(Clearwisdom.net)
(Shared at 2006 Mid-US Experience Sharing Conference)
Greetings to revered Master! Greetings to fellow practitioners!
I am a 73 year old practitioner from Missouri. I obtained the Fa in Mainland China in 1998. In my personal cultivation, through studying the Fa, doing the exercises and clarifying the truth, I realized the real purpose of being human. I made up my mind to solidly cultivate so that I would not miss this precious opportunity. Every day together with fellow practitioners, I went to the park to do the exercises in the morning, and studied the Fa and shared cultivation experiences in the evening. On weekends, we went to public places to spread the Fa, and more and more people obtained the Fa. I was not only in good health, but also had a better temper. My life was full and happy, and all of my family and relatives in China and overseas were happy for me.
On July 20, 1999, the Chinese Communist Party dictator in China, Jiang Zemin, launched the brutal persecution of Falun Gong practitioners for their own gain. They used the power of the government to slander Falun Gong and promote hatred. I was confused at that time, and wondered what was going on. We had never done any bad things, and we cultivated Falun Dafa to be good people and have a healthy body. I told myself in my heart that no matter what tribulation I had, that I would still solidly cultivate Dafa.
In September 1999, I came to America to visit my family. The whole family supported my practice of Falun Dafa at home. My son-in-law taught me how to access the Minghui website. I read experience sharing and persecution articles on Minghui every day, and I felt that, as a cultivator, I should step out to validate the Fa. I attended the Chicago Fa-conference in 2000, and on December 9, 2000, I attended the Great Lakes Fa-Conference, where I saw Master for the first time, and I cried. In the conference, Master said:
"But this evil-wrought tribulation has taken place. Most students have, in various ways, stepped forward to validate Dafa, clarify the truth, and save the world's people. Some of them have been arrested, beaten, or have died from the persecution; even Master is being venomously attacked by lies. In the face of life and death, students have had the courage to step forward--step forward as they lose everything possible--and do everything that's magnificent, what a Dafa disciple should do." Master also said: "Whether you're in China or outside of China, how you perform is the same; there's the same difference in whether you step forward or aren't able to step forward, and in how much you put your heart into this matter of Fa-rectification." (Teaching the Fa at the Great Lakes Fa Conference in North America).
Master's teachings made my desire of validating Falun Dafa, clarifying the truth, and saving sentient beings more solid.
I used to stay with my daughter, and there were no other practitioners nearby. Her home was two hours driving time from St. Louis. Practitioners from St. Louis always came to pick me up when there was a Fa-conference or other Falun Dafa activities. I was very touched and really appreciated their help.
In 2001, a practitioner called me and said that several practitioners would come to my town and hold a Falun Dafa activity. Since their schedule was quite tight, they didn't have time to pick me up. I told the practitioner that I would walk to the park where the activity was being held. I walked two hours to the park, which I thought was the right place, but nobody was there. It was actually the wrong place, so I waited for a while and went back. It was very hot and the sun was sweltering. Several bloody blisters developed on my feet, but I did not complain. Although I missed the activity, I still spread the Fa on the way home, and the T-shirt I was wearing also had truth-clarifying words on it, so I was happy.
In 2002, since my daughter and son-in-law didn't want to take me to St. Louis for Falun Dafa activities very often, and I also felt sorry for fellow practitioners taking too much time to come and pick me up, I moved to my son's house in St. Louis. The cultivation environment in St. Louis is very good, and it helped me to improve my xinxing.
Calling China to Clarify the Truth
Master has mentioned several times the importance of Fa-conferences, so I have gone to most of the Fa-conferences, and I benefited a lot from all of them. At many Fa-conferences, Master has taught us to do the three things well. I thought of how I clarify the truth to the precious Chinese people, besides doing daily Fa-study, exercises and sending forth righteous thoughts. At some Fa-conferences, fellow practitioners shared their experiences of making phone calls to China, so I started calling China in 2000. At the beginning, I didn't make very many phone calls. I mainly called my family, friends and former students, and the results were pretty good. After a while, I felt that it was really efficient and convenient to clarify the truth this way. So, since March, 2001, I started making phone calls almost every day. After several years of making the calls, I enlightened that clarifying the truth is a process of saving sentient beings and of eliminating the evil. To a cultivator, it is also a process of improving oneself. The consequences of the phone calls depend on one's cultivation status. If one has a pure mind, strong righteous thoughts, and strong heart for saving sentient beings, then the results of the phone calls will be good. I also enlightened that in order to keep making phone calls, clarifying the truth and save sentient beings, I should have righteous thoughts and actions, and do things according to the requirements of Fa-rectification and Master's teaching.
