(Minghui.org) To avoid being arrested for my faith in Falun Dafa, I left my hometown and became a fugitive. I temporarily settled down in another city and joined a local Fa study group.
When the Minghui website published the call for submissions for the 2020 China Online Fahui, I was given the opportunity to help local practitioners draft and edit their sharing papers. It was an incredible experience from which I have learned and benefited so much.
It all happened when I brought it to the practitioners’ attention at Fa study and asked whether anybody planned to write a paper for the online conference. I then learned that nobody in the group ever participated in such online conferences before. However, many expressed their interest.
One practitioner told me she had always wanted to submit a sharing paper to Minghui, but didn’t know how to put it together in writing. So I volunteered to help with drafting and editing for anyone who wanted to submit a paper.
Little did I know, this simple offer led to, and opened up a wonderful treasure before me during the following weeks. I was inspired by each and every practitioner’s sharing and lost myself in their cultivation stories.
A Practitioner in His 90’s: I Will Give My Everything to Dafa
The first practitioner I helped we called Grandfather. Although already in his 90’s, Grandfather is very involved in Dafa work. His cultivation story may seem ordinary at first but is in reality truly remarkable.
Grandfather lost both parents when he was seven years old and went through many hardships in his youth. The villagers thought it was amazing that he even survived. He started practicing Falun Dafa at his old age, and his home became the village’s exercise site.
After the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched the persecution against Falun Dafa in 1999, he started hosting the Fa study group in his home, where he also set up a truth-clarification materials production site. During the past more than 20 years, Grandfather remained steadfast in his cultivation.
A few months after the persecution started, the county Domestic Security Division came for him. With a smile, Grandfather invited the police officers into his home, took out a copy of Zhuan Falun, and told them, “Falun Dafa is a very good practice. I want to give you a copy of the book of principles. Your parents and the elderly in your family could sure benefit from it.” The officers were surprised by his offer. After a quick chat, they left. A seemingly inevitable arrest was completely dissolved by Grandfather’s kindness.
I met Grandfather when I came to this city last year. One time, I went with him to another practitioner’s home to deliver truth-clarification fliers. A couple of minutes after we left, the police showed up at this practitioner’s door and arrested him. Later I learned that the police got to the practitioner’s building right around the same time we did but mistakenly went to a different floor. Grandfather and I narrowly escaped and didn’t encounter any problem. I think Grandfather’s strong righteous thoughts caused the police to miss us by just a few minutes.
Grandfather owns a beautiful two-story home on a large piece of property but leads a frugal life. As an orphan, he grew up very poor and even after he became wealthy, he was not interested in spending money on himself. But he is very generous in helping fellow practitioners and donating to Dafa validation projects.
Grandfather bought a car and used it entirely for Dafa and truth-clarification projects. He has supported many practitioners financially. Grandfather has two spare apartment units which his children had suggested that he sell but he said no. He set up truth-clarification materials production sites at both locations and provided a safe place for practitioners fleeing from the police, as I did.
Grandfather, despite being over 90 years old is very active. In his free time, he grows a variety of vegetables in his garden. Besides what he and his family consume, he also shares the fruits of his labor with neighbors and other practitioners. His good health is a testimony to Dafa’s health benefits.
Grandfather doesn’t talk much, but he always says, “I will give my everything to Dafa.”
“Don’t Need to Respond. We Can’t Do Anything About That Lady.”
The second practitioner that I helped draft a sharing paper was a practitioner in her 70’s. After obtaining the Fa in 1993, this practitioner dedicated herself to spreading the Fa throughout the years. Her county has more practitioners than any other county in the region. When the persecution started in 1999, she started clarifying the truth about Dafa to people and hasn’t stopped since.
She told me a story that happened on July 20, 1999, the day the persecution against Falun Dafa was officially launched. That morning, this practitioner went to the plaza in front of the county government compound by herself. The county government CCP leadership was planning a county-wide all-hands meeting denouncing Falun Dafa. There were many police officers, administrators of various government agencies, and leadership of each county and township at the plaza.
With a Dafa pin on her shirt and a smile on her face, this practitioner walked straight to the center of the plaza, sat down, and began to meditate. Everybody around her was shocked. The police quickly grabbed her and took her into the government compound.
While walking past the meeting room, she saw the county Party secretary so she raised her voice and said, “Mr. Secretary, we cultivate the great Fa of the universe and strive to be good people, following the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. You’re arresting good people. What kind of secretary are you?” The Party secretary didn’t know how to respond and quickly told people around him, “Let her go.”
This practitioner has been through quite some ordeals over the past 22 years, however, nothing could shake her determination. She remained steadfast in her cultivation and kept pushing through despite the government’s suppression. She stays focused on her cultivation and truth-clarification and never gets sidetracked. Regardless of whether it’s bitter winters or sweltering summers, being on the run from the police, or being detained for her faith, she spreads the truth about Dafa and the wrongful persecution and hopes that people will be saved.
