(Clearwisdom.net) I am an elderly Falun Gong practitioner with a limited education. I have realized that as a practitioner, I should validate Dafa whenever given the chance. In my understanding, sharing my cultivation experiences is a way to do this. So, despite my poor writing skills, I consider it my responsibility.
I Have Been Fortunate to Practice Falun Gong
I have always had a difficult life. My mother passed away when I was just one year old and my stepmother abused me. She tried to kill me several times, but I survived. I believed in heaven. After I got married, I started to worship many Buddha statues that I had at home. I begged for their protection, yet I continued to lead a difficult life. I suffered from many types of illnesses, which made me sluggish all of the time. I would have fits toward my husband and my child, and I felt that my life was meaningless. During the last six months of 1995, someone brought me a copy of a book called Falun Gong. At the time I believed that I was under the protection of many Buddhas and that a mere book would not make any difference. Since I had very little education, reading a book was very difficult, so I put it aside without reading it.
Everything changed on the morning of January 2, 1996. My family was watching TV, and I went to my child's room because I was feeling tired. After a while, I noticed a book lying on the windowsill. I turned the cover and started flipping through the pages. All of sudden, I felt that Teacher's photo in the book was talking to me. I looked at the photo again and felt Teacher looking at me as though He was actually in the room with me. He looked as though He was going to say something. His eyes sparkled. For some unknown reason, I felt sad and started to cry. After a while, I looked at the photo again and saw Teacher smiling at me kindly. I felt as though a light had brightened my world. I felt very comfortable from head to toe. Suddenly I realized: “Isn't this my teacher?” I was ecstatic; I found a teacher who would guide me on the path of cultivation. I started reading Falun Gong right away. Since then I have been practicing Falun Gong. I got rid of those other Buddha statues in my home and have been practicing only Falun Gong.
The Buddha Fa in the teachings of Falun Gong has answered many of the questions that I had not been able to answer for many years. I realized that all of my miseries resulted from the karma I had created. I finally understood why I had such a difficult life. I strived to follow Teacher's Fa and Falun Gong's principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance. I studied the Fa whenever I was free and practiced Falun Gong exercises every day. I felt very happy. Before I even realized it, I became healthy and was completely free of illness. I was able to walk nimbly and stopped being peevish. I became consistently happy. My husband and child said that I was a new person.
Falun Gong is miraculous. One day I was lying in bed when I felt myself stretching. Then my body elevated slowly. I was frightened. My body went up and then came down again repeatedly. This went on for a while. I have often seen many small beautiful Falun's before my eyes. Teacher must have been encouraging me when he granted me this celestial vision.
There were only about a dozen Falun Gong practitioners in my area at the time, but each one had steadfast faith in Falun Gong. One day I dreamed of a rock smiling at me. The rock had a pair of eyes and fat lips. I could even tell that the eyes were like Asian eyes with a double eyelid. When I woke up, I realized that Teacher was hinting to me that I should introduce Falun Gong to more people. Falun Gong practitioners in my area would join fellow practitioners from other areas and practice the exercises in public squares on Sundays. The number of Falun Gong practitioners kept growing, as more and more people joined our group practice. I could see a giant Falun in the air above our group practice site, radiating in red. After each group practice, I would be reluctant to leave; I'd much rather stay in the energy field.
Persevering in Practicing and Validating Falun Dafa Despite the Persecution
Who could have known the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) would ban such a wonderful cultivation practice? I felt so terrible that no words could describe it. The entire Chinese society was under the influence of the CCP's hateful propaganda against Falun Gong. My family started to oppose Falun Gong. I went to the neighborhood committee and a woman there explained to me that there were orders coming from above her. She personally thought that Falun Gong was good. She advised me not to be upset. The interaction between fellow practitioners changed, and we lost the cultivation environment. Every practitioner faced an unprecedented tribulation. I felt alone, lost, and helpless. When I was alone at home, I would burst into tears.
Since I was not allowed to practice Falun Gong exercises in public, I practiced them at home. I told myself that cultivation would not always be an easy road and that there were bound to be trials and tribulations to test our faith. But I was determined to follow Teacher's teaching. The CCP has no power to stop me from practicing Falun Gong.
One day when I was sitting on my bed, I saw a piece of paper floating toward me with words written in a strange, unknown language in black ink. After a while, the paper appeared again. I sensed that it was a hint for me to take some action. I realized that perhaps I had promised something in writing and it was time to fulfill this promise. I decided to go to Beijing and exercise my constitutional right to appeal for justice for Falun Gong. Coincidentally, two fellow practitioners also decided to go. Together we took a train to Beijing.
