(Minghui.org)

Greetings to revered Master!

Greetings to fellow practitioners!

I continuously encountered many troubles in 2012, especially in the latter half of the year. It disturbed my peaceful life. Many tedious household chores interrupted my routine of Fa study and exercises. I was afraid that I might become an ordinary person if this trend continued. While I was vexed at this problem, a phrase “always remember that you are a cultivator” arose in my mind. I knew it was Master trying to remind me to be diligent. Since then, I have strived to live up to the standards of a cultivator despite my busy schedule, always keeping my mission in mind. I have taken the time to study the Fa diligently and do the three things well. My cultivation experiences are described below.

Getting rid of fear

I had been timid and cowardly all my life, but ironically I became a policewoman. My colleagues did not think I was fit for the position. However, I remained at my job until my retirement.

I was fortunate to begin practicing Falun Gong in 1996, when I was 45 years old. Cultivation is a process to let go of all human attachments. The first attachment I had to remove was fear. My steadfast Fa study has laid a solid foundation on my cultivation path. It has helped me escape a number of dangers in hostile environments during the 13 years of persecution.

Master said:

“Many people become brave after they start practicing. Why is that? It’s not merely due to factors on your part. It is because you have a side that knows things. That’s why your courage is boosted.” (“Teaching the Fa at the Western U.S. Fa Conference”)

Although practitioners have different cultivation paths, they all encounter various tests and hardships. Compared to fellow practitioners' tests, the hardships I have encountered may seem trivial, but I was tempered and able to upgrade myself through them. As a result, I gradually got rid of my attachment of fear. I now can calmly face and resolve any unexpected tribulation because I know Master is always with me. I know that nothing will happen as long as I follow Master's teachings.

When a local practitioner was detained in the summer of 2006, I posted on the Minghui website some original information about the case, which I had obtained from a guard at the detention center. In order to have a better understanding of the situation, I tried to visit this guard again, but he wasn't home. I thus contacted him by phone. Unfortunately, our conversation was monitored. When I went shopping a few days later, I noticed that I was being followed by two spies, a man and a woman, who pretended to be chatting on the street. The woman approached me to ask for directions and walked along with me.

I recalled Master's words:

“Even if you’re a spy, you still have a human heart, so I will treat you as an ordinary person. The type of work you do doesn’t matter.” (“Teaching the Fa at the Fa conference in Canada”)

I clarified the truth to her compassionately. I told her that gods would destroy the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) and that quitting the CCP could save her life. Although she didn't agree to quit the CCP, I believe that my words led her to consider the truth and freed her from the evil's manipulation in other dimensions. The evil didn't dare to touch me at that time.

A police car was parked outside my house when I came home from shopping. I sent forth righteous thoughts toward the car as usual, unaware that plainclothes policemen waited for me in the hallway and the elevator. Before I entered my apartment, my husband gave me a bag of garbage and asked me to bring it downstairs. When I went downstairs, the elevator operator led a plainclothes policeman to me. With my address in his hand, he pretended to be interested in renting a room from me. Realizing the situation, I became nervous. However, I instantly calmed down and talked to him with a smile. Suddenly, this policeman became confused and appeared to forget what he was supposed to do. A few minutes later, he said to another plainclothes policeman waiting upstairs: “Come down. She is not the one.” Thus, another tribulation was peacefully resolved under Master's merciful protection.

At the end of summer in 2011, I took my mother to a hospital. On our way home, I advised the taxi driver to quit the CCP. He agreed at first, but then changed his mind when I told him that Falun Dafa is good. It was only a five-minute ride, too short to have enough time to clarify the facts about Falun Gong to him. He reported me to the authorities. When I went to get groceries after taking my mother home, I saw a police officer talking to the person on duty in the control room of our building. Seeing me, the person on duty pointed toward me. I immediately realized that the evil was coming to persecute me.

Since it was a market day, many venders were selling groceries in the courtyard of our residential area. I have used paper bills with truth-clarification messages written on them when shopping at this site, and many people have been saved there as a result. Seeing the police, I thought that I would not allow the evil to persecute me there because this might scare people away and make them decline the chance to be saved. I immediately sent forth righteous thoughts so that the police would leave. Since I was not very calm when sending forth righteous thoughts, I asked Master for help. As a result, the police were gone before I even finished shopping.

