Whenever I Think of Teacher
By a practitioner from Changchun, Jilin Province, China
(Clearwisdom.net) Greetings, revered Teacher! Greetings, fellow
practitioners! I am a Falun Gong practitioner from Teacher's hometown Changchun City, Jilin
Province. It is a great honor to have been born in this sacred city and to have
the opportunity to meet Teacher in person, to listen to Teacher imparting the Fa
in person, to cultivate during Teacher's Fa-rectification, helping save sentient
beings and returning to my true self. Revered Teacher Leading the Way Shortly after I started practicing Falun Gong in late 1995, I had a very
strange dream. I stood on top of a sea of towering trees with foliage made of
thorns that prevented me from moving at all. I was petrified. I stood absolutely
still, afraid of moving. Then a man appeared before me about three steps away.
He began to walk through the thick foliage of thorns to create a path. With each
step he took, he flattened the thorns and created footprints that were safe to
walk on. After making several such painful steps, the man turned around and
pointed at the footprints, signaling me to step on the footprints. There was an
endless sea of thorns before us, but the man created endless footprints for me
to follow despite his pain. Thus, the man led me on at the expense of his own
pain. When I watched Teacher's Fa lecture videotapes, I was shocked to suddenly
realize that the man in my dream was Teacher! It has been 12 years since I started practicing Falun Gong. It is Teacher who
created a path among a sea of thorns to lead us on our way home. Despite
adversities, dangers and obstacles, we have managed to progress in our
respective cultivation step by step under Teacher's tutelage. When looking back
at the path I have taken, I am deeply moved by Teacher's compassion and
teaching. Minding Etiquette and Minor Details I have visited Teacher's home in Changchun. It had an old, run-down exterior
and was very sparsely furnished. Teacher set a good example for treasuring
natural resources and leading a simple, frugal lifestyle. Later I read the
"Recalling Teacher's Compassion" series published on the Minghui website.
I was very touched, but I also realized that I should learn from Teacher in
terms of minding etiquette and minor details. During an early winter, the temperature suddenly dropped overnight and a bag
of sweet potatoes froze. I was taught by the elders that frozen sweet potatoes
were inedible and must be thrown away. I was reluctant to throw away the sweet
potatoes. I suddenly remembered a true story about Teacher when He was living in
Changchun. One autumn when Teacher's wife was making Chinese sauerkraut, she
threw away the outer leaves of the napa cabbages because the leaves were
damaged. But Teacher picked the leaves from the trashcan and told her that they
were still edible. With that in mind, I doubted if Teacher would approve of my
throwing away the frozen sweet potatoes. I decided to steam the entire bag of
frozen sweet potatoes. They turned out tasting even better than unfrozen sweet
potatoes. I have learned from this experience that not throwing away food is not
just about saving money or being frugal, but about treasuring life. As long as
there is still a ray of hope in a life, I should have the compassion of saving
it. As long as there is still a chance, I should give each life the opportunity
to fulfill its value. I also tried to educate my daughter the same way Teacher educated his
daughter. I once told my daughter a story about Teacher. When Teacher first
arrived in Beijing to impart the Fa, he had difficulties making ends meet. When
Teacher's daughter needed a new pair of shoes, Teacher bought a used pair of
shoes from a second-hand vendor on the streets of Beijing. An enlightened
being's great virtue will be naturally manifested in every minor detail. My
daughter must have kept the story at heart because she has dressed simply but
appropriately after graduating from college. She has no interest in designer
apparel or bags like many modern young women. One day I was leaving home 30 minutes before a local Fa conference when the
telephone rang. After spending ten minutes talking on the phone, I hurried
downstairs and thought I would definitely be late. I felt slightly guilty for
keeping fellow practitioners waiting, but I comforted myself that it was because
of the phone call. But I suddenly remembered Teacher again. Teacher always
arrived early for each Fa lecture and never kept any practitioner waiting. I
should forgive others when they keep me waiting, but I should never keep anyone
waiting. I ran all the way to the bus station. Just when I was about to hail a
taxi, a bus arrived. There were four bus stops and five traffic lights to my
destination. It turned out that we had green lights all the way to my
destination. I ended up being the first practitioner to arrive. Since then, I
have been very conscious about keeping my word and being more thoughtful of
others even in minor details. By minding details and etiquette, I believe that I
am cultivating myself and assimilating to the Fa. Saving Sentient Beings out of Compassion One day I shopped in a store and took the opportunity to clarify the
truth about Falun Gong and the cruel persecution of Falun Gong to the
store-owner. She didn't believe that such a horrible persecution could happen
around her. I told her about my own experience as a victim of the persecution,
which brought her to tears. Before I left, we exchanged phone numbers. Since
then, if I went shopping or headed her way, I would stop by and talk to her or
bring her new truth-clarification materials. She would think of me and call me
if I hadn't called on her for a few days. One day she called me and told me she had run into a problem. She asked me to
stop by when I had a chance. Looking out the window, I saw the gusty wind
twirling a lot of sand in the air. At first, I hesitated in leaving my
comfortable home, but I remembered that she had been divorced for many years and
it must be difficult for her to run a business and care for a child all by
herself. She didn't go to her relatives or friends. Instead, she came to me when
she ran into trouble. It goes to show that she had placed high hopes in a Falun
Gong practitioner. Deep down, she must be asking the Fa for help! How could I
not go see her merely because of the bad weather? How could I not be
compassionate? I put a scarf on my head and braved the sand storm that had turned the sky to
an earthy yellow shade. I lowered my head and struggled to move against the
wind. The gusty wind kept pushing me backward and made it difficult to breathe.
