(Minghui.org) I first learned Falun Dafa in 1998, but stopped cultivating when the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) started its propaganda campaign to slander and persecute the practice. I returned to cultivation in 2005, and Master gave me a second chance to gain a deeper understanding of Dafa and the persecution. I would like to share my cultivation experience.
Obtaining Dafa
I was always a good student, and I lived comfortably with my family. However, after my mother became seriously ill, I felt helpless and lonely. Although I did not believe in any religion, I hoped that God really existed. I often prayed over and over again, “Merciful God, save us!”
Divine beings must have heard me because, at the end of 1998, someone brought me a copy of Zhuan Falun. At that time, however, I was consumed with the pursuit of fame and fortune. On top of that, I had been raised in the CCP's cult of atheism, so I had a poor understanding of cultivation. The persecution began in 1999, not long after I began practicing Falun Gong. Confused and deceived by the CCP's propaganda and slander of Dafa, I stopped cultivating.
A Second Chance
Six years later, in 2005, the same person found me. She said, “The Tiananmen Square self-immolation was staged by the CCP government to deceive people.” She described how the CCP propaganda lies to people about Dafa. I watched the videos that she showed me. While watching, a thought appeared in my mind: “Humans dropped down to this earth from the heavens. However, people can now cultivate in Dafa to return to our real home in Heaven. Falun Dafa can help us gain enlightenment in one's lifetime!” That thought was so strong that I understood that Dafa was the ladder to heaven!
I downloaded lectures and books by Master Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Dafa, and began to read. Master's teachings helped me to understand the reason for life, answered many of my questions, and cleared away my doubts. My belief in Dafa became stronger and firmer. I told myself, “I want to cultivate in Dafa to return to my original home!”
Master Li Changed My Job
With a newborn baby and a full-time job, I did not have time to cultivate and do the three things Master asks us to do. I told myself that I had to change jobs, because I needed time to cultivate and also to clarify the facts. The salary did not matter, as long as it was enough to support the family. So I added one more thought when sending forth righteous thoughts: “Master, please give me a job that allows me more time to cultivate and to do the three things.”
About two months later, a coworker told me that a department in my work unit had an internal opening. She told me that this was not a very demanding job and the pay was lower. I knew that Master had arranged this job for me. So I contacted the HR director, who agreed to give me the job. She added, “Several people have contacted me about this job, but we didn't think they were the best fit. You're perfect for it.” In addition, she also told me that the salary would remain the same.
Elevating Xinxing
My husband divorced me because I refused to give up Dafa when he ordered me to do so. I got custody of our son, and he remarried very soon.
I really resented him the first couple of years. I did not want him to take our son to see his parents, and I was even more unwilling for him to take our child out with his new wife. I was very jealous of them and felt miserable. I often lost my temper, but deep in my heart I knew that I was at fault - my thoughts and actions were not befitting of a Dafa cultivator. A cultivator should be like what Master says:
“A benevolent person always has a heart of compassion.With no discontentment or hatred, he takes hardship as joy.”(“Realms” in Essentials for Further Advancement)
I should have been compassionate, but instead, I lost control of my temper all the time and let the evil exploit my gaps. Master said,
“A wicked person is born of jealousy.Out of selfishness and anger he complains about unfairness towards himself.” (“Realms” in Essentials for Further Advancement)
My cultivated side was worried about me. I cried in my dreams and could not figure out why I was not tolerant enough. So I studied the Fa more and began to recite Hong Yin and Essentials for Further Advancement, especially the two poems, “Real Cultivation” in Hong Yin and “Expounding on the Fa” in Essentials for Further Advancement.
I filled my head with Master's teachings and left no space for jealousy, resentment, sadness, and other human sentiments and attachments. So when conflicts occurred again, the first thing that I thought about was Master's teaching:
“He who regards notordinary sorrows and joysA cultivator is heHe who has not attachmentto worldly loss and gainAn Arhat is he”(“Breaking Free of the Three Realms” from Hong Yin)
And:
“For a cultivator, all the frustrations he comes across among everyday people are trials, and all the compliments he receives are tests.” (“A Cultivator is Naturally Part of It” from Essentials for Further Advancement)
Gradually I was able to control my sentiments, and I no longer hated or resented him. I could even talk to him and his wife like friends. I made sure that he did not feel bad about the divorce.
