(Minghui.org) Greetings to Master and fellow practitioners!
I started practicing Falun Dafa more than 18 years ago. Since then, I’ve learned how to deal with difficulties and how to be tolerant. My heart is filled with happiness, and I am always grateful to Master for taking care of me, and giving me the strength and wisdom to face all manner of hardship.
Before I became a cultivator, I was very weak. I had a bone spur on my spine, so I was a frequent visitor to the Singapore General Hospital for over 11 years. I had problems with my digestive system, my shoulders ached, and I had insomnia for many years. In short, I was miserable.
My mind was always in a turmoil, swirling with different thoughts, no matter if I was driving somewhere or working. My mind was never at peace, even when doing household chores. When tried to sleep, the many thoughts kept me awake. Whenever someone was hostile, I kept mulling it over, and this made me angry at night. I was under great mental stress. Despite practicing many different forms of qigong, my health did not truly improve.
A good friend gave me a Falun Gong VCD to watch in 1996 and asked me if I wanted to learn the exercises. But I did not. It was not until the beginning of 2001 when my affinity with Dafa materialized.
My friend, who used to sleep in until at least 10 a.m., was waking up very early every morning to make New Year pastries to sell. She said that she was practicing Falun Gong and asked me if I would like to read the book Zhuan Falun. I accepted her offer and borrowed the book.
The first time I read Zhuan Falun, I wondered why it covered such high level issues. The second time read it, I wondered why it mentioned so many things that had happened to me in the past. Master explained everything so clearly. I returned the book to my friend, found a practice site, and started my cultivation in Dafa.
After less than two weeks, I felt that I was changing. I felt that my entire body was very relaxed, my mind was empty, my thoughts no longer were chaotic, and I could finally sleep – the pressure was gone. Even when I went up stairs, I no longer got tired. My back didn’t hurt anymore, and I no longer had to worry about what I ate. That gave me confidence to continue practicing Dafa. At that time, my understanding of the Fa teachings was still quite superficial. After further study, I realized that Master had taken away all the bad substances and cleansed me.
Actually, I started my cultivation when the persecution was at its peak. In January 2001, the Tiananmen self-immolation hoax, cooked up by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to demonize Falun Gong, flooded the media and created a lot of misunderstanding and hatred toward Falun Gong. Falun Gong practitioners in China were being tortured in prisons and detention centers, while in Singapore, the newspapers and television broadcast propaganda defaming Dafa directly from China. Within a short time, many Singaporeans were deceived by the lies.
That was the time when no one dared to pick up the practice. Friends called me to ask, “You still dare to practice when things are this bad?” My family also did not understand why I wanted to continue practicing Falun Gong. At that time, it was very difficult to clarify the truth about Dafa, but I thought, “What is there to be afraid of? What the media said is all lies, especially since I have experienced the power of Dafa.”
I remember that, when I first started to practice, I had a dream in which I went to watch a performance. My husband sat beside me and my mentally-disabled neighbor was there, too. When the performance ended, everyone went home and I was alone. I kept walking and walking until I reached a very big forest. The further I walked, the more scared I became.
I finally came across someone and asked how to get to the main road. He said, “This road is very bumpy and difficult to walk on. No one can help you, so you have to do it yourself.” After waking up, I thought, “Yes, we need to walk our own cultivation paths. No one is going to cultivate for us, so if we do not keep going forward and overcoming whatever obstacles there are, we will never get out of our ‘forest.’”
In another dream, I saw many people dressed in white clothes mired in a pit. There were also a few people dressed in black who were waving their long sleeves, raising their hands as though they were asking me to come and save them quickly. I thought that this must be Master giving me a hint to quickly save people.
I started cultivating Dafa after the persecution began. As a Dafa practitioner in the Fa-rectification period, we need to validate the Fa. Since the persecution has happened, we should let people know that Falun Gong is good and that it is being unjustly persecuted.
Initially, I began by leaving truth-clarification information at people’s doors. In the old type of residential apartments, the elevators did not stop at every floor. So I had to walk up and down the stairs and I sweat profusely. Every day, I would cover two blocks. If there was someone at the door, I would explain the facts to them. I did this for many years, and I also clarified the truth to my neighbors, who then borrowed Dafa books from me.
