(Minghui.org) On July 20, 1999, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began its desperate persecution of Falun Gong. We lost our normal cultivation environment and we practitioners did not have many chances to see each other. Seeing that the CCP propaganda overwhelmingly slandered Master and Dafa, I realized that I had to tell the people I knew that the CCP was fabricating and spreading lies to frame and slander Master and Dafa, I had to explain Falun Gong to them. I then considered what I could do.
Dafa Project Provides Cultivation Opportunities
By chance, I learned how to carve designs on a rubber stamp that we could use on our Falun Gong informational materials. I stamped printed leaflets about Falun Gong and the persecution and distributed and posted them.
As the Fa-rectification progressed, more and more fellow practitioners wanted to use this approach to tell people about Falun Gong. However, carving designs and information onto stamps by hand would not meet fellow practitioners’ needs and I thought about buying a character engraving machine. At that time, my financial situation was not good and buying a machine like that would be expensive. I hesitated.
I then recalled Master’s teaching that exposing the evil and saving sentient beings are the most important things for Dafa practitioners to do. Considering that an engraving machine would greatly help our effort to expose the evil and save lives, I bought a laser one.
With that machine, I made stamps much faster and was able to meet the needs of our local practitioners. We stamped all our leaflets and also stamped short phrases on paper money to tell people about Falun Gong and the persecution.
When a practitioner from another area learned that I could make rubber stamps to share information about Falun Gong, he asked if I could make some for his group also. He said, “We’ll take as many you can make, the more the better.” I made a design with the desired content and engraved it onto the stamp. I made many stamps for them according to their specifications.
A few days later, when this practitioner came to pick them up, he told me they were not what they wanted. I said, “They were made according to your specifications. What’s wrong with them?” I was upset and said, “I have made so many—what should I do with them?” The practitioner said, “We can’t use those. You need to make new ones.” I complained, “Isn’t this a waste of Dafa resources?”
Then I recalled Master’s teaching that we should look inside for reasons and be responsible for the Fa and for sentient beings; I understood that I had to re-make the stamps to meet their updated requirements. The new content was very good, and I made quite a few of them. We gave them to practitioners in other provinces as well as our own.
However, my mentality of “doing things” got stronger and I spent less and less time reading the Fa. In September 2009, the evil took advantage of my loopholes and I was arrested and imprisoned.
There were about 200 inmates in the part of the prison where I was detained. I talked to them about Falun Gong and the persecution whenever I got a chance and advised them to quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations. About 80 to 100 of them quit the CCP after they learned the truth about Falun Gong.
After I was released, I made up my mind to study the Fa more, do better in assisting Master in the Fa-rectification, and walk well the path of returning to my original true self. I cherish the opportunity to cultivate and I want to be worthy of Master’s compassionate salvation. I want to firmly cultivate Dafa to completion.
Clarifying the Truth to My Customers
I run a small business doing repair work. One day a customer complained about lower back and leg pain. I talked to him and learned that he was a school principal. I told him about Falun Gong and advised him to quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations for a safe future. He didn’t want to hear it and kept repeating the evil Party’s lies. I was about to give up on him. Suddenly a thought came to my mind, “He probably also came her from the heavens. I should help him to be saved.”
Master said,
“Compassion can harmonize Heaven and Earth, ushering in springRighteous thoughts can save the people in this world”(“The Fa Rectifies the Cosmos,” Hong Yin II)
I asked him patiently, “Is it good to speak the truth or to tell lies?” He said, “The truth, of course.” I then asked him if he thought it was good to be kind or to do evil. He said, “It’s good to be kind.” I asked again, “If you don’t agree with something, should you stay calm or get upset?” He didn’t say anything, but from the look in his eyes, I could tell he knew the answer.
I said, “Quitting the CCP and its organizations that you once joined could save your life and ensure you a safe future. How good that would be! You don’t have to pay a penny and you don’t have to write an application to quit the Party. All you need to do is to say out loud that you want to quit the CCP. Then your wish comes true.” He smiled.
I said, “Quitting the CCP and its organizations will bring you blessings and save you from disasters. How good is that! If you also recite ‘Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good,’ your back and leg pain will go away. How good is that?” He smiled and agreed to quit the CCP and its organizations. I felt happy for him and said, “Congratulations on understanding that the CCP is evil and quitting those wicked organizations.” When he left, he waved and said, “Thank you!” I said, “Let’s thank Master Li Hongzhi!”
After a while, he came to get something repaired again and told me that his lower back and leg pain disappeared. I said, “That is the power of Dafa and the compassion of Master Li, the founder of Falun Gong. You are the head of a school. Please stop doing or saying anything that defames Dafa. Then you will have a bright future.” He put his hands together in a gesture of respect and said, “Thank you!”
Cultivating While Interacting with Fellow Practitioners
In 2020 we were studying the Fa teachings together at the home of Jing, a local practitioner. Before we left, another practitioner, Li, mentioned that her microwave was broken. Jing asked me if I could fix it for Li. I said I could and asked her to bring the microwave to Jing’s home. Li said that would be inconvenient and asked me to come to her home to make the repair. I went to her home the next morning and fixed it. Then she asked me to fix, change, and install quite a few other things, which I did.
I used Li’s kitchen knife to do some of the repair work. After I was finished, she told me that the kitchen knife was now dull, the blade was chipped, and the handle was broken. I said, “I will sharpen it and fix the handle.” When I returned the knife to her the next day, she was pleased. But a few days later she told Jing that I’d switched knives on her and asked her to tell me to return her knife. I was irritated, felt wronged, and said, “I did not switch knives on her!”
I then realized that this situation was testing my character and giving me an opportunity to improve. Master asks us to look inside when something happens. I looked inside. I found that I had a strong mentality of showing off and an attachment to fame—I can do what others cannot. After I found these attachments, my feeling of being wronged disappeared, my mind calmed down, and Master’s teaching echoed in my mind:
“No matter what it is you have encountered as you’ve gone about validating the Fa, it is all, I will tell you, a good thing--and that’s especially so in these years of persecution--for those things have come about specifically because you do cultivation.” (“Fa Teaching at the 2008 New York Conference,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. VIII)
In my mind I thanked Li for helping me to improve my character.
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Category: Clarifying the Truth