(Clearwisdom.net) First of all, I would like to thank Minghui.org (the Chinese version of Clearwisdom.net) for providing me with this chance to write down my experiences. I have followed our Teacher during cultivation and the Fa-rectification period for the past 10 years. Only under Teacher's compassionate care have I been able to walk straight my path of cultivation.
I began practicing Falun Dafa in 1995. Before I started studying the Fa, I had a competitive spirit and a very jealous heart. I had a very rough childhood growing up. I always felt the world had been unfair to me. This self-pity had generated a lot of sickness karma. When a person reaches 30, he or she should be energetic and full of vigor, but I was full of disease. I had insufficient blood supply to my brain, neurasthenia, rheumatism, and heart disease. I was so frail that even the slightest wind could have blown me away. I was so ill between 1987 and 1990 that I had to take a three-year sick leave from work.
Soon after I started practicing Dafa, all my illnesses disappeared one by one and my spirits were lifted. My weight increased from 90-some pounds to 117 pounds! Now, I have more enthusiasm towards my job and household chores. Practicing Dafa made me feel like a different person. Now I can really enjoy a disease-free life. I have vowed to practice Falun Dafa diligently and follow Teacher all the way home.
After the persecution began in 1999, my husband's temper flared up and he wanted to prevent me from practicing Dafa. I told him solemnly that if there were only one person left in town that still practiced Dafa, that person would be me! Thinking back, what I told him may have contained a bit of a competitive mentality, but this thought has guided me along my cultivation path. As practitioners, with the guidance of Teacher and the Fa leading the way, we will become more mature and confident walking our paths of cultivation.
Filling One's Heart with Fa, One Won't Be Tempted By Personal Gain
In 2003, a fellow practitioner left his home to escape the persecution and came to Jilin Province to distribute truth-clarification materials. The local police arrested him. The police officer found me because I had communicated with this homeless practitioner. My husband feared that I would be imprisoned, so he advised me to get out of town to avoid the persecution. Living out of town, I met a fellow practitioner and another friend. Together we formed a partnership called the "Ginseng Business." During that period of time, I struggled with issues of money and profit. One can very easily get lost over human temptations of personal gain. In our business we bought inventory from local suppliers and sold it to outside collectors. Handling money and profits every day, I told my fellow practitioner, "We need to remind each other not succumb to an everyday person's desire for fame and fortune." We reminded ourselves to strive toward. We studied the Fa and practiced the exercises every day. It didn't matter how busy or tired we were. In business dealings, we reminded ourselves to follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, and not to forget our responsibilities. We always maintained our righteous thoughts and constantly clarified the truth to save sentient beings. We used our own good behavior to validate the greatness of the Fa and show the world how compassionate we were as Dafa practitioners.
Once I asked a ginseng vendor for the price of his ginseng. He replied, "I sold it to others for 16 yuan, but for you, 14 yuan." I didn't think the young man was kidding so I asked him, "Why sell it cheaper to me?" He said, "The other day I saw that when a buyer paid you too much, after you had finished counting, you gave the excess money back to him! In all my years in this market doing business, I have never encountered anyone like you! Those sellers, they'll try to cheat you if they can but you're not like that. You're a good person and that is why I would sell it to you for less!" I was so touched and told him, "I am a Falun Gong practitioner and try to follow the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance. Any and all Falun Gong practitioners you ever encounter will be just like me." His smile showed he understood my meaning. I was happy that he got to know the greatness of the Fa!
On another occasion, we were preparing our ginseng for the next day's market. We had paid a higher price for some of the ginseng and we worried we wouldn't make enough profit. So our non-practitioner partner mixed some low quality broken ginseng with it to increase the weight, so as not to incur greater losses. We had tried to talk her out of it but she would not listen. That night, my practitioner partner and I discussed it further and realized that such behavior in the business world is not unusual but we are Falun Dafa cultivators. We can't make that kind of profit. We waited until our non-practitioner friend fell asleep, then we picked out every piece of broken ginseng.
Maintain Righteous Thoughts, Keep a Harmonious Home Life
A few years after the persecution started, I discovered my husband was having an extramarital affair. The woman was married and 14 years younger than my husband. He always had a short temper, but now that he was having an extramarital affair, he constantly harassed and verbally abused me. He would not allow me to read "Minghui Weekly" or any other Dafa materials, nor would he allow me to socialize with other practitioners. He got upset whenever he saw me sending righteous thoughts. One day he came home after work and started searching through our house. When he found a copy of Minghui Weekly, the evil expression on his face could have scared off anyone. I thought to myself, "No one can scare me and no one can stop me from practicing Dafa." I also reminded myself, "A Buddha doesn't fight with human beings." I sent out a very strong righteous thought, "Disintegrate all evil that uses my domestic disputes to persecute me." After that, his temper tantrum subsided.
One night, he came home drunk and started cursing. I helped him inside the house and went to send righteous thoughts. He followed me into our bedroom and threw a tantrum again. I was sitting cross-legged and he pulled my legs apart and bent them backwards. I didn't have the opportunity to uncross my legs so I tumbled backwards. I set myself back up and continued sending righteous thoughts. He then unbuckled his belt and repeatedly hit me over the head. Seeing that I didn't budge no matter how hard he hit me, he finally walked away. I sent forth even stronger righteous thoughts to clear out the evil that possessed him.