After the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party was published, I told myself that a Falun Dafa disciple should follow the process of the Fa-rectification, so I published my announcement of quitting the CCP on the Epoch Times. I also made a lot of phone calls to my family, friends, labor camps and police stations, and the results were good. In my family, everyone but my son quit the CCP. In March 2006, when the Sujiatun incident was exposed, my first thought was to make phone calls to expose the CCP's brutality. I found out the phone numbers of the Liaoning Province Thrombosis Treatment Center of Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine and Sujiatun Chinese Medicine Hospital. Then I made phone calls to expose their crimes of harvesting organs from living Falun Gong practitioners to make a profit. The person who answered the phone was silent, so I told him about the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party, quitting the party and the truth of Falun Gong. I also clarified the truth of the self-immolation incident. I told him what to do if he wants a wonderful future. Later, I called the police stations in Sujiatun. Although most of them didn't answer, I left them a message. On April 11, the Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong in China (CIPFG) published the Urgent Notice of Investigation into the Tianjin City Organ Transplant Case on the Minghui website. I was moved with emotion, and I felt very sad that fellow practitioners were still suffering from the organ harvesting. I stopped making phone calls for several days. Later, I attended the truth clarifying van tour with practitioners from St. Louis, and clarified the truth to people all the way to Washington D.C., where I attended activities to expose the CCP's brutality. I calmed down after the trip, and when I got home, I started calling again. I called government offices in Tianjin to expose the fact that during March, the Tianjin First Center Hospital had a lot of organ transplant surgeries in a short time. During every phone call, as long as somebody answered, I clarified the truth to them to save them. Although they said that they were not in charge of their office and asked me to call police stations, I still clarified the truth to them.
Validating the Fa in Manhattan
Master explained the importance of clarifying the truth in Manhattan very clearly. I decided to go there regardless of how difficult it would be. Since I don't speak English, I passed out flyers and helped anti-torture exhibitions. The first two times, I only stayed for two or three days. I didn't do very well in passing out materials, and I realized that it was because I didn't have strong righteous thoughts. After sharing with fellow practitioners, I made my mind up to rectify my energy field. I asked one practitioner to teach me how to say "Falun Dafa is good" in English. When I passed out flyers, I didn't force people to take them, but instead I always smiled at them and treated them with good manners and compassion from deep in my heart. When people passed by, I always stepped back and never blocked their way. When there was nobody passing by, I sent forth righteous thoughts to eliminate all the evil behind the sentient beings in Manhattan, so that they would learn the truth of Falun Gong and be saved. This way, I passed out a lot of materials no matter where I went. Since the energy field was very righteous, I never felt tired, although I took off at 7:00 am and didn't come back until 6:00 pm, taking only a break during lunch. From August 2004 to June 2005, I went to Manhattan to pass out materials every month.
The reason that I can overcome difficulties and step out to clarify the truth and validate the Fa is that I study the Fa well every day. No matter what situation I am in, I never relaxed in doing the three things. In 2003, I tried to memorize the first chapter of Zhuan Falun. Due to my human notions that I should be able to recite it fluently, I kept memorizing the same paragraph, spending a lot of time on it, and I lost my confidence and gave up. This year, a lot of articles sharing practitioners' experiences of memorizing the Fa have been published on the Minghui website. Encouraged by those articles, I started memorizing again. So far, I have already memorized Hongyin I and II. I spend one and a half hours to memorize them every day.