On our cultivation path, tribulations always accompany us. However, the evil can't persecute us as long as we have strong righteous thoughts and firmly believe in Master and Dafa.

One day in mid-April 2012, three police officers broke into my home right after I had finished sending forth righteous thought at 7 p.m. They had received a report that I practice Falun Gong. I tried to clarify the truth to them but was stopped by my husband. An officer tried to take my picture, but I stepped aside to prevent him. Throughout the entire process, I had no fear but regretted that I could not save them. Since I could not clarify the truth, I began to send forth righteous thoughts to make them leave. However, they did not show any sign of leaving. I begged Master to help. Then, the police immediately turned around and left. As I stopped sending forth righteous thoughts right after they left, the police threatened my husband that they would come back.

Master's teaching instantly came to my mind:

“Just by staying unaffected you will be able to handle all situations.” (“Teaching the Fa at the Conference in the Midwest-U.S.”)

I immediately calmed down and told my husband and my kid that they could relax and go to sleep because the police would not come back. Indeed, the police never came back again.

Through experiencing these tribulations, I was tempered and improved myself. Hence, I no longer waver when I am in danger.

One day in August 2012, two saleswomen came to talk to me when I passed a furniture store. Unwilling to miss any chance to save people, I told them: “So many disasters have happened recently and many people in Beijing died from the big flood on July 21.” I continued after they agreed: “Please remember, you will be saved if you recite 'Falun Dafa is good.'” I didn't go further to advise them to renounce the CCP since they seemed very reluctant to accept my words. However, I felt very regretful later on and decided to go back to the store the next day.

I could not go back the next day because I was too busy. When I returned on the third day, I felt that the atmosphere around the store was unusual. Some police also patrolled around, so I did not go in and went to a nearby supermarket instead. On my way back, my shopping cart broke. While waiting for my family to pick me up, I thought it was a good opportunity to save these two saleswomen. Once I returned to the furniture store, they both recognized me, but one of them immediately left. I tried to clarify the truth to the other saleswoman, but without success. Then, the first saleswoman came back with a security officer.

I learned that the women had reported me to the authorities after I left the store the first day. If I had returned the very next day, I would have been arrested. I avoided this tribulation because of Master's protection. Understanding the situation, I didn't waver and calmly chatted with them. They left me alone soon.

As I waited to be picked up, I saw security officers and plainclothes police everywhere around the furniture store. Even the housekeeping person was spying. I hadn't expected a furniture store in Beijing to become such an evil environment prior to the 18th Party Congress. I realized that Master let me know the evil situation there and wanted me to clean out the evil. I openly sat down near the spies to send forth righteous thoughts. Before long, all spies except one left the area one after another. The last spy played with his cell phone before leaving. I sensed that he was trying to take a picture of me. I had a thought, “Nobody can take my picture.” I believe that nobody, including any of the spies or police, could take my picture successfully because, as Master said, “Dafa Disciples' Righteous Thoughts are Powerful” (“Dafa Disciples' Righteous Thoughts are Powerful” from Essentials for Further Advancement II).

Reminding myself that I am a cultivator

A week after I told my 88-year-old mother how the police had failed to persecute me in April 2012, she was hospitalized for a fall caused by a sudden onset of her cerebral thrombosis. I thought that her worry over my safety may have contributed to her fall. My mother has severe osteoporosis, but she was not injured; she was able to walk and talk very soon after the incident, and was discharged in only 9 days. She later told me that she had recited, “Falun Dafa is good!” the moment she fell.

After my mother was discharged from the hospital, I moved into her house to take care of her because she did not want to hire a caretaker. This caused some interruption to my daily routine of studying the Fa, practicing the exercises and doing the three things. I felt entrapped in her home and could not go out to save sentient beings during this critical period of time. I felt helpless and anxious and became very impatient toward my mother and other family members. I started to talk with an irritable and resentful tone. I searched within but failed to find the reason for this interference. I did not know what to do. I tried to negate it, but to no avail. When I was in a state of anxiety and worry, a phrase came to my mind: “Always remember that you are a cultivator.” I realized that it was Master trying to remind me. I told myself to do things in accordance with the standard for a cultivator.

