(Minghui.org) Greetings, esteemed Master! Greetings, fellow practitioners!
I am 69 years old and began to practice Falun Dafa in May 1997. I have not attended any school, but I learned to read Zhuan Falun within 13 months, between the end of 1999 and January 2001.
After I learned Dafa, I experienced a healthy body without the ten-plus illnesses I had before, including inflammation of the liver, gallstones, and ulcers.
Thank you, Master Li. I appreciate all you have done for me.
Reading Zhuan Falun Within 13 Months
I have never attended school and thus could not read the Dafa books, so I listened to others read or watched Master Li's lecture videos during Fa study groups in the early days. However, after the persecution began, there were no more study groups. I continued to listen to Master Li's lecture tapes every day, but I could not remember much. I could not read Master Li's new teachings or information on the Minghui website. I thought to myself, “How great it would be if I can learn to read!”
Master Li must have arranged for me to learn to read. I held Zhuan Falun in my hands, but could not read a single word. Master Li hinted that I should watch the lecture video and compare that with the book. Sometimes, I could match both. However I still could not read the book.
I asked others, including family members, neighbors, colleagues, and students to teach me the words. At night, I read new words I learned during the day, until I could remember them. I took me 13 months to learn to read Zhuan Falun. It took a little longer to read Minghui Weekly and other Dafa informational materials. I have read all of Master's books several times–some over ten times. I can also recite many of Master's poems.
Nothing Can Stop My Belief in Dafa and Steadfast Cultivation
The Dafa principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance were imprinted in my mind from the start of my cultivation, and I always will improve my xinxing to become a better person.
Shortly after I started practicing Dafa in May 1997, I ran a high fever that lasted an entire day and was gone the next morning. From that day, I did not see a doctor or take any medication, and my 30 years of illnesses had disappeared. I stood in front of Master Li's portrait with tears in my eyes and said, “Thank you, Master! You saved my life. I will cultivate until the end, no matter how difficult it is or whatever happens.”
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched the persecution of Dafa in July 1999. Over 10 practitioners who worked in my factory were taken to a brainwashing center. The factory head demanded that I write a guarantee statement promising that I would no longer practice Dafa. I said, “I don't know how to write, not to mention a guarantee. If you don't allow me to practice Dafa, can you ensure that I will not come down with an illness? If I get ill, can I stay in your home?”
Everyone in the factory knew that I had suffered from many illnesses before I started practicing Dafa, so the factory head left without saying another word. Then, he talked with my husband. My husband was a deputy head in charge of technology who looked down on me because I had given him only three daughters, but no son. He belittled me in a meeting, especially since I was illiterate. After that, everyone left me alone.
I practiced the exercises and read the Dafa books at home, as there were no groups anymore. I listened to Master Li's lectures every day. I overcame my husband's vicious harassment and other interference I have not skipped even a single day of studying the Fa and practicing the exercises.
Since people did not know the truth about Dafa amid the Communist Party propaganda, I went out to tell people about the persecution based on my understandings. Each day, I read one to two lectures of Zhuan Falun, Master Li's new articles, and Minghui Weekly. Later, we resumed group Fa study, and I attended three times a week.
Only if I study the Fa and understand the Fa principles well can I answer questions from people I talked to. I never had a mentality of fear when I told people about Dafa since the persecution started. I talked to both friends and strangers. Sometimes, someone would report me to the police. As long as I had righteous thoughts, Master Li helped me escape from danger.
Letting Go of Resentment and Hatred
Compassion can only be achieved with cultivation of xinxing. First, I needed to get rid of the strong resentments I held. I resented that my parents did not let me go to school, so that I was illiterate. I resented the man I married because he abused me, and I resented my mother-in-law because she treated me unfairly. I resented that I did not have a son. I lived in hatred. I could not eat or sleep well.
After studying Dafa, I understood that everything happens because of a predestined relationship, and that nothing is coincidental. It is my fate that I have to live without a good husband, without a son, and with little money. Unfair treatment by my mother-in-law or my husband is because I owed them from a prior life. Repaying karmic debt is fair and just. Thus, I let go of my hatred and invited my parents-in-law to stay in my home. I cooked good meals for them. They were touched by how I treated them.
I took care of my mother-in-law after my father-in-law passed away. Noticing my big change, my mother-in-law also often said, “Falun Dafa is good! Truth-Compassion-Forbearance is good!” She no longer suffered from tuberculosis, and her Alzheimer's disease became less of a problem. She passed away in her 90s without any illness. My husband has five sisters and brothers, and the family totals several dozen. They all changed their attitude towards Dafa, and over 20 have quit the CCP and its youth organizations.
