(Clearwisdom.net) I was introduced to Falun Gong by a relative in March 1997. After reading Zhuan Falun and watching Master Li Hongzhi's Guangzhou Lecture videos, I became very curious. Many of the things mentioned by Master Li were things I hadn't heard of before. I realized that the true meaning of life was being disclosed, and that I should practice Falun Gong.
Busy with work, I did not cultivate diligently. As a result, I did not feel much change. Therefore, when the CCP started to persecute Falun Gong on July 20, 1999, I became confused. Facing the slander against Master and Dafa, and the lies on TV and radio, I was not sure what the truth was anymore.
At a point when I had many doubts, I suddenly remembered something which I experienced in 1960. I was in high school at the time. I met a fellow student's father who had the ability of knowing fate. As long as he saw one's face, he would know the person's past life. He also knew your fate in this lifetime (at the time, I did not understand what the ability of knowing fate was, and learned about it later). As we bid farewell, he told me: "The true man has come to this world. He is in Gongzhuling, Changchun City, Jilin Province. His surname is Li. He is nine years old this year." At that time, I thought to myself that it had nothing to do with me. I did not ask more.
However, when I was facing the decision of whether to continue to practice or not, I suddenly recalled this incident. I was awakened instantly. Wasn't this telling me that Master Li is the reincarnation of the true man? Wasn't this Master compassionately enlightening me? How could I miss this golden opportunity? Since then, I have had firm belief in Falun Gong.
First, Get Rid of the Pursuit of Gain and Affection
Prior to my retirement, one of my papers was selected and included in the book Essence of Selected Papers Since China's Reform and Opening. My name is listed in the Dictionary of Chinese Celebrities published by the Ministry of Personnel. I received dozens of letters from national ministries or the editorial boards of famous companies, associations, and societies. Some were asking for more papers, and others were invitations to attend conferences.
The purpose of most of the letters was to make money by selling books. They use your papers, you buy their books. One set of books costs at least eight or nine hundred yuan. Some cost more than two or three thousand yuan. For the conferences, you have to pay a fee which is rather large. For people who seek fame and profit, it is an excellent opportunity to buy dozens of sets using company money and give them away as gifts to your bosses and colleagues to become famous. I thought, "Why not do it?" Then I thought, "I am a cultivator. I cannot do this." Master had warned us:
"Those who are attached to their reputations practice an evil way, full of intention. Once they gain renown in this world, they are bound to say good but mean evil, thereby misleading the public and undermining the Fa" ("Cultivators' Avoidances" in Essentials for Further Advancement).
I must not fall into the trap of pursuing fame. Since then, I don't even open such letters.
The attachment to money is one of the issues I have faced during cultivation. I did not come from a well-off family, so I have always looked forward to a better life. Thinking that my wife lost her job twice and that we had suffered a major loss financially, I felt uneasy. I was always looking for opportunities to make money. So after my retirement in March 2000, I joined a business endeavor right away. Because I have relationships and am capable, I indeed played a key role in the business. The small company flourished within a year. The annual revenue rose from more than hundreds of thousands of yuan to five million yuan. Each shareholder had more than 200,000 yuan annual income.
In the third year, the construction industry shrank. The products related to construction were seriously affected. Only the paint and putty materials that our company sold could compete in the market. For the rest of our products, we had to rely on taking away clients from other companies by establishing relationships. Most of the products were sold directly by me. At that point, I began to realize that making money this way harms others and harms myself. I would lose virtue if I continued to do it. It reached the point where all I could think about all day was how to find a relationship, and how to bribe the leaders of the clients to get what we wanted. There is no dignity in doing those things. It had severely impacted my cultivation. Every time I read,
"Those who are attached to money seek wealth and feign their cultivation. Undermining the practice and the Fa, they waste their lifetimes instead of cultivating Buddhahood" ("Cultivators' Avoidances" in Essentials for Further Advancement).
I would examine my behavior. Finally I decided to quit the job.
