(Minghui.org) I am a 64-year-old retired female Falun Dafa practitioner. I started practicing in 1996 and saw a lotus flower early the next morning. When I went to work, I saw a large word “Happiness” flailing in the sky like a banner. I understood that they were forms of encouragement from the Teacher of Falun Dafa.
An incident occurred last year that helped me understand that when we truly believe in Teacher and Dafa, there are no tribulations that we cannot overcome.
Maintaining Righteous Thoughts
Recalling my cultivation journey, I believe that I’ve walked my path steadily with Teacher’s help and protection all these years. I've done the three things that practitioners are supposed to do, helped many practitioners overcome tribulations, and cooperated with others to rescue practitioners who were being persecuted.
Many practitioners thought that I had strong righteous thoughts and a good understanding of the Fa. I too thought that my cultivation path was going well, which made me complacent. I didn’t make an effort to get rid of this thought.
During the 2018 Chinese New Year, I was very attached to sentimentality and even led the younger generation of our family to visit the graves of deceased relatives. Behaving like an everyday person contributed to my tribulations, and the old forces wanted to persecute me severely.
Teacher said,
“Common people, by contrast, tend to just be motivated by feelings and emotions.”
“Many people don’t have good self-control, and this makes for trouble in their spiritual lives.” (The Sixth Talk, Zhuan Falun)
On the eighth day of the 2018 New Year, I went out to clarify the truth about Dafa with another practitioner. In another dimension, a black substance came rushing from out of nowhere into the left side of my head. I tried to catch it with my hand and sent righteous thoughts to eliminate it.
I said to the substance, “Who do you think you are? I am a Dafa disciple, and you can’t interfere with me!”
Immediately, the people around me looked blurry, and I felt enormous pressure on my head. After a while, my heart felt uncomfortable. I went to a restroom in a shopping mall and had diarrhea and vomited.
The right side of my body was weak and numb, and my right eye and mouth drooped to the left. My body also tilted to the left. I wasn’t scared and knew that the old forces were trying to prevent me from doing what I should do as a practitioner.
Being Waylaid by Evil Entities
I went outside the mall and still felt awful. Evil entities encircled me in another dimension, trying to beat me to the ground. I turned and said to them, “I’m a Dafa disciple. I won’t be beaten. Even if I have gaps, you aren’t qualified to persecute me. I have my Teacher to take care of me!” I repeated this three times, but they didn’t give up.
In this dimension, the other practitioner saw that I couldn’t walk straight. My main consciousness and righteous thoughts remained strong. It seemed like an intense battle was going on to take my life. I managed to let go of the thought of life and death, and I said to myself, “I have Teacher and Dafa. No matter what kinds of tricks these evil entities use, I wouldn’t be scared.”
These evil entities didn’t achieve their goal in the end. Teacher saved me.
Teacher said in “Teaching the Fa in New York City” (Lectures in the United States),
“This is the difference between a human and a God. If you can let go of life and death, you’re a God; if you can’t let go of life and death, you’re a human—this is the difference.”
I rode a motorcycle that day and wanted to ride it back home. But the practitioner suggested that I not ride it. I told her that I would be alright and that the evil was nothing. She seemed reassured and got on the back of the bike.
There was a lot of traffic on the road. My vision still wasn’t good, and I had no strength in my right hand. I stopped further down the road and got off the bike. My legs were weak, and I couldn't stand properly. Very soon, the motorcycle fell on top of us. My legs were hurt, and a pedestrian helped us get up.
The practitioner insisted that we leave the motorcycle and take the bus home. I wouldn't listen and told her that she can take the bus but that I would continue on my motorcycle.
After about a kilometer, I had to stop. I vomited, and the motorcycle fell on me again. A pedestrian helped me get up.
By this time, the practitioner had caught up with me. She hadn't taken the bus and was worried about me. She was in her 70s and was very tired. I was embarrassed and really touched by her kindness. She managed to stop a taxi, and the driver took us home.
My apartment was on the second floor, and it was difficult for me to climb the stairs. I had to hold onto the railings and drag myself upstairs. When I reached my floor, my husband came out to give me a hand. He told me to rest and then went out to fetch the motorcycle with the other practitioner.
After taking a shower, I knelt in front of Teacher’s picture and said, “Teacher, I didn’t do well and made you worry. The evil tried to take my life. Thank you for helping me maintain righteous thoughts, giving me strength, and protecting me so that I could go through the tribulation.”
Tears streamed down my face.
Resisting Emotional Ties to Family
As mentioned earlier, I took the younger generation of our family to the graves of deceased relatives, which showed that I was still emotionally attached to my family.
