(Clearwisdom.net)
I am a Falun Dafa practitioner from China who works in a university. I have read the Minghui website for seven years. From reading Teacher's new articles and the experiences of fellow practitioners who cultivate diligently, I have learned a lot. I can say that without encouragement from Minghui everyday, if I had been cultivating and validating the Fa on my own, I don't think I could have remained a cultivator to this day.
The Persecution Started When I First Began to Practice
I didn't begin to practice until May 1999. I learned the movements to the exercises at a practice site in a nearby park, but I did not understand the Fa principles very well. Around that time, the persecution suddenly began. I knew that Dafa was great and that Dafa was righteous, and that Dafa was being slandered. For a long time, when I passed by the park, tears would fall and fill my heart.
During the days when the propaganda machine overwhelmingly slandered Dafa around the clock, I became puzzled and suspicious. My co-worker, who introduced me to Dafa, was arrested. The two neighbors I had met at the practice site immediately moved back to their hometown. One began to practice some type of martial arts, and the other took up his religious beliefs when he went abroad to visit his family. Personally, I am not very accustomed to the CCP's approach in its political movement, "In order to convict you of a crime, we will never run out of words." I understood that in many political movements such as the anti-rightist movement, the Cultural Revolution, the June 4th Tiananmen Square Massacre, and many others, they fabricated lies, but I never really understood the cruel way they torture people. I was extremely scared and didn't dare to practice anymore.
After I stopped practicing, many of my old illnesses returned: insomnia, coughing, numbness in my limbs, my eyes tearing up when I faced the wind, and liver pain. So I began to take pills in large quantities, but they never worked, especially for the coughing. That lasted for months. I tried Western medicine, Chinese medicine, folk treatments, and imported medicine, which was more expensive but a little more effective. I took so much medicine that my tongue changed colors, but the coughing never stopped.
Teacher's Miraculous Arrangement Allowed Me Come Back to Practice
At a time when I was still in anguish, wondering what to do, I had an opportunity to go abroad for training. I brought a big bag full of cough medicine and settled into the home of a friend, who had been living overseas for years. I was shocked to see his home full of Dafa books and various Dafa audio and video materials! It turned out that his wife was a practitioner. The first home I settled in overseas was a practitioner's home! With the sincere help and encouragement of this practitioner, I picked up my precious Dafa books again and began to do the exercises. I also threw out all my medicine.
In my understanding, it was Teacher who created this perfect arrangement; it was Teacher who didn't give up on me. He saved me, an unsteady Dafa practitioner, from sliding down into the abyss. I will never forget Teacher's compassion and will not fail to be diligent in the Fa-rectification process.
One Person Can Create a Material Printing Center
When I returned from overseas, I began my personal cultivation. As I had obtained the Fa very late, I was extremely fortunate that when the persecution began, my identity wasn't exposed. This was due to my previous practice site being so far away from my workplace. Even though some relatives understood that practicing Falun Gong helped cure many of my incurable diseases, after the persecution began, Falun Gong became taboo and everyone was afraid to mention it.
As a university professor, I had my own individual study room and turned it into a center for printing truth clarification materials. (This began five to six years ago and lay the foundations for the idea of setting up family material printing centers in various places, which was put forward recently). Therefore, this became a material production center. For the past few years, I have downloaded, re-edited, printed, bound, and addressed materials; mailed letters; distributed fliers; sent emails overseas; written truth-clarification information on Chinese currency; etc. By and large, every great idea I came across in reading Minghui, I adopted and put them into practice.
For all the years handing out truth-clarification materials, I have covered more than than half of the city. I have also continually mailed truth-clarification materials to people in the same profession as I, as well as news and media outlets.
I mostly cultivate on my own, but I never feel lonely. Thanks to the Minghui website, I continually read experience-sharing articles and I am guided by Teacher's new articles. Through the Minghui website, I can also communicate with fellow practitioners around the globe. I often cry out when I read about the cruel persecution that fellow practitioners have suffered, and I gain encouragement, inspiration, and wisdom from their deeds and experiences. If I can't access the website for two days and can't read Minghui, I feel agitated and my mind becomes disturbed. Only when I can read it again do I feel relieved.
