(Minghui.org) I began practicing Falun Dafa in December 2010. Before that, people called me a “golden phoenix.” I owned my own business, became a millionaire by my 20s, and married a man from Singapore. I was envied by my peers. It seemed that everything was going well in my life.
Over time, however, I lost my bearings and indulged myself. I often went to night clubs and spent large sums on luxury watches and bags. It was common for me to binge drink with my employees and clients. My mother grew concerned about the direction I was heading in and tried to introduce me to Falun Dafa, but I refused to consider it.
In December 2010, I was recovering from the birth of my son. Since I hired a nurse to look after everything, I didn’t have much to do and watched TV every day. One day, I saw a copy of Zhuan Falun on a table. Curious as to why my mother believed in Dafa so firmly, I took the book to my room and read two lectures. My family wanted me to rest, so they persuaded me to take a nap. After I fell asleep, I had a dream in which I smashed everything in my house. Then I saw a man I did not know but whose presence made me feel completely relaxed. He quickly removed a shiny green being from my body. It screamed when it was taken out.
I woke up, rushed to the living room, and told my family about the dream. I realized that my body felt very light and that the pain from giving birth was gone. After I became a practitioner, I realized that the man in my dream was Master Li Hongzhi (the founder of Falun Dafa) and that he had purified my body.
When I began practicing Dafa, I had another dream in which I clearly saw some horrifying beings with no torsos flying towards me. A pair of invisible hands squeezed my neck and choked me.
I suddenly remembered what I had learned that day, the verses for “Sending Forth Righteous Thoughts” from Essentials For Further Advancement II. I kept reciting the verses. The hands let go of my neck, and instantly I could feel that my energy field was clear and bright.
Master said in Lecture Six of Zhuan Falun,
“If you practice qigong and achieve the Tao, what about those unpaid debts you owe others? They will not allow it, so they will not let you practice qigong. Yet it is also an indication of a certain level. After a period of time, this phenomenon will no longer be allowed to exist. In other words, after these debts are worn out, they will not be allowed to come and interfere again. This is because those who practice cultivation in our Falun Dafa make rapid progress, and they also make quick breakthroughs in their levels.”
I kept studying the Fa every day. I knew that it was not easy to become a practitioner. I enlightened that only when I am able to fully become one with this Fa will I have the ability to save sentient beings and walk on the path to my true home with Master. To think of what I would have become if I had not obtained Dafa!
I soon started talking to people around me and handing out information about Dafa and how it was being persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party. While out for lunch one day, I saw another practitioner at a subway station entrance. She stood next to a display board about Dafa and was handing out materials to passersby. I took some flyers from her and started to hand them out. She pointed to a camera and said, “You’re from mainland China, so be careful about your safety.” She told me she would go to the subway station near my home the next day to hand out flyers and invited me to join her.
My husband was worried that it might affect my permanent resident status, so he tried to persuade me to practice Dafa at home and not go out in public. When I studied the Fa that night, I thought that if I was unable to validate the Fa while I was overseas, then it would be impossible for me to clarify the facts about Dafa to people in China. I phoned that practitioner and asked what time we should meet. My husband tried to stop me several times, but I was firm. I thought, “Would a divine being worry about permanent resident status?”
The next morning, I arrived on time, set up the display board, and started to hand out flyers. A couple of uniformed police officers walked towards me. My heart started to thump, and I realized that it was my attachment of fear. I sent forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the fear and was able to calm down. Not long after, I saw that a few undercover police officers had positioned themselves nearby and were watching us and taking photos. I kept handing out flyers. When the officer in charge walked toward us, I smiled at her and handed her the last flyer.
Due to the demands of my company, I went back to China. I knew this was arranged by Master since I had a lot of relatives waiting for me to save them. My employees in China were surprised to find that the cunning and devious boss they were familiar with had completely changed. I told them about Dafa and the persecution. They said they all knew Dafa was good but asked whether I was worried about my safety since I needed to deal with the government. I told them our Master taught us to be good people and that I had nothing to worry about since I didn’t do anything bad.
Over time, I realized that they were keeping their distance from me, so I gathered them together one day and told them about my experiences of cultivating myself in Dafa. I also told them that I would not give up the practice. I thanked them for their concern about my safety. I also asked them to speak up when I had areas where I needed to improve. They smiled and said that Master Li and Falun Dafa are really amazing.
In the past, when festivals and Chinese New Year approached, I would exhaust myself deciding what gifts I would give to government officials to make them happy so that I would be treated well. In 2011, I did not send presents to anyone. This was because I had let go of my attachment of greed. In 2012, I only brought some inexpensive gifts for my clients in an effort to clarify the facts about Dafa to them. I talked to many high-ranking government officials and helped them to renounce their memberships in the CCP. They believed me after seeing the big change in my mental and physical health after taking up Dafa.
