(Clearwisdom.net)
In the Spring of 1998, I came across the Truth of the universe -- Falun Dafa. I was attracted to the profound principles and content in the book "Zhuan Falun" and began to practice. I was a person with a lot of karma, but through Teacher's arrangement and protection, I moved from the immoral society onto the divine path of practice. Initially, I let Teacher worry, and I did not work hard. Teacher does not want to give up on any students, and he gave me the opportunity to improve myself. I cherish this precious opportunity and wish to share my experience with fellow practitioners and thank Teacher for his compassionate salvation.
1. Having Faith in Teacher and Dafa, and Improving Myself
I was sick a lot when I was a child, plus my family was poor. I grew up to be a very sensitive, sentimental and fragile person. I had pondered where we came from, where we were going and what was the meaning of life. After learning Dafa, I found my answers and decided to follow Teacher and return to my true self. I wanted to be a good person by following Truth, Compassion, and Forbearance. Teacher purified my body, and for the first time, I knew how it felt not to be sick. I started to face my life positively. I stopped listening to wild rock and roll music and sentimental popular music. I no longer went to places like movie theaters and dance clubs. I gradually let go of evil elements which had draped around me. When I was just learning how to do the sitting meditation, my neighbor often played loud popular music. I immediately read the Fa and tried to eliminate the interference with righteous thoughts. After reducing my attachment to pop music, this kind of interference disturbed me less. Now it does not bother me at all. It is truly like Teacher's writing in "Abiding in the Dao":
"Looking, but caring not to see--
Free of delusion and doubt.
Listening, but caring not to hear--
A mind so hard to disturb." (Hong Yin)
At my job as a government worker, everyone used to be slow and passed responsibilities to someone else. After I practiced Falun Gong, I seriously took care of everything at work. Because I was nice and worked hard, my colleagues often asked me to help them. A good friend said, "You are too honest and that is why you get a lot of work to do during your shift." I told him that I did not care because I practice Falun Gong. I had the same cooperative attitude when working with others. People noticed these changes in me and often accepted my truth clarification about the persecution of Falun Gong.
After I had a baby, he became the focus of my life. I was very worried whenever I saw my child get sick and immediately thought of going to a doctor. Teacher gave me hints by not letting me find the doctor I wanted or not letting me find the prescribed medicine. I finally understood after I read Teacher's lecture "Teaching the Fa at the Fa Conference in Australia",
"But among those who cultivate Dafa, often there are many families who have children, and it's very likely that they are no ordinary children. Before reincarnating, the child knows--"This family will study Dafa in the future. I want to reincarnate into this family"--in which case it's very likely that he might have an extraordinary background."
I let go of my attachment and treated my child as a practitioner. I sent righteous thoughts for him and read the Fa to him. My child turned out to be fine with Teacher's protection.
2. Righteous Thoughts and Righteous Behavior to Improve Myself while Saving Sentient Beings
Through constantly studying the Fa. I felt the importance in doing the three things well. The first thing that bothered me was clarifying the truth to save sentient beings. The fear hidden inside me even made me feel scared the first time I saw a persecution report in the Minghui Weekly. I was ashamed of myself for being timid, cowardly, and selfish. I tried to eliminate the bad elements through reading Teacher's new articles over and over. At last, Teacher's words awoke me,
"As Dafa disciples in this persecution, how you overcome the persecution that the old forces have forced upon us and negate the arrangements by the old forces, how you manage to walk the path of Dafa disciples righteously, how you save sentient beings during this persecution--all of these are responsibilities bestowed upon Dafa disciples by history. Dafa disciples must do those things and do them well. What's happened proves that you have done very well; shaken the cosmos, and shocked all the sentient beings in the cosmos. " ("Explaining the Fa at the 2003 Washington DC Fa Conference")
I knew I had to step forward if I was to deserve the title of being a Dafa practitioner during the Fa rectification period.
The first time I went out at night to distribute fliers with my husband, when I saw police cars patrolling, I became too scared to distribute fliers. The two of us were frightened and only walked around the neighborhood. Suddenly my husband received a call from our neighbor saying that our house was leaking. We got home and found the floor flooded with water coming from an open faucet. Teacher was telling us that we had weakness in our hearts and we shouldn't be afraid of doing the most righteous thing in the world. I immediately sent righteous thoughts at home to eliminate all the evil. I asked Teacher to help us by letting the sentient beings see the fliers and understand the truth and have the evils overlook the fliers. With strong righteous thoughts in our mind, the fear went away. We put fliers under the doors of shops along the streets and no one saw us. By the time we got home it was late night. I was pregnant at the time. Normally I felt discomfort due to the pregnancy but that evening I was so energetic and did not even notice the blister under my foot. Teacher had helped me to take the first step in clarifying the truth.
