(Minghui.org) I am a young person from the countryside who began to practice Falun Dafa as a teenager in 1998. Despite the persecution, I'm still cultivating.
When I first obtained the Fa, my brother was watching television while I was reading Zhuan Falun . He turned the volume up very high so my mother asked him to either turn the TV down or off. But my brother ignored her. I told her, “You don't need to worry about him, you can just pretend he is not there.” I concentrated on reading and the sound of the TV was far away. It didn't bother me. Later, after further Fa-study, I realized that a demon was interfering with me through my brother, but Teacher was protecting his disciple.
Nothing Can Shake My Will
Falun Dafa was banned in China in 1999, and many practitioners renounced the practice when faced with persecution. They handed in their books. One practitioner asked me, “Do you still practice?” I said: “Yes. Those who go on TV to defame the practice have taken a wrong turn. They are not true practitioners.”
In the beginning of the persecution I was very young. I didn't know about the slander by the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) minions or the evilness of this persecution. I only knew that Teacher was righteous, that Dafa was righteous, and that I must cultivate to the end.
I have seen Falun spinning in the sky clockwise and counter-clockwise. In a dream, I saw a large blue Falun spinning in the sky and soon after there appeared many ancient people in the Han costume in the center of the Falun. The people on the earth looked like little ants, but they were also looking at the Falun in the sky. They all were waiting to be saved. Teacher was encouraging his disciple to be steadfast.
Father's Endurance Was Tested
My mother was incarcerated, and my father couldn't endure it anymore in 2000. He wanted to commit suicide by drinking poison in secret. That evening he asked me, “If I died, would you miss me?” I felt that there was something not right and I said, “Yes, I would, very much.” My father suddenly started to cry and told me about the bottle of poison. He regretted his plan. White foam started to come out of his mouth. He fell down and his whole body was shaking.
I ran to my uncle's house. He called a cab and took my father to the hospital. I stayed behind and couldn't calm down for a while. I wondered if my father would recover. That's when I realized that I was a practitioner.
Master said:
“Your practice will benefit others.” (Zhuan Falun)
That spurred me into action and I treated my every thought as thought karma to dispel and negated it. I told myself that I would only trust Teacher. With this, an idea flashed into my mind: “Beg for Teacher's help!” I kept reciting in my mind, “Teacher Li Hongzhi, Zhuan Falun , Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.”
I quieted down, and there was only Teacher's name on my mind. Every worry, concern, and sense of unease disappeared. I knew that my father would be all right. Sure enough, he came home. My mother also managed to escape from detention and we were again a family.
Validating the Fa in Beijing
We heard that practitioners from throughout the country were going to Beijing to petition for the right to practice Falun Dafa. I thought that we also needed to go, and I discussed it with my mother. We decided to go, so I left a letter for my father and brother. It said: “If I end up being shot to death for saying 'Falun Dafa is wonderful,' I will have no regrets.”
About a dozen practitioners from our local area went to Beijing. We recited Lunyu . At Tiananmen Square we did the Falun Dafa exercises with other practitioners. We were arrested and taken to the detention center near Tiananmen Square. We all wrote “Falun Dafa is wonderful, Falun Dafa is a righteous Fa, The Fa rectifies the cosmos, Restore the reputation of Teacher Li and restore the reputation of Dafa.”
Protecting Falun Dafa Books
I was talking to Practitioner A at home in 2002 when Practitioner B arrived and said, “There is a pile of Dafa books outside. I already took one copy. You should go and take a look.” We saw a big pile of Dafa books along the lake shore. An elderly person who made a living by picking up garbage had found them. As all of them were soaked with water from the lake, and he was drying them out under the sun. People gathered around, with some wanting to call the police.
The situation in our village was tense, because practitioners were persecuted and some were being held in labor camps. I thought that, because practitioners were persecuted, their family members were scared, so they left the books by the lake shore, and this elderly person had found them. These books might be destroyed. Now, practitioners' homes were being ransacked, so Dafa books had become scarce. I couldn't just sit there and watch those books be destroyed.
My brother was watching me. What should I do? I asked for Teacher's help in my heart. My brother left, and I began to think about sending forth righteous thoughts. I sat at home in lotus position and erected my palm to send forth righteous thoughts. I begged Teacher to strengthen me and not to allow those books to be destroyed. "Dafa books should only be left in the hands of practitioners. Let the bystanders quickly go away, so I could take the books."
