By Abraham from Santa Cruz, USA

Greetings, Master,

Greetings, fellow practitioners,

 started practicing Falun Gong in early 2003. After I read all of Master's lectures on the website, I started my cultivation in the Fa-rectification period. During trials and hardships, I have cultivated for five years under Master's benevolence. Today, I feel very honored to stand in this sacred hall, at this Fa experience sharing conference, and share with you my cultivation path.

Compared with many other practitioners, my path has been relatively smooth. No earthshaking feats, no moving story, rather I am saving ordinary people in an ordinary way, following Master's guidance.

Before obtaining the Fa, I was always searching for the meaning of life and the truth of the universe. Maybe it was due to some part of my Buddha nature: among the lost, I still knew there was a truth of the universe. But what the truth was, I did not know. When I went to the university, there were a lot of resources in the libraries. For two years, whenever I had time, I would stay in the library and learn about everything that I wanted to know. But still I did not find the highest truth that I was searching for.

In 2002 I was sent to study abroad. There was a Chinese library in the school I attended. I saw "Teaching the Fa at the Assistants' Fa Conference in Changchun" and "Explaining the Content of Falun Dafa." After I read those two lectures, I thought there were much deeper meanings in the lectures and they did not sound like what the Chinese media propaganda described. So I wanted to know more from Falun Dafa's website. I still remember that day clearly. It was very sunny. In the computing center, I opened Zhuan Falun on the computer. After reading the first paragraph, my heart was beating faster, and I could not restrain my feeling of excitement. I realized that this was what I had always been pursuing. I spent half a day and read Zhuan Falun from the beginning to the end. As I read, my tears often slipped down my cheeks. After I finished, I said to Master in my heart, "Master, I want to be a person with good inborn quality."

After that, I spent a few days and read all of Master's lectures in chronological order. Those days were just as Master mentioned: my improvement was like riding on a rocket. As I read along, the capacity of my heart was constantly expanding. I finally came to understand the meaning of my coming to this world. I printed all of Master's lectures and bound them into books. I downloaded all the audio and video materials and had them copied to CDs. I started my cultivation in the Fa-rectification period.

Since then I have only the thought of saving sentient beings and validating Dafa. I remember Master's words,

"I often say that if all a person wants is the well-being of others and if this is without the slightest personal motivation or personal understanding, what he says will move the listener to tears." ("Clearheadedness" in Essentials For Further Advancement)

People today are all waiting for us to save them, especially those around us, and those who have predestined relationships with us. First, I started to "clarify truth" to friends who were overseas. Through email and face-to-face discussions, I told them the situation of the persecution of Dafa. After I connected with the local exercise site, I was able to obtain some truth clarification materials. At that time, I spent all my spare time studying the Fa, because I knew the situation I would face when I went back to China. I needed solid cultivation. But I was not worried about being persecuted, because Master already said in the end of 2001,

"Let me tell you, all those who remain and that can persecute Dafa and Dafa disciples are due to our students themselves." ("Fa-Lecture at the Conference in Florida, U.S.A.") ")

Four months later I went back to China. The first thing after I got back was to clarify the truth to my teachers and classmates. Before I went overseas I was a "pre-Communist Party member." According to the requirement, I had to write a report about my thinking. So I wrote in the report the facts I had learned about the persecution of Falun Dafa. During weekly meetings and class meetings, I talked about the persecution against Falun Dafa from various angles.

My teachers and classmates were all very surprised. But they had always trusted me and they knew that I was doing this for their own good. Still, the teachers in charge of student affairs often came to talk to me. During every talk I took it as an opportunity for them to listen to the truth. I let them watch the truth clarification CDs I brought back from overseas, so they all knew the truth. But out of safety considerations they hoped that I would not practice Falun Gong. In our major, there was one student in the Master of Science program who practiced Falun Gong and whose whereabouts were not known. I remember what my teacher said to me the last time: "If you still practice Falun Gong, we will cancel your PhD qualification." I was silent for a while, then said, "No matter what you do to me, it is impossible for me to give up Falun Dafa. This is the truth that I've been searching for all my life. It is the meaning of my whole life. You have thought of me highly, because you feel I have the heart to serve the nation, the people and the world. But I want to tell you, Falun Gong is the hope for the Chinese people. Only Falun Gong can change China to be better. If it is for Falun Gong that I need to give up something, I'll give it up without hesitation. The decision is yours." My eyes turned red as I spoke. The teacher's eyes were also red. From then on he never advised me to give up practicing Falun Gong.

