(Minghui.org) Greetings, revered Master! Greetings, fellow practitioners!
I began practicing Falun Dafa in 1997 when I was 12. I am 32 years old this year. I'd like to share some of the experiences and understandings I gained throughout my cultivation journey.
Family Begins to Practice
My parents divorced when I was three. I lived with my mother, who worked in a farmers market as a vendor. My grandma took care of me while my mother was at work. The three of us supported one another.
Mother's income was sufficient to support us. One day, when she went to pick up items to restock the inventory, thieves attacked her. She was traumatized by the experience and had difficulty recuperating.
Doctors told her that she had a nervous system disorder and that there was no cure. When it got worse, Mother was bedridden and could not take care of herself. Her life was in imminent danger. She even planned for the worst. Because my grandmother was getting old, Mother asked her brother to raise me. Our family was hit hard by her condition, and we could not accept how dire our situation was. When one of my mother's friends learned about this, she came to our home and suggested she try qigong. For four years, Mother persisted in the qigong practice. Her situation fluctuated but was never completely resolved.
One day, my grandmother's sister came to visit us. She told Mother about Falun Dafa and said, “Falun Dafa is especially effective for health and fitness.” Mother did not believe her, so my great aunt told my grandmother, “Let me teach you the exercises so that you can teach her.”
She gave Mother a box of cassette tapes of Master's Fa lectures. My great aunt was close to 70-years-old and had traveled a long way to visit us. Mother could not turn her down and agreed to learn the exercises.
To everyone's surprise, as soon as Mother started doing the Falun Dafa exercises, she felt comfortable and relaxed. Perhaps she was predestined to practice. In the beginning, Mother listened to the lecture tapes while she did the exercises. When she heard Master say that he was cleansing the bodies of those who are genuinely cultivating, Mother immediately said, “Master, I just want to be your disciple and genuinely cultivate.” By the seventh day, all her ailments were gone. She felt comfortable and experienced the feeling of lightness.
However, soon after she started doing the exercises, Mother was diagnosed with a tumor during a routine checkup. To our amazement, the tumor disappeared after my Mother had practiced for only four months and seven days. She was filled with gratitude for Falun Dafa and Master, and she burst into tears of joy.
My grandmother and I then began practicing Falun Dafa because we had witnessed Mother’s miraculous recovery. My grandmother was in poor health before she started, and she had to take medicine. At first, she still took medicine even though she did the exercises. After studying the Fa, she gradually came to understand. One day, she stopped taking her medication and gave away what she had left. Afterwards, all my grandmother's heart problems, arthritis, high blood pressure, and kidney issues were resolved. She hasn’t taken a single pill since then.
I was twelve that year. I did not think about gaining anything by studying Dafa. I just felt that Falun Dafa is great and that I wanted to practice. From studying the Fa, I learned to set strict standards for my xinxing cultivation, to follow the guidelines of Zhen-Shan-Ren (Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance), and to be considerate of others.
To my surprise, my grades picked up. My scores climbed from average to second in my grade. Since I was a child, I always had a stomachache after breakfast. I also had bad breath, and my lips were chapped in spring and autumn. All these problems went away. I had a lot of gray hair even in elementary school. Classmates told me to eat black beans and black sesame seeds. After studying Dafa, my gray hair turned black. My headaches also left me. I witnessed what Master said “natural attainment without pursuit.” (Lecture in Sydney)
Walking the Path Arranged by Master
During the Beijing Olympics, many practitioners were arrested in a large-scale police campaign. The Falun Dafa materials production site in my home was targeted. My mother managed to escape, but I was taken to the police station. I was 22 years old. At first, I was scared. The police were aggressive, but I refused to answer any of their questions. I appeared to be brave, but in fact I was attached to competition. By the second day, I was shackled and handcuffed. The police station director shocked my ears and other sensitive parts of my body with an electric baton. I was then taken into a small room and handcuffed to an iron chair. I was deprived of sleep. Both my hands and feet were fastened to the chair, and I could not move.
People took turns interrogating me, asking where I had gotten the printers and materials, and who we were in contact with. I was determined that I would not give out a single name. At the same time, I sent forth righteous thoughts and looked within myself. As my righteous thoughts became stronger, I could feel the evil factors in other dimensions waning. The police became less aggressive, and several officers changed their attitude.
