(Minghui.org) I started practicing Falun Gong in 2001, when I was still a child. However, I wasn't always diligent. With fellow practitioners' help, including my mother and aunt, I cultivated as I grew up.
I was always very weak as a small child. When I was seven-years-old, I was very sick and couldn't eat or drink for three days. Even intravenous fluids didn't make a dent. Completely at a loss, my mother took me to my aunt's house.
I woke up crying in the middle of the night and couldn't simmer down. At that point, my aunt asked if I wanted to do the Falun Gong exercises with my mother and her. The moment I said “yes,” all of the symptoms were gone. All three of us witnessed the wonder of Falun Gong and Master's compassion. I became a practitioner that night.
I learned how to fold Falun Gong fliers and distributed them with fellow practitioners and my mother. We usually went out after dark, just before local small businesses closed, and left the fliers in bicycle baskets. Also, I sometimes slipped these fliers under the metal doors of a store, while I pretended to tie my shoelaces.
When I had some free time, I drew different floral arrangements on paper and wrote “Falun Gong is good” and “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good” in the center. I felt very pleased with each design. I also told my friends to remember “Falun Gong is good. Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.” My mother praised me for doing a good job.
I remember a dream when I was in fourth grade. I stood on a beach, which glistened like gold and the water in the ocean was clear and blue. Not far from me, a ray of golden light could be seen, which looked like a thin layer of gold.
I was with two friends who wanted to go home. Since their home was on the other side of the ocean, they jumped into the water and began to swim. After a while they disappeared. Then, I also got into the water and swam toward the other side of the ocean.
I got closer and closer to the ray of golden light and when I reached the center, a Falun rotated above me. The color of the Falun changed constantly and emitted beautiful soft lights in various colors. I watched quietly and felt warmth in my heart.
As I got older, I slacked off in my cultivation. I couldn't focus when I studied the Fa or when I did the exercises. I just wanted to hang out with my friends. I sometimes even stole money from my mother to buy snacks and comic books, but I didn't get away with it. She tried to talk to me, but my cultivation state didn't improve until I had an accident in fifth grade.
On my way home from the bookstore, I was hit by an electric scooter and passed out. When I woke up, my first thought was, “Why am I on the ground?” The driver asked if I was okay and I said yes, although my face was covered with tears. I walked home and my family was surprised. My cousin had told them about the accident, but although they looked all over, they couldn't find me.
I got a bump the size of an egg on the back of my head and I felt really groggy. Some of my mother's friends thought I had a concussion and told my mother to take me to the hospital. My mother and my aunt knew that it was just a test that I needed to pass. They were sure that I would be okay because Master would protect me.
Although I was dizzy, my mother and my aunt encouraged me to study the Fa and do the exercises. An elderly practitioner also came daily to sent righteous thoughts for me. She told me that Master would take care of me. I studied the Fa and did the exercises like they suggested. After five days, even though I was still a little dizzy, I felt much better and went back to school.
On my way to school, I felt something heavy pressing down on my head. With very strong righteous thoughts, I called out, “I am here to validate the Fa!” and shook my head real hard. Right away, I felt a black substance coming out of my head and I immediately became clear-headed. The bump started to shrink and after a month it was virtually gone.
My mother and my aunt were arrested in March 2007. I found out when I walked past their store on my way to school and saw my grandma crying. We called my two aunts who are also practitioners and asked them to come to the store.
That night, my aunts and I went to the police station to appeal for my mother and aunt's release. I didn't have righteous thoughts at the time and was scared. They were not released, and they were transferred to a detention center that night.
The next day, a few local practitioners and my aunts exchanged ideas. They thought that grandma and I were the best people to appeal for their release, while others could send righteous thoughts. Grandma and I went to the police station. I was scared to death. Therefore, my legs shook as we walked down the small alley toward the police station.
Grandma encouraged me. That's when Master's poem came to my mind,
“Should you have fear,it will seize upon youIf thoughts are righteous,evil will collapse” (“What’s to Fear?” from Hong Yin Volume II)
All of my fear was gone and I felt like a giant Buddha. I sent forth righteous thoughts to dissolve all my fear and strengthen the thought that I was there to rescue fellow practitioners. I could feel that the black substance diminished.
Grandma and I went to the police station daily for a few days. Grandma carried a sign that said, “Let my daughters go” with detailed information in small print at the bottom. I stood right next to her. The unusual pairing of an elderly lady and a young child attracted a lot of attention from passersby.
After people heard that innocent people were arrested, they got angry at the police. Many went into the police station and demanded that they release my mother and aunt. The police called my school and asked my principal and my homeroom teacher to convince me to go back to school. I told them that without my mother, nobody would pay my tuition, which immediately stopped their efforts.
The police was scared that their bad deeds would be exposed to the public and tried to drive us away. A female police officer pushed my grandma to the ground, but grandma was not scared at all. She told me later that she recited the Fa and felt as if she fell on a pile of cotton. She knew that Master was looking after us.
My other two aunts and local practitioners were sending righteous thoughts nearby to strengthen us. We also went to the detention center to send forth righteous thoughts in close proximity. My mother and aunt were released after a week.
After entering eighth grade, I was assigned more school work and didn't have as much time to study the Fa. I stayed up past midnight to finish my homework and couldn't stay awake when I sent righteous thoughts at 6 a.m. When I studied the Fa, I couldn't stay focused and dozed off sometimes. Slowly, I started to slack off. I started to read novels and comic books.
My mother discovered my bad habits and urged me to correct them. I snapped at her because I was in such a poor cultivation state.
Master hinted that I needed to change my cultivation state. I became diligent for a short while and then started to slack off again. It was not until my mother limited my access to the Internet that I gradually became more diligent.
I had a very busy summer break after my sophomore year and improved quickly. In the mornings, I helped my mother print Falun Gong fliers. After she went to work, I studied the Fa and did the exercises, and I did my school work in the afternoons. In the evening, mother, my aunt and I sent text messages to people about the persecution of Falun Gong.
When I had some time, I watched the Shen Yun performance. With little time on the Internet, my attachment to novels and comics books posted online disappeared.
When I watched a program on the Minghui website, I saw a clip where a group of elementary students signed a CCP flag with messages that slandered Falun Gong. I recalled that I had signed such a flag in elementary school, although I didn't remember anything else about it. I just signed it because all the other kids did, too. I realized that I had maligned Falun Gong. I told mother about it and we decided to write a solemn declaration on the Minghui website.
Mother later told me that my field was all of a sudden a lot clearer and righteous after I made the declaration. She had assumed that my field was not as righteous because I read comic books. Now, she knew that it was because I signed the flag.
Speaking of which, I want to urge young practitioners to try to do a solemn declaration if they signed a similar item. We were probably all first or second graders, about seven years old when the persecution started. The teachers told us to sign and we never thought about whether it was right or wrong.
If you have signed anything in school, you have to write a solemn declaration, otherwise the consequences are very serious.
I don't feel that I have changed much, but my mother thinks otherwise and is sure that it is because of the declaration.
Young practitioners, I really think we should not spend too much time on ordinary people's websites. The ordinary people are “declining a thousand miles a day.” (“Practicing Cultivation After Retirement” from Essentials For Further Advancement) If we see too many ordinary people's things, we could easily be influenced.
My suggestion is to log onto the Minghui website when you have free time and read experience sharing articles—it is very helpful. I hope that all young practitioners will study the Fa often, study the Fa solidly and cultivate well. Listen to your practitioner parents' advice, read practitioners' articles often, and walk a righteous path.
Fellow practitioners, please kindly point out anything that is inappropriate.