(Minghui.org) Greetings, Master! Greetings, fellow practitioners!
I was 25 years old in the fall of 1998, and I worked at a construction site. From the moment I began practicing Falun Dafa, I have followed Master on the path of returning to my true self through cultivation.
About 20 to 30 people lived in our dormitory. One man was a carpenter who practiced Falun Dafa and he had some Falun Dafa books. Our dormitory was very basic. We didn’t have a TV or the smartphones we have today, so any reading materials were very popular during our free time, and everyone eagerly took turns reading his Falun Dafa books.
I asked the carpenter, “What kind of books are these?” He replied, “Falun Dafa.” I was puzzled and said, “I’ve never heard of it.” Another coworker added, “It’s Falun Dafa.”
I later picked up one of the books (I can’t recall which one) and started reading. It had a profound impact on me. What Master taught was something I had never heard before, and I found it fascinating. I’d always been curious about unexplained phenomena and the mysteries of life, the universe, and the vast cosmos. I was eager to explore and understand these topics, so what was written in the books resonated with me.
What struck me the most at the time was Master’s teaching about the structure of the universe. I was amazed by how intricate and vast it was: layer upon layer, each larger than the previous one. It completely shattered my prior understanding of the universe.
My mind was opened, and I developed a strong interest in Dafa. Every evening after work, I read Master’s teachings, often reading late into the night.
Recognizing that I had a predestined connection to Dafa, the carpenter got a copy of the main text of Falun Dafa, Zhuan Falun, from another coworker and gave it to me.
At that time, I smoked a pack of cigarettes a day. One day, I was reading Zhuan Falun with a cigarette in my mouth. A coworker said, “How can you smoke while reading a Falun Dafa book?” I didn’t understand what he meant. The carpenter explained, “He hasn’t gotten to that part yet.”
When I reached the seventh lecture in Zhuan Falun, I finally understood what the coworker meant—it was about quitting smoking. I clearly remembered that I had half a cigarette in my hand at the time. A strong force compelled me to stub it out. I even threw away the remaining half-pack. I vaguely understood a principle: giving cigarettes to others would only harm them. So, I discarded the cigarettes.
After finishing Zhuan Falun, I resolved to practice cultivation. I realized that humans can cultivate and become enlightened beings. What an incredible opportunity! I was determined to cultivate. Seeing that I was serious, the carpenter taught me the five exercises and took me to a bookstore to get all of Master’s teachings.
From then on, I began my journey of practicing Falun Dafa.
Amazing Physical and Mental Changes
A few days after I finished reading Zhuan Falun for the first time, Master blessed me. One evening, when I was between wakefulness and sleep, I suddenly felt I couldn’t move. It felt like a powerful electric current was passing through my body from head to toe, and then from my feet back up to the top of my head—this was repeated several times. The force of this current made my entire body vibrate. At the time, I was lying on my side, and my head shook. I didn’t feel afraid; instead, I felt that Dafa was truly miraculous and profound! This experience strengthened my determination to practice.
While practicing the fifth exercise, I felt heat rising from my palms, switching between hands. Sometimes, at night, while sleeping, I could clearly feel Master adjusting my body.
I felt light and at ease, both physically and mentally, and I no longer felt tired when I worked. Some days, it felt as though I floated up the stairs. After I began cultivating, I experienced so many miraculous things. I realized that these were Master’s encouragements, showing me the extraordinary power of Dafa, which further strengthened my confidence in cultivation and laid a solid foundation for my future practice.
As I experienced Dafa’s miracles in my body, my heart also underwent tremendous changes. My views on life and the world were fundamentally changed.
I worked as a mason, and two people usually build a wall together. One side of the wall is often easier to work on, so both workers prefer to do that side. After finishing a wall, they would fight for the easier part of the next wall. Before I began practicing Falun Dafa, I was also like this.
After I began practicing Falun Dafa, I decided to follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and strictly measure myself by these standards. I took the initiative to make things easier for others. I no longer competed or fought for things like others. Even though I did the more difficult work, I was happy because I understood the teachings of Dafa and knew that enduring hardship was a good thing—it helped me eliminate karma.
When it was time to eat, everyone wanted to go first, and people were always cutting in line. After I began practicing Falun Dafa, I stopped cutting in line and didn’t complain when others cut in front of me. I felt calm and peaceful.