In the beginning, I went in the streets to talk with people with another practitioner. Often one of us would talk while the other sent righteous thoughts. Gradually I became comfortable clarifying the truth alone. In the process, I discovered my attachments of fear, shyness, zealotry, focusing solely on the outcome, and not wanting to get hurt. I eliminated them little by little. The first time I persuaded a couple to quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), I only had to say a few words to them after they read Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party and "The Real Story of Jiang Zemin". I knew Teacher wanted to encourage me and let it be easy for me the first time. I was determined and confident because I knew Teacher was always helping. One time I talked to a lady who sold me vegetables. When I was about to explain the facts to her, a lot of people came to buy things from her and she was distracted and busy. I decided to walk around and wait. When I came back to her spot, she had already sold everything. I offered to walk with her. I told her about Falun Dafa, and she soon agreed to quit the CCP. I realized saving people requires determination and patience.
Last year, a person came from my home town to work in my husband's company. He refused to listen to the truth. A relative from my hometown called us and told us to stay away from him because he was so and so. I did not want to give up this opportunity because I believed this was a predestined relationship. The first time he came to our house, I played a truth-clarification CD in front of him. He did not believe it and said it was impossible. The second time he came to visit, I told him about cases of persecution in our local area and talked to him about quitting the CCP. He smiled and said, "It's not a big deal. I only wear the CCP's skin." The third time he came, I treated him warmly and comforted him. He was very moved and said that we were such good people because we practice Falun Gong. I quickly said, "Yes. The CCP is so evil that it even tortures good people like us. Why don't you remove that CCP skin you have." He agreed, "Yes, it's time. Please help me quit the CCP."
3. Not Being Proud and Improving
One time a practitioner and I were imprisoned while we worked on a rescue project. It looked like any day we could be sent to a forced labor camp. Initially I was regretful and depressed like I had been beaten. I thought about my husband and my young child. I lost a lot of weight. I dreamed that my companion practitioner asked me, "Will you take all this with you when you reach consummation? We have a Teacher, and he will make the best arrangement for us." I woke up and we began to send righteous thoughts intensively and reciting Hong Yin. In my mind, I reassured Teacher, "I am so sorry I did not do well this time. When I get out, I will seize every moment to study the Fa and not get lost in everyday people's affairs. I want to save more people and validate the Fa. Though I did not do well, the old forces are unworthy to test me. I am Teacher's student, and I only listen to Teacher."
During the prison time, I again witnessed the magnificence and miracle of Dafa. A drug addict moved to our cell. She had tried to quit taking drugs many times but had not succeeded. She was restless and had not slept for seven days. Seeing her in such pain, we told her to recite "Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good." She agreed, and that night she slept peacefully for several hours. The next day we told her to quit the CCP, and she agreed immediately. The rest of the people in the same cell learned how to recite the nine words and asked to quit the CCP as well. A woman even saw Teacher's face when she recited the nine words. They covered for us while we did the exercises and sent righteous thoughts. They protected us from other prisoners. All of this was Teacher's compassionate protection allowing us to save sentient beings. After a few days, we left the prison with the respect of the other prisoners.
4. Not Being Dependent and Learning Computer Skills
I held the misconception that learning computer skills was time consuming and that men learn these things better than women. With these notions, I stayed away from computers. I couldn't even read the words very well from the screen. Later my husband learned how to get on Dafa websites, and he read the articles and made truth-clarifying materials. I didn't think to ask him to teach me these skills. Eventually, my husband was required to go on a long business trip and I found myself alone. Before he left, he had put some instructions for me in the computer and even taught me a few basic skills. Little by little while listening to him explain how to use the computer, I felt as if my brain grew. I was still afraid I would forget something, and I expected a new test would happen after he left.
The first time I tried to turn on the computer, it made only strange sounds. I asked a friend who knew computers, and he told me it might be a loose memory stick. He explained what I should look for, and I went home. I pulled the memory stick out, cleaned the dust off, plugged it back, and the computer worked! However, several days later the same problem began happening frequently, and I became exhausted. I suddenly remembered to send righteous thoughts to the computer. I eliminated my bad notions about computers and my fear of operating them. I then cleaned all interference in the computer from validating the Fa. I told the computer to bring its divine skills into full play, and it was its glory to be chosen to do Dafa work. I also promised to cherish the computer. Afterward, I tried the computer and it worked normally!
With the will to learn computers and strong righteous thoughts, I overcame these difficulties and learned many new computer skills. Now I wonder why I ever considered these skills difficult. I realize that learning these skills was mainly just a process of practicing them. I discovered I had held several attachments such as fearing trouble, fearing new problems, and fearing wasting time. I gradually got rid of all these attachments. I learned that when I enhance my character, other problems easily get resolved. In fact, the process of perfecting a skill is also the process of enhancing my character.
Teacher said in Zhuan Falun,
"To tell you the truth, the entire cultivation process for a practitioner is one of constantly giving up human attachments."
I did many things that were not totally based on the Fa, but I could feel Teacher's protection. I improved myself in the process of doing all Dafa tasks. I want to share my experience. Please point out anything that is not correct.
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