(Minghui.org)
Following Master’s Instructions and Breaking Through the Old Forces’ Persecution
Practitioner Wei (alias) came to my home in early August, and told me a story of hers. She and her husband had their home renovated in April. She helped the workers move tables and beds as best as she could, even though she was in her seventies. She was busy arranging things even when she was having meals or sleeping. One day a worker came to install curtains for her. The worker needed to step onto the bed to reach the upper part of the window. Her bed was slightly away from the window, and she was afraid that the worker might fall off the bed, so she stood beside the bed to protect the worker. Wei told him that she would be able to catch him if he fell off, and she was confident that she could.
I asked her why she was so confident. She didn’t answer me, but nodded her head and repeated, “I indeed had such confidence.” I asked her if she had clarified the truth to the worker. She said that she was thinking about clarifying the truth to him but was afraid he would get distracted from his work, so she wanted to wait until he finished his work. Unexpectedly, he left as soon as he finished his work. She had wanted to talk to him outside the door, but unexpectedly her husband was in the doorway. She had been afraid that her husband would object, so she didn’t clarify the truth to the worker.
Wei went back inside her home with much regret. She felt a bit down, and after a while her lower back felt uncomfortable. Her back became more painful at night and she couldn’t move. She didn’t recover until 28 days later. She later realized that she hadn’t validated the Fa though she had benefited from the Fa. She hadn’t answered me when I had asked her why she was so confident because when she had been in that incorrect physical state she said she had difficulty acknowledging that her failure to validate the Fa caused her unnecessary trouble.
On the second day of the Chinese New Year, I went to visit a practitioner who had a business in another city. I wanted to give her an audio player. I downloaded the Minghui Weekly audio version and some experience sharing articles onto the player. The address I had for her was incorrect. I didn’t see her, but I rang her when I got home. She didn’t say anything to me over the phone. I dialed her number three times but she didn’t talk to me. I became impatient. She shouldn’t behave like this even with a stranger, but I had already told her who I was.
I felt that something was wrong with my lower back at 10:30 that morning. I leaned against the heater and studied about 20 pages of Zhuan Falun. My back became so painful that I couldn’t sit any longer. My husband cooked lunch and brought it over to me.
At night my back pain became so severe that I couldn’t stand, sit, move, or lie down in bed. I felt painful even breathing and coughing. What was wrong with me? Why was my karma so huge?
I wanted to listen to Master’s Fa, but I didn’t think it would be respectful to the Fa when I couldn’t stand or sit. So I listened to practitioners’ sharing articles about things such as getting rid of hatred and complaints and letting go of the attachment to comfort. I also sent forth righteous thoughts to clear my dimensional field. Falun Dafa practitioners only follow Master and don’t accept any other arrangements. If I had omissions, I resolved to rectify myself in the Fa. I stayed up the whole night.
I realized that the old forces wanted to destroy me. What attachment had been taken advantage of by the old forces and caused this pain? From the Fa, I knew that the old forces had made a series of arrangements, very particular arrangements, for each practitioner, including when practitioners would think of something, and what incidents would happen to a practitioner, etc. Only when Falun Dafa practitioners act according to the Fa and walk on the path Master arranged can we break through the evil arrangements by the old forces.
I started to look within and I reviewed my every thought and action to see where I fell short.
Impure Heart Causes Trouble
The practitioners in the Fa group study criticized a married practitioner couple who do business in another city on December 27 of the Chinese lunar calendar. The couple had borrowed 10,000 yuan from a practitioner in the same Fa study group. That practitioner had then been hospitalized due to sickness karma. Other practitioners guessed that it was caused by the issue of borrowing money. A local practitioner then called the couple and told them what other practitioners had been saying behind their backs. This led to a conflict among the practitioners.
I thought that everyone had looked at the issue with human thoughts, human notions, and human emotions. I interrupted them twice. I said that everyone was cultivating in this deluded world and we didn’t know the causal relationships, but from the Fa we know that nothing is accidental and we should all look within, cultivate ourselves, and look to see what attachments we all still have, since this thing had happened.
When I said this, my heart was not pure because I was looking down on other practitioners and not considering things from the whole body’s perspective. My tone of voice was not calm when I said this. This was my selfishness, showing off, and jealousy. When I went to give the audio player to the practitioner, my heart was not pure. I thought to myself, “I won’t get messed up with them. I’ll just let them listen to Minghui Weekly so that they will know about the progress of Fa-rectification. The conflict has nothing to do with me because I’m not getting involved.” I didn’t blame them either.
I actually pushed away my responsibility. Master told us that when a conflict happens, a third party who sees it should also look within. The incident happened in our group Fa study, so I should look within as well.
My dimensional field was impure. No wonder the practitioners didn’t speak. I had grudges and complaints. The old forces found an excuse and caused trouble for me.
Not Validating the Fa While Benefiting From the Fa
I am in my seventies. I didn’t want to go to my husband’s hometown to pay respect to our elders on Chinese New Year’s Day, but this is our local tradition.