Upholding "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance" in My Actions and Gaining Support from My Family
My wife and son are not practitioners, but they are not against my practicing Falun Gong. They have witnessed the miraculous changes in my mind and body, such as the disappearance of the diseases that had tortured me for many years. I was a person with attachments to fame and self-interest, and I was self-centered and hot-tempered. But I changed all of that to become a person that adheres to 'Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance' and maintains a peaceful mind. My family soon became harmonized. My wife used to get upset at petty things, but now her temper has much improved, and she often praises me in front of our relatives.
Most importantly, my wife and son have learned a lot of the facts about Falun Gong and also believe that the reason our family has been getting along is due to Teacher's protection. In 2001, when the staged "self-immolation" incident was first broadcast on TV, my wife acutely pointed out many of its flaws: "How could little Siying sing after her windpipe was cut? How come so many fire extinguishers were at Tienanmen Square that day?" My son, who was overseas, brought back video files on his laptop. It had the truth about June 4th and Falun Gong. So, as soon I began to mention the "Three Withdrawals" (withdrawing from the Chinese Communist Party, the Youth League and the Young Pioneers), they agreed immediately, and I helped them do it on the Internet.
Do the Work Well, Exhibit a Practitioner's Attitude
In my workplace, I do not clarify the truth about Dafa in a very open manner. Once in a while, I have mailed out truth-clarification materials to managers and colleagues in each department. I have also handed out truth-clarification materials on campus. But out of concern for the fact that many people know me, it's not very safe to do that, so I don't do it very often. With the exception of a few really close coworkers, I seldom clarify the truth to people face to face. It's out of the concern for personal safety and my attachment of fear. However, I often make use of the opportunity of holding classes to encourage students not to say something just because others say it, and I try to guide them in being able to think independently. I also often criticize the prevailing corruption in the CCP and the fact that there isn't any sense of morality in Chinese society nowadays.
I often remind myself to live up to the standards of a practitioner, reinforce my sense of responsibility at work, and let go of fame and self-interest. I work diligently and care less about compensation, giving way to others who are in pursuit of fame and material gain. As a result, just as Teacher taught us, "Obtaining things without pursuit", the less I care about it, the better the results are for me. For the past few years, because of my outstanding performance in teaching and research, I have received awards from the school, the province, and even at the national level. I also became an advisor for PhD students.
As a well-known and respected teacher, some students and their parents often approach me for advice. I remember clearly what Teacher said about holding myself strictly in accordance with "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance." I not only treat people with compassion and enthusiasm, but also maintain a firm sense of morality. I never do anything against what Teacher has taught us, and never accept money or gifts from them. For example, my friends introduced me to a student, who came from far away and whose parents were teachers and wanted me to tutor her. I was enthusiastic and patient while tutoring her. As soon as the student walked out of the door after our session together, her parents took out a wad of money and left it on the table. I immediately returned it. Her mother said to me, "It doesn't matter, she doesn't know." I replied, "But I do." I was afraid that she felt awkward and said to her, "I have a child, too, so I do understand your intention. Since we are both teachers, you know that tutoring a student is not a big deal, so don't take it to heart."
One time I tutored a student for an hour. When we had finished and he was heading out, he took out a wad of money and said, "You should be rewarded for tutoring me." I declined to accept the money. I don't know how many times, without making others feel hurt, I have refused money. Sometimes I have found money hidden in a fruit basket or in packs of tea, but I eventually mailed it back to each sender. I know that as a Fa-rectification period Dafa disciple, what we cherish are grand wishes of validating the Fa and saving sentient beings, yet at the same time, we need to be strict with ourselves over even small things.
Over these years, sometimes I have done very well and sometimes I haven't done very well. Compared to Teacher's articles and the requirements of Dafa, and compared to diligent practitioners, I feel that I have lagged behind. However, I am determined to strive forward and do better, and I will be worthy of Teacher's benevolent saving grace.