Determination
In the spring of 1999, I was working on a construction site. Since the site was closed off and we didn’t have TVs or phones back then, I didn’t know about the persecution of Falun Dafa by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It wasn’t until the end of the year, when work was over, that I took a long-distance bus home. After I sat down, a soldier wearing a helmet and holding a rifle suddenly got on. With a serious expression, he sternly asked, “Who practices Falun Dafa? Open your bags!” Everyone silently opened their bags.
He started checking from the back row, moving forward one row at a time. I didn’t know what was happening and had a copy of Zhuan Falun in my bag. Interestingly, he didn’t check my bag and just passed by. Later, I realized Master was compassionately protecting me, a new practitioner.
When I got home and saw the relentless TV reports that slandered Falun Dafa and Master, I understood what happened. The Communist Party was forbidding people from practicing Falun Dafa! Every time I turned on the TV, it was filled with lies and slander about Dafa and Master. I watched the reports, and though I couldn’t tell what was true or false, I was sure of one thing: From my personal experiences, Master is righteous, and Falun Dafa is righteous! At that time, I understood that what was reported on TV was a test for me. My determination to practice Dafa would not waver!
Even though I only practiced for a year and my understanding of the Fa (teachings) was still shallow, I experienced the beauty and miraculous power of Falun Dafa, and it was deeply rooted in my heart. No matter what was said on TV, it couldn’t shake my firm determination to continue cultivating. When I saw more slanderous programs, I simply turned off the TV and didn’t watch. I continued studying the Fa and doing the exercises at home, unaffected by outside interference.
At that time, I felt that my determination to cultivate Dafa was correct. It was only later that I realized that I was in a personal cultivation state.
Our Important Mission
After the persecution began, I worked on construction sites for three to four years, going there at the start of each year and returning home at the end. During those six to seven months on the site, I couldn’t study the Fa or do the exercises, and I felt distressed. I later moved to the city where I now live, rented a place, and my life became somewhat stable. I could study the Fa and practice the exercises at home every day.
When I had free time, I often thought about finding fellow practitioners. I wondered what they were doing and how many people were still cultivating. I felt confused—but in this unfamiliar city, where could I find fellow practitioners?
I remembered that Master mentioned Dafa disciples create their own environment and practicing in parks could help people obtain the Fa. Around 2008, I decided to find some fellow practitioners by doing the exercises outside.
One morning, I went to a small community after sending my child to preschool. There was a small park in front, and just a few people were there. I started doing the exercises under a tree, hoping to be noticed by fellow practitioners and find someone. I went there for two days, but no one paid attention to me, and I didn’t see any fellow practitioners. I thought perhaps this place was too small, so I decided to try a bigger park.
I found a larger square where many people were exercising. I went there for two days but still didn’t meet any fellow practitioners. I felt discouraged and helpless.
I felt like a boat without a sail, drifting aimlessly on an endless sea, lonely and helpless. A few more years passed, and by 2010, I couldn’t bear it anymore. I asked a coworker on the construction site, “Do you know anyone in your village who practices Falun Dafa?” A coworker, who was about my age, said, “My uncle practices.”
I was overjoyed and immediately asked for his uncle’s address. I knew this was Master’s arrangement.
One rainy day, when there was no work on the site, I went to look for the coworker’s uncle, about 40 to 50 kilometers away. With Master’s help, I found my way to his home. After introducing myself, the old man was not at all surprised and warmly talked to me. He explained some things about the “old forces,” which I didn’t understand at the time. I didn’t know what the “old forces” were or what they were doing, and his explanation didn’t make much sense to me.
He asked, “Do you have any new teachings?” I was surprised, “New teachings? Master has new articles?” He brought out a stack of small booklets and two thick books of new teachings. When I saw how many of Master’s teachings he had, I thought, “There’s so much here that I didn’t know.” I said, “Please don’t explain anymore. I can’t understand. I’ll go home and read these.”
When I returned home, I took two days off and devoured the books eagerly, reading into the night, but I did not feel tired. There was a power outage during those two days, so I bought a few candles. When the power went out, I lit the candles and continued reading. I was deeply moved as I read, and tears often filled my eyes. I suddenly realized that Dafa disciples have such a great and important mission!
All these years, I had been an outsider, and knew nothing! I hadn’t done anything! I couldn’t accept this fact! Although my heart had always been firm in Dafa, and the CCP’s propaganda never stopped me. I wasted so many years. I hadn’t done what a practitioner should do.