On my way to her store, I kept thinking of a poem. Teacher said, "Worrying about all things in the human world, ("High Places Are Extremely Cold" from Hong Yin) I remembered that Teacher has to carry a lot of karma that we had created
over many lives in order to save us. In fact, this is only the tip of the
iceberg. Teacher has endured far more than we will ever know... Once at her store, she was shocked and deeply moved at the same time. I spit
out the sand in my mouth and told her that it was Teacher who encouraged me to
come to her in her time of need. I tried to comfort her and encourage her. I
explained to her that every person came for the Fa. A few days later, I called
on her again to bring her a Falun Gong amulet (1) as a gift. She unwrapped the
gift anxiously and put it on immediately. Next she gave me a hug and patted me
on the back. "My sister, you are like my real sister!" We had many family members in our many past lives. They are all waiting for
Teacher's salvation! A Will as Strong as Diamond One day I was preparing truth-clarification materials when I looked up and
saw with my Celestial Eye a giant demon outside the window. The demon was so big
that I couldn't see its entire head. In fact, I saw only its two large tusks in
the window. It told me in a cold voice, "Just two days ago we beat two
Falun Gong practitioners to death. Are you not afraid?" I started sending
forth righteous thoughts and then left with a bag of truth-clarifying materials
on my back. Once I got on a bus, I kept sending forth righteous thoughts.
Teacher's Fa kept popping up in my mind. Teacher said, "Once your thought is righteous, evil will collapse" ("What's There to Fear" from Hong Yin II) Teacher said, "I am rooted in the universe. If anyone can harm you, he or she would
be able to harm me. Put simply, that person would be able to harm this
universe." ("Characteristics of Falun Dafa" from Lecture One of
Zhuan Falun) At that moment, I felt that my body, made of diamond in another dimension,
kept expanding and sending out energy that melted all the evil beings. I felt
myself filled with the Fa's energy and all the evil elements in other dimensions
no longer existed. At that moment, I had a better understanding of the Fa --
mind and matter is one thing. When a Falun Gong practitioner has a will as
strong as diamond in the human realm, her body in another dimension will become
diamond, and her universe will become as strong as diamond as well. I felt the
powerful force of Teacher's Fa-rectification, but no words can describe its
mighty power. We Falun Gong practitioners have come to the human realm to assist
Teacher in Fa-rectification. It is also our responsibility to rectify everything
that is unrighteous. Eliminating the Attachment of Selfishness Shortly after I started practicing Falun Gong, I knew I must attain the realm
of selflessness and altruism to become a righteous enlightened being. While
cultivating during the Fa-rectification, I realized that all the problems I
encountered resulted from the fundamental characteristic of the old universe ---
selfishness. Not long ago, the local police unlawfully arrested many practitioners. I
became worried for my personal safety and wondered if it would be safe to browse
the Internet with my home cable connection. Because of my wavering mentality, my
computer failed. I decided not to use the Internet at home. Instead, I went to a
fellow practitioner's home to get on the Internet and downloaded everything I
needed onto a portable disk. As a result, I didn't delay any truth-clarification
production work. After making several trips to the practitioner's home, I began to question my
behavior. The fellow practitioner also uses a cable connection. If it is not
safe for me to use my cable connection at home, then it is not safe for him
either. The local police know where I live. Now that I kept going to his place,
the local police would find him too! I am putting him at risk, so as to protect
my personal safety! In other words, I am avoiding danger and bringing him
danger. How can I be so selfish? I finally faced my selfish mindset. It is
precisely because of selfishness that the old universe has become degenerated!
It is a characteristic that the new universe has purged. It is a characteristic
that must be eliminated by the Fa-rectification. We have decided to follow
Teacher in Fa-rectification for the sake of the entire universe's safety. This
is why we risked coming down to the human realm. Why am I holding fast to the
secular attachment of selfishness? I should present to Teacher my pure, clean
heart! It is shameful that I dare not clarify the truth, produce
truth-clarification materials or step out for the Fa, in order to protect my
personal safety. It is shameful that I watch sentient beings weeded out and do
nothing, in order to protect my personal safety. Once I rectified my mind, my
computer began working again, and I could browse the Internet normally. On my cultivation path, I have thought of Teacher numerous times at pivotal
moments. The instant I think of Teacher, I feel enveloped with immense
compassion, wisdom and power. Everything comes from Teacher! I tell myself
repeatedly that I want nothing but Teacher and the Fa because everything I have
comes from Teacher and the Fa.
Laboring the heart over hardships in heaven."
Chinese version available at
http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2007/11/12/165256.html
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