I only had limited truth clarification materials that I brought from overseas. After I came back to China, I did not have the facilities to make nor did I know how to make truth clarification materials. So I wrote a public letter that talked about the spread of Falun Dafa and the truth about the persecution, including Master's article, "Some Thoughts of Mine." At that time I was not aware that I should not post and distribute Master's lecture like that. I printed the letter out and made copies at a print shop. Then I posted it in classrooms and several public locations, such as public parks and the like. At the beginning of each semester, students needed to select courses so the teachers would introduce their curricula in each classroom. I put the truth clarification materials in all the desks in the classroom and on the rostrum the night before. The next day I went to see the results. On my way I often saw a student concentrating on reading the truth clarification materials as they were walking out of the building. At that time I often did such things with a good friend of mine.

I came back to China with several truth clarification CDs. Later, I learned how to make CDs. I still remember the days when I wanted to make a number of CDs before I went back to my hometown for the Chinese New Year. I would stay late in a classroom for several days to make copies of the CDs. At that time I did not have my own computer, so the CD writer I bought was installed on the computer owned by the school.

After I came back to China, initially I did not know any practitioners. Later, I thought how there were so many practitioners before the persecution, there must be some at the school. So I said to Master in my heart: "Master, please let me know one practitioner." A few days later I went to an office building. A female teacher and I walked into the elevator. I heard her humming a song. "Isn't that 'De Du" (Be Saved)?" I asked her. "Are you singing De Du?" She immediately knew I was a Falun Gong practitioner and so we came to know each other.

One of my friend's high school classmates also practiced Falun Gong. With the friend's help we got to know each other. Later, we had various opportunities to get in touch with several practitioners at various universities. As the situation improved, we formed a Fa study group. Each of us had individual truth clarification material sites and we so could make different truth clarification materials.

My locale for saving sentient beings and validating the Fa was mainly focused on the universities and the nearby locations. After we made the truth clarification materials, we would distribute them in various students' dormitory buildings. Due to limited materials, we could not distribute material to each dormitory, so we would put materials in every few dormitories. In our university there were a lot of bicycles, so sometimes we would leave the materials in the baskets attached to the bicycles or in the drawers of the classrooms and libraries. Sometimes we would leave materials in the teachers' mailboxes or offices.

Another common method I used in the school was through the Question and Answer sessions during class. There are various seminars at our school, covering many topics, and many people attend them. Clarifying the truth there, we could not only spread the truth to the audiences, but we could also stimulate people to think about and discuss it, to strengthen the righteous field in the whole area. Once I remember He Zuoxiu (translator's note: a man who has written negative articles on Falun Gong in the name of science) came to speak at a seminar. I thought it was a very good opportunity. I went to the seminar, and during the whole seminar I constantly sent forth righteous thoughts towards him. Later, during Question-and-Answer time, I asked him: "I have heard you are the brother-in-law of Luo Gan, and you were instructed by Luo Gan and provoked the April 25^th Falun Gong petition incident, which directly led to the persecution against Falun Gong." I asked him if that was true. He couldn't say anything for a while, then answered, "Falun Gong participates in politics." After the seminar was over, I went with other students, following him to the place where he had parked his electric bicycle. I gave him one truth clarification CD and told him, "I hope you will watch this CD. I want to tell you, Falun Gong does not want to be involved in politics." He didn't say anything but accepted the CD. Two students besides asked me, "Why do you speak for Falun Gong?" So I walked with them for a while and clarified the truth to them. They knew the truth and later we became good friends.

After this seminar, I was not very firm-footed. I was a bit worried about attracting trouble. I told other practitioners about this and asked them to send forth righteous thoughts for me. Two days later, when I walked through the school entrance, I noticed a parked police car. I was a little nervous, but then I thought of how Dafa disciples clarify the truth in a dignified manner, saving sentient beings, so what should we be afraid of?

Master said,

"The old forces don't dare to oppose our clarifying the truth or saving sentient beings. What's key is to not let them take advantage of the gaps in your state of mind when you do things." ("Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Boston")

Maybe my thought of concern was not righteous and thus brought the police car here, since it was my own pursuit. So I sent righteous thoughts towards the police car as I walked by. The following days I often purposely walked by that place to send righteous thoughts. A few days later the police car left. On the surface nothing happened.

Another time, during a class break, I walked outside and passed another classroom. I noticed the head of the National Bureau of Religion, Ye Xiaowen, was inside, talking about the nation's policy on religion. I thought, "Wasn't I led by Master to this place to clarify the truth?" So I went into the classroom and, as I listened, I sent righteous thoughts. During the Question-Answer time, I stood up and told him,

"Many of my classmates have received the truth clarification CDs about Falun Gong in their dormitories. We have seen the CDs. They list a lot of evidence that shows the Tiananmen Square Self-Immolation was framed to impugn Falun Gong. Falun Gong teaches people to be good. We all know that in China a lot of things are rather hard to say. If that's the case, we sincerely hope that the state's officials, especially the senior officials, would really find out what people are thinking, considering it in the true interest of our nation and people, for the future of our Chinese nation, and reexamine this issue."

