By a Dafa Practitioner from Beijing, China

2002-12-25

(Clearwisdom.net) I have been very touched by hearing of the experiences of so many Dafa practitioners who have validated the Fa with righteous thoughts and action. They have returned safe and sound, without suffering any tribulations or persecution in the course of the magnificent Fa-rectification. After reading their stories on Clearwisdom.net, I decided to share my personal cultivation and Fa-validation experience.

Before I obtained the Fa in July 1997, I pondered, "What are people living for?" My life was hard and miserable because I could not obtain what I thought I wanted. When I first read Zhuan Falun and learned that the purpose of life is to return to one's true self, I knew that was what I had been searching for. I made up my mind to cultivate. I may be different from other practitioners in that I have been cultivating, reading the Fa, and doing the exercises by myself at home. Since my home is far from the place where I work, I need to get up early and come home late every day. This is why I did not go out to do the exercises. At the beginning of my cultivation, I liked to read the Fa but did not pay much attention to the exercises. Then Teacher revealed to me that I needed to get up early in the morning to do the exercises. When I did not do well in the tests Teacher arranged, and I could not let go of my attachments, I would remember that Teacher told us to look inside whenever we come across a problem. It is guaranteed that we will find the reason within ourselves. It is really true. Before I obtained the Fa, I had a bleeding ulcer in my stomach. One night after I obtained the Fa, my stomach appeared to be pulled by something. I felt acute pain. The next day, I thought I had a severe cold. I had chills all over my body, and even my bones hurt. I recovered on the third day, and my stomach sickness never occurred again.

On April 25, 1999, I was in Beijing, but I did not know about the peaceful appeal of the practitioners in front of Zhongnanhai (the compound where the Chinese central government officials work). I learned about the appeal from fellow practitioners the next day. The purpose of the peaceful appeal was to explain the true situation and defend Dafa, and it had nothing to do with politics. All of our actions were peaceful. After July 20, the lies broadcast on TV alleged that Falun Gong practitioners attacked the Zhongnanhai compound. However, what I saw on TV was peaceful practitioners standing in a very orderly fashion. Even my parents, who are not practitioners, said that the practitioners didn't do anything improper.

Because I worked for a foreign company, the management of the company never asked questions regarding personal beliefs. Some people around me knew that I practiced Falun Gong. After July 20, I continued to read the Fa and do the exercises in hotels as usual during business trips. Some people, out of concern for my personal safety, suggested that I stop practicing Falun Gong. I replied by telling them how good Falun Gong is. Until I left the company, nobody, from the leaders to my co-workers, ever bothered me about practicing Falun Gong.

When the persecution started, I used my free time to spread the Fa on the Internet. At that time, my only thought was to protect the Fa. I considered this to be what a Fa-rectification Dafa disciple should do. After Teacher's new articles were published, I understood that the duty of Dafa practitioners during Fa-rectification includes validating the Fa and saving sentient beings. Soon after July 20, Clearwisdom.net was blocked (in China), so I sent an e-mail to the editors of Clearwisdom.net. Since then, I have continuously received e-mails from fellow practitioners overseas containing articles published on Clearwisdom.net and Pureinsight.org. Those articles helped me immensely in clarifying the truth of the persecution and exposing the evil. They are very powerful in eliminating the evil in other dimensions. When I take cabs, I expose the facts of persecution to the drivers. Although I have left some printed materials in cabs, I feel that I can achieve better results if I talk to them directly. Then I can respond differently to each different person. I am not good at expressing myself. To clarify the truth more effectively, I try to memorize good articles and ways of clarifying the truth. However, the key is having a good mental state. If I have a right mental state and strong righteous thoughts, the effect of truth-clarification is good.

One time, I met a cabdriver who believed in Buddhism. I told him that the reason China has so many natural calamities and human disasters is because Falun Gong is being persecuted, and that Falun Gong is great. When I talked to him, I felt very peaceful, and I was not afraid. The driver was startled and said, "What did you say?" pretending he did not hear clearly. I repeated, "Falun Dafa is great." Then, I told him that the self-immolation is totally fabricated. The lies on TV could not be trusted, just like the June 4 incident (when students demonstrating for democracy in Tiananmen Square were massacred in 1989) and the Great Cultural Revolution. There was no need for more words. The driver completely understood.

Another time, while I was eating at a department store, a middle-aged woman sat opposite me at the same table. I felt that I should clarify the truth to her, so I started to chat with her. However, she did not respond. I almost gave up on her. Then a thought came to my mind, "Sentient beings are born in the Dafa-spreading age. So many of them don't know the truth." Compassion grew in my heart; it was a predestined relation that we met that day. I asked her, "Aunt, do you know anyone who practices Falun Gong?" The woman looked at me, her complexion turned from smiles to panic. I continued, "Don't believe what is being said on TV. Those are all lies, and fabricated accusations. I am a Falun Gong practitioner." I saw that she had no reaction. I continued eating without saying another word. When I finished eating and was about to leave, she raised her head and said, "Thank you." I knew that it came from her heart.

