(Clearwisdom.net) Greetings, Master! Greetings, fellow practitioners!
I have practiced Falun Gong since April 1998. During these eleven years, my determination to cultivate has been firm.
1. Master's Magnificent Compassion
In July 1999 I was riding a tricycle loaded with goods for delivery. My foot got caught between the pedal and the frame and broke the frame, but other than an inch-deep mark on the muscle, my foot was not hurt. It returned to normal within a few days. The accident happened near a hospital. A doctor friend suggested that I get an X-ray. I told him that was not necessary. He commented, "I see. You are practicing Falun Gong, and Master will protect you."
On another occasion at night, other Dafa practitioners and I had ridden our bicycles to a place 35 miles away to post Dafa flyers. On our way home around 9:00 p.m., a motorcycle hit us from behind. I hit the ground a couple of feet off the road. The back of my head hit so hard that it felt like it had cracked open and my brains were in pieces, a chilling feeling when I think about it now.
The motorcycle driver collapsed in the middle of the road. Practitioners went over, held him up, and asked him to repeat, "Falun Dafa is good," and "Truth-Compassion-Forbearance is good." They told him how lucky he was to have met us Falun Gong practitioners; otherwise, he might not be able to have a healthy Chinese New Year.
They gave him a Dafa book and offered additional help. I got up, brushed off all the dirt. I held up my bike and did not see any problem with myself or my bike. It was 10:00 p.m. when I got home. I practiced three of the Falun Gong exercises, read a chapter of Zhuan Falun, sent righteous thoughts at midnight, and went to bed. I followed my routine the next day, with only a slight discomfort in my neck and back, which lasted for two days. I once again witnessed that Master was there to protect us.
2. Taking Care of Patients
I ran a small business by myself, which was slow in 2003. A friend's mother was ill and needed care. I agreed to take care of her mother in my shop. Her mother was initially unhappy but decided to stay after spending two days with me.
Practitioners' thoughts about my decision differed. Some thought ill people had more karma, and practitioners should not be around them. I thought each person had his/her own cultivation path, as Master told us. She was ill and older, but she had raised six children, all of whom became professionals: a professor at a university, a doctor, a businessman, and government officials. She was also a Buddhist. Staying with me, she changed and was grateful that a practitioner would come over and help her whenever she needed it. When she became incontinent on occasion, practitioners helped her to change clothes and then washed her clothes for her.
She passed away three months later. During her stay, however, she had let all her relatives know that Falun Dafa is good, and Truth-Compassion-Forbearance is good. Her professor daughter was stunned by her mother's reaction and commented, "My mother practiced the Buddhist faith all her life. How had she changed her belief so quickly by staying with you? She not only told her relatives, but also everyone around her that Falun Dafa is good."
I have subsequently taken care of several other elderly people at my place, and the results have been similar. They knew Falun Gong before they died in peace. They had heard Master's lectures in their lifetime.
3. Using the Shop to Reach More People
I got to know some people who had predestined relationships with Dafa. A student arrived to visit his relatives, but they were away that day. He came to my shop to make a phone call. My sister handed him some Dafa materials, and he took them home. One day his father stopped by our shop and told us that he was introduced to Falun Gong a couple of years before and had since then looked for Falun Gong and wanted to practice. Later on his wife and daughter also started practicing and cultivated Dafa diligently.
Another day a woman came to town to visit her relatives, who asked her to watch their child. I offered her lunch, since her home was 100 miles away. During lunch I explained Falun Gong to her and gave her Dafa articles and flyers and a copy of the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party to take home. She shared them with her relatives in her village. Her son said to her, "It is amazing that you have brought so many good things back from just one visit." She ended up finding a job at a profitable factory. She came and told us how fortunate she was.
Many similar things happened, just like I have mentioned.
A retired teacher friend had helped us distribute many Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party booklets to Army and government officials and had helped many people quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations. Many of my shop customers became good friends. After they understood Falun Gong, the CCP persecution, and the evils acts of the CCP over the years, they took it upon themselves to distribute Falun Gong materials and the Nine Commentaries to their relatives and friends. The little shop helped us reach more people and offer more people salvation.
4. Treating Practitioners That Fell behind with Great Compassion
During the nine-year long persecution, many practitioners in our area were brainwashed, "reformed," or compelled to give up Falun Gong. Some changed their faith and practiced other qigong, and some became collaborators and turned against Falun Gong. Certain practitioners avoided contact with them and were fearful. I recalled Master mentioning that he did not want to give up on any Dafa practitioner. Clearwisdom.net had an article where a practitioner continued offering salvation to a 'reformed" practitioner, and that this person even once reported their conversion to the police. Finally the "reformed" practitioner awakened and began cultivation again. With group cooperation, a dozen "reformed" practitioners returned to the practice.
The article "Waking Up the People Around Us" (http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2006/5/21/73582.html) mentioned that Dafa practitioners offer people salvation. Why can't we do the same to people who used to practice Falun Gong but gave up under duress? A once "reformed" person told me the following: "I was released from Shayang [Forced Labor Camp] and saw a Dafa practitioner in the street. I was very excited and wanted to talk to her, but she turned her head the other way and avoided contact. I decided not to greet any Dafa practitioners so that they would not be afraid. If you had not contacted me and helped me, and if Master had not given me strength, I would not have the chance to return to the practice. If every practitioner had great compassion and righteous thoughts, more "reformed" practitioners would return to Dafa."
5. Offering People Salvation During Hardships
I have been illegally detained many times, the first couple of times with other practitioners. The last two times, in September 2002, I was detained for nine days with eight non-practitioners. On the second day, everyone wanted to sleep close to me. Among them, one had been given the death penalty. She had nightmares every night since the day she was sentenced. She had a peaceful sleep two days earlier when two Dafa practitioners were detained with her. Her bad dreams returned after they left and lasted until I arrived. They all felt there was something different about Dafa practitioners when compared to ordinary people.
I went on a persecution protest hunger strike, but six men tried to force-feed me through a nasal tube. Because I did not cooperate, the food sprayed all over the place--on my clothes and head. The other inmates helped me to clean up. While they hoped I would be released soon, they also hoped I would stay longer. While I was detained, I never stopped talking. They listened, and even the guards were listening, too. When they let us go out to get fresh air, they asked me many questions.
The arrangements during my last detention were odd. The inmates' crimes and their personalities were mixed: some were divorced, some had business debts, while others had fought with others, refused to pay a fee, or built a house without a permit. Several came in in tears and left laughing. Some arrived in the morning and got out in the afternoon. I knew they were there to listen to what Falun Gong is about and the persecution, and when they left they knew the facts.
Later on I was transferred to a brainwashing center, where no one, no matter whether it was a class assistant or police officials, would talk to me more than once. A class assistant who worked at a university told me, "We are here to help you to give up the practice, but you have actually convinced us that Falun Dafa is good."
In summary, ever since I began the practice I have known that time is tight. With or without the persecution, I will do things according to Dafa, cultivate diligently, and continue to let people know about the goodness of Dafa and validate Dafa.