I was one of the youngest practitioners arrested. Several officers later said that I had put aside life and death, and said they respected me. I thought, “Dafa is great and righteous. There is nothing wrong with studying Dafa. We are the most righteous people in the universe, we have Master and Dafa, what are we afraid of?” As Master said:
A Great Enlightened One fears no hardshipHaving forged an adamantine willFree of attachment to living or dyingHe walks the path of Fa-rectificationconfident and poised(“Righteous Thoughts and Righteous Actions” from Hong Yin, Volume II)
I really did let go of life and death. I remember one experience clearly: A rough-looking officer abused me several times. He raised my arms and handcuffed me to the wall. To avoid leaving scars, he wrapped stiff towels around my wrists, which pierced my skin like needles. I could hardly bear the pain. I had been deprived of sleep for several days. Because I had been restrained in the iron chair for a long time, my feet and legs were swollen, and even my shoes were stretched and broken by my swollen feet.
Time passed slowly: it was excruciating, and I did not know how long I had been there. I did not feel hatred toward this ruthless officer. Instead, I felt pity for him. I knew that he was poisoned by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). As soon as I developed this thought, his attitude changed. He lowered me down off the wall and placed a tall stool under my feet to help blood circulation. He later told me he thought that Falun Dafa is great.
I was held at the police station for seven days, during which time I hardly closed my eyes. I did not realize that I needed to negate everything the old forces had arranged. Although I did not give out anyone's name, I told them about all the Dafa work I did. As a result, I was transferred to a detention center.
In the detention center, I met a lot of practitioners. They reminded me to send forth more righteous thoughts and to recite the Fa. I immediately realized – this was not where I belonged, and I needed to get out. Besides meal time and sleep, I spent the time with fellow practitioners reciting the Fa, sending forth righteous thoughts and doing the exercises. I had never recited the Fa at home. But in the detention center, I was able to memorize it quickly. Fellow practitioners recited “Your Main Consciousness Should Predominate,” (Zhuan Falun) once or twice, and I knew it by heart. Often when they just said the first sentence, I immediately knew the next sentence. I was so excited because I knew Master was helping and encouraging me.
As I memorized more and more sections of the Fa, it became clearer to me that I had to get out of there. I had to keep up righteous thoughts and negate the old forces' arrangements at each moment and to walk the path Master had arranged for me. I refused to comply with any of the detention center's demands. I refused to follow orders, as I was not an inmate.
One day, some high-level officials came to inspect the prison. All practitioners were told to put on inmates' uniforms, but we refused. However, on the day of the inspection, the person in charge of our cellblock told us to put on the uniforms. The other practitioners started to put it on. Because I was the only one who refused, I became a target, and I was slapped heavily in the face. The other practitioners felt bad and said that they did not do well and let me bear the brunt of the abuse. I did not blame them -- I only hoped they would do better next time. I realized that we have to negate the old forces' arrangements step by step. Only then can we walk the path arranged by Master.
That night, I dreamed that a patch of barren earth suddenly turned into a lawn, full of green, vibrant grasses. I knew I had acted in accordance with divine principles, and Master was giving me a hint.
During another inspection, we were told to move to a cell for inmates sentenced to lengthy prison terms. We refused. We promised one another that we would do well this time. We were all determined, and no one moved. The person in charge of the cells pressured us for a long time, but still, no one moved. Finally, she called several male guards to drag us to the other cell. As I watched two male officers drag us away I asked Master for help. Despite all my resistance, I was still dragged to the other cell and thrown heavily to the ground. My head hit the corner of the wooden stand next to the bed. The inmates were scared and burst into tears. If it were not for Master's protection, I would have been severely injured.
Another practitioner was in pain and started to tremble. The guards became hesitant. I heard a female inmate tell the person in charge of the cells, “Let them go back to their cell, otherwise they may go on a hunger strike.” We had not yet thought about a hunger strike. But as soon as she said that we were allowed to go back to the other cell. I knew that because we walked the path righteously, Master helped us.
When my case was filed with the police department and the procuratorate, I was interrogated several times. I told them how I was abused in the police station. They took notes. As he listened to my statement, one official was shocked by the brutality. In fact, if it were not something I had personally experienced, I would hardly believe it myself.
Here, I would like to tell police officers and guards that we practitioners are all kindhearted people. Don't compromise your morals for promotions or money.