At that moment, I couldn’t express my emotions. They were too complex to put into words. Sometimes I silently shed tears, feeling deeply ashamed. I felt I had failed to live up to Master’s compassionate salvation. There was also a sense of grievance within me. It wasn’t because I feared the persecution. It was because I hadn’t spoken up for Dafa. It is such an important matter—why didn’t I know about it?
I remember Master once mentioned that the old forces’ persecution was unfair to new practitioners. I truly felt an injustice in my heart! I understood that the old forces wanted to destroy practitioners like me, who had just obtained the Fa.
Years passed, and whenever I think back on this experience, my heart is still filled with sorrow. Especially when other practitioners tell me about their courage in going to Tiananmen Square to validate the Fa, fearlessly risking their lives, I admire them but I also feel deeply ashamed. This experience did not bring me down. Instead, it became the driving force for my continuous improvement.
Making Up for Lost Time
After I read Master’s teachings, I understood that a practitioner should clarify the truth and save sentient beings. I decided to make up for the years I lost. I was determined to save people, so I regularly went to the elderly practitioner’s house to get truth-clarification materials to distribute.
He lived more than 40 miles away, and materials were limited. The practitioners there couldn’t meet my needs. Sometimes, I traveled all the way there, only to leave empty-handed. Seeing how eager I was to save people, the elderly practitioner told me about another practitioner’s material site. Although they had more materials, it still wasn’t enough to meet my needs. I decided to print the materials myself.
I learned what machines other practitioners used and went to the electronics market to buy one. Even though no one taught me, I observed how other practitioners printed materials and had a vague impression of how to do it. I spent two or three days figuring it out, and with Master’s help, I was able to print successfully! I was very happy. Now, I could print whatever materials I needed, as many as I wanted. I was overjoyed and thankful for Master’s blessings!
From then on, whenever I had free time, I distributed a large quantity of truth-clarification materials. Because I worked at a construction site, I knew the situation there and the workers’ living conditions very well. I understood their thoughts and habits.
Wearing my work clothes and safety helmet, I went to dormitories on the construction site and distributed materials. It was very natural for me. The workers saw me as one of their own because I understood what they were talking about, and I could talk to them easily. This created a great opportunity for me to save them, and they were very willing to read the materials I gave them. Once, I went into a dormitory and saw a copy of the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party on the table. The pages were already worn, showing that many people read it.
One day at noon, I rode my motorcycle to a construction dormitory, and it was lunchtime. The door was open, and about a hundred people were lined up to get food. Without getting off my bike, I rode right into the courtyard. I opened the basket on my motorcycle, saying, “I’m here to give you good books for free!” I took a copy of the Nine Commentaries and handed it to the person in front of me. Seeing it was free, others immediately crowded around, grabbing the books from the basket—each person took one. In no time, many copies of the Nine Commentaries were taken.
I saw that there weren’t enough books, so I quickly rode back to the elderly practitioner’s house and picked up twenty more copies. When I returned, the crowd had dispersed, so I went to the dormitories and handed the books out one by one. When I knocked on one door, a man in his fifties loudly shouted, “What book is this you’re giving away?!” He cursed loudly. I stayed calm and simply said, “Sorry for disturbing you,” and closed the door. I then continued to the next room. With Master’s protection, I finished distributing all the remaining books.
Conclusion
From July 20, 1999, when Jiang Zemin, the former head of the CCP, started persecuting Falun Dafa until 2011, I was in a state of solitary cultivation—I lagged behind for eleven years. At that time, because my understanding was limited to “steadfast, unshakable, and enduring,” I believed that everything the media reported was a test for me. So, I remained at the basic level of personal cultivation.
Additionally, I obtained the Fa in the autumn of 1998. After the persecution began in 1999, I had no contact with other practitioners. I did not participate in the group Fa study. There were no other practitioners in my village, and I could not find that carpenter practitioner. It seemed like these external circumstances isolated me from other practitioners.
Afterward, I looked inward. I found that I was too confident and arrogant, thinking that as long as I had Zhuan Falun, it was enough, and that would allow me to reach the ultimate goal and return home with Master. Perhaps it was my strong ego that the old forces took advantage of.
Fortunately, Master did not abandon me. I am deeply grateful for his compassion and salvation!
Thank you, Master! Thank you, fellow practitioners!
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