“We have said that good or bad comes from a person’s initial thought, and the thought at that moment can bring about different consequences.” (Lecture Four, Zhuan Falun)
Master's Teachings Changed Me and My Family
After I changed, they did, too. So instead of taking our son out with them, my ex-husband came to my apartment to spend time with him, or we took our son out together with grandparents. That meant I had more time to clarify the facts of Dafa to him. I also gave him Minghui Weekly to read.
He was not willing to hear anything about Dafa before, and he also refused to accept Dafa publications, so I gave the magazines to his mother, who was more accepting. After my attitude changed, he finally changed, and was willing to listen and accept Dafa. He even participated in suing Jiang Zemin in 2016 for launching the persecution of Dafa practitioners. His wife also agreed to renounce her membership in the CCP.
Master told us,
“Compassion can harmonize Heaven and Earth, ushering in springRighteous thoughts can save the people in this world. (“The Fa Rectifies the Cosmos,” Hong Yin II)
Sentient beings came to this world to obtain the Fa, and Master arranges for us to save them. We should never give up on them, regardless of how they behave, because their enlightened side knows that they came here to obtain the Fa. When we give them an opportunity to see and feel the compassion and beauty of Dafa, their kindness will be awakened.
Raising a Young Practitioner Well
We all love our children and want them to have the best. I believe that the best thing I can give my child is to help him obtain the Fa, so I began to read Zhuan Falun with him when he was four, and I taught him to follow Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance to be a good person. He studied the Fa with me attentively and listened quietly for me to explain the meaning of the words.
We studied a few paragraphs each time. When we read Lecture 6 in Zhuan Falun, I noticed that he could recognize most of the characters by the time he was 5. Dafa is magical!
I originally thought that the divorce would negatively impact my son's mental health. But he grew up to be cheerful and positive and a top student. He was also very talented. He knew that he should follow the expectations of Dafa to be a good person. His classmates all liked to play with him. He seldom got sick. When he felt unwell, he did the exercises and studied the Fa, and he would be fine again.
Do Not Leave Anybody Out
Master told us that during the Fa-rectification, Dafa disciples have a mission—to save those who are deceived by the CCP's lies and help them to avoid being eliminated in the future. I know that I need to keep up with the Fa-rectification and save more people.
I do not have time to study the Fa and clarify the facts during the day, so I go out once a week after work with fellow practitioners. We carry a big bag of Dafa materials and leave them on people's doors. We also talk to people and encourage them to quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations.
One time we gave a man a Shen Yun DVD. We told him that Shen Yun Performing Arts promotes the 5,000-year-old Chinese culture. He was very interested and began to chat with us. We learned that he was a retired police officer and had monitored Dafa practitioners in their homes to keep them from practicing. He asked many questions about Dafa, divine beings, cultivation, and withdrawing from the CCP. He listened to our answers and nodded his head frequently. We talked till 11 p.m. In the end, he readily agreed to renounce his CCP membership and sincerely told me, “You are so knowledgeable. There are not many young people like you nowadays. May God bless you all!”
We have also met many college students who are pure and kind, as well as those who knew how to break through the CCP's internet blockade, but did not understand the facts about Dafa and the persecution. We have also encountered people who have seen the Shen Yun DVDs but did not quit the CCP. We try our best to explain the facts about Dafa and the CCP.
When I ride in taxis, I find a way to chat with the drivers and tell them to quit the CCP. Many of the drivers had heard recorded messages about Dafa on their phones or used money with Dafa messages printed on them. They all chose to quit the CCP.
After helping one driver to quit one day, I wrote down the web link to help him circumvent the CCP's internet blockade. He was very happy and thanked me repeatedly.
On another occasion, I missed my stop while chatting with the taxi driver. He had to take a big loop to take me to my destination. However, he insisted on not charging me for the extra miles and said, “You're such a nice person. What's your name? I'll remember you.”
I chat with whoever comes to our apartment so that I can find an opportunity to clarify the facts to them. We bought a dresser, and I clarified the facts to the man who delivered it. He quit the CCP without hesitation. He told me that he knew that Falun Dafa was good. Some of his co-workers were Dafa cultivators, and they had told him the facts about Dafa before.
With the rapid progress of the Fa-rectification, there are fewer and fewer evil factors controlling people’s thinking. It is easier for people to understand what Dafa really is now. People are waiting for us. As long as we go out and talk to peole, Master will arrange for people to come to us.
Although I was very busy, and sometimes I felt tired, when I was on my way to save sentient beings, I recited Master's poem:
“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 II)
I am filled with happiness when I have the opportunity to assist Master in saving sentient beings.
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