After hearing this, Ye Xiaowen mumbled, "Only people at this university would dare to bring this issue up."

This truth-clarifying method sometimes has effects beyond my expectations. In 2007, I contacted a classmate on a BBS for something. We briefly introduced ourselves to each other. She told me she had some impression of me. I was surprised and asked her what kind of impression she had. She asked if I was the one who clarified the truth about Falun Gong during a course three years ago. When I heard that, at that moment I was very moved and I further understood that all sentient beings come for the Fa. That course was a general one that can be selected by any student in the school. Over 400 students sat in that course. It had happened three years before, and I had already forgotten it, yet someone I did not know still remembered it.

We also collected the telephone numbers and email addresses of the schools and sent them to Minghui to cooperate with the overseas truth clarification. Dafa disciples are one body. When overseas and mainland practitioners coordinate, the effect is even better. The same is true for the persecution cases. We should disclose them in a timely manner to eliminate the evil.

Once, a practitioner at the bus station was detected carrying a copy of Zhuan Falun and truth clarification CDs. He was detained at a police station. He was handcuffed to an iron chair for a long time and, as a result, his wrists were swollen and blue. Later, his parents found a friend who could have him released, but they had to pay several thousand yuan in extortion. Even after that, the police station threatened to continue to harass him. After he was released we took photos of his wounds and sent them to Minghui to show the persecution he endured along with the police station's phone numbers, calling on overseas' practitioners for support. After that the police station no longer looked for him.

At the end of 2004, one night I went with this practitioner to post some truth clarification stickers. We went to Tiananmen Square on October 1, 2004 to post truth clarification materials and everything went quite smoothly. So I became a little careless and did not check out the nearby environment and started posting stickers. Soon after, an urban patrol vehicle parked near me, two men got out and dragged me inside the car and then called 110. They said that, for catching one Falun Gong practitioner, people would be rewarded with a lot of money. I sent righteous thoughts to clear the evil behind them and at the same time I clarified the truth to them. I told them that we clarify the truth to save sentient beings, including them. I also chatted with them to eliminate their misunderstandings about Falun Gong. Later they were moved and called 110 and said,

"No police needed." They said there were quite a few Falun Gong people and that they could not stop us. We had already run away. Then they drove me to a safe place and told me where I could post stickers where they would not stop me. Afterwards, that practitioner told me that at that time he was standing across the street. Later, he ran to the cloverleaf junction and saw the vehicle I was in driving away. No more than five minutes later, the 110 police car came.

I remember Master's poem:

"Mercy can melt heaven and earth into spring
Righteous thought can save people of the world"

(Hong Yin II --"Fa Rectifies the Cosmos")

No matter in what way we meet with sentient beings, it is the opportunity to save them.

Master said in "Fa Teaching at the U.S. Capital:"

"That is why Dafa disciples must try to save the world's people and save sentient beings. You have initiated many efforts in ordinary society to save people, and held many activities similar to those of ordinary society, or done things that have resembled those of ordinary people, but the starting point and goals are different."

Over the past a few years I had been a tutor, a volunteer, helped the school with students' affairs, organized business surveys, organized play offs, helped friends to start companies, and even sold things in the school. Everything I did, I came upon more sentient beings, and I clarified the truth to people with predestined relationships. As long as our basis is to save sentient beings, no matter where and when, I always remember Master's guidance,

"He has bountiful virtue and also maintains a benevolent heart; he is full of great aspirations while minding minor details." ("Sage" in Essentials For Further Advancement )

I asked myself to demonstrate a Fa-rectification period Dafa disciple's selfless manner to allow all sentient beings I encounter to be saved because we know that tens of thousands of years of tribulation are just for today.

Master said in "Teaching the Fa at the Fa Conference at the U.S. Capital:"

"People with predestined relationships and those who can be saved can be made to - made to by Master's Law Bodies, righteous gods, or the immense field that Dafa has formed in the world - appear right before you in any of a range of settings, providing them with a chance to learn the truth."

I always carry with me a schoolbag with some truth clarification materials inside. No matter where I go, if there is an opportunity, I will distribute materials. Because I know, no matter where I go, no matter what I am doing on the surface, the real reason behind it is only one--truth clarification is needed there and the sentient beings there need to be saved. All people we encounter are targets we need to save. In all environments, we may run into beings that need to be saved.

I once bought a book on one person's reflections on the Cultural Revolution. A few years later, I had almost forgotten about him. One day, on the street outside the campus, I ran into him. I chatted with him and gave him a copy of the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party. He also agreed to withdraw from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and/or its related organizations.

