(Minghui.org) I am a Falun Dafa practitioner and have been practicing for the past 22 years. I am 54 years old and live in the countryside in China.
When I was only 25 years old, I had uncoordinated muscle movements. After brain surgery, my right side felt heavy, my pupils drifted sideways, and my shoulders had involuntary tremors and were very weak. I was disabled and qualified for a disability benefit.
I Became a Diligent Practitioner
When I was very young, I had a distant memory: I would not be the same as my parents and grandparents. I had no clue where this memory came from or how my future would differ from theirs.
Eight years after I was labeled “disabled,” I broke away from the atheist ideology I had previously held and became a Falun Dafa practitioner. It felt like a plug was put into an outlet when I learned that returning to my true self was the ultimate goal of being a person. It was a sudden awakening for me.
No words can describe how happy I was. I read, memorized, and copied the Fa teachings. I attempted to write with my left hand. Master Li saw my determination and gave me strength. Soon, I was able to write well with my left hand. Master also adjusted my body, removing my health issues.
Master teaches us to be considerate and think of others instead of ourselves. So I gave up my disability card. Illness and suffering are caused by karma. Hardship is part of cultivation. Whenever I encountered something I could not comprehend during Fa study, I put my faith in Master and the Fa. I would read the section several times to commit the words to memory.
“You say that you must be firm and sure-footed. With this determination, if you can indeed be firmly resolute at that point, you will naturally do well because your xinxing will have already improved.” (Lecture Six, Zhuan Falun)
I told myself repeatedly that I must stay firm. To eliminate the attachment to comfort, I was mindful of Master’s words: “… When a superior man hears the Dao, he follows it diligently ...” (Fa-Teaching Given at the Conference in Sydney)
The Evil Police Could Not Harm Me
On July 20, 1999, per Jiang Zemin’s order, the Chinese Communist government started the ruthless persecution of Falun Dafa. China was suddenly engulfed by red terror.
As a Falun Dafa practitioner, I joined tens of thousands of other practitioners to seek justice for Dafa. The first time I went to Beijing, I sat under a flagpole on Tiananmen Square. I heard Master’s voice coming from high in the sky:
“Dafa disciples, the tens of millions—A place still higher awaits you at Consummation.”(“Climbing Mount Tai,” Hong Yin I, Translation Version A)
I was arrested and taken to a county detention center. All the other detainees were allowed to go outside for fresh air every day, except me. Through the small barred window of my cell, I called out, “Falun Dafa is good!”
I thought, “I must not have any regrets in my cultivation; I must hold on to Master’s teachings and not yield to the evil.” After five days in a dark room without food or water, I was released.
At home, I spent more time studying the Fa. “True Nature Revealed” and “The Knowing Heart” touched my heart.
Five months later, I went to Tiananmen Square again. This time, I was locked up in a large detention center. Over 500 practitioners from all over China were detained there, because we refused to give our names and addresses when we were interrogated.
I was taken to be interrogated with five or six guards in the room. One of them pointed at me with his electric baton and barked, “Where are you from? This big electric stick will be waiting for you if you don’t talk.”
I said, “My master is here!”
They frantically looked around the room.
“He is watching you right now!”
The guard holding the electric baton said, “This baton isn’t charged.”
The interrogation was over.
So much happened during that month I was detained in Beijing. To sum it up, having faith in Master and Dafa, there is no obstacle that cannot be overcome.
I was arrested and taken to brainwashing centers three times in 2002, each time for over a week. I resisted each time with righteous thoughts.
A beefy guard once pointed to a slogan written on the wall and asked me, “Do you know what that says?”
“No, I don’t,” I replied.
“Center for Law Enforcement. Doing (Falun Dafa) exercises, sitting cross-legged, and sending righteous thoughts are not allowed...”
I chimed in before he finished, “Then you’ve arrested the wrong person. I do (Falun Dafa) exercises, sit cross-legged, and send righteous thoughts. Didn’t you arrest me by mistake? Release me.”
He walked out of the room without saying a word.
Master said in his poem:
“To consummate yourself, reaping Buddhahood,Let joy be found in hardship.Physical pains count little as suffering,Indeed, cultivating mind is hardest.Each and every barrier must be broken through,And everywhere does evil lurk.Abundant troubles rain down together,All to see: Can you pull through?The world’s miseries endured,One departs the earth a Buddha.”(“Tempering the Will,” Hong Yin I, Translation Version A)
Placing Dafa in My Heart
I have both bitter and sweet memories of my 20 years of cultivation.
A few years ago, with help from other practitioners, I began to print Falun Dafa reading materials in my home.
In January, transportation and communities were shut down at the city to village level due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Someone reported me, saying I had an out-of-town guest in my home. I was taken to the police station. Fearful of contracting Covid-19, the police did not let me talk, so I sent forth righteous thoughts.
A police officer suddenly walked right up to me and said loudly, “Where did you hide your (Falun Dafa) books? Turn them in!”
“I hid them in my heart,” I replied.
He left the room.
I was released an hour later. The evil elements disappeared due to my strong righteous thoughts.
Let’s use Master’s poem as encouragement for us to stay diligent in our cultivation:
“The endless journey has come to a closeAnd the pervasive haze is gradually dispersingWhile righteous thoughts display the might of GodsReturning to Heaven is no longer just yearned for”(“New Year’s Greetings,” The Essentials of Diligent Progress)