On my cultivation path, my non-practitioner friends have often told me, "Your husband is doing unfaithful things and this and that." Sometimes I felt very sad. Once I was sharing my experiences with a fellow practitioner and this practitioner said, "The evil is trying to manipulate and destroy normal human beings like your husband. Consider him fortunate to have a practitioner for a wife! You have to save this sentient being."
After listening to this practitioner's advice, I felt embarrassed and a bit selfish. Thereafter, whenever I had bad thoughts about my husband, I studied the Fa diligently and used the Fa to broaden myself.
One time I was studying Zhuan Falun and came across these words:
"When I come to this ordinary human society, it's just like checking into a hotel for a few days. Then I leave in a hurry." "Some people are just obsessed with this place and have forgotten their own homes." (Zhuan Falun)
Suddenly I understood. Teacher was telling me that the environment I live in now is just a place for me to cultivate. If we live too passionately on Earth and we will not be able to follow Teacher to the origin. In this lifetime, my husband has played an important role in upgrading my xinxing. For his actions, how much virtue has he transferred to me? He wouldn't have done so if he had known the real situation. After realizing this, I was determined to use the Fa as guidance for my entire future cultivation path. I planned an appropriate time and had a long, careful discussion with my husband. It was the very first time I peacefully told my husband about the greatness of the Fa. I told him why we were born on this earth in this important time period and why human beings had to suffer through the cycles of birth, aging, sickness and death and that infidelity is a punishable sin. At last, we talked about quitting the Chinese Communist Party. I hadn't grasped the opportunity to tell him about this before. Master has said that when one's compassion arises, one will find that all human beings are suffering. During our discussion, I tried to make every word I said sound the most sincere. I wanted him to know that I really cared about his wellbeing. On the subject of denouncing the CCP, I told him, "Please listen carefully because I want to help you quit the evil Party. For you own sake, please denounce it now." He didn't reply right away, but I could see that he was seriously thinking about it. After a short silence, he replied, "I won't quit the Party yet but you will always be my wife and we will always live together." I was very happy and thanked Teacher for his benevolence and compassion. My husband's life now has hope. From then on, my husband's behavior and demeanor greatly improved. Later, when he was in a good mood, I once again asked him to resign his membership from the Party. This time he was happy to oblige.
After he withdrew from the Party, the demonic look on his face appeared less obvious. Whenever I sent righteous thoughts, I tried to eliminate the demons of lust and evil in other dimensions that interfere with him and hoped the "Omnipotence of the Fa" would influence his righteous thoughts. Nowadays, when I see some appropriate truth-clarification materials, I set them aside because he likes to take some time to seriously read them. He still fears for me when I go out to clarify the truth. He now says, "I'll do that for you." After he finishes reading the materials, he gives them to others to read. Now, in a more relaxed family environment, I can stand up proudly and do the things I need to do. Teacher said:
"But the things that arise from a Dafa disciple's thoughts are strong, and the higher the disciple's level, the more powerful and bigger the things that emerge out of his thoughts, and the longer they last." ("Teaching the Fa at the 2004 Western U.S. Fa Conference")
Teacher has empowered all Dafa practitioners with "Buddha's Supernormal Abilities." This is the reason why he asks us to send righteous thoughts to eliminate all evil in other dimensions. Our righteous thoughts are strong and contain powerful energy. Now that I have enlightened to this, I will be more tolerant toward his shortcomings. Nowadays, he is a very happy man and is constantly trying to persuade his friends to withdraw from the CCP, proudly telling them he has done the same.
To close, I would like to quote Teacher's words from "Teaching the Fa at the Western U.S. International Fa Conference" to encourage all practitioners:
"To walk this path well and progress to its end--nothing is more extraordinary. I say that because during the journey you will have hardships, tests of every sort, unforeseen ordeals, and you will have unexpected interference from all kinds of attachments and emotion. The interference will come from family, society, good friends, and even fellow cultivators. And along with this there is interference from changes in the state of human society and from human notions that were formed in society. All of those things can drag you back to being like an ordinary person. But if you can break through all of it, you can advance towards godhood. So as a cultivator, what is truly remarkable is when you can be steadfast and have righteous thoughts so firm that nothing can sway you. Be solid and firm like diamond, or granite, and then nothing can affect you--evil will be afraid at the mere sight of you. If upon encountering trying circumstances your thinking can be truly righteous, then, when faced with the evil's persecution and when faced with interference, just one sentence of yours fortified with steadfast righteous thoughts can instantly make the evil disintegrate (applause), and it will make those who are being used by the evil turn and flee, it will make the evil's persecution of you dissolve, and it will make the evil's interfering with you disappear without a trace. One thought born of righteous faith is all it takes. And whoever can hold firm that righteous thought and go the distance will become a magnificent god forged by Dafa."
If there are any shortcomings, please kindly point them out.
Views expressed in this article represent the author's own opinions or understandings. All content published on this website are copyrighted by Minghui.org. Minghui will produce compilations of its online content regularly and on special occasions.
