(Minghui.org) My family was very poor when I was young, so getting enough to eat was a challenge. I married, and my husband turned out to be an alcoholic. He beat me when he was drunk. I was 26 when my child was born, and I suffered from numerous ailments following childbirth due to our poverty. Rheumatoid arthritis tormented me with excruciating pain. When I was in my 40s, I developed cancer, and the chemotherapy after surgery was a living hell. I contemplated suicide, but looking at my young son, I felt trapped in a wretched existence, unable to find a way to live, yet unable to find a way to die, either.
Obtaining the Fa
One morning, I heard a magpie calling and wondered if something good would happen to our family soon. That afternoon, a Falun Dafa practitioner from another village came to my house and told me about Falun Dafa and its miraculous healing benefits.
He spoke very persuasively and logically, and I listened with great interest. He emphasized the importance of cultivating Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance and said that if we do not cultivate our xinxing, our gong will not increase and our illnesses cannot be eliminated. Before he left, he gave me a copy of the precious book Zhuan Falun.
I treated the book like a treasure, and held it in both hands. This is how I obtained the Fa. After reading Zhuan Falun for a period of time, all my ailments disappeared. I became healthy and was full of energy.
People who knew me all said that it was unbelievable. The villagers witnessed the miraculous nature of Falun Dafa, and many of them came to my house to study the Fa and do the exercises. My house thus became a practice site.
One deep feeling I had was, “Being able to obtain Dafa, which is unprecedented, and having such a great Master, I am the most fortunate person in the world.”
Practicing Diligently and Solidly
My original intent in practicing Falun Dafa was to be cured of my ailments. However, as I studied the Fa more deeply and continued doing the exercises, I was determined to cherish this practice, cultivate myself well, assimilate to Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, be a good person, and look within myself first when problems came up. I would like to share how I got rid of different attachments, learned to cultivate solidly, and did things based on the Fa.
I was a primary school teacher. As the number of students decreased over time, the schools in different villages were combined into one. At lunchtime, several teachers from other villages ate at the school kitchen, and the teachers took turns cooking.
One Thursday, it was my turn to cook. After I prepared the food, the principal and teachers arrived at the school kitchen to eat. After taking a few bites, a male teacher slapped me in the face, shocking the other teachers. The principal saw what happened, grabbed the teacher, and berated him loudly, “Why did you hit her?” The teacher replied, “Because the food she prepared tastes bad.”
I just sat there quietly. The first thought I had was, “I am a cultivator, so there is nothing coincidental.” I said, “Forget it. Maybe the food I prepared is not to his taste.” I left with a whirlwind of emotions churning within me. I taught that afternoon as usual.
At home that night, I calmed down to think about why I’d been slapped earlier that day and why it happened right in front of the principal. I understood that I had attachments to let go of and that I should thank that male teacher. What attachments did I have? I thought, “I have always been a sensible person. I excelled academically beginning in middle school and was the class representative and a member of the school committee.
“I graduated from college and became a primary school teacher, then passed the teacher’s college entrance exam and make a good salary. I am assertive and a bit arrogant and always strive to be number on. I’ve earned the ‘advanced worker’ title year after year, even reaching the county and city levels. My attachments to fame and recognition are strong.
“Although I have changed a lot since I started practicing Falun Dafa, I haven’t changed completely. When good things do not come my way, I feel uncomfortable, most probably due to jealousy. That male teacher slapped me because of my attachments to face, fame, and wanting to gain recognition.”
I really thanked this teacher from the depths of my heart for helping me progress one big step toward returning to my original, true self by helping me get rid of my attachments to reputation and fame.
I understood that, as a truly cultivating Dafa practitioner, I must look within unconditionally when problems come up. I sometimes felt that I did nothing wrong, so it really hurt, and I’d feel as if I’d been stabbed in the heart and had my bones broken. Ultimately, I would need to compare myself to Master’s Fa and find my stubborn selfish notions. I needed to thoroughly change my habit of looking at the misdeeds of others and looking outward. After I did that, I was able to reach a new level on my path of cultivation.