My three daughters, sons-in-law, and grandchildren all quit the CCP. One son-in-law is a police officer. I often gave him Falun Dafa informational materials to read. He does not participate in the persecution. He sometimes even helps practitioners quietly. His kind deed is rewarded. His parents, who are in their 70s, are healthy, his son and daughter are clever and adorable, and he was promoted to a director position in a police substation.
My husband did not listen to my telling him about Dafa. Once, in pain, he reluctantly quit the CCP. He had a number of illnesses, including high blood pressure and heart disease. While he was hospitalized, I took care of him. The hospital was a little over one mile from my home. I walked to and from the hospital every day except on rainy days. He was hospitalized for over a month. Over 100 people quit the CCP during that time.
Righteous Thoughts a Major Tool
I sent righteous thoughts more than ten times daily since the Minghui website informed practitioners worldwide to send righteous thoughts four times daily. I have never missed any of the four daily times. I do the sitting meditation before the midnight one. Sometimes, I sent righteous thoughts for over an hour.
I have become accustomed to sending righteous thoughts when I do house chores or when I walk. I send righteous thoughts for 15 to 30 minutes before I go out to talk to people about Dafa. Sometimes, I hold inadequate righteous thoughts, and therefore am unable to advise people to quit the CCP. I truly experienced what Master Li said: “Dafa Disciples’ Righteous Thoughts are Powerful” (Essentials for Further Advancement II).
My first thought after getting up in the morning is, “I will save more sentient beings today.” I talked to my family members, friends, colleagues, and neighbors before 2008. Over ten people in my factory, including the director, vice director, accountant, and cashier, have quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations.
At first, the factory director did not want to quit the CCP even though I talked to him several times. He also dared not accept Dafa informational materials. I sent forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the evil that tried to stop him. I asked Master Li to bring him to me. I met him in front of the factory entrance.
We talked back and forth, and he advised me not to go out to talk to people about Dafa. He still was fearful and did not understand. I kept talking about Dafa, the persecution, as well as the retribution suffered by some of the perpetrators who are now imprisoned. He listened carefully.
He had to attend a meeting and said that he would see me again. I did not give up, but visited him during the New Years holiday with informational materials about Dafa, including the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party. I explained the persecution again to him. I also was invited to his son's marriage ceremony in the fall of 2014. He, his wife, and his two children agreed to quit the CCP after I had talked to him more than ten times and sent forth righteous thoughts for even more times.
Importance of Looking Inward
Most of my mother's family and my mother-in-law's family, and most of my colleagues and neighbors, agreed to quit the CCP by the end of 2014. I cannot remember how many people I have helped quit the CCP. However, there are times when as many as 30 and no fewer than two would quit the CCP during one day. However, I do look inward when only a few people quit in a day.
During the past two years, I have focused on students in my efforts. I go to the front entrance of a high school at 5 p.m. on Friday and before 7 a.m. on Monday to talk to students from villages.
Sometimes, I go to a few primary schools so I can talk to the students after they leave school, as they had been brainwashed by propaganda in their textbooks that slandered Dafa. They listen to me and agree to quit the Communist Youth League or the Young Pioneers. As I don't know how to write, I ask them to write their names in a small notebook. So far, I have filled about 40 notebooks, which I pass on to the person who gives me Minghui Weekly.
Testimonial of the Transcriber
The fellow practitioner above is a well-known person in my area. She goes to group Fa study and talks to people about Dafa daily. We have not seen her even once sit idly or chat with people on an everyday topic. She is always busy.
She sleeps less than four hours every day. She said, “Sometimes, it is enough for me to take a nap.” She does not speak much. Her mantra is, “Time is life. I am going out to save lives!”
She always thinks of others first and donates money for producing informational materials. Whenever she visits people to talk to them about Dafa, she brings a gift. She spends all of her salary and does not have any savings. She said, “What's the point for cultivators to save money? Saving people is the most important.”
She lives a simple life. We noticed that she would have two meals a day when she is at home alone. She might cook one meal and eat it in two days. She said that this saves her time and effort. She has not eaten any meat, fish, or eggs for years. She said she would throw up if she eats such food.
Though she lives a simple life, she pays attention to her image as a Dafa practitioner. She would dress up cleanly when going out to explain the persecution. For 18 years, she has not once eaten food, drank water, or visited a restroom in other people's homes when she attends group Fa study or visits other people.
“Practitioners do not make trouble for others,” she said. No matter how hungry she feels when out talking to people, she goes home to eat and never eats in a restaurant.
She has never taken a break in doing the three things, especially when saving sentient beings. Our local practitioners agreed that half or over half of the people in our local area who quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations did so because she persisted in talking to them.
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.