Once we were in Beijing, we met many fellow Falun Gong practitioners from all over China who were there for the same reason. On the first evening, several dozen practitioners had a Falun Gong experience-sharing conference at a fellow practitioner's home. We signed a document for appeal. We all knew that we were risking our lives by signing our names on the document, but no one changed their mind. I later heard that many of the practitioners from that evening got illegally arrested. After I returned home, the local police chief told me that I was the fish that got away. Afterward, I was inundated with so many phone calls from the police that it really disturbed my daily life. I decided that this would not do and that I must clarify the truth to them. I started paying visits to the police station to tell them about Falun Gong. Eventually, police officers agreed that Falun Gong was good, but they had to follow orders or they would lose their jobs. I explained to them the heavenly law of karmic retribution and advised them to treat Falun Gong practitioners well. Things started to improve.
In 2001 and 2005, I was arrested and sent to the Masanjia Women's Forced Labor Camp, where I was subjected to cruel tortures and poisonous injections. However, I prevailed over the persecution and refused to renounce Falun Gong even when they threatened to take my life. They could not "transform" me. I did not renounce Falun Gong, and they released me.
After I was released, I intensified my Fa study and exercise practice to make up for the lost time while imprisoned. I cultivated myself while doing the three things that Teacher requires.
Clarifying the Truth about Falun Gong to Save People
In 2002, several fellow practitioners and I started to make banners and signs to clarify the facts about Falun Gong. I would hide the banners inside my coat and hang them up in industrial and residential areas after midnight. Sometimes it was very easy. At other times, I had to use my innate wisdom in order to shake off the police. One night I accidentally hung a banner behind a police station. After that, I heard police sirens roaming the streets for many days. These banners had a lot of impact, and the police weren't able to catch us. We tried every conceivable means to help people understand that Falun Gong is good and erase the lies that the CCP had installed in their heads.
After I was released from the Masanjia Women's Forced Labor Camp in 2007, I found that the Fa-rectification had progressed by leaps and bounds while I had been imprisoned. Falun Gong practitioners inside and outside of China clarified the truth and helped people withdraw from the CCP and its affiliated student leagues. After The Epoch Times published Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party, more and more people withdrew from the CCP.
I remember Teacher's teachings at all times. I am a particle of Dafa. I am supposed to clarify the truth to everyone at every opportunity. Sometimes I would tell stories to help people understand that Falun Gong is good. One day I told a vegetable vendor about Falun Gong. Several people surrounded us and listened. One of them asked, "Is it okay for me to say 'Falun Gong is good' out loud?" I said, "Yes, of course." He immediately raised his arms and shouted twice, "Falun Gong is good!"
On another day, I took a pedicab to a village in order to clarify the truth about Falun Gong. During the ride, I persuaded the driver to withdraw from the CCP's two student leagues that he was once a member of. During the next trip, I ran into the same driver. While I was on the ride, a woman in her 40s with several bags hailed the pedicab. I was glad to share the cab with her so that I could tell her the facts about Falun Gong. In the matter of a few minutes, she agreed to withdraw from the CCP and its affiliated organizations. After she got off, another woman got into the cab and I persuaded her to withdraw from the CCP. Teacher brought these people to me, so I needed to grasp these opportunities.
Most of the people I have clarified the truth to were receptive and quit the CCP. Sometimes an entire family would quit the CCP together. Some of the people who quit the CCP asked me for reading materials about Falun Gong. When I would shop for vegetables in the traditional market, I would pick vegetables that were in less than perfect condition. The vegetable vendors were touched and would usually agree to quit the CCP. Sometimes taxi drivers would charge less cab fare after I helped them to quit the CCP, but I would pay the right amount. It is priceless to save a life from the same fate as the one awaiting the CCP.
In order to create a group cultivation environment, I have persuaded my husband and child to have group Fa study at home. Fellow practitioners come to my home on a regular basis to study the Fa together and to exchange our cultivation insights. Our group Fa study is getting better. We are never short of truth-clarification materials. We are becoming increasingly steadfast on the path of cultivation.
After Teacher's "Fa Teaching Given at the 2010 New York Fa Conference" was published, I studied it repeatedly. I realized that I must grasp the time to cultivate myself and do the three things well in order to help Teacher with His Fa-rectification and save the world's people. By doing so, I would be fulfilling my pledge and living up to being a Falun Gong practitioner. I will not let Teacher down.