(Minghui.org) Greetings, Revered Master! Greetings, fellow practitioners!
Before I retired, I was a senior (first class) technical specialist in a police department. I began practicing Falun Dafa in October 1995.
Righteous Thoughts Come from Persistent Fa Study
I began to practice Falun Gong for my health. Shortly after I started, my stubborn health issues were completely resolved. Pleasantly surprised, I was determined to follow Master and cultivate Dafa for the rest of my life.
Before July 20, 1999, I kept a copy of Zhuan Falun with me and read the book day and night, including the time I spent commuting to and from work. One day while I was riding the company shuttle bus and reading Zhuan Falun, the bus got into a traffic jam in a tunnel. I had to stop reading because there was no light. Suddenly a pink beam of light was cast on the sentence I was reading, and as I continued reading, the light moved along. That was a miracle.
I began to memorize and recite Zhuan Falun on New Year's Day in 2000, and I'm still doing it. After I began reciting the Fa, my thoughts became clear and simple, and my life stress-free. I never worry about little things, and I became productive and effective at work.
My expertise and experience put me ahead of my peers, and colleagues often sought my input and help. My positive image at work made it easy for me to clarify the truth. Many colleagues learned the truth and chose to denounce their past and current associations with CCP's organizations.
Because I've kept studying the Fa, I have a clear guideline and can make the right decision when things happen. For example, I participated in the appeal in Beijing on April 25, 1999. After July 20, 1999, when the CCP began persecuting Dafa, I remained clear-headed. When CCTV broadcast the “Tiananmen Self Immolation,” I immediately knew it was a hoax. I have never stopped telling people about Falun Dafa.
When the persecution was most severe, my manager suspended me. Several leaders scheduled one-on-one meetings with me, trying to pressure me to stop practicing. Several times during the meetings, when I had the thought, “shut your mouth,” they instantly stopped talking.
At the time, my competitive mentality was strong. If a leader pounded the table once, I would pound it twice. One angry leader once threatened to arrest me. Since I didn't have enough compassion, I was sharp tongued and argued with them all the time, and I was emotional. The persecution took a toll on my health, all my teeth became loose, and eventually I lost two-thirds of my teeth.
Later, after reading Master’s Fa, I realized that my competitive mentality and lack of compassion were the main reasons why they suspended me and harassed me at these “meetings.”
Dafa gave me wisdom and abilities. Gradually I learned how to handle different situations.
One day after I clarified the facts to a young man, he called the police. I immediately began to recite Master’s teaching:
“If you are a true practitioner, our Falun will safeguard you. I am rooted in the universe. If anyone can harm you, he or she would be able to harm me. Put simply, that person would be able to harm this universe.” (Lecture One in Zhuan Falun)
I sat in the lotus position, erected my right hand, and began sending forth righteous thoughts.
The next day, the situation changed: the young man said he remembered wrong.
Master said:
“Now you can see why I’ve often told you to read the book more, right?! The Fa can break all attachments, the Fa can destroy all evil, the Fa can shatter all lies, and the Fa can strengthen righteous thoughts.” (“Drive Out Interference” in Essentials for Further Advancement II)
Power of Compassion
Both my parents were CCP officials. They put the “revolutionary cause” ahead of family. When their four children were little, they sent us to live with our nanny’s families. When we were old enough to attend school, we were sent to boarding schools. As their children, we did not feel their love or the warmth of a family.
When I was five, my parents took me from the nanny’s home to my father’s step-mother’s house for two years. My mother did not visit me once during those two years, because she was too busy at work. The neighbors said I was an orphan. In the limited time I spent with my parents, they held “family meetings” to criticize my “mistakes.” Father’s career was mostly in the police, and he developed a habit of attacking people. He often mobilized the entire family to insult me. I grew up in constant fear.
When they got old, my parents began to suffer from health problems. None of their children wanted to take care of them and rarely phoned them.
Before practicing Falun Gong, I tried to stay away from my parents. For years, I hadn't visited them. My attitude changed after I became a practitioner.