After sending forth righteous thoughts I went outside and didn't see anyone besides the elderly person putting the books into his bags. I talked to him about the possibility of him being arrested for having the books and asked him if I could have them. It was as if he were in a daze, and he agreed to everything I said. He helped me carry the books to my home, after which he left without asking for anything in return. I knew it was Teacher strengthening me to protect those Dafa books.
Setting Up Falun Dafa Material Production Sites
With the progress of the Fa-rectification, fellow practitioners have gradually set up home-based Falun Dafa material production sites. My mother and I also have one. We have been supplying fellow practitioners in our area with Teacher's new articles, Minghui Journal and other Falun Dafa truth-clarification materials.
The Minghui website is a practitioners' website. I remember when I first opened up Minghui, I was full of joy. It was before the Chinese New Year. We saw greetings to Master posted on Minghui from practitioners all over the world. This encouraged us to be more diligent.
I wanted to make my own greeting card and learned from information on the Internet how to go about it. Actually, I was computer illiterate, even though I am a young person, as I grew up in the countryside. But Teacher saw my wish, so he opened up my wisdom and I mastered the necessary technology.
Before May 13, World Falun Dafa Day, I began to make greeting cards. I downloaded two pictures from the website. I then used the software to combine the two pictures into one. I put bamboo on the sides and a lotus in the middle. On top of the picture, I used the fonts in yellow and put down the following words: “Happy birthday to benevolent and great Teacher.” Then I sent it to the Minghui editors. My card was published on the Minghui website that day. This made me so happy! It wasn't for anything else, but over the past ten years, this was the first time I could greet Teacher in person.
From then on, on World Falun Dafa Day, the Mid-autumn Festival, New Year, or the Chinese New Year, I made greeting cards on behalf of the practitioners from our area and sent them to Minghui.
Making Phone Calls to People about Falun Dafa and Quitting the CCP
Fellow practitioners helped my mother and me get a few cell phones during the 2010 Chinese New Year. They taught me some technical skills and safety precautions. From our website, I downloaded voice editing tools and also learned how to edit recordings. From then on my mother and I began to use the phone to clarify the truth about Falun Dafa.
Making these phone calls is quick and easy and is not constrained by distance. We make phone calls to other provinces. Sometimes we were making phone calls in the field, while driving around, in the evening, or in the morning. There is no fixed time or place for us to make phone calls. It's safer that way.
The truth-clarification recording that I edited lasted about 90 minutes. I started with “by quitting the Party, you will ensure your safety,” then the staged self-immolation incident, the CCP harvesting organs from practitioners, and so on. Some hung up, some listened for over 20 minutes to more than an hour, and some listened again.
The first time I called people about quitting the Party I was very nervous. At first, I called someone who had just finished listening to the recordings. I talked to him about quitting, and he quickly agreed. It was truly amazing. I knew that it was Teacher helping his disciples to save people.
One time I talked to a young man and asked him to quit. He was upset because his girl wanted to break up with him, and he asked me what to do. I told him about traditional culture, which requires young people to ask their parents and heaven for permission to get married. I said, “Once a woman decides to marry a man, she is entrusting her whole life to him. He needs to take care of her for her whole life and she also has to take care of him. This is part of our traditional culture. However, since the CCP took power, it has destroyed that culture.” After I finished, he said that he understood. He was willing to quit the Youth League and Young Pioneers. Before hanging up, I said, “Please remember that Falun Dafa is wonderful, Truth-Compassion-Forbearance is wonderful. I wish you a wonderful future.”
By helping people withdraw from the Party, I came to understand that, when clarifying the facts to people, every step is equally important. Whether we hand out flyers, clarify the facts face to face, or make truth-clarification phone calls, it is all important, and all saving sentient beings. Because we are one body, as long as we cooperate and harmonize with each other, we are able to save more sentient beings.
The above is my personal experience. Even though I haven't enlightened to high-level principles, as long as I follow what Teacher says, I will be fine. During my cultivation, I made some detours. I also have many attachments left to eliminate, such as the show-off mentality, lust, validating myself, and attachment to leisure. I will get rid of them in my cultivation and be a genuine practitioner.
Even though I have never met Teacher in person, Teacher, please be assured that I will cultivate all the way to the end. Thank you, Teacher. Thank you, fellow practitioners.
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