Despite my busy schedule, I arranged the time to follow what Master taught:

“Pause for a moment of self-reflection, and increase your righteous thoughts.” (“Rational and Awake” from Hong Yin Vol. II)

I studied the Fa until 2 a.m. after sending forth righteous thoughts at midnight every night. From studying the Fa, I understood the predestined relationship between me and my mother: I owed my mother a debt from past lives and this life, and I needed to fully pay back my debts before the end of Fa-rectification. I also needed to temper myself in this environment to let go of my impatience, irritability and complaining mentality, so that I could develop a peaceful and compassionate attitude.

I encouraged my mother to recite, “Falun Dafa is good!” every day and let her watch Shen Yun Performing Arts DVDs. My mother regained her health and was able to take care of herself in just one month after being discharged from the hospital, instead of six months predicted by the doctor. Surprised by her quick recovery, people commented that it is very unusual for such an old woman to recover from cerebral thrombosis in such a short period of time.

Right after my mother recovered, my sister and nephews, who lived abroad, came to visit us in Beijing. Although I had already moved back to my home, I now had to cook, wash dishes and buy groceries for nearly 10 people. In addition, a water leak trickled down to the neighbor's apartment below and needed immediate attention. My days became very miserable and the whole house was in a big mess. I encountered the tribulations one after another, and despite all of my hard work, my family still criticized me.

I remembered Master's words from Zhuan Falun:

“Meanwhile, this person should also be able to endure the toughest hardships of all.”

Thus, I reminded myself to behave like a cultivator and to handle everything with a peaceful mind. Gradually, every conflict dissolved smoothly with my kindness.

During those busy days, I not only took care of household chores, but also grasped every opportunity to save people. When my mother was hospitalized, I clarified the truth to the hospital staff and patients' families and advised them to renounce the CCP. I clarified the truth to everyone I met, including neighbors, vendors and repairmen. I also used paper bills with truth-clarifying messages written on them and advised salespeople and customers to renounce the CCP.

I helped about 40 salespeople working at a local supermarket to quit the CCP in just over a year. One salesperson asked me if I accumulated more credit by saving more people. I replied: “Saving people is the mission of every cultivator. I came to the world to fulfill this mission.” While talking, I suddenly saw two new salespeople nearby to whom I had not yet clarified the truth. I immediately went over to them. One of them agreed to quit the CCP and the other had never joined the CCP.

One of my relatives suddenly fell ill in July 2012. I took him to the same military hospital my mother had stayed at. During the registration, a nurse asked him for personal information, including his “religious belief.” I knew this question must be related to Dafa because it was right before July 20. I asked the nurse, “What does 'religious belief' mean?” The nurse then asked if my relative was a Christian. He immediately responded, “No, I don't believe in any religion.” Another nurse asked him, “Do you believe in the CCP?” Both he and I responded, “No.”

I then asked: “When my mother was admitted to this hospital two months ago, these questions were not asked. Why?” We were told that they had been instructed to ask this question because of Falun Gong. I felt it was a good opportunity to clarify the truth to them, so I said: “Falun Gong practitioners cultivate Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. The CCP, on the other hand, promotes deception, evil and struggle. Isn't it obvious which one is righteous and which one is wicked?” Although I spoke briefly, I laid a foundation for people on the scene to be saved. A few days later, one of the nurses agreed to quit the CCP. She mentioned that she had been only 7 years old when the flood occurred in Zhumadian, Henan Province, in 1975. She felt dreadful every time she saw rain thereafter and was searching for a way to avoid disaster. After understanding the truth and agreeing to quit the CCP, she finally felt a great sense of relief.

At the end of August, my relatives from abroad left, and my mother could do her own housework again. Thus, my peaceful daily life returned. Then, I realized that everything we encounter is so precious. They are all rare cultivation opportunities, and they are all arranged by Master. Cultivation opportunities become fewer as time goes on in the final stage of Fa-rectification. Once gone, an opportunity won't repeat. Thus, it will be a big loss if we don't take advantage of these opportunities to cultivate ourselves well.

