(Clearwisdom.net)
Revered Master! Fellow practitioners!
I began my Falun Dafa cultivation in 1995.
Teacher said in "Teaching the Fa at the Western U.S. Fa Conference" in 1999,
"While Dafa is spreading widely, it is a person's great fortune to get the life he has during this time when Dafa is spreading widely. (Applause) Those who I want to save, I will certainly give every one a chance. It's not easy to reincarnate into a lifetime when Dafa is spreading widely, or to encounter this Dafa. People are given a chance. But whether or not a person takes up cultivation is his own business. There are many regions that Dafa hasn't spread to, so people have to hold out and keep living in order to listen to the Fa at some point, at which time their minds will be examined to see how they respond. That's why letting people know about the Fa is of primary concern and is crucial."
I remembered the importance of telling people about Dafa, regardless of whether Dafa was being spread openly in China or practitioners were being persecuted. Hence, I explained to people about Dafa after the persecution began the same way as I did before the persecution. I did not want them to miss the opportunity they had waited for over many lifetimes.
One day, I was riding a motorcycle, carrying truth-clarifying material to a village when I saw an old man digging vegetables in a field. As I passed by him, Teacher's words from "Explaining the Fa During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference" appeared in my mind,
"What's held in Master's heart are all the people there are."
I immediately turned back and said to the old man, "Uncle! Are you digging up vegetables?" He replied, "You have something to tell me?" I said, "Uncle, I want to give you an amulet. Remember Falun Dafa is good. Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good. Be a good man. When a calamity appears, you will be saved with these words. What is said on television about Falun Gong are lies. Don't believe them." As I handed him the Dafa amulet, he used both hands to receive it. He was very excited and while looking into the sky, tears were flowing down his face and he said, "Sister! I am in good shape now. I have had a tough life, while waiting for this amulet. I was waiting here for this amulet." I was moved by his actions and in tears as well. I felt good that I had turned back and talked to this old man.
Whenever I took a taxi, I never missed an opportunity to clarify the facts about Falun Gong. One time, I gave a Dafa amulet to a driver. He said contemptuously, "Isn't this Falun Gong stuff?" I said yes and, noticing his look, I immediately asked Teacher for help to save this fellow. I sent forth righteous thoughts to remove the evil spirits that were controlling him. He asked me several questions and told me that he had worked for the 610 Office. I told him, "It does not matter which department you are with. It is your good fortune that I am telling you the facts about Falun Gong."
I told him how Dafa had been spread around the world, the facts about the April 25 appeal, and the facts behind the self-immolation at Tiananmen Square. Furthermore, that there is retribution for doing good or evil, and that the end for those who work against Dafa is very sad. After listening to me he said in a low voice, "Now I understand." I could tell that he was shaken up. He said with regret, "I was working for the 610 Office and did a lot of bad things against Falun Gong. Following orders from the Chinese Communist Party, I beat many Dafa disciples. After hearing this from you, I am really scared. I think it is not accidental that I changed my job. It was for me to stop doing bad things, so that I can be saved." As I stepped out of the taxi, I asked him whether he wanted to take the amulet. He said, "Of course and I thank you." I told him that he should thank our Teacher.
Have faith in Teacher and Dafa. Use righteous thoughts to remove interference from illness.
Within so many years of cultivation, I have encountered many tribulations which are difficult to describe. I also experienced many serious illnesses. However, by having faith in Dafa and using righteous thoughts to deny the arrangements of the old forces, I was able to overcome all of them.
In the latter part of 2007, my right arm was very sore as if it had been poked by a steel rod. Furthermore, my heart, chest and back felt like they were on fire. I did not dare to touch the skin of my right arm and could not do the Falun Gong exercises. When I removed my clothes, I could not put them back on. Hence, I slept with my clothes on. When I laid down, I could not move the right side of my body. Any attempt to move my right arm was so painful that cold sweat appeared all over my body and I had to squat down.
In the early stage of having a sore arm, I was confident that with the guidance of Teacher and the Dafa principles, I could overcome any problem. I insisted on doing the three things and continued to do all my daily chores. By early 2008, my work load increased and when I tried to do my work as well as I could, conflicts began to show. My husband was not happy with me and we had a lot of arguments. My son also complained about me. At that time, I was looking at things from a human standpoint and did not look within to locate the real cause. I just felt bad and found life to be unbearable.
I cried and shouted at my son, "In this life, I have done all the chores. I cook every day for all of you, but instead of appreciating it, you try to find fault with me. My life is truly rough!" My son replied, "You are the only lucky person in this family." "How do you justify that statement?" I asked, and he replied, "Because you have Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance." I was shocked to hear that, and all this time I had been looking at things like an ordinary person. Wasn't this a message from Teacher in order to wake me up? It was like stated in the book, Zhuan Falun,
"Therefore, a lot of these cases often take place when people regard their suffering in life as being unfair. Many people drop down this way."
During this period I did not focus on improving my character. This could have been the reason why my illness did not get better. I calmed down and studied the Dafa principles, started to look within and sent forth righteous thoughts to remove my human notions. These notions were not part of me. Teacher said in Essentials for Further Advancement,
"Pacify the External by Cultivating the Internal"
After I improved my character, my family environment improved as well.
However, my illness stayed the same. I sent forth righteous thoughts to remove all evil spirits that were sent by the old forces, but it did not help. One morning, while I was paying my respects to Teacher by burning incense, tears were flowing from my eyes. I was hoping that Teacher would give me a hint.