A homeless mother and her daughter were wandering around on campus and received a lot attention on the BBS in our school. One day, I was buying something and they passed me. I talked to them and wanted to know if I could help them. After they knew the truth about Falun Gong they agreed to withdraw from the CCP and/or its related organizations. Soon afterwards they left the campus.

nce I participated in a large banquet and there was a high ranking official there. I felt he also needed to be saved. So, later, during the dinner I brought him a glass of water and wrote a poem to him to persuade him to denounce the darkness and embrace the brightness. Initially, he was surprised, but he did not give me any trouble and even gave me his business card.

People around me all feel I have many friends. I come into contact with all kinds of people in different careers and I have a lot of friends. Some even feel I am very good at socializing with people. But only I know that it is not a socializing skill, rather it is the mission of a Dafa disciple to save sentient beings. In fact, previously, I was a very reticent person.

As Dafa disciples, we know that we came to the world today with the mission to save sentient beings. Only saving sentient beings is real and it is the most important thing in the world. Several teachers talked with me many times, and once they knew the truth, they established a good personal friendship with me. Some teachers told me, "Now you are a student, so teachers and classmates are protecting you. What will happen when you go out to work in the future?" I thanked them for their good intentions, but I always believe in this saying: "A good person has a good fate, and, no matter what the environment is, we should do what we are supposed to do." In fact, I know in my heart, "Cultivation depends on one's own efforts, while the transformation of gong is done by one's Master." (Zhuan Falun) As long as we do things in accordance with Master's Fa, all will make a way for Dafa disciples.

One student could not understand it and said to me, "I really do not understand. You practice Falun Gong, yet those teachers are so good to you. They offer all good things to you." I told him, "It is precisely because I practice Falun Gong that they treat me well. Because they know people who truly practice Falun Gong are all good people. If, under such pressure a person can still stick to his own belief and can still uphold justice, in their eyes, this person is capable. He is China's hope. Dafa teaches us to be such a person who only considers others selflessly." That student knew Dafa was under persecution, but he did not believe in high beings and Buddhas and did not believe in retribution. Sometimes he would say disrespectful things about Dafa. Since then I haven't heard him say any bad words about Dafa.

Recalling the past five years, my experiences seem rather ordinary and trivial. But, when I think again, every tiny thing has Master's benevolence and sentient beings' hopes melted into it. When I close my eyes, the scenes of many scenarios surface in front of me. During sitting meditation, when my legs were painful, I would recite "When it's difficult to endure, you can endure it. When it's impossible to do, you can do it." (Zhuan Falun) Then I could endure it.

Late at night when we went out to distribute truth clarification materials, I would remember:

"Great enlightened beings fear no hardship
Their will is cast of diamond
Life or death, they have no attachment
Forthright and broad-minded on the road of Fa-rectification"

(Hong Yin II version B--"Righteous Thoughts, Righteous Action")

Then, enormous courage would grow in me. When I face evil I think:

"Upright the palm, heaven and earth quakes,
In the air stands a giant Buddha."

(Hong Yin version B--"The Great Enlightened")

When I felt things were hard, I remembered:

"Cultivation paths are different
Yet all are within Dafa
With no attachment to anything
The path underfoot is naturally clear"

(Hong Yin II version B--"No Obstacles")

Then I saw hope in the hardships. When I regretted and felt hopeless, I would lie on the bed and listen quietly to PuDu, let tears flow, and remember:

"Your body lies in prison--don't be sorrowful, don't be sad
With righteous thoughts and righteous actions, Fa is here
Calmly reflect on how many attachments you have
As you get rid of human mentality, evil is naturally defeated"

(Hong Yin II version B--"Don't Be Sad")

Then I would get up again. When I thought about those times as I wrote this article, tears slipped down my cheeks unknowingly.

Dear fellow practitioners, today the sentient beings we saved are still limited, especially in mainland China. Let us be more diligent in this last period of time. Let sentient beings feel the benevolence we have even if we do not have a chance to talk to them when they pass by, because Master is so benevolent to us.

Finally, I would like to share with you Master's poem,

"Thousands of laborious hardships for fifteen autumns
Who knows the suffering and worry of Fa-rectification
Only so that living beings can be saved
Not stopping until beyond the macro and the micro"

(Hong Yin II version B--"Difficulty")

Thank you, Master.

Thanks to the practitioners who walked with me during hardships and tribulations.

Thanks to all fellow practitioners.

Posting date: 4/1/2008
Original article date: 4/1/2008
Category: Practitioners' Insights
Chinese version available at http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2008/3/5/173642.html

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