(Minghui.org) I am a farmer in my 60s, and I began practicing Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, in April of 1999. Before practicing, I was a person who vied for fame and fortune by any means possible.
I achieved some material gain, and I was, therefore, a little well-known in my village, but I felt my life was pointless.
I Started Practicing Dafa When I was in Poor Health
In 1997, my wife developed a brain tumor. She had two surgeries in one year and spent half the year in the hospital.
As a result, our life savings were wiped out and our child, with excellent academic performance, was forced to drop out of school. Since then, my wife has been extremely weak and couldn't do anything, and I had to wait on her.
The adversity hit me hard. My dreams were shattered, and my life changed from being mellow to bitter.
I couldn't figure out how this could have happened. My pain was beyond words, as I had to shoulder all the responsibility.
I borrowed tens of thousands of yuan to start pig farming, and after raising pigs for two years, I didn't make any money. Instead, I lost tens of thousands of yuan.
Due to the excessive mental stress, I couldn't fall asleep at night, thinking about all the bad things. I suffered from insomnia, insufficient blood supply to the heart and brain, and lumbar disc herniation.
I kept asking myself, “Why do people on earth live in this world? What’s the purpose of such a bitter and tiring life?”
In 1999, a friend of mine told me: “Falun Dafa is miraculous and can cure any disease as soon as you practice it.” Out of curiosity, I went to practice when Dafa disciples came to our village to tell people about Dafa and teach the exercises.
After the exercises, they came to our home and talked to us about Falun Dafa's principles and essentials. My wife and I started to practice.
After about a month of cultivation, my health greatly improved, and all my illnesses were cured. I began enjoying a perfectly healthy life that I had never experienced before.
My mood improved with my physical health. That kind of happiness cannot be expressed in words.
Falun Dafa is amazing and gave me confidence and hope in life again. It saved my whole family.
After studying the Fa and practicing the exercises, I came to understand the principles of Dafa and knew how to live my life. I came to understand the way to be a good person and knew people shouldn’t go against the principles of nature and conscience.
Gods are always watching us, so we should be mindful of our behavior. “Man proposes, God disposes.” I knew I should follow the course of nature.
Looking back on everything I did in the past, I thought I was a winner. However, I had been so ignorant and created a lot of karma for myself and my family.
Dafa made me understand that returning to one's true nature is the purpose of life. I, thus, decided to cultivate diligently in Dafa.
In June 1999, the Provincial College of Traditional Chinese Medicine recruited students, and I sent my child there to study medicine. Every day, my wife and I studied the Fa, practiced the exercises, and farmed the land.
I didn’t feel tired no matter how much work I did in the field.
Cultivating Well and Validating Dafa
Jiang Zemin and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began persecuting Falun Dafa on July 20, 1999. Because I had only studied the Fa for a short time and didn't have a deep understanding of the practice, I didn't go out to clarify the truth and validate Dafa.
After several months of thinking, my wife and I decided not to give up, and continued cultivation. We began distributing Falun Dafa truth-clarification materials and hanging up banners.
We wanted to clarify the truth to people, expose the evil, tell people what Falun Dafa is, and ask them not to believe the lies of the evil CCP. I felt that Dafa disciples not only needed to validate the Fa, but they also need to harmonize with the Fa.
Every word and deed of ours plays a vital role in clarifying the truth and saving sentient beings. We should display the greatness of Dafa and let sentient beings see the beauty of this practice in us from our daily life.
Only in this way can we dissolve the lies of the CCP and enable sentient beings to change their notions and have a positive view of Falun Dafa.
Otherwise, it will affect their salvation, and we could thus commit crimes and undermine Dafa. Therefore, we must cultivate ourselves well.
In 2001, I started to grow vegetables. Growing vegetables is very laborious, and sometimes we had to hire people to do the work when we couldn't do it ourselves.
At that time, a worker could make one hundred yuan a day, and the work time was from six in the morning to six in the evening. Many people were unkind to those hired workers; they scolded them when they did their work slowly or poorly.
At noon, they only gave each worker two pieces of bread and a bottle of water. However, I treated these workers kindly and with respect.
I would cook a few dishes for them, and invited them to my house for lunch. I also gave them a break after lunch.
They were moved and said: “We have been working for several years, and have never met people like your family. You do not blame us for not doing the work well, and instead, you let us come to your home for lunch.”
“You even made some dishes for us, and let us rest for a while after lunch. You are so kind!”
