it. I tried my best to meet other practitioners' needs so they can do better with the three things.
So we had a computer and a color printer, and we made flyers, CDs of The Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party, and posters. We made lots of things in our area, and other practitioners provided lots of positive feedback.
During this process I realized that we not only have to do things, but more importantly we have to cultivate and rectify ourselves. Master said in Zhuan Falun,
"The whole process of cultivation is a process of constantly getting rid of human attachments."
I felt I was finally seeing the rainbow after a storm! I believe I will do better in the future.
When I look back at the path I took during the past six years, I am tremendously grateful to great Master. Master led me every step of the way. Master constantly looked after me in everything I did. I bow and make the heshi gesture to Master. I also thank all practitioners who supported and helped us build the production site.
I want to end this article with Master's words at "Teaching the Fa on Easter, 2004, at the New York Fa Conference,"
"You need to treasure it--you have to treasure the path you've walked. Only when you treasure the steps you've taken can you do well on the path ahead. Not much of the journey is left. Do even better on your path and do things even more righteously."
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