As I finished paying my respects, the following statement from Teacher's, "Lecture at the First Conference in North America, 1998," came to my mind,
"Sometimes I think about when a student can't pass a test and pitifully looks at my picture with tears in his eyes, begging in his mind for Teacher to help him by further eliminating his difficulties or freeing him from the misfortune. But do you know what I think? Had I taken away that tribulation for you, you would lose the opportunity to make progress."
In addition, these statements appeared in my mind as well, which Teacher mentioned in "Teaching the Fa in the City of Los Angeles in 2006,"
"If your mind is unsteady, that means you are not meeting the standard to begin with, and prolonging the process won't lead to any changes. And if someone holds out for the purpose of saving face, that is adding attachments on top of attachments. In such cases there are only two choices: You either go to the hospital and thus give up on trying to overcome the test, or you completely let go of everything, behave like an upstanding and noble Dafa disciple who has no resentment or attachments, and leave it to Master to arrange whether you stay or go. When you are able to do that, you are a god."
"If the righteous thoughts of somebody are not strong during his cultivation, he won't be able to pass his tests well and they will drag on. Also, when he's not able to achieve strong righteous thoughts, his confidence will be weakened. Haven't some people lost confidence and even arrived at crooked "realizations" as a result? Sometimes you only think about wanting Master to spell out the Fa even more explicitly, but that is no substitute for cultivation if a student still lacks steadfast faith in the Fa principles. Of course, on the other hand, Dafa disciples who have strong righteous thoughts and whose faith becomes only more steadfast after they grasp Fa principles will make it through any trial."
I asked myself, "Have I reached the state that is free from grudges and attachments?" The answer was, no. Although I didn't go to the hospital, I was pursuing an illness-free state. To have a pursuit was holding onto an attachment. This was why my illness did not go away. When I reached the stage of being free from the grudges and attachments associated with this particular illness, my action was in line with the Dafa principles and the illness vanished on its own.
Have fellow practitioners assist Teacher
Teacher said in "Touring North America to Teach the Fa, 2002,"
"Your cultivation is saving the countless sentient beings in the cosmic body that corresponds to you and who've put infinite hope in you. The cultivation of you all is saving the sentient beings in every single gigantic cosmic colossal firmament."
"If you don't cultivate well, many beings will be weeded out, and when you reach Consummation, when you return to your place, you'll find that an extremely large number of beings who at one time put infinite hope in you have been weeded out. Then in this cosmic colossal firmament, it's very possible that the cosmic bodies you represent will be in a broken and incomplete state, and countless sentient beings will have been weeded out."
After reading these lectures, I understood that I should cultivate well and at the same time save sentient beings. Furthermore, I needed to wake up those practitioners who were not acting this way.
One day, I was carrying truth-clarifying materials to a town. A fellow practitioner there told me that practitioner A was not able to overcome his illness and had an operation in a hospital. After returning home from the hospital, he spent all his time in regret, so that he could no longer study the Fa, send forth righteous thoughts, nor sleep normally at night. I wanted to talk to him and we met by the roadside when he was on his way to see someone for healing.
All three of us went together to practitioner A's house. He was crying and said, "Teacher does not want to take me as a Dafa disciple anymore." I replied also in tears, "You should not look at Teacher this way. He has great compassion for all beings." Teacher said in the "Fa-Lecture During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference,"
"It's not a big deal if you haven't done well. Just do things well next time and try to find out where the problem was. There's a prominent phenomenon in you folks' cultivation, which is, after you haven't done something well, you're only overwhelmed with regret, and you don't do it over. If you regret it too much then that's another attachment. Once you've done something wrong, seen where it was wrong, and recognized it, then do it well next time, do it over. If you trip and fall, and just keep lying there instead of getting up, (audience laughs) then that's no good."
I said, "Teacher has made it clear what you should do. You must stand up and start to be a diligent practitioner again. Spend more time to study the Fa and send forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the interference." He replied, "Starting now, I shall never look to others again for healing and spend more time to study the Fa."
Practitioner A's wife is also a practitioner, but was busy with work to make a living. She did not help him improve his character. This being the case, I spoke to his wife and asked her to study the Fa together with her husband.
The next time I went to their town with truth-clarifying materials, I saw practitioner A again. He told me that he and his wife were getting a divorce. I met with both of them and said, "I heard you are planning a divorce. I am very sad. You are Teacher's senior disciples. Instead of spending time to do the three things, you spend time to damage the image of Dafa. Not only can you not face Teacher, but you also cannot face yourselves." Upon hearing what I said, they both cried. I told them in tears, "Teacher has gone through countless difficulties and painful events trying to save us and hopes that we will improve our character." After this short sharing they decided to give up on their divorce and went back home to initiate group studies.
They did indeed organize group studies and gradually became mature practitioners. With Teacher's guidance and the power of Dafa, practitioner A finally stood on his own. He suffered serious stomachaches again and was rolling on the ground with pain. However, through an improved understanding of the Fa principles, he overcame the illness. This event allowed him to establish faith in Dafa and made him a more devoted practitioner.
Over the years, whenever I heard of or got in contact with practitioners who needed help, I felt obligated to share my understanding of Dafa with them. This gave us all an opportunity to become more mature in understanding the principles so that we could complete our own historical missions in saving sentient beings.
After more than ten years of cultivation, my family has experienced a significant change for the better. My husband, who was against cultivation, has become a devoted practitioner. My children also support our Dafa practice. Furthermore, my husband has taken over all family chores to give me more time to validate Dafa. Fellow practitioners admire me for being able to devote myself wholeheartedly to Dafa activities. I know this is the result of Teacher's arrangements. I am most grateful and thankful to Teacher for offering salvation to me with so much compassion.
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