(Minghui.org) Greetings, Master! Greetings, fellow practitioners!
I have cultivated 18 years in Dafa. It is Master's grand mercy that changed me from a person filled with karma to a Dafa disciple, and protects me at each step of improvement.
I suffered a lot after I got married. My husband would beat me anytime he felt like it, and so did his parents and sisters. One month after I gave birth to my child, my husband brought his father and sisters to my home, beat me to the ground, and rummaged through all my things.
My child cried constantly and was frequently sick and needed to be hospitalized. I often lost consciousness and was unable to eat anything. My husband stayed away from home most of the time, and only came back home occasionally to beat and verbally abuse me and the child. I thought of committing suicide multiple times, but I gave up that thought for the sake of my child.
At the lowest moment of my life, a colleague introduced Dafa to me. The day I started to read Zhuan Falun, my child was able to fall asleep peacefully. In the process of reading Dafa books and doing the exercises, all my illnesses disappeared. My child also became a healthy little Dafa disciple.
Seeing the miraculous changes in me, my colleagues joined in cultivating, one after another. We followed Dafa's principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance at work and became good employees. The supervisor was very glad and provided the conference room and outdoor space for us to have group Fa study and for doing the exercises. Some of my relatives and friends also started to cultivate.
In 1999 the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched the persecution of Falun Gong. My husband threatened to divorce me in order to force me to give up cultivation,.
I was illegally arrested and incarcerated for two months in a detention center. When I became physically weak due to the torture, they sent me home. Then I was again detained, tortured, and released. After being detained four times, I was taken to a mental hospital where I was tortured until I nearly died. My family had to pay the fine of 12,000 yuan before they could take me home.
By that time my husband had divorced me and my workplace had dismissed me. My parents had to take care of my child and they worried constantly about my situation.
Later on, I was imprisoned in a forced labor camp for three years and was disabled by the torture and abuse. My home was taken twice during that period of time. Due to years of persecution, my child couldn't even recognize me when I came back home.
Fellow practitioners brought me Dafa books and Master's new articles. Through studying the Fa I came to the realization that the persecution was arranged by the old forces. I was determined to only follow the path arranged by Master. I practiced the exercises and studied the Fa, and soon my health recovered.
Shortly after I was released from the labor camp, our local truth-clarification materials production site was destroyed and the equipment was transferred to my home. I had no knowledge of computers. Looking at the idle computer, I was very worried and hoped Master could arrange a practitioner with good xinxing and skillful techniques to put the machine to use. Just then I heard the compassionate voice of Master's Fashen: “This is Master's elaborate arrangement.” I realized that Master was encouraging me to produce truth-clarification materials.
Under the guidance of Master, I learned how to use the computer. I worked with other practitioners and produced various materials. My home-based materials production site has been in operation for over seven years now, and it keeps getting better and better.
After reading Master's Fa on exposing the persecution in local areas, I realized that we had not yet written any articles to systematically expose the bad persons in our local area and their evil deeds. Also, some of our older articles carried incomplete and missing information, so I decided to work on this.
I downloaded all the persecution articles related to our region from the Minghui website, and figured out what information was missing and what needed to be verified and supplemented. To fulfill this work I needed to contact fellow practitioners in various counties of our region. The workload seemed to be huge.
A few days later, a coordinator from a neighboring county asked me to come over. Through him I established contacts with practitioners in that area and several other areas. They all actively provided me with the information they knew.
I feel that the whole process was just like Master said, “When disciples have ample righteous thoughts Master has the power to turn back the tide” (“The Master-Disciple Bond” in Hong Yin Vol. II)
Since then I have become the Minghui correspondent for our region. I compiled and submitted to Minghui the local persecution facts, perpetrators' retribution cases, the stories of Dafa's wonderfulness, and everyday people's awakening after learning the truth. I realized that being a Minghui correspondent is also validating the Fa.
I realized that the closer to the end, the more stringent Master's requirements on disciples are. We won't be able to meet Dafa's requirements if we don't cultivate solidly.
One morning, I started assembling truth-clarification materials. A fellow practitioner called and asked me to come over. I rushed to meet with practitioners and didn't return home until after four o'clock in the afternoon.
I quickly turned on my computer to finish making the materials. Soon after, a fellow practitioner who is the coordinator of another area called me: “You should take the train tonight and come over. I'll pick you up tomorrow.”
A few days ago I had asked this fellow practitioner to collect persecution stories about their local practitioners. He must have finished the job. But I had not finished preparing the materials that I had on hand. I needed to systematically consolidate the materials I downloaded from Minghui and the persecution information of practitioners in their area. I would then need to bring them to practitioners there to verify and update. I had to skip dinner and quickly start working on the materials. I did not finish until an hour before the train departed.
After six hours by train, I arrived at my destination. We verified each copy of the materials and did not finish until after three in the afternoon. I thought I would be able to catch the four o'clock train to return home.
That night local practitioners planned to rescue a practitioner who was detained in prison. My first thought was to send forth righteous thoughts from my home. But they suddenly decided that I should go with them. I was very afraid and felt I was lacking righteous thoughts. A practitioner said, “You are not necessarily going to the front line. Just go online and prepare some materials.”