Through Teacher's arrangement, I miraculously got in touch with many classmates and colleagues who had not contacted me for a long time. I knew that I was to clarify the truth to them. I could not let those people who were predestined miss this opportunity. In the last three years, I deeply felt Teacher's compassion during my clarifying the truth to many relatives, friends, colleagues, and strangers. Whenever I did the right thing, Teacher protected me.

It has never been easy for me to discuss Dafa with my family. I recently came to the realization that I have been unable to perfectly harmonize the Fa at the level of non-practitioners.

Before July 20, although other members of my family did not believe in cultivation, they did not oppose my cultivation. They thought that it is one's personal freedom to believe what one chooses. After July 20, because of the massive propaganda on TV, and because of the fear from remembering all the past political movements, they all opposed my continuing to practice Falun Gong, and asked me to give it up. One time, my father was so angry that he wanted to beat me. The moment he raised his hand, I thought to myself, "Unless you beat me to death, I will continue to practice Falun Gong!" My father's raised hand froze in the air. Realizing that there was no way they could shake my belief, they avoided talking about it. Through studying the Fa, my understanding of the Fa grew.

In the process of Fa-rectification, the evil was massively eliminated in other dimensions; the atmosphere in my family also improved. However, they still avoided talking about Falun Gong. One time, I gathered up my courage to show my father the self-immolation truth-clarifying tape. My father again burst into a rage. "Don't you play the tape for me, I won't watch it!" I said, "What is on TV is all fabricated ..." He replied, "Do you think we all believe the stuff from the Chinese Communist party?" However, he still had a deep misunderstanding of Dafa, saying, "I know the best thing for you! It is doing nothing. You should go into the deep mountains and thick forest, and absorb yourself in cultivation!" I understood that this misunderstanding was because I did not pay much attention to perfectly harmonizing the Fa at the beginning of my cultivation. Now, I have a better understanding of the Fa from Fa principles. I said, "No, I want to work, I want to cultivate in a working environment!" My father smiled. "Good, that's good," he said.

Teacher says, "You are cultivators, whose conduct is [supposed to be] pure and righteous. There are so many people who think you're great just by having seen how you act. If we don't pay attention to our own behavior in our daily lives, everyday people will see our actions and, since they can't get to know you at a deep level such as by studying the Fa, they will just look at how you act. And it's possible that one sentence or one action of yours will make them unsavable or create a bad impression of Dafa. We need to think about these things." (Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Boston). I realized that we cultivate among everyday people as much as possible in order to perfectly harmonize the Fa, to validate the Fa, and also to save sentient beings. If our words and actions do not agree with the standard of a cultivator, people will not understand us, and predestined people might not be saved. After I clarified the truth about the persecution to a colleague at work, he told me, "I don't believe that there is a god in this world, but I know you are a good person. Because you believe in these things so much, I will never say anything negative again." After that he never said anything bad about Falun Gong.

In 2002, my husband, my two-year old son, and I got permanent resident cards from a foreign country. I hoped that I could go abroad and never return to China again. However, my husband did not want to give up his work in China, so he did not want to emigrate. Other family members also opposed our emigration. For a while I had a huge conflict with my family. Later, I realized that I wanted this change because of my attachment to worldly comfort. I felt that it is too hard to live in China; thus, I was trying to change my surroundings. In reality, this is seeking externally, rather than regarding the Fa as teacher and looking within.

Because of my attachment to going abroad, tribulations came to my life. The prospects of the company did not look good. People had to be laid off. The department manager knew that I wanted to go abroad, so he tried to persuade me to quit my job, since it was difficult for him to lay anybody off. I felt this must be Teacher's arrangement. I thought to myself, let nature take its course. I agreed to leave. After the event, some colleagues thought it unfair to me and said that I was too honest.

One month later, after studying, I passed five examinations and obtained an internationally recognized information technology certification. I spent another month looking for a job, and finally obtained one in a large international company. When I went to the company for the interview, I learned that technical ability was not the most important qualification in a large company. They emphasize integrity and moral character. I knew that my responses on written examinations and in interviews satisfied the examiners. I was hired the next day.

My father talked to me once about how unsafe it was, and tried to persuade me not to go out to clarify the truth of the persecution. I told him, "Good will be rewarded with good, and evil will meet with evil. That's heaven's law. It is not what you can imagine!" My father did not respond. We are not wrong to cultivate Dafa. Heaven will not forgive those people currently in power who persecute Falun Gong. We are fortunate to be able to cultivate Dafa. Those who support Dafa and treat Dafa practitioners kindly will be rewarded with good. In the last three years, my career has been successful, and my family life is happy. I clearly understand that my worldly possessions are not for me to show off, but to validate the greatness of Dafa and to save sentient beings. Regarding Fa as teacher at all times, regarding Fa as the most important of all things is to negate completely the arrangement of the old forces. Validating the Fa does not mean having to suffer from persecution.

Above are my personal understandings; fellow practitioners, please compassionately point out anything inappropriate.

Posting date: 1/3/2003
Original article date: 1/3/2003
Category: Fa-Rectification Stories
Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2002/12/25/41655.html

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