When one government official came to my company, I clarified the facts to him. He was a bit evasive at the beginning, but later he took out a Dafa keepsake from his pocket and told me that one of his relatives is a practitioner. He had already withdrawn from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
When I renovated my office, I talked to all the workers about Dafa. Once, when I went to check on the construction progress, I saw some of the workers putting something into their bags. They were startled when they noticed me. I did not say anything and only clarified the facts about the persecution of Dafa. They all agreed to withdraw from the CCP, and one of them was interested in learning Dafa. Since he needed to work every day and had no time to read the book, I bought an MP3 player for him, loaded all of Master's audio lectures into the player, and taught him how to use it.
After the renovation was complete, the worker came to see me and wanted to repay me for the audio player. He told me, “I will call you Master.” I quickly replied that Master Li had said in Zhuan Falun, “… you cannot call a student (a disciple) who passes on Falun Dafa ‘Teacher’ or ‘Master,’ for there is only one master in Dafa. All who enter are disciples, no matter when they began the practice.”
One day, I clarified the truth to two deliverymen. They both expressed their support for Dafa, and one of them even mentioned that he had practiced Dafa when he was in the army, before the persecution began. He told me that his division commander was a practitioner and taught them the exercises. He said that when he was patrolling in Zhongnanhai (the CCP headquarters), he saw many high-ranking officials practicing the exercises.
When the persecution began on July 20, 1999, however, he stopped practicing. He went to work in Beijing after he left the army and could no longer obtain Dafa materials. I told him that if he still wanted to learn the exercises, I could give him a copy of Zhuan Falun. He was ecstatic and thanked me profusely.
Before I practiced, I made a huge effort to send money and luxury presents to the leading members of every organization to make more contacts and earn more money. After I began practicing Dafa, I was determined to follow its principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and let go of my attachments to fame and gain. I was determined to follow a righteous path in doing business.
One day, a client reneged on their contract and gave a project to another company without consulting me. My company had already finished the design when one of my employees found that another tendering and bidding agency was advertising for the construction of the same project. This issue happened twice. I did not become upset. Instead, I explained to my employees karmic principles from Dafa, that if something truly belonged to us, we would not lose it; if something was not ours, we would not have it even if we fought for it. I said perhaps it was because I owed the client in the past.
Sometime later, a representative from the client came to see me. I did not give her a hard time. I knew it was hard for her because the decision was made by her superior. I prepared a supplementary agreement to terminate the contract. When some people heard the way I resolved the conflict, they all thought I was a fool. They said, “Why don't you take them to court?!” I just smiled and did not say anything.
Master said,
“Our school of practice directly targets one’s mind. The key issue is whether you can take lightly and care less about the issues of individual gain and interpersonal conflicts." (Lecture Four, Zhuan Falun)
After the incident, the manager of that company planned to give me a new project but asked for a 50% discount on the agent fee. I thanked him and declined the offer. I did not want to start cut-throat competition with other companies. I knew that only by walking on the right path could I make the business run on a sound basis in the long term. I knew that it was a multi-billion dollar project and that even if I gave them the discount, I would still be able to make a lot of money.
Two years later, that company asked my company to be the agent for tendering a new construction project. This time, they did not ask for a discount, having chosen us after a comparison among tendering and bidding agencies. Last year, they gave us projects worth tens of billions of dollars. They also recommended us to other companies. Those who laughed at me earlier teased, “It seems that fortune favors fools.”
From this experience, I understood what Master said on loss and gain at a deeper level: “If something is yours, you will not lose it. If something is not yours, you will not have it even if you fight for it.” (Lecture Seven, Zhuan Falun)
As a businesswoman, I did not lose anything, and I did not adopt the prevalent corrupt methods other businesses use. On the contrary, after I let go of the attachment to fame and gain and doing business honestly and diligently, my business started doing a lot better. People around me also felt my compassion and sincerity. In a way, this also validated Dafa.
When I arrived in Australia three and a half years ago, I joined a phone team that made phone calls to China to dissuade perpetrators from participating in the persecution. I tried hard to get rid of any interference that would affect my calls. When I heard that other practitioners on the platform had some difficulties, I would encourage them to read the Fa more and cherish the opportunities to save people. Though many practitioners live outside of China, many are unable to clarify the truth in fluent Chinese to people working in the police system. As an overseas Chinese practitioner, I believe I have a responsibility to help fulfill this mission.
I know that these police phone numbers are not easy to obtain. We must make good use of every number and relieve some of the pressure on the practitioners who are being persecuted in China. Through consistent phone calls, there has been improvement in some areas of China where the persecution is the most severe. The process of making phone calls has also enabled me to find my own shortcomings.
In closing, I would like to share Master's teaching from “A Reminder:”
“It is necessary for a Dafa disciple to ensure his cultivation on a daily basis, and it is the mission of a Dafa disciple to clarify the facts and save people. You cannot go without either of these as you journey toward consummation. How well you do is a reflection of whether you are diligent in your cultivation. The current state of affairs in society may change, but never will the requirements for cultivation, as they are the standards of the cosmos and the standards of Dafa.”
The above are my experiences after starting to practice Falun Dafa. My cultivation level is limited. Please let me know if anything is improper.
Thank you, Master! Thank you, fellow practitioners!
(Presented at the 2019 Australia Fa Conference)