I believe that nothing is accidental in cultivation. Dafa's needs is my unconditional choice.
After over ten hours of the bumpy train ride, I had to wait for half an hour to get on a bus. Several days of travel with very little sleep, plus the bus was very crowded, I started to feel carsick. After vomiting a lot, the unbearable bus ride finally came to an end.
After getting off the bus, I felt sick and shaky and my face was extremely pale. We walked another mile to a practitioner's home. Then we started group Fa study and experience sharing. That night I had to stay in another practitioner's home because we couldn't all fit in one place. After eight o'clock we went to the bus station. We then transferred to another bus after a one-hour ride. Traffic jams, overcrowded buses, cold and carsickness made it very difficult for me not to get sick.
When we got to the practitioner's home, it was already past eleven o'clock. We then prepared truth-clarification materials until after two o'clock in the morning.
The next day, we went to the women's prison. A prison guard was very rude to us and would not let us visit our fellow practitioner. We sent forth righteous thoughts and the guard agreed to let us visit the next morning.
Two days later, we went to the women's prison again. People who had come to visit formed a long line. We sent forth righteous thoughts and clarified the truth to the people around us.
During the visit, the prison guards asked whether we practiced Falun Gong. A practitioner said, “What does practicing Falun Gong have to do with visiting our loved ones?” The guards were silenced by this question. They then asked to see our IDs and visiting permits. Practitioners tried to clarify the truth to them, but they would not listen.
Master said, “Clarifying the truth is the master key.” (“Teaching the Fa at the 2003 Atlanta Fa Conference”)
We all realized that we had not done a good enough job of clarifying the truth. So we decided to go to the Justice Bureau, the courts and Procuratorate to ask for the release of our fellow practitioners. We would talk to them about Dafa if they didn't release the practitioners.
Master said: “The only path that lies before you, the disciples of Dafa, is one of real cultivation. There is no other path.” (“What is a Dafa Disciple”)
After I came back home, my family began moving house. A lot of things were to be stored in my place. Besides everyday consumables, my house was filled with supplies for making truth-clarification materials and office equipment. How could I make space? Shut down the machines? If I stopped producing materials, fellow practitioners would not have the materials required to clarify the truth.
I set up the office equipment to automatic mode so it could continue printing materials. I then locked the door and went outside to work in the courtyard. With Master's care, no one came into the room where the office equipment was. My father and brother who had the key to the room tried to open the door a couple of times, but they could not open it. I was busy in the room preparing materials.
During the two months of my family's move, I continued to produce truth-clarification materials. Fellow practitioners were able to get the materials they needed in a timely fashion. It seemed impossible, but with righteous thoughts we can make it happen. Dafa's magic and extraordinary power always manifests through practitioners who truly cultivate themselves.
Master said, “The cultivation practice in our Falun Dafa avoids using this method of one energy channel bringing hundreds of energy channels into motion. From the very beginning, we require that hundreds of energy channels be opened up and make simultaneous rotations.” “In the end, thousands of energy channels will join together and turn one’s body into one without any energy channels or acupuncture points; they will join together to make one whole body. This is the ultimate purpose of opening energy channels.” (Lecture Eight, Zhuan Falun)
When I helped practitioners, I used to wonder why they did not cultivate diligently. Later on I realized that they were actually helping me improve my cultivation. Master has arranged a precious cultivation environment. It is because I was not diligent and had attachments that I saw others as being not diligent and having attachments.
I looked inward while writing this experience sharing article, and found out that as a coordinator, I have unconsciously nourished the attachments of not accepting criticism and being opinionated. My show-off mentality inadvertently caused practitioners' dependence on and admiration for me. A coordinator must first be a cultivator who should not validate self or consider oneself as above other practitioners.
Master has led me to cultivate step by step and encouraged me to do face-to-face truth clarification. Once, I tried to talk to someone but felt I lacked righteous thoughts. Suddenly Master's words appeared in my mind: “With Teacher guiding the voyage, the Fa saves all beings, One sail is hoisted, one hundred million sails follow.” (“The Knowing Heart” in Essentials for Further Advancement II)
All my fear disappeared without a trace. I knew that Master was encouraging me and I clarified the truth to that person.
Since then, I easily clarify the truth to everyone I meet. Truth clarification has been tightly linked to my life. I take every opportunity to spread the wonderfulness of Dafa.
Once while shopping at a supermarket I persuaded a salesperson to quit the CCP. When I looked up I saw the policeman who had frequently harassed my family and arrested me. I greeted him and he tried to avoid me. I followed him to talk to him. He said, “Why are you following me?” I answered, “Because I wish you and your family a good future.” I walked with him as I asked him to stop participating in the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners and to make up for the damage he caused. I then asked him to quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations. He agreed to renounce the party and said that he would not persecute Falun Dafa any more, as he knows that Falun Dafa is good.
During my 18 years of cultivation, I can feel Master's compassionate care all the time. I still can't find the words to fully express the magnificence of Dafa cultivation.