(Clearwisdom.net) Greetings, Master! Greetings to all the Dafa disciples around the world!
Overcoming Difficult Tribulations by Believing in Master and Dafa
I became a young Dafa disciple in 1997. It's been more than 10 years now. Back then my mom took me to the practice site every day to study theFa and do the exercises. Because I had a predestined relationship with Dafa, when the group read the Fa, I listened carefully. When the group did the exercises, I mimicked the movements at home. I once did the seated position with my legs crossed and hands conjoined for my dad to take pictures. "Do you also know how to sit in the lotus position?" My mom couldn't help laughing. Because I was just a little child, I was allowed to study the Fa and do the exercises only when I had interest in doing so. This situation went on for several years.
Then the persecution started in 1999. One day after the exercises, my mom brought home a group of people to plan a trip to Beijing. The majority of them were women my grandma's age. They insisted on going to the provincial government instead. "It doesn't matter where we go," my mom commented, "As long as we follow Master's words and go out when the critical time comes." I heard the entire conversation and thought that if the group decided to go, I'd go as well. So I said, "Mom, I want to join you." She replied, "I was just concerned about whom to leave you with." So we bought train tickets to leave that day. There were policemen everywhere. My mom took charge of this special group, which consisted of both the elderly and the young. She asked everybody to pack extra clothes and food, as nobody knew how long the sitting protest would last.
Judging by our luggage, the police thought we were just visitors. We were able to get to the provincial government safely. However, the building and its surrounding areas were packed with fully equipped policemen and police cars. The local people had all run away, and Dafa disciples had already been arrested. Our bus went around the building again and again. My mom made the decision to not let anyone get off the bus, so we went back without doing anything. Everybody felt extremely sad at the train station.
My school started spreading the Red Terror as well. There were daily articles and broadcasts that slandered Dafa. I almost wanted to quit school. There was once this anti-Falun Gong name signing event that everyone had to attend. I told my mom that I didn't wish to go to school anymore because the school encouraged all the students to commit wrong deeds against Dafa. My mom thought I was still too young to quit school, so she removed the ink from the pen and handed it to me in order to go through the signing formality. I didn't take the pen. I went back to school to wait in line. There was a group of teachers sitting at the signing table supervising the process. I kept my hands in my pockets and walked through.
One day the school wanted every student to give a speech to criticize Falun Gong. Nobody raised his or her hand in my class, so the teacher had to call names. I was never an outspoken person, but I was the first one to be called. I realized this was a golden opportunity to clarify the truth, so I rushed to the front and started pouring out the truth: that Falun Dafa taught us to be better people, that Master required every practitioner to follow the principle of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, and that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has performed bad deeds since its inception, ranging from stealing from its own people to cracking down against its "internal" enemy through numerous political movements, one after another.
Everybody, including the teacher, was speechless. Even I didn't know how I became so talkative. The teacher finally came to her senses and dismissed the class. Afterwards she called me to her office. "So you practice Falun Gong," she said. "This is horrible. You scared me to death. How come you were so brave today? Does your mom practice, too? You are just a kid. How could you practice?" I told the teacher that Falun Gong could cure illnesses and improve health. I used to have rhinitis when I was in kindergarten. My mom took me to numerous doctors and I tried numerous treatments. We spent lots of money, but in vain. I didn't practice Falun Gong seriously. Oftentimes I just did the sitting meditation and listened to the Fa with my mom, but my rhinitis was cured. I used to be a heavy meat eater and didn't want to touch rice or vegetables. Falun Gong helped me get rid of that bad habit. Whenever I ate meat, I'd have a tummy ache, and now my mom was very happy with my balanced diet. I had lots of stories to tell. Before long, the next class was up. The teacher asked my mom to come to school the next day.
My mom clarified the truth to her the next day. She brought along Zhuan Falun to let the teacher read it. The teacher read the book and said, "The book is great, but I dare not practice. I'm a widow, and my whole family depends on me. Being a state-wide model teacher, I don't want to take risks." Several years later, the movement to quit the CCP started. When my mom saw her again, the teacher agreed to quit the CCP for her entire family.
Letting Go of Emotion and Saving Sentient Beings
My mom and I were attached to each other. Her eyes never left me, even when she was watching TV. She cared too much about me, to the point that it annoyed me. However, I didn't have the heart to tell her so, and I gradually developed the attachment as well.
One night my mom went out to distribute informational materials about the persecution of Falun Gong. I got worried when she didn't come home after midnight. I sent her a text message asking where she was. She didn't respond. I tried again but still received no response. As I didn't want to call her cell phone to interfere with her distribution efforts, the only thing I could do was to send forth righteous thoughts. "Master," I said to myself, "I want my mom to come home safely. I miss her."