Another problem I faced is how to get rid of the attachment of sentimentality. In daily life, I often encountered this issue. Here I just want to give an example of how my attitude toward my grandson changed. When my grandson was four years old, his parents got divorced. It hurt the child very badly, both mentally and psychologically. He lives with us now. Since both parents feel guilty, they often take him back to their homes for two days and spoil him with rich food and new toys. Gradually, the child changed and developed many bad habits. He played all the time, become a picky eater, became disobedient, and began to fear hardship. He does not like to learn, so his grades are poor. If I urged him to learn, he would lie to me. Sometimes I became so angry, I scolded and spanked him -- but it did not help. Whenever I read
"Some people blow up even when they're disciplining their kids, they'll yell and make a big scene. You don't have to be like that when you're disciplining your kids. You shouldn't really get angry. You should teach your kids with reason and good sense, and that's the only way you can really teach them well. If you can't even get over little things, and you lose your temper, then forget about gong" (Zhuan Falun).
I felt very regretful. I was determined that I would not scold and spank him in the future; however, when it happened again, I could not control myself. It repeated so many times that I could not keep count. I was really worried. I measured my behavior with Dafa, and asked myself, "How could I be like this?" One's fate is predetermined. He has his own fate, which is arranged by gods and cannot be changed by humans. My strong attachment of sentimentality should be discarded. This may be a test arranged by Master for me. Now I am more patient, and provide more guidance to him. Sometimes I tell him something about moral standards and Dafa's principles.
Second, Get Rid of the Attachment of Fear and Hurry up to Save Sentient Beings
Master asked us to
"Validate the Fa with rationality, clarify the truth with wisdom, spread the Fa and save people with mercy" ("Rationality" in Essentials for Further Advancement II).
When I first started to clarify the truth about Falun Gong, I had a strong mentality of fear and worried a lot. I only clarified the truth to someone I knew or to friends. With in-depth Fa study and more experience with truth clarification, I gradually got rid of the attachment of fear. I clarify the truth more often now, and can reach more people. I can talk to an unknown person on the road or in the market. After I went back to my home town, I changed the way I clarify the truth from talking only to one person at a time to talking to an entire family at a time. The effect is good.
For example, one time I went to visit a cousin. This cousin has ten brothers and sisters. They are all married, and they don't meet each other often. I bought food, and went to my third cousin's home. I asked her to invite her brothers and sisters. All of them who live in the same county showed up except one who lives in Guizhou. There were a total of seventeen people, most of whom I had not seen for twenty years. Some of them I met for the first time. We were all very affectionate. I talked about how I started to practice and the benefits I received from Dafa. Then I talked about the reality of the corruption in society, the CCP's evil nature, the root causes of disasters, the necessity of quitting the CCP, and my personal experiences which cannot be explained using a materialistic viewpoint. I talked for two hours and they were willing to listen. Everyone quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations at the end. The truth clarification cards I brought with me were all taken. Later, I went to my uncle's home. First I bought food, and went my to my second uncle's home (my father's cousin). My third and fourth uncles with their families came too. There were about thirteen people. Many of them were very focused to listen. Some of them asked questions while eating. Everyone who joined the CCP before quit. This event not only deepened our family relationship, but most importantly, they understood the truth about Falun Gong and recognized the CCP's evil nature. They are truly saved.
Although I made some efforts to clarify the truth face to face, I encountered many issues during truth clarification in our area. One person said, "You say Jiang is bad, I agree. But you say that the CCP is bad, and I cannot accept that. I finished my studies with a scholarship. Without the CCP, I would not have been able to achieve this today." Another person heard the truth, took the truth clarification materials with him, and accepted many of my viewpoints. However, when his children came back home at night and saw the information, they said, "The CCP gives you your pension. Don't listen to anyone, just follow the CCP." As a result, the next morning he called me back and asked me to take back the truth clarification materials.