Master taught us:
“In cultivation practice, there may be two scenarios when dealing with specific conflicts or when others treat you badly. One is that you might have treated this person badly in your previous life. You feel in your heart that it is unfair, ‘How can this person treat me like this?’ Then why did you treat this person that way in the past? You might claim that you actually did not know it at that time, and this life has nothing to do with the other life. That does not work. There is another issue. In conflicts, the issue of transforming karma is involved. Therefore, in dealing with specific conflicts we should be forgiving instead of acting like ordinary people.” (Lecture Four in Zhuan Falun)
After I began practicing Falun Gong, my resentment vanished without a trace.
I was determined to save them. When I went to visit them, I told them about Falun Gong and read Zhuan Falun aloud to them. After denouncing their CCP memberships, they became healthier, and they could live independently without assistance. They benefited from the power of compassion.
I was filled with compassion and did my best to help them. I convinced my husband that I should do more for my parents. We bought a two-bedroom apartment near my parents’ home, so I could see them more often. My younger sister’s husband, a military general, praised me and said, “You are our role model.” After I clarified the truth to him, he agreed to quit the CCP.
Doing Dafa Work While Fulfilling Family Responsibilities
After my father passed away in 2013, my 83-year-old mother needed long term care. I tried to convince my siblings to take turns caring her, but none of them wanted to even talk about it. I decided to take on the responsibility.
Although I was able to spend most of my time with mother, I still felt it was unfair and criticized my brothers and sisters for not doing their share.
Master told us:
“Then think about it, isn’t this setting itself, isn’t human society, a practice site provided to Dafa disciples? It provides you with a setting and factors that can stir up all sorts of attachments in you, and provides you with all sorts of opportunities to improve. With this affair being so immense, the entire human society has become a monastery [for your cultivation].”(“Fa Teaching on World Falun Dafa Day”)
After I extensively read Master’s Fa, my mind became clear. Am I not a cultivator in this monastery that is our human society? After I spent several months with Mom, my ability to do the three things actually improved. I also found and eliminated quite a few hidden attachments
For example, I spend a lot of time clarifying the truth using a cell phone, and out of concern for safety I do this outside the house. In the past, many things happened to prevent me from spending time outdoors. Since I've moved in with Mom, I spend hours walking outdoors with her. I bring my cell phone and flyers with me and find more time to make calls and distribute the flyers.
Since I began to take care of Mom, I don’t have to spend much time with my grandson. When I let go of human attachments, Master made a better arrangement for me.
For a long time I thought I had no jealousy. But after I began to live with Mom, to my surprise, I realized I did. Sometimes, I felt hurt by my siblings’ attitudes and thought: "Why do I have to shoulder all the responsibility of caring for Mother, while you do nothing?" But as soon as this thought surfaced, I told myself, “I will eliminate this jealousy from my heart.” Now I no longer feel jealous at all.
I also gained a deeper understanding of Master’s teaching of, “...the appearance stems from the mind.” (“Fa Teaching Given at the Epoch Times Meeting”) I often send forth righteous thoughts to keep Mother healthy, so I can spend my time doing the three things. This year, Mother did very well and she didn't even catch the flu. Every day from morning until 4 p.m., she doesn't need me. She watches TV in the morning and takes a nap after lunch until 3 p.m. We walk outside after 4 p.m., and this is the best time for me to clarify the truth.
Now I understand Master’s words: “The Three Realms was created for the Fa-rectification...” (“Teaching the Fa at the 2004 International Fa Conference in New York”) A Dafa disciple’s family life and every setting we find ourselves in should be used for Fa-rectification.
A few days ago, I rented a car and took mother on a sightseeing tour. After I clarified the truth to the driver and gave him a DVD, he was quite happy. While we traveled through a vast prairie, we freely talked about Falun Gong. I thanked Master for giving us this huge "monastery" so we can cultivate and save people.
Views expressed in this article represent the author's own opinions or understandings. All content published on this website are copyrighted by Minghui.org. Minghui will produce compilations of its online content regularly and on special occasions.
