By a Falun Gong practitioner in Toronto, Canada

(Clearwisdom.net) May 13^th is World Falun Dafa Day, and May 13, 2006 marks the 14^th anniversary of Master's first public introduction of Falun Dafa. As a new practitioner who has been practicing for a little over a year, I want to share my experience in hope that it will encourage those who are still hesitating to please not miss this opportunity. I thank Master for his immense compassion, and I want to remind fellow practitioners as well as myself of it.

When I was in China, I was drowned in earth-blanketing propaganda generated by Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-run media that attacks Falun Gong. I didn't believe the reports that claimed Falun Gong practitioners cut open their stomachs, jumped off buildings, and killed themselves and others. It was obviously propaganda and it was forced upon people. I always loathed the lies of the CCP. Although I didn't care about politics, I didn't realize at all that this was yet another bloodbath like the Cultural Revolution. When I asked an old colleague whom I trusted, he said, "The government is really low. Those people [Falun Gong practitioners] only want to get healthy because they can't afford to go to the hospital. What's the point in all of this persecution?" I wanted to ask more questions but he didn't want to say anymore.

Although I didn't believe in all the deceptive propaganda, some feelings such as Master not receiving higher education prevented me from learning more about Falun Gong. Like many other people, I was a fervent believer in science. I admired the so-called modern culture, which is in fact degenerate, and I chased after "fashion."

I remember before the CCP started persecuting Falun Gong, in 1997 or 1998, one day after I left my work unit and walked on a thoroughfare lined with banyan trees, I looked up and suddenly saw a large parade group. The people at the front of the parade raised up banners with three large golden characters written on them, "Truth-Compassion- Forbearance." I looked at their clothes and thought they were not from my city. As this thought emerged, everything instantly disappeared. I didn't give too much thought about where this had taken place, but the three golden characters, Truth-Compassion-Forbearance were imprinted on my mind. I immediately realized this was what Falun Gong teaches people.

Due to my warped notions, however, I didn't truly learn about Falun Gong afterwards, and instead I thought ridiculously, "Although Truth-Compassion-Forbearance is good, who would believe it nowadays? Isn't it a little too old-fashioned to talk about it now?" I didn't understand Master's revelation and missed the opportunity to obtain the Fa in China.

In September 2003, my whole family immigrated to Toronto, Canada. One weekend in August 2004, we met a very kindly old woman on our way home from the supermarket. She gave me a flyer as I was crossing the street, and I gladly took it.

I read the flyer as I walked, and it was an advertisement about an activity of the Chinese Fall Celebration. I was very happy to join because I had never seen any large-scale Chinese activities almost one year after we moved to Canada. I didn't pay attention to the sponsor but I was drawn in by the elegant patterns. After I went home, I read it over more carefully, and I found out the sponsors were Falun Gong practitioners. Although the words "Falun Gong" were in fine print, I was shocked. I thought, "So Falun Gong not only exists abroad, it seems they are pretty big." We immediately decided that all three of us would go to the event. My husband, however, suddenly got a job opportunity in Hamilton, and we had to leave immediately. We missed the event.

I felt lost but I didn't think too much about it. Two months later, my husband lost his job in Hamilton for no apparent reason, and we returned to Toronto. He quickly got another satisfactory job, and our life in Canada finally stabilized, although this meant I could not go to McMaster University in Hamilton as I had planned.

One day when I was surfing online, I found in the bulk folder of my email account an email sent by a Falun Gong practitioner. I saw it, but I habitually emptied the entire folder. I regretted it immediately afterwards. I analyzed my emotions and realized that I regretted deleting the email from Falun Gong, but I could not retrieve it.

At the time, I started wanting to immediately find Falun Gong books and see what Falun Gong is truly about. Why is it that Falun Gong is suppressed in China but expanding abroad? Right away, I started searching online, although I didn't know whether Falun Gong had their own websites. One day, I finally found the Epoch Times website through a link, and I found another link on the Epoch Times website that directed the reader to a Falun Gong website. I finally found it.

I visited the website and learned that Falun Gong was first taught in 1992, and it has been 14 years since. I was almost catching the last train, and I started watching Master's lecture videos despite strong opposition from my husband and roommates (we were sharing the house with another family). I thought, "I wish I had done this a long time ago!" I deeply regretted missing the opportunity to truly understand Dafa on many occasions.

I never took things very seriously, which bred big indolence. I found a Falun Gong group practice site from the Internet, but it wasn't very close to home. It was winter, and I thought I would wait until spring. Three months after I obtained the Fa, I only studied the Fa at home and watched Master's instruction tapes to learn the exercises. I didn't want to immediately join Fa-rectification, and I excused myself by saying my understanding of the Fa was not adequate, and that I was a new practitioner.

Benevolent Master didn't give up on me. Soon, Master encouraged me to send forth righteous thoughts as I was half asleep. When I became fully awake, I immediately did as Master told me. I felt great as powerful energy surrounded me. I saw the head perpetrator Jiang being destroyed by my energy, and I have been sending forth righteous thoughts since.

When the weather became warm, one morning, my husband and I drove to find the practice site. We found it right away as if someone were guiding us.

The practitioners at the practice site were very kind, and they immediately taught us the exercises. I realized that I was making lots of mistakes when I practiced at home, and I learned the importance of a group-practice environment, as Master had told us. I read that section of the Fa about the group-practice environment, but indolence prevented me from joining the group. Indolence, which had formed over a long time among ordinary people, was the barrier that prevented me from becoming diligent during more than one year after I obtained the Fa. Regardless, I finally found Dafa and our home, and entered the path of return.

On May 20, 2005, I finally saw Master in person, and I listened to his teaching. I thought that I could not disappoint benevolent Master any longer, and I must also assist Master to rectify the Fa. This is how I joined in the great current of Dafa practitioners validating the Fa.

Posting date: 5/14/2006
Original article date: 5/14/2006
Category: Personal Cultivation
Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2006/5/13/127608.html

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