(Clearwisdom.net) I am a practitioner in Kaifeng City, Henan Province. I started practicing Falun Dafa in 1997. I could not have come this far under the persecution by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) without Teacher's merciful protection. I don't write very well, but I still would like to write about my experiences in cultivating, to share with fellow practitioners so we can advance together.
Teacher said in "Fa Teaching in New York 2007," "...because all professions in the human world and all settings are your cultivation site." From this I understand that in our cultivation, we need to first harmonize our family environment. Since the authorities blacklisted me in my role as a local coordinator when the persecution first started in 1999, I have been detained and fined and my home ransacked. Our peaceful family life has been destroyed. Because the authorities periodically harassed me, and our child was growing up without consistent attention and supervision, my husband could not take it anymore. He verbally and physically abused me on a regular basis, which interfered with my activities in saving people.
However, I know my husband well and knew that he believed in Falun Dafa. He saw me off at the station when I went to Tiananmen Square to validate the Fa and supported me in clarifying the truth about Falun Dafa. During the Chinese New Year when I was jailed, he took care of our child and had only instant noodles for New Year's eve. He had a miserable holiday without me but he didn't complain. When he heard that we needed money to produce "truth-clarification" materials, he gave me 5,000 yuan. Despite all this, he tried very hard to prevent me from getting in touch with fellow practitioners and there was great tension between us. I knew that what I was doing to validate the Fa and save sentient beings was absolutely righteous and sacred. What had gone wrong?
Our marital conflicts continued until one day I realized that I should look inward for my own shortcomings. Practitioners should think about others first. I gradually found my own shortcomings. I tended to leave Dafa materials lying around, which worried him and yet I did not even realize it. Sometimes I was overzealous and felt that I was righteous and the evil could do nothing to me. My husband would then yell at me. I realized that it was all because I didn't do well in my cultivation. What do ordinary people look at? They look at what we say and what we do. If we don't do well, we end up doing harm to Dafa. If we can attest to the beauty of Dafa to people by having a happy family, we will validate Dafa. Once I came to this understanding, my husband did not interfere with me anymore. We even set up a study group in my home. With his support, all my truth-clarification activities went very smoothly.
Teacher not only saves practitioners, he has not given up on anybody in this world. As long as people have kind thoughts toward Dafa, Teacher will save them, even when they are on the brink of death.
My brother, for example, had been very hostile to Falun Dafa and refused to hear the truth. One winter, he hitchhiked home and got a ride on a truck, sitting atop a full load of color TV sets. The truck got into an accident and fell into a ditch. The boxes fell on top of my brother, crushing him, and his head was covered with broken glass. He was unconscious. I went to the hospital. Everybody, including his wife, was very worried but did not know what to do. I was worried, too, but I thought about Teacher. I carefully raised my brother's head and whispered to him, "Can you hear me? Say to yourself, 'Falun Dafa is good.' Dafa can save you and our Teacher can save you." I also asked my sister-in-law to say the same and told her that only Dafa could save him at this point.
A miracle happened. My brother was discharged from the hospital after one week. All the patients in his ward and the doctors thought this was incredible. As a result, many of our relatives and friends changed their opinion of Falun Dafa. After something happened that benefited my mother, she decided to take up Falun Gong.
I have many opportunities to talk to high school students in my job, so I often speak to them about the truth of Falun Gong and try to persuade them to quit the CCP and/or its affiliated organizations. One day when I was talking to a girl about Falun Gong, she said, "Auntie, I know Falun Gong because my grandpa tried it before." Then she went on to tell me that he gave up because he was afraid of being sent to the labor camp and implicating his family members. After a period of time, she came back to tell me that her grandpa was dying and that she would not be able to come to see me for a while. I said to her, "Please ask your grandpa to have faith in our Teacher and tell him to say in his mind, 'Falun Dafa is good' and our Teacher will help him for sure." I was very serious and she nodded.
A few days later, the girl came back and was very emotional when she saw me. She told me that when she went to the hospital, her grandpa could not speak anymore. The doctors were urging the family to prepare his funeral. She whispered to her grandpa, "Grandpa, why don't you continue with Falun Gong? Some lady said that Teacher could save you." He shook his head and her parents yelled at her. She said sternly to her parents that they didn't even care about Grandpa's life. She then said to him again, "You have nothing to lose. Just say in your mind, 'Falun Dafa is good.' Be sure to do that." He nodded. Then a miracle happened: he said that he was hungry and had a bowl of soup. For a long time, he had not even had a drop of water. Two days later, he was discharged from the hospital as if nothing had happened. The girl wanted me to find her a copy of Zhuan Falun and the exercise video. Her grandpa has resumed his cultivation and her family was so impressed that they would not interfere with his practice.
Teacher said in one of his lectures: "What does 'saving all beings' mean? Though gods left behind this culture to mankind, they didn't truly go about such a thing [as saving all beings]. I am doing so, however, and now it is you, too--the Dafa disciples--who are saving all beings. And you are doing it for all of mankind (applause), saving people on a comprehensive scale. ( "Fa Teaching at the 2007 New York Fa Conference") Teacher asked us to save people on a comprehensive scale, so we should do it wholeheartedly.
We don't have many practitioners in our area but so many people need saving. We feel that we have a great mission. We post messages in public places, anything that may work. We try not to miss anyone who may have a predestined relationship with Dafa. We already have covered an area of 900 square kilometres many times, rain or shine.
Once I went out with an elderly fellow practitioner to pass out truth-clarification materials in a village. We planned the details and started out at night. As soon as we got to the village, problems arose: there are many dogs in this rural area, and they barked at any movement. So we sent forth righteous thoughts and asked for Teacher's help to eliminate the evil elements. When we got to a house, a dog jumped out as if it was going to bite us. I said in my mind, "Doggie, doggie, you are also a life. We came to save people. If your master gets saved, you will get saved, too. Don't bark, go away." The dog stopped barking right away and walked back to the house. Looking back, it was really miraculous. It really is, just as Teacher said, that everything in the Three Realms was created and exists for Fa-rectification. As long as we can be righteous in our thoughts and actions, miracles can happen.
One practitioner shared in an article on the Minghui website (Chinese version of Clearwisdom): "It is Teacher who is saving sentient beings. As practitioners, we are just opening our mouths and moving our limbs, simply leading someone, for example, who has a predestined relationship to listen to the truth. Only if we follow the requirements of the Fa and save people are we able to assist Teacher and to live up to the title of Dafa disciples."
Let me end my article with Teacher's poem "Tathagata" to encourage myself to advance diligently.
"He comes with Truth that gives him free reign
And travels the four seas with a free and easy spirit
The Fa's principles spread throughout the world
His Fa Boat sets sail, loaded full with sentient beings"
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