Master taught us:
"Of course, as you go about cultivating, you--who are cultivators--are sure to meet with tests, for you need to elevate. When someone doesn't handle things well, troubles will constantly arise. But those who do handle things well will constantly meet with tests as they cultivate." (Teaching the Fa in Canada, 2006)
I didn't realize this until recently. In the past, I always had the thought that I am doing a righteous thing with my pure heart and the results of clarifying the truth are generally good. But why do I still have troubles? For example, from December 2004 to February 2005, I stayed in Manhattan to pass out materials. My heart was righteous, and I never complained, even though I had to stand there for 8 or 9 hours every day, but trouble still arose. On the night of February 11, after dinner, I went to the airport with a fellow practitioner. Right after he left, I started coughing up blood. When I got home, I was very weak and I could only lie in bed, and I didn't eat anything for three days. My husband said: "This person is dying." But my mind was very clear, so I kept sending forth righteous thoughts listening to Master's lectures. I was much better three days later, so I got up to send forth righteous thoughts and do the sitting meditation. I was completely recovered in ten days. On February 26, I went to San Francisco to attend the Fa-conference, where I saw Master, and I was very happy.
How to Do Well in the Family Environment
Master taught us:
"Many students understand only that doing the exercises and studying the Fa are cultivation. Yes, with those you directly engage the Fa. But as you go about truly cultivating yourself in your day-to-day life, the society that you come into contact with is your cultivation environment. The work and family environments that you spend time in are both settings in which you are to cultivate yourselves, are part of the path you must walk, are what you must handle, and handle correctly at that. None of these should be glossed over. When you have made it to the end, [a question would be]: How did you travel the path that Master arranged for you? When all is said and done, these things have to be taken into account. And in the course of your cultivation these things have to be looked at, too. So you shouldn't neglect anything. As far as convenience goes, [in Dafa] a person can cultivate without having to enter a monastery, go to a secluded mountain, or leave the secular world. But from another perspective, all of this adds a layer of difficulty: If you are to make it through, you have to do well with things such as all of the above, and do well in every aspect of your life." (Teaching the Fa in Canada, 2006)
I had been caught up in handling my family environment for a long time. I stayed with my daughter in 1999 to baby sit for them. They would be fine if I stayed home to study the Fa and do the exercises, but they would complain if I would attend Fa-conferences or some Dafa activities. After I clarified the truth to them patiently, the environment got better in 2002. My husband stopped complaining, and now and then he would read Zhuan Falun. He supports me whenever I need to go out, and when he is free, he helps me to prepare envelopes for mailing the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party to China.
In August 2002, I moved to my son's home. I had very strong emotions towards my son, and I had been fond of him since he was very little. I taught his class when he was in high school, and we still had a very strong relationship when he was in college. Before I started cultivation, I always thought that I would spend the rest of my life with him. After I moved to his house, I didn't clarify the truth to him very often. Sometimes he gave me rides to the exercise site. My husband moved to my son's house in July 2003. He did most of the housework so that I had more time to do the three things required. I helped my husband to do some housework now and then.
In August 2004, I went to Manhattan twice and I felt that my stay in Manhattan was too short every time. I told my daughter-in-law at the end of August that I probably would stay in Manhattan for 15 days every month. During dinner on the next day, my son yelled at me. He said that he would stop giving me money (before he gave me $100 every month.) He also said he would stop taking me to the exercise site. He mentioned that in America, children do not have the responsibility to take care of their parents. I felt very sad but I didn't quarrel with him. I finished my dinner and dishes, and then I went to my room. I studied the Fa and sent forth righteous thoughts. That night my husband cried, and I asked him to stop having such strong emotion for my son.
The next morning, I asked my son if I could still eat his food. He said that he didn't forbid me to eat. Several days later, after studying the Fa and looking inward, I realized that it was my fault, because I didn't do what Master taught me to do. I thought that since he was my son, he would support me in validating the Fa, and I didn't clarify the truth to him seriously. One day at dinner, I said "It is now time for me to say something. First, I would like to say that I will keep cultivating Falun Gong but I won't abandon the family." Then, I told them the reason why I needed to go out to validate the Fa. I said that Falun Gong gave me better health and a better temper, but the CCP is still persecuting it, so it is reasonable for me to appeal for Falun Gong. My son didn't say anything. Now, our relationship is back to normal. I just need to notify him when I go out. I could still do better, and I will follow Master's teaching and handle the family environment well in the future.
Finally, I hope that fellow practitioners will have a solid belief in Master and the Fa, and walk well on the path that Master arranged for us.
Thank you, Master!
Thank you, everyone!