This was not all smooth-sailing, as my legs did not always cooperate. There was a period when I could not even climb stairs. At that time, my understanding of the Fa was quite poor. I did not know that I needed to send forth righteous thoughts to get rid of the evil interference. Thus, I passively accepted the interference and endured additional hardships.
People are all being deceived by the CCP's lies, especially the mainland Chinese who have been seriously brainwashed. Ten years ago, I started to walk the streets to talk to people and encourage them to quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). I still do. Be it public gardens, bus stops, the markets, tourist attractions, food centers, supermarkets, and so on – everywhere, there are sentient beings waiting to be saved.
When I first started, I did not have enough experience, so I did not know how to go about explaining the facts. Besides, my cultivation level wasn’t high enough, so when I was humiliated or fussed at, I felt that I was losing face and would argue with the person. Slowly, I got used to it and would remind myself that what I was doing was for their own good. My cultivation state gradually improved, and I became more at peace with myself. Then it became easier to explain the truth, and I became more kind and more compassionate.
I also read articles on the Minghui website where other practitioners’ experiences serve as references for me on my cultivation path. When there are things that I can learn from, I write them down. By learning a bit from here and a bit from there, as I apply them to my daily life, I have come up with my own methods and have learned how to address different situations.
Because not everyone thinks the same way, they resolve their problems differently. They start and end their conversations differently, too. I am usually able to answer their questions in a way that makes sense to them, and I have the wisdom to respond appropriately.
At times like these, I am amazed and deeply touched by Master’s empowerment. It is all Master’s doing, and all I do is just move my mouth and talk. What is gratifying is that many of the people I meet understand, and many of them quit the CCP and its youth associations. Many people think I am very friendly, because I am just thinking about what's best for them.
I once met an exchange student from China. He told me that he did not believe in divine beings. “I don’t believe what you said. I am a university student, and I believe in science.” I said, “Correct! Master Li uses scientific theories to explain things.” I gave him a few examples and told him about the changes I experienced after I started to practice. Whatever he asked, I was able to answer.
“Einstein was a great scientist,” I said, “so why did he turn to religion in the end? I am not as educated as you; you will have to read about it and understand it for yourself.” After talking with him for half an hour, he said, “I have never believed in gods and ghosts, just science. But, you have changed my mind. You have convinced me, and I believe what you have said. I am willing to quit the CCP.”
Another time I met three teenagers. One of them spoke to me rudely in Hokkien [the dialect spoken in the southeastern part of China – Fujian Province] and I replied in Hokkien. He found it interesting, so he kept making fun of me. Another one said, “Aunty, he is not respectful. Just ignore him.” I followed the flow and asked him, “So have you ever joined the CCP or its youth organizations?” He said, “Yes! I am even a CCP member.” I said, “How old are you? You are so young, how can you be a Party member?” When he said he was 16, I said, “I understand, your whole family must be Party members.” He admitted that was true. After clarifying the truth to him, I said, “Let me give you a nickname so you can quit the CCP. Ok?” He said, “Of course, that would be good.”
Once, I was clarifying the truth at a tourist attraction. After listening to me, a man from mainland China told me that he had never joined the CCP. Then he raised both hands in the air and shouted, “Falun Gong is good! Falun Gong is good!”
A Chinese foreign worker who told me that he had never joined the CCP asked me, “Do you know why Hong Kong is in such a mess now? Do you think the Hong Kong police would really treat the Hong Kong people like that? Who doesn’t know that the CCP uses guns when things don't go their way? They are best at killing people and spilling blood. If I had joined the CCP, I would definitely have quit it by now.”
These are times when my truth clarification goes well, and times when it doens't. Someone from mainland China once accused me of betraying China. I explained the persecution to him calmly and he finally quit the CCP. Sometimes, we can tell if a person has already quit the CCP. Those who have usually have bright faces and their smiles are natural.
Once, I was distributing The Epoch Times. A man took a copy and said, “This is an anti-CCP newspaper. If we were in China, you would have been arrested. Why are you helping them do such bad things? How much do you earn for doing this? How can volunteers earn money? You should stop. This newspaper is rubbish.
“China is the greatest and strongest in the whole world. We Chinese all know that. I detest people like you, especially those from mainland China. We will be the best in the future.” Just then, his friend came over. I said, “You are mainland Chinese. I am only encouraging you to quit the CCP and its organizations for your own peace of mind. We want to be the descendants of China, the descendants of the Han Chinese, not of Marxism-Leninism.