At two o'clock in the morning, my mom finally came home. The moment she entered the room, I started questioning her, "Why did you come home so late?" She replied, "I just finished saving people." I replied, "Well, you always managed to come home before midnight before. Why didn't you return my call?" My mom said, "I didn't have time to return your call." I held back my tears and said, "Do you know that I have sent forth righteous thoughts for you three times?" My mom started laughing and went to sleep right after washing-up. I couldn't sleep at all. In the past she cared so much about me and always nagged me. Yet that day she wasn't even bothered by my feelings of distress. Then I thought of an incident that had occurred two days before. She was soaked by rain when she came home around midnight. I used a towel to help her dry her clothes and asked, "Couldn't you find shelter or get a ride home?" She only replied, "Traveling between wind and rain." I started to get mad at her--how could she be so selfish and not care about my feelings?
Suddenly the words "saving lives" started flashing in my mind. I recalled what I had just read from Master's article,
"Everything in the world was established and created for the Fa-rectification, and Dafa disciples are the great figures of our time. Since ancient times the beings in all realms have waited in anticipation. Gather up and rescue the beings that you are to save!" ("To the European Fa Conference in Stockholm," June 12, 2005)
I started to regret getting angry at my mom. She couldn't live her life just for me. She had her own mission. I was ashamed of my attachment to emotions.
Our family home was one of the many blossoming truth-clarification materials production centers. My mom used to know nothing about computers, but when she was with me, she wanted to try it all, from truth-clarification cards to the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party, from Master's books and lectures to CDs, calendars and Minhui Weekly. Initially I wasn't interested in computers, but she pushed me to help her with the cover, color selection, layout, etc.--using computer technology. If she wasn't satisfied with the outcome, I'd have to change it over and over. If the equipment broke, I'd have to find ways to fix it. She treated me as a Mr. Know-It-All. Looking back, it must have been wisdom given by Master that enabled me to overcome so many technical difficulties.
Helping Fellow Practitioners to Return to the Fa
One day my mom was asked to reach out to a fellow practitioner who remained isolated after a 4-year illegal detention. My mom wanted to turn down the task because of her already busy schedule. But then she learned that the practitioner had a boy my age that was reported to the police (by people unaware of the truth) when he went out with his mom to distribute truth-clarification materials. The incident had a huge impact on him. My mom instantly related the child to me--I was helping her with Dafa activities the same year the incident occurred. She agreed to visit the family, as she was sympathetic towards the child.
When she got there, only the mother and son greeted her. The husband had divorced the wife after years of persecution. My mom said, "I'll bring my son tomorrow so we can study the Fa together. What do you think?" The practitioner replied, "It would be great if my son would be willing to study the Fa again. He used to be very diligent, but after the incident, he completely changed. Playing games at night, sleeping in the daytime, and drinking alcohol and smoking. He is no different than an ordinary person. I've given up hope for him."
The next night, I went to visit them with my mom. Despite his mom's calling him, he remained unmoved and kept on playing computer games in his room. In order to get his attention, I raised my voice and started asking why Master taught the Fa at the current stage, saying that we came to this life only for the purpose of the Fa, and asked why we needed to assist Master in rectifying the Fa and saving people. I also added some topics of interest to my generation.
He didn't come out in the first night. On the second and third nights, I tried again, but he didn't budge. On the way home, my mom felt discouraged, "Let's not waste our time on him. I don't think he wants to study again." I didn't know where my confidence came from, but I replied "Let's not get agitated, Mom. Give it a couple more days; I'm sure he'll join us."
On the fourth day he went out with his friends. On the fifth day when we asked him to come join us, he slowly showed up. We suggested studying the Fa together. He turned down our suggestion. He said he only wanted to listen, but not study. My mom said, "How could a Dafa disciple not study the Fa? Let's do it!" From that day on, we formed our study group. The young fellow practitioner has been very diligent and has believed in Master and the Fa ever since he returned. He has held himself to a high standard and done the three things diligently.
Now he leads his mom in their daily practice--they start the day by doing the exercises at 3:50 a.m., sending forth righteous thoughts at 5:50 a.m., reciting the Fa in the morning, studying the Fa and Master's lectures at night, and end by sending forth righteous thoughts at midnight. On top of this, he still has a daytime job. I was so happy to see him so diligent. Master said, "Cultivation depends on one's own efforts, while the transformation of gong is done by one's master." ("Lecture One" in Zhuan Falun) If one has this wish, Master will help him. There is no tribulation that cannot be overcome.
There are so many stories I have wanted to write down. Human language falls short in expressing my gratitude to Master. I am determined to do the three things well every day to fulfill the holy mission bestowed upon us by Dafa, so that I won't disappoint Master who has mercifully labored to save us.
Heshi.
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