Teacher said,
“In spiritual practice you have to go through ordeals, and they serve to test whether you can become free of your emotions and desires and the sway they hold over you. Being attached to those things will impede your progress. There are reasons behind everything. What makes people human? It is the presence of emotion, as people simply live for it.” (The Fourth Talk, Zhuan Falun)
I have a total of 20 family members spanning a few generations. After they heard about my incident, they all came to see me. They tried everything to get me to go to the hospital, but I just wouldn’t budge.
When they realized that they couldn't convince me, some of them went to the hospital and asked the doctors for advice. The doctor said the symptoms sounded like I had had a stroke or a brain hemorrhage and that I needed to go to the hospital immediately. They even sent an ambulance to collect me.
I knew that it was a trick by the old forces. I said to my family, “Don't you see that I am fine now? I am a cultivator and am being taken care of by my Teacher. Please, rest assured that I’ll be fine.”
They said that I was being selfish. My heart wasn’t moved. My daughter said she would drive me to the hospital to have a check up and that I wouldn’t have to stay there. I said, “If you are really want what’s good for me, please stop forcing me to go to the hospital. I’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”
My daughter still wouldn't let it go, and my family was very anxious. I said, “My Teacher can do everything because he is the one that creates everything. My little discomfort is nothing!”
Seeing that I was so persistent, they let me stay at home.
Overcoming Interference
The evening after the incident occurred, I looked in the mirror and saw that my right eye was drooped and couldn’t open much. My vision was still blurry, and I had problems with my hearing. I had no strength in my right leg and couldn’t stand for long.
I sent righteous thoughts for half an hour and began to study the Fa. However, the words were distorted. I said to the old forces, “You are committing a sin by not letting me study the Fa. Even if I have gaps, you don’t have the right to interfere with me. Everything that happens to me is my Teacher’s decision!”
I carried on to study the Fa without caring if I recognized the words or not. After about ten minutes, when I got to the second page, all of a sudden, I could see all the words clearly.
After studying the Fa, I started doing the exercises. But, I couldn’t do the second exercise because I couldn’t stand properly. So, I skipped it. I skipped it the next day as well. I then realized that I was the one who makes the decisions for my body, so I straightened my right leg with my hand and stood there to finish the exercises. I kept resisting the old forces’ interference and negated the arrangements made by them.
From that day on, I did the five sets of exercises twice a day and studied three lectures of Zhuan Falun daily. I sent righteous thoughts frequently and looked inward continually.
My family knew that they couldn't get me to go to the hospital, so they asked some practitioners to come to my home to study the Fa and send righteous thoughts together. They came for three days, and then I told them not to come anymore because I didn’t want to disrupt their efforts in saving people. I was regaining my strength and my body was getting back to normal.
By the fourth day, I wanted to go out to clarify the truth. I went out with other practitioners and helped two people quit the Chinese Communist Party and its youth organizations. I couldn’t see far or clearly, and practitioners helped me take the bus each day.
Due to my condition, we could only stay in my neighborhood the first couple of days. I thought that I would ride my motorcycle to farther away places when my vision got better.
But one day, then two days passed, and my vision remained the same. I wondered why my body recovered so quickly, but not my vision. I asked myself, “Should I wait until my vision gets better, then I can ride my motorcycle to clarify the truth? Is this a correct thought?” Dafa is supernormal. How could I use ordinary people’s notions to do things?”
I decided to ride my motorcycle the next day.
As I was getting the bike ready, I discovered that I could see things clearly. It was truly as Teacher said,
“And human notions change,The degenerate things purged,Brightness now shines forth.”(“Born Anew,” Hong Yin)
It took ten days for me return to my normal state. I thanked Teacher from the bottom of my heart.
Lessons Learned
After experiencing this tribulation, I calmed my mind and looked inward. Although I had negated the old forces’ arrangements, why did they still impose their will upon me? I must have some loopholes. Other than attachments to emotions and complacency, I also found other attachments:
1. I was proud of myself for having the wisdom to enlighten to the Fa, and I convinced myself that I had cultivated well. I wanted to know what was happening around me and made practitioners rely on me. This interfered with them, stopping them from taking the Fa as Teacher and walking their own paths.
2. I talked behind practitioners’ backs and often found flaws in others. I didn’t appreciate their strengths and lacked compassion.
3. I didn’t like when others criticized me, and I tried to stop them from exposing my weaknesses. When they did, I argued and pushed the blame to others. Sometimes I got angry, complained, and blasted those who criticized me.
I still remember that a practitioner had reminded me about my problems. I would like to take this opportunity to apologize to those I've attacked. Thank you for being so unselfish and helpful.
4. I still hold attachments, such as aggression, showing off, competitiveness, and jealousy. I need to work harder to remove these.
Teacher has endured a lot for us so that we have more time to save more people. I must cherish the opportunity and cultivate myself better. I want to harmonize myself with Dafa and do everything that Teacher asks of practitioners.
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Category: Improving Oneself