“Our master, Master Li, is benevolent. He has asked us to clarify the truth to everyone so that you can save yourselves and have a peaceful future. Isn't Falun Gong good? The CCP has persecuted Falun Gong for 20 years, but none of us are using weapons to fight it. Do I look like a bad person to you?”
They were stunned, “You practice Falun Gong?” I said, “Yes! I forgot to tell you that.” Then I told them that Falun Gong has spread to more than 100 countries, whose governments and citizens believe that Dafa is virtuous. The reason why people are being persecuted in China for cultivating Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is because Falun Gong is so good—it only took a few years for more than 100 million people to start practicing it.
I told them that former CCP leader Jiang Zemin initiated the persecution in 1999, resulting in Falun Gong practitioners being persecuted to death, becoming paralyzed, losing their homes, and even having their organs harvested when they are still alive. One of them asked, “Is live organ harvesting real?”
“People like you,” I said, “all have mobile phones that can go online and read about this. Of course it is real!”
Then I had them read the truth about the Tiananmen Self-immolation hoax.
“Master Li said, 'If humankind does not do something about it, heaven will' (Lecture Nine, Zhuan Falun), I quoted to them. “So do not become the CCP’s scapegoats. Use a pseudonym to quit the CCP.”
Both of them agreed. Later, they tried to guess my age. The man who’d scolded me initially said, “But you seem so young!” I said, “Falun Gong is a practice of mind and body, so my youthful appearance is a result of practicing Falun Gong.”
One day, someone asked me, “May I ask what you’re doing here?” I took a good look at him and said, “I am encouraging people to quit the CCP so that they can have a peaceful future.” He said, “Can you tell me where I can buy The Epoch Times? I like to read it because it is different from other newspapers. What it says is different with what I hear and see in China.”
I took out a copy from my bag and gave it to him. I told him that it was an old copy. He was very happy and said, “It’s ok. Aunty, you forgot that you were the one who gave me a copy of the newspaper and a small booklet a month ago.”
I suddenly remembered the night we met. When he'd seen me walking towards him, he quickly stuffed all the bread he was eating into his mouth. It was hard for him to swallow. When I asked him why he was eating in such a hurry, he said, “It's not polite to eat in front of you.” I said, “You have worked all day. If you are hungry, just eat. It’s ok.” After listening to me explain the facts to him, he quit the CCP. I gave him a truth-clarifying calendar and asked him to go to the Minghui website and look for Zhuan Falun. He agreed.
It says in the Buddhist scriptures, “When the udumbara flowers bloom, the Sage King of the Rotating Falun will come…”
This udumbara flower, which is said to bloom once every 3,000 years, appeared in my home three times. About eight years ago, when I was learning to clarify the truth and persuade people to quit the CCP, udumbara flowers bloomed at my house. On the morning of July 6, 2019, I discovered small white flowers blooming on the leaves of the small curry plant in my house.
The stems of the flowers were so thin that they resembled silk threads. The flowers were like jade and snow.There were 26 of them. Two months later, udumbara flowers appeared on my fruit tree. I understood that Master was encouraging was me again. Throughout my cultivation, Master has been enlightening and encouraging me. I always regretted it when I was lazy or disturbed or got engrossed in television programs. I must cherish this opportunity, which is nearing its end, and cultivate diligently so that I can complete my cultivation and consummate.
I have gained so much from Dafa. After hearing me explain the facts, a Singaporean teenager said, “Aunty, you look like you are in such good health. Are you around 50?” I told him, “I am over 70.” Many of my older friends have either passed away, have ailments, or look very old. My relatives and friends all see how happy I am and that I am in good health. I really hope that they can quickly understand the truth!
I must work hard to cultivate myself and do the three things well so that I can be deserving of the title of “Fa-rectification period Dafa disciple” and be worthy of Master’s benevolent salvation.
Master said,
Climbing up stairs, a thousand-foot pathWinding and steep, the first step is hardLook back, ’twas like cultivating in righteous FaStopping midway, salvation will be hard
Steeling the mind, lift up the leaden legsEnduring pain, strive on, let go attachmentsDafa disciples, hundreds of thousands and moreGong achieved, consummate at places on high” (“Climbing Mount Tai,” Hong Yin)
Thank you, Master and fellow practitioners!
(Presented at the 2019 Singapore Fa Conference)