(Minghui.org) I started cultivating Falun Dafa before 1999. I have personally and deeply experienced the benefits of Falun Dafa.
I left China a few years ago. The only fellow practitioner from China in the Philippines who had worked with me on a truth clarification project went home to visit her family in China at the end of 2019 and never came back. The pandemic spread to my city soon afterward.
Ever since I started to cultivate, I had never been sick or visited a hospital, but one night I felt chilly and light-headed. “Have I got COVID?” I wondered. I immediately dismissed the thought. I wasn’t worried or afraid and thought my fever was the result of slacking off in my cultivation and that it would help me get rid of the degenerated things in my body.
Cultivation is a serious matter. I should correct myself. I did the exercises longer and concentrated better when I studied the Fa the next morning. Then I went on with my day without thinking of my discomfort. My temperature returned to normal before I knew it.
During the pandemic, there were strict policies in place on many streets and in apartment buildings but never in my apartment building. I was able to leave and return at any time. I didn’t have to do anything differently except wear a mask. I concentrated on what a Falun Dafa practitioner should do, with no fear or nervousness. Being Master’s disciple makes me so happy.
Every day for a period of time I walked for three to four hours to clarify the truth about Dafa to whomever I met. The middle toe on my left foot hurt so much that I had trouble walking. I thought about changing my shoes, but my shoes looked pretty new. I thought of Master, which brought about a change. My toe felt fine the next day. Excited and grateful, I pressed my palms together in front of my chest and said, “Thank you, Master!”
I happened to miss my stop on the bus one day but thought, “Someone must be waiting to hear the truth at the next stop.” As soon as I got off the bus, I saw three young Chinese men. I greeted them and told them about quitting communist organizations to be safe. All of them agreed. I wanted to tell them more about Falun Dafa, but they had to leave. They did take copies of my brochures to read.
Master has told us,
“...he is full of great aspirations while minding minor details.” (“Sage,” Essentials for Further Advancement)
I have moved several times since I came to the Philippines and pay attention to the details no matter where I live. Every landlord has wished I could stay longer. Property managers always smile at me when they see me. Some security guards have saluted me. I know that it’s because I cultivate Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance in my everyday behavior. One of my former colleagues told me, “You don’t speak much, but I can see compassion in your eyes.”
I did the exercises with a Falun Dafa banner in a nearby park after I moved to my current apartment. Though I had to stop due to construction in the park, many of my neighbors remember seeing me do the exercises. One day, a neighbor looked happy to see me. While mimicking my exercise movements, she said, “Meditation. Good!” A young man called out another day, “Falun Dafa is good!”
One day when I went to the park, a local woman had set up a vending booth at the pergola where I usually hang the Dafa banner and do the exercises. It was the best location for passing drivers. She pointed to another location and signaled for me to go there. I was slightly unhappy but calmed down as I reminded myself of the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.
I asked her nicely, “Is it possible to move your booth?” She shook her head and said repeatedly, “No. No. No.” I wasn’t disturbed and set up my banner and flyers next to her booth and started doing the exercises. I shared a copy of a flyer with the woman and told her I could teach her how to do the exercises if she would like to learn. She murmured “Um” without any facial expression.
A fellow practitioner gave me some beautiful lotus keepsakes, and I took them to my exercise site to hand out. The woman happened to be there with her family that day. All of them liked the keepsakes. I gave one to her son, who took it in both hands and asked if he could have another. Seeing how much he treasured it, I smiled and gave him another one. The woman and her husband looked thankful.
I didn’t see the woman when I went to do the exercises in the park again. I went to the supermarket after I finished and heard a friendly voice across the street. It turned out to be the woman and her family. They had moved their booth! They looked happy to see me and waved at me and called out, “Hi! How are you?”
A Chinese young man worked at a convenience store close to my apartment. Many young Chinese people live nearby and often shop at the convenience store. It was the perfect location to clarify the truth about Falun Dafa, so I often visited the store. When I started telling the young man the truth about Dafa, he wouldn’t look at me straight and left after giving me a fretful look. I was a little sad when he acted like that a few times, not because I’d been given the cold shoulder but because he had been deceived by the Chinese Communist Party propaganda.
I put away my sadness and seized every opportunity to clarify the truth to the customers of the store. The young man gave me such dirty looks that he almost drove me out. Thinking about how urgent it is to clarify the truth, I had to ignore his attitude. I thought I would focus on my truth clarification and leave the rest for Master to make arrangements. If I hadn’t cultivated myself, I would have given up.
One day about six months later, I went to clarify the truth in the store again. As I was about to leave, the young man mumbled without looking me in the eye, “We seem to get more customers every time you come.” I was surprised that he admitted this. It was a sharp contrast to the cold shoulder he gave me the day before.
I took the opportunity to tell him, “Young man, you have seen me around for a long time. You know I follow Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and tell people the truth. You must have heard what I have told them. Why don’t you quit the communist organizations as well?” He said he had only joined the Young Pioneers in elementary school. I asked, “How about quitting it to be safe?” “Sure,” he agreed easily. I was so happy that he made the right decision! As I was heading out, he said, “Take care, Ma’am!”