We live in a county city about eight kilometers away from the county seat. Though my mother-in-law passed away several years ago, we still needed to visit the relatives from my mother’s generation and older. According to local tradition, ladies over sixty years old don’t need to comply with this ritual, but I am a Dafa practitioner who has the mission assisting Master in saving sentient beings, so I went back to our hometown with my husband every year. I saw new faces, or students who had come back to the hometown, and some older people who normally stayed at home. I had the responsibility to tell them the truth about Falun Dafa and save them.
Some people said that I had good health. I would then let them know that I practiced Falun Dafa and had thus stayed healthy, and then I would clarify the truth in more detail to them. I gave them USB flash drives with truth-clarification materials on them and asked them to remember “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good,” and help them quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) so they could stay safe.
Many families in the village still had Mao Zedong’s photo on their walls. I told them that Mao had been dead for so many years and his photo was from the underworld, and that we who live in this world shouldn’t keep those underworld things in our homes. Some people said that they would take Mao’s photos off their walls when they had time. Others just laughed and didn’t think it mattered.
My relatives and the villagers all know that I practice Falun Dafa. I have clarified the truth to them all these years. Some still haven’t accepted the truth. Before this Chinese New Year I did a thorough cleanup of my home and the basement. I felt tired and didn’t want to go to our hometown. I wanted to stay at home to watch Shen Yun. But on second thought, I realized that I being was selfish. As a Dafa practitioner, I shouldn’t be afraid of being tired. Assisting Master and saving sentient beings was what I should do. So I brought some USB flash drives and went to our hometown with my husband and son. Thanks to Master’s strengthening, I didn’t feel tired. In fact I walked briskly.
A sister-in-law praised me for having a good health. I told her that I hadn’t seen any doctors or taken any medications for 28 years. She said that was very good. But I didn’t mention that I had benefited from practicing Falun Dafa. One auntie who was two years older than me told me that she had trouble walking due to leg pain. I forgot to tell her to recite “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good” repeatedly. Luckily, I had clarified the truth to her before and she had quit the CCP.
Most regretfully I didn’t clarify the truth to a female student from Qinghua University. I hadn’t seen her, her parents, or her uncle and auntie since the pandemic started. I saw a whole house full of people and felt like my mind was suppressed and I didn’t have wisdom. While I was still thinking of how to talk to them, other guests came into the house. We then left.
When I went downstairs, I felt like my right heel had been hit. The stairs were steep. On my way home, I thought about what had gone wrong that day. I didn’t clarify the truth or give a USB drive to anyone. Master had given me a healthy body and mind and I didn’t make use of it. I let Master down.
I looked within and found that it had been caused by my negative thought of initially not wanting to go to our hometown. I had the attachment of seeking comfort. The old forces suppressed my thoughts and caused problems for me when I didn’t want to clarify the truth to people, and so I didn’t validate the Fa even though I have benefited from the Fa. This was not a small issue.
Compassion Appeared When I Let Go of Sentimentality
After a a night-long battle between good and evil, I felt that my mind had calmed down thanks to Master’s strengthening. My back pain disappeared, and I could sit up. But my right leg was sore and swollen. I couldn’t straighten it and couldn’t walk or squat.
My niece came to see me and tried to persuade me to see a doctor. I told her that as a practitioner, I didn’t have any illnesses, and that this was an incorrect state and I would be all right when I rectified myself. My nephew said that this was not an illness and I needn’t see a doctor or take medicine. He said that he would ask a bone setting master to come to set my bone and I would recover.
They all know that Falun Dafa is good. When I didn’t say anything, they kept quiet.
The next day my sister-in-law came and said that I could become paralyzed if I didn’t get treated. She listed several examples and wanted to take me to the hospital right away. I told her that I chose to practice the exercises and cultivate myself instead of seeking treatment, as she already knew that Falun Dafa was good.
After she left, my husband got scared. He worried how our family would be affected if I became paralyzed. I assured him that I would be fine because Master takes care of me. I said, “If I go to the hospital, that will cause so much trouble for you. You’ll have to spend money and accompany me in the hospital. You won’t be able to take care of the family and cook for our granddaughter. I’ll just lie in bed for a couple of days. You do what you have to do.”
I went to see my sister-in-law a few days later. I could walk with some awkwardness, but other people couldn’t see it. I planned to validate the Fa through my actions. Her neighbor saw me and was surprised. I told her that I had recovered completely. She asked how I had recovered so quickly. I told her that I practiced the Falun Dafa exercises, studied the Fa, and recovered. I then went out to sweep the steps and do some washing outside the door, so that her neighbors would see that I had recovered. Five days later I didn’t feel any pain and my legs were no longer swollen.
I learned a good lesson from this incident. I realized that only by studying the Fa well can I rectify my every thought and action in the Fa. No matter what I do, I must have a pure and calm heart and be considerate of other people. I must validate the Fa through my actions because I have benefited from Dafa.
Thank you, Master, for your compassion and salvation!
(Selected submission for the 22nd China Fa Conference on Minghui.org)
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