My biggest problem is one of my older neighbors. I clarified the truth to him many times. He also saw my physical changes. At one point he said, "You benefit from the practice. You can stay home to continue the practice. Don't go out and say anything, especially about organ harvesting. Do not tell people about that. It does not affect you. How could no issues exist in such a large country?" Facing his attitude, I was really afraid to clarify the truth to him. I thought, "Why are people are so deeply deluded?" Of course, this was the result of the CCP's poisoning and fooling people over the decades. They don't know the actual relationship between the people, the CCP and the country. The CCP stole their way into power, took away all the national wealth, and then just throws them a piece of bread and sausage, and they are so thankful. They do benefit, but only under the CCP's control. This attitude is common among officials and high income people in our area. I needed to save these people.
Master requires that,
"Even when in your daily life you pass by people so quickly that you don't have a chance to talk to them, you should still leave them with your compassion and kindness. Don't lose those who should be saved, especially those with predestined connections" (Teaching the Fa at the 2003 Atlanta Fa Conference).
I always put Fa study first, and repeatedly study Master's lectures. While seizing any opportunity to clarify the truth face to face, I also put more effort into distributing truth clarification materials. I bought a computer and a printer. With the help of fellow practitioners, I learned how to surf the internet and download and print truth clarification materials. I started with about 70 or 80 copies per week, and now I distribute about 150 or 200 copies per week. At the same time, I provide fellow practitioners with 150 to 200 copies. For more than two years, whether it was hot or cold, come snow or rain, I persistently printed and distributed the truth clarification materials. I never stopped. It can be said that the goodness of Dafa was spread to thousands of families.
Because it takes time to print and distribute the truth clarification materials, sometimes I did not put much effort into clarifying the truth face to face. Sometimes, Master brought a predestined person right in front of me, but I did not realize it. For example, once I went out to distribute truth clarification materials. On the way back home, I was waiting for the bus. It began to rain a little. A thirty-year-old woman with an umbrella came over and said "Grandpa, we can use the umbrella together." At that time, I felt that this person was very nice. But the bus was coming, and other people were waiting for the bus too, so I did not to clarify the truth to her. I just asked her where she was going, and at which station she would get off.
When I arrived home, I had a toothache after dinner. I looked inward and asked myself, "What I did I do wrong today?" I immediately realized that Master had brought that predestined person to me, but I did not save her. How can a Dafa disciple be like this! I immediately knelt down before Master's portrait and said: "Master, I was wrong. I did not clarify the truth to the predestined person today. I'll make it up." The next day, in the afternoon, it was still raining. I came to the bus stop half an hour early with an umbrella and waited for her. After half an hour, she indeed came. She got off the bus and hurried to the school to pick up her child. I pulled her aside. She turned around and said, "How come you are here?" I said, "Yesterday I met you and I felt you are very nice. I have something important to tell you that I did not say yesterday, so I came today to wait for you." She replied, "What is it?" I saw she was in a hurry, I talked with her while walking with her to the school. I talked about the corruption of moral standards, the CCP's evil nature, the prophetic ancient characters "Heaven will eliminate the Communist Party" that were found carved into the walls of a hidden cave, and how to avoid disaster. She listened carefully. She asked me to use her nickname to quit the Young Pioneers for her.
Recently, I went to take care of my sick brother in a mining area 100 km away from me. I took the time to distribute truth clarification materials to the residential areas there. On the way there, I met one person. I clarified the truth about Falun Gong to him. I talked about the CCP's evil nature, the prophetic ancient characters "Heaven will eliminate the Communist Party" that were found carved into the walls of a hidden cave, and that heaven's destruction of the CCP is imperative. I told him that only quitting the CCP can avoid disaster. He gladly quit the CCP using an alias. Before we departed, he said, "It's a predestined relationship to meet you, please allow me to call you big brother." I said, "You can find a local Falun Gong practitioner to explain more of the truth about Falun Gong when you have the time. They don't lie. Ask them to help your son in college to quit. Don't let him become a victim of the evil CCP." He agreed. I was also very pleased to see that this life was saved.
Although I have made some progress clarifying the truth face to face, I am still far from other fellow practitioners. I will continue to work hard on it.