The strange thing is, regardless of how many times she was arrested, this practitioner has always been able to walk away at the end of the day. She has never spent a night in police custody nor at a detention center, even when the police found carloads of truth-clarification materials at her home which they could easily use to bring charges against her.
After a few times, the local police no longer bothered her. When someone reported her for giving out fliers and telling people about Dafa at the farmer’s market, the police chief said, “You don’t need to respond. We can’t do anything about that lady.”
After meeting with her and hearing her story, I finished a 4,000 character first draft in half a day. It was as if the paper was not written by me, but came out on its own from the tip of my pen. I didn’t have to think about it much.
“I Will Learn It As Long As It Helps with Fa Rectification”
Another practitioner, also in her 70’s, is one of the key coordinators of the region. While imprisoned for practicing Falun Dafa, she was tortured to the brink of death. She was also detained at a psychiatric hospital at one point, imprisoned for three years, and was a fugitive for many years.
However, she never complained through all this, nor was she ever resentful. She did whatever needed to be done for validating the Fa and clarifying the truth. With a computer in tow, she traveled to a different city to learn how to install operating systems when the local practitioners needed someone with such knowledge. She acquired the skills to troubleshoot and repair printers and took on the role of a technician for the local materials productions sites. As long as it was needed for clarifying the truth, she never said no, “I will learn it as long as it helps with Fa-rectification.”
Miracles Are Everywhere in Dafa Cultivation
Prior to taking up the practice in 2012, a practitioner had always kept her distance from other Dafa practitioners. Master gave her many hints and signs before and after she obtained the Fa to guide and reinforce her confidence in the practice.
While doing the exercises, Master opened her celestial eye. She saw clearly how Master healed her broken lumbar and thoracic vertebrae in another dimension. After she started making truth-clarification materials at home, Master’s approval and encouragement came in the form of beautiful Udumbara blossoming all over her place. When the town was flooded, the water raised a meter above her roof. However, when she returned home that night, she found her bed which had been 10 inches below water level still completely dry. She was so grateful to be able to sleep in her own bed.
Another practitioner was put through brutal torture at the forced labor camp for 40 consecutive days. She lost her speech and nearly died. To evade responsibility, the center administration called her family and told her to take her home. She was so weak when she was released that her husband had to carry her on his back.
Before she could fully recover, however, this practitioner faced major tribulations and xinxing tests at home. Her mother was killed in a fatal car accident. Her mother-in-law, who is mentally ill, hacked her son on the head with a knife three times and almost took his life. Framed by his friends, her brother was wrongfully convicted, and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Despite the many devastating news she heard, this practitioner maintained strong righteous thoughts and did not slack off in her cultivation. She rose above and beyond the sentimentality of ordinary people and steadfastly ascended to high levels.
Many more practitioners shared their stories of how they cultivated their xinxing, how they were able to take loss and gain lightly, how they clarified the truth regardless of circumstances, how they overcame serious sickness karma, and how Master protected them in dangerous situations.
What a trial the practitioners have lived through in the past 22 years. Yet they were able to cultivate solidly, improve themselves and save people, all while facing great adversity. With Master’s protection, they’ve come this far. Each one of their stories is precious and remarkable, admired by heaven and earth, and will surely inspire those who come after, much like a story a practitioner had shared with me many years ago.
It was a cloudy day in July 1999, right before the CCP launched the persecution. As if they all knew it would be the last big group practice, the local practitioners came to the practice site earlier than usual. Quietly, they formed lines and started the exercises. As they started the second exercise, rain poured from the sky. There was a shoe shop right behind the group but nobody stopped the exercise to get out of the rain. The practitioners held their arms high without moving ever so slightly and continued in the pouring rain until they finished all five sets of exercises.
This scene was forever imprinted in my mind. I cherish it so much and have revisited it on so many occasions that it became my own memory. In the past 22 years, amidst the Communist regime’s brutal suppression, I often envisioned myself being there on that day and my righteous thoughts instantly renewed.
I have enjoyed the process of helping fellow practitioners with their sharing papers. Each story and each thought that practitioners shared with me and their sincere gratitude toward Master and Dafa inspired me and urged me on in my own cultivation. As I immersed myself in the work, I found that I was no longer simply editing their papers, but also exchanging ideas and communicating with fellow practitioners.
Each time I finished a draft, I did my best to go over it with the practitioner, share my thoughts and listen to their feedback. I tried to confirm each detail so as to truthfully, clearly, and accurately present their stories. Each seemingly ordinary sharing paper, I believe, will live among the future people as legends, long after we’re gone.
I hope each practitioner would try to write down his or her cultivation experience and understanding of the Fa. It serves as a record of this unprecedented, remarkable time of ours, the amazing history of Dafa practitioners being with and helping Master rectify the Fa.
Thanks to Master. Thanks to fellow practitioners.
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