I said, “We are practicing Falun Dafa, and we follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. Dafa's Master teaches us to be kind to others.”
Some people asked, “Isn’t it said on TV that Falun Dafa is bad?” I explained, “Well, use your own judgment; you decide whether Falun Dafa is good.”
“You can figure it out when you compare Falun Dafa practitioners with non-practitioners. People are afraid of losing interest and want more profits, while we practitioners are more considerate of others.
“The CCP has been spreading lies on TV, smearing Falun Dafa, and poisoning you. You must not believe it.”
I have been clarifying the truth to them like this, and they can accept it. The people who worked for me in the past have all understood the truth.
In cultivation, xinxing tests often occur. One year, I planted a few acres of watermelon and other melon.
After the melons were sold out, I wanted to pull out the melon seedlings and plant vegetables in the melon field. I hired two people from our village and told them to pull out the melon seedlings.
When they came to my house the next day, my wife told them again to pull out the melon seedlings. However, they did not pull out the melon seedlings, but instead, they pulled out the watermelon seedlings.
My wife told me about it after I returned home from selling vegetables in the city. It was very difficult news to take.
My wife said: “After all, they have pulled out the seedlings, it doesn’t help to be angry. We are practitioners, and we can't act like ordinary people.”
My wife's words woke me up. I thought to myself, “This incident is not accidental. It’s a test for me to see whether I can let go of my attachment to self-interest.”
Then I went to the farm and saw watermelon in the field. The workers apologized to me with tears in their eyes; they were very scared, afraid that I would make them pay for the loss.
I told them, “Don't be afraid. I don't blame you. You didn't do it on purpose. It's okay.”
They said, “We didn't know what was wrong today; we knew something was wrong, but we just couldn't figure it out.” I said, “This is meant to test me!”
Although I lost thousands of yuan, this incident improved my xinxing. I paid them their wages and told them to take two watermelons home. This incident soon spread through the village, and many people had a good view of Falun Dafa, which played a very positive role in saving sentient beings.
Awakening Sentient Beings and Completing My Mission
Throughout my cultivation, I have always taken it as my responsibility to clarify the truth and save sentient beings. In the summer I take the opportunity to go out and sell vegetables in order to awaken people.
When I take a walk in the market, I paste the truth clarifying posters and hang banners. When I am in the market, I look for opportunities to clarify the truth to customers and persuade them to quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations.
After the vegetables sold out in the fall, I would use the time off to cooperate with the local practitioners and walk through the villages, clarifying the truth from house to house, and distributing truth-clarifying materials.
I know that saving sentient beings and clarifying the truth are Dafa disciples' missions and responsibilities. Master tells us that Dafa disciples must do the three things.
I simply follow Master's words and do things according to Master's requirements.
One day in 2004, after selling vegetables in the market, I delivered some vegetables to a restaurant on my way back home. As soon as I left the store, a van suddenly rushed in and hit me, sending me to the ground six to seven meters away.
At that time, my mind was clear. I said, “I am a cultivator; I am fine.”
The driver was frightened and asked me: “How is everything? Are you hurt? Let's go to the hospital.”
I said, “I’m okay. There’s nothing wrong, I am a cultivator, and I won’t exploit you or ask you for money. You can leave now.” The driver drove away.
Bystanders asked, “Why did you let him go? Why didn’t you ask him to take you to the hospital?”
I said, “I’m a Falun Dafa practitioner. I will be fine. I can't exploit him and ask for money.” Then, I drove away.
It is a hard job to grow vegetables, as I have to get up early and work until dark. I also need more sleep.
Since it’s very hot in the summer, sometimes I get sleepy when I drive home after selling vegetables.
On occasions when I nearly lose consciousness, I can either hear someone calling me or feel someone pushing me and then I wake up. I know Master Li Hongzhi (Falun Dafa’s founder) is protecting me all the time, and Master has given me so much.
Master took me out of hell, cleaned me up, and made me a Dafa disciple, so I can walk on the path to divinity. Master's compassion is beyond words, and I will try my best to live up to it.
In the last phase of Fa-rectification, I will definitely study the Fa, cultivate myself diligently, do the three things well, and awaken more people. I will strive to be a true Dafa disciple, and live up to Master’s compassionate salvation.
Views expressed in this article represent the author's own opinions or understandings. All content published on this website are copyrighted by Minghui.org. Minghui will produce compilations of its online content regularly and on special occasions.