Clarifying the Truth and Saving People
In July 1999, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) started its persecution campaign against Falun Dafa, defaming the practice and misleading countless people. Many people were brainwashed by its lies and participated in the persecution of Falun Dafa passively.
One day, a practitioner and I bought a calligraphy brush, red paper, and ink. We wrote “Falun Dafa Is Good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance Is Good,” “Falun Dafa Is the Righteous Fa,” “Good Will Be Rewarded and Evil Meets Retribution” on banners.
I rode a bicycle by myself that night and put the banners on utility poles along the road all the way to the large market about six miles away. By the time I got home, it was past two in the morning. The next day, the people from our village who had gone to the market came back and said, “Falun Dafa is so powerful. Falun Dafa posters are pasted everywhere. The police officers are all busy scraping them down.” After this, the roads at night were patrolled by police cars, but we were not daunted and continued to go out frequently to post the banners so that the people could know that Falun Dafa is good.
One night, I was posting a banner on a utility pole near the road when a police car with its lights shining brightly started heading my way. I quickly put my bicycle in a shallow ditch by the roadside and jumped into a deep ditch. I felt a big hand catching me and placing me on the sand at the bottom of the ditch. I knew that it was Master protecting me. With Master and the Fa, I was not afraid. I finished putting up all the remaining banners and then went home.
We managed to get in touch with the practitioners in the county town in 2001. We then had truth-clarification materials, and other practitioners started to step up and help in the effort to save sentient beings.
One night, two of us went out of town to distribute truth-clarification materials. We were not familiar with the place, so after we finished distributing to a few villages, we got lost on our way back and ended up in a cemetery. The other practitioner was very scared and kept tugging at my clothes. I said, “Don’t be afraid. Master is right next to us.” I then saw a car not far ahead of us and said, “The road is not far away.” We carried our bicycles across some fields, found our way back to the road, and returned home safely.
In 2002, several other practitioners and I were distributing truth-clarification materials away from home when someone reported us to the police. We were arrested, I was imprisoned for five years. After being released in 2007, I made good use of the time to study the Fa and catch up with the progress of Fa-rectification.
Master taught us,
“Dafa disciples, don’t forsake the magnificent responsibility that has been bestowed upon you in Fa-rectification, and even less should you disappoint those beings, as you are now their only hope for entering the future. For this reason, all Dafa disciples, students both new and veteran, should get to work and begin comprehensively clarifying the truth. This is especially so for the Dafa disciples in mainland China: each must come out and clarify the truth, bringing it to every field and valley, mountain and hill, not omitting a single area where there are people.” (“Let Go of Human Attachments and Save the World’s People,” The Essentials of Diligent Progress III)
Master published this article in 2004, but I read it in 2007. I knew deep down that I was very far from the requirements of the Fa. I then started clarifying the truth to people directly. Whatever the weather, I would go out to clarify the truth to people, unless there were exceptional circumstances.
I had many touching experiences. Some people were moved to tears after understanding the truth, some people shouted “Falun Dafa is good! Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good!” after understanding the truth. There were also some who initially wanted to call the police to report me, but were later moved by my compassion. Of course, there were also people who could not be saved. Even if they could not be saved, I still wanted to leave them with my compassion and bore no grudges against them. Through these years of clarifying the truth, I have persuaded about 2000 people to quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations.
I have also faced danger while clarifying the truth. But as long as I followed what Master said, studied the Fa more, sent forth righteous thoughts more, acted righteously, treated problems with righteous thoughts, let go of my self-centeredness, and followed the path that Master arranged for me, I was under Master’s care. Master is the one who saves the sentient beings. We are only running the errands and doing the talking.
As long as we have the heart to save lives, Master will bring those who are predestined to us. I feel ever more clearly that saving people is a happy thing. In the remaining time, I must quicken my steps in my cultivation, study the Fa more, study the Fa well, send more righteous thoughts, and save more people. I need to look within when problems occur and cultivate solidly. I must do what I can to assist Master and complete my prehistoric mission so that I can follow Master home.
Thank you, Master!Thank you to all the fellow practitioners who have helped me in the past!