After spending five months and nine days in the detention center, I was freed. On the surface, it appeared that my family had rescued me. However, I know that only Master has the final say.
Becoming an Expert at Work to Validate Dafa
I returned home from the detention center at the beginning of 2009, and I started looking for a job. At first, my search did not go well, and I had to change jobs several times.
One day, I applied for a sales position. The owner of the company interviewed me and asked a few questions, such as who else was in my family. I told him I grew up in a single-parent family and lived with my mother. He said bluntly that a person who grew up in a single-parent family was not good at communications, and less capable of handling complex interpersonal relations. He dismissed me, thinking I was not a fit for the sales job. I felt quite sad. When I returned home, Mother complained and was worried about whether I would get a job. I was under a lot of pressure. I remembered that I'm a practitioner and said, “Please, Master make arrangements for me.”
One day I was walking out of a job fair when someone suddenly asked me, “Are you looking for a job?” This is how I got my current position, which I've worked at for nearly eight years. Dafa's magnificence has manifested in my job again and again.
No one would have predicted that I could do sales. Even I wasn't sure whether I could do it well when I got the job. I was shy and introverted, and I did not talk much. After I became a practitioner, I talked more, but I did not have many communication skills. I did not have any confidence in myself. But when I started, I was able to communicate smoothly with clients. Every time I picked up the phone, my thoughts were clear, and I was responsive to customers’ needs.
At work, I diligently apply the standards of Zhen-Shan-Ren, and I treat each client well. From Dafa I realized that a good salesperson does not focus on how much money he makes. Instead, he focuses on how to save money for the clients. After we got to know one another, clients were willing to place orders through me. I was put in charge of our primary product line.
Before had I joined the company, only one of the two production lines were running. The products were not selling, and our inventory was backlogged. The company had to shut down production completely, and employees were put on unpaid leave. It was very costly. After I took over, both production lines were in operation, and the output more than doubled. Production was never again halted due to poor sales.
If I had not studied the Fa and was not a practitioner, I probably would not have been wise enough to do my job so well. I may have been incapable – just like the first interviewer had said.
I have to do several jobs at work. Besides sales, I am in charge of invoices and permits. I also have to handle a lot of credit letters, especially for exports to Bengal. People who are in foreign trade know that Bengali letters of credit require a lot of bureaucracy, such as all sorts of invoices, certificates, and permits. This was the first time I handled this account. I stayed in contact with our client and asked him questions when I was not clear about any issue.
When I went to the bank to submit all the documents, the reviewer said this was the first time she had seen such a complete set and complimented me. I know Dafa gives me the wisdom to do well. At work, I have become known as a “well-rounded expert.” Now, others come to me when they have difficulties.
From a reticent girl to a top salesperson, and then a rare talent in my company, I have constantly witnessed the magnificence of Dafa at work.
Saving People
My workplace is also where I talk to people about Falun Dafa and help them to quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations. I frequently talk to truck drivers who come to pick up products. Before I talk to them about Dafa, I send forth righteous thoughts. I ask the drivers how long they have been drivers, and tell them that it must be hard work. When we get to know each other a little, I say, “Safety is very important for drivers. Let me share with you a way to stay safe. Please remember 'Falun Dafa is good, Zhen-Shan-Ren is good.'” Most gladly accept this and thank me. I also tell them that Falun Dafa is practiced in over 100 countries and other facts about the practice.
I had an attachment to fear at first and did not dare to ask people to quit the CCP. I was afraid that they would not accept what I said and would report me. Later I identified my attachments, and I got rid of them. Most drivers quit the CCP or its affiliated organizations through me.
One driver came from Master's hometown. When I started telling him about Dafa and asked him to quit the CCP, he told me that when he was a child, he met Master and spent time with him. He felt that Master was very kind and upright. I was greatly moved. I knew Master had arranged for me to save him, and he gladly quit the CCP.
Of course, I know that I've missed opportunities to save people and have not always done well. I was distracted at times or my workload was heavy. But, when I'm very determined to save someone, I notice that Master arranges for me to meet him or her again, and I run into the person unexpectedly. I'm usually able to help the person quit the CCP. Whenever I have the wish, Master helps me.
I am grateful to Master for his compassionate, caring protection each and every step of my way.
Thank you, Master! Thank you, fellow practitioners!
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