Eliminating evil with righteous thoughts and supernormal abilities

During the New Year holiday in 2012, a vicious proposition statement issued by community officials was posted in the courtyard where I lived. I was surprised upon seeing it because I had sent forth righteous thoughts to prevent such statements from being shown in my area after reading on the Minghui website about them being posted in other areas. After looking inward, I found a different form of fear hidden deeply in my heart: I had been afraid that I would not know how to remove the statement if it showed up. Thus, my sending forth righteous thoughts had not helped due to this fear.

I told a fellow practitioner about the posted statement, and she decided to remove it. However, it could not be removed. I sent forth righteous thoughts, hoping that strong wind and heavy rain would come to wash it away. The wind and rain came, but did not destroy the statement. I then realized that even if we removed the statement, the evil would post another one. The evil had to be eliminated from the root. To eliminate the evil, I thought that I should post a note, “The Chinese Communist Party Is the Real Evil Cult.” The challenge was how to post the note over the vicious proposition statement, which was located on the wall near the control room, with surveillance cameras placed everywhere around the courtyard. I asked Master for help to not allow anyone to come by and to not let me be seen by the cameras. Then, I successfully posted the note.

Everything was actually arranged by Master, and under Master's continuous and painstaking care, I only carried it out in this human world to build up my own virtue. However, I then developed attachments of showing off and zealotry and bragged to fellow practitioners about my “righteous thoughts” and “supernormal abilities.” As a result, the note I had posted was removed by the evil in two days and the vicious proposition statement was left on the wall.

I then decided to let the person who posted the statement remove it because doing so could enable him to redeem himself. I asked the building manager to remove the poster because I believed he had put it up, but he said it was not him. I then asked the residential committee head, but he also denied any involvement. I clarified the truth to both of them and then sent forth righteous thoughts toward the vicious proposition statement every day. The poster was soon removed.

Evil pledge cards appeared in other areas in March 2012. I again sent forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the evil and prevent it from showing up in my courtyard. Not too long afterward, another proposition statement, written by the “Anti-Cult” Association, was posted in my courtyard. Its contents were similar to those of the previous statement. One item suggested that people should go to the bank to exchange any paper bills that had truth-clarification messages written on them. Other practitioners and I agreed to just ignore this statement because most people already knew the truth.

The “truth clarification” bills I had used before were beloved by the vendors. They had praised that every bill contained a different message and that the writing looked so neat, like it had been printed. However, now some people refused to accept these bills. I understood that these people got deceived and poisoned by the vicious proposition statement. I thus decided to eliminate it. But how? The evil had to be completely uprooted. I tried to figure out what I should do.

Master said:

“But if you were to just send righteous thoughts, and not do anything, how could that be called cultivation?” (“20th Anniversary Fa Teaching”)

“You can only have such a wish and think about it like that, but it is the master who actually does these things.” (Zhuan Falun)

When I thought about it more, I remembered Master's teaching:

“I’ll tell you, for years I have been continually saying that Dafa disciples’ abilities are tremendous, yet many people don’t believe this since those abilities were not allowed to be seen. Under the effect of righteous thoughts, everything around you, as well as you yourself, will undergo changes. Yet you have never thought to give it a try.” (“20th Anniversary Fa Teaching”)

Thus, I decided to try to eliminate the evil with supernormal abilities. I sent forth strong righteous thoughts toward the vicious proposition statement, believing that I would succeed. On my way home the next day, I suddenly thought that I should go to see if the proposition statement had been removed. Indeed, it was gone. From this experience I realized that Dafa practitioners following Master in Fa-rectification already have supernormal abilities; it's just that we don't always think to use them.

After finishing this article, I suddenly realized that 2012 has been an unusual year. Master's Fa-rectification has progressed rapidly. What manifested in the state of our cultivation is that the tempo of cultivation has sped up, the requirements of the Fa are higher, and the time to fulfill our missions is more urgent and tighter. We will never keep up with Master's Fa-rectification progress if we proceed slowly, and then problems will occur.

From this whole year of cultivation, I deeply understand Master's requirement, “The Closer to the End, the More Diligent You Should Be” (“The Closer to the End, the More Diligent You Should Be”). During the final stage of Fa-rectification, I'll stringently, genuinely and diligently cultivate myself, so that I can fulfill my vows and go home with Master.

Thank you, Master!

Thank you, fellow practitioners!