(Clearwisdom.net) In 2007, I married again. At that time, my ex-husband requested a divorce with the excuse that I was practicing Falun Gong. Without my knowledge, the court only gave me a notice of judgment without a certificate of divorce. On the judgment notice, it stated the reason for the divorce was because I practiced Falun Gong and went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, I led people on a hunger strike in the detention center and was then sent to the forced labor camp.
I re-married but without applying for a marriage certificate. To apply for a marriage certificate, I would have had to show all my IDs, which might cause me to be persecuted again. In order to walk a righteous path in cultivation, I applied for a marriage certificate.
As soon as I thought about going to the local branch police station where I was once persecuted to handle the necessary procedures, I suddenly became scared. Being a veteran practitioner, I was reluctant to talk about this with other fellow practitioners as I did not want to lose face. I felt that a huge stone was blocking my heart and I was not worthy to be Master's student... my husband, who is a fellow practitioner, also felt the same way. Finally he could not bear it anymore and talked about it in our small group study. Everyone in the group hoped we would apply for our marriage certificate. However, the attachment of being afraid of persecution prevented me from stepping forward. I could not make up my mind and it bothered me every day.
In Master's lecture Teaching the Fa at the Eastern U.S. Fa Conference (1999):
"Question: Quite a few disciples residing in North America cohabit with their partners without being married. Some have even had children. Should they obtain a marriage certificate retroactively?
"Teacher:Yes. I've told you to maximally conform to the way of ordinary human society in your cultivation. Let's talk about it another way. In China, when people got married in the past, they needed the approval of both Heaven and Earth, and that was why there was 'bowing to Heaven and Earth.' They needed approval of their parents, so they had to bow before their parents. In Western societies, people needed it to be acknowledged by their Lord or God, and that's why they would go to church and pledge to the Lord, and the Lord or God would be their witness and testify to their union."
"Of course, you may think, 'Even though we didn't do the paperwork, in our minds and conduct it's just like we are married. And now that we've had children together, separating isn't very doable for us at this point.' But you didn't go through the proper procedures. If you feel you can be responsible to each other, I would say that's pretty good, but why don't you go through the procedures? At the very least, allow ordinary human society to consider you a legally wed husband and wife. Isn't that how it should be?"
I decided to take the road arranged by Master and deny the arrangements of the old forces. Oddly, as soon as I had this thought, I calmed down and did not have any concerns anymore.
A few days later, as planned, I went back to my hometown (Changchun), which I had left several years ago. Once I was on my way back to my hometown, I could not help but think of those years when that I was constantly persecuted. My whole family had to move to another place. Surprisingly, after changing the way I handle cultivating amidst persecution, I returned to my hometown again, a sacred place where I once personally attended Master's Fa lectures. Dear Master, I will be worthy of Master's painstaking salvation and take the righteous path in cultivation.
At 8:30 a.m., my relative and I went to the city police station. On our way there, my relative told me, "A few years ago, one of our family members tried to apply for a new personal ID card for you but was not successful. On the contrary, the then police tried to figure out your whereabouts," I calmly pacified my relative by saying, "We will be successful this time. Nobody will make trouble for me."
We arrived at the police station with my photo for the ID. The person in charge of issuing the ID card took my residential card and asked, "Are you such and such person?" I replied, "Yes." The person told me, "Since you do not have the second round personal ID issued to you yet, you will have to go back to the police station where your residential ID card was issued." Calmly and firmly I said, "Please issue that ID for me now. I do not have time to travel back and forth." She immediately registered me to apply for the personal ID card and followed my request to make a temporary personal ID card. After that, I took my notice of judgment and went back to the police station located in my residential area. As soon as I thought about going to that local police station, I could not stop feeling fearful. I recalled scenes I had suffered at that station because I had gone to Beijing to appeal. I asked Master to strengthen me. In fact, I could clearly feel the power of righteous thought under Master's strengthening ever since I set off for the police station.
After arriving at the police station, I went to the office and told them what I wanted to do. I needed to change the word "Married" on my residential ID card to "Divorced." Then I handed over the judgment and my residential ID card. The clerk took the judgment and her expression turned gloomy. After she finished reading it, she looked around and then pretended to be relaxed and said, "You need to make a copy." Then she took the judgment and went to an inner room of the office. A male police officer was sitting in that inner room. I asked my relative to go to make a copy and I stayed in the office and sent forth righteous thoughts. Right when the clerk handed over the judgment to the male officer, who suddenly got a phone call and in the meantime a group of people came into the office. The clerk was busy handling everyone else's requests, but she kept looking at me every now and then. I firmly stood near the counter and sent forth righteous thoughts. Powerful righteous thoughts restrained the attachment of being afraid. Suddenly a burst of heat flowed down from my head to my feet. It was Master who was strengthening me. I felt as tall as heaven and incomparably noble and was not afraid at all. My relative came back after making a copy of the judgment. The other people's business had been taken care of. The male officer was still talking on the phone. The female clerk secretly observed me as she pretended to clean up the counter. I said in a polite way, "Please process my request." She immediately walked over to me and it seemed that nothing had happened. She picked up my residential ID card and made changes on it and then stamped it and handed it over to me, saying, "All done." I said, "Thank you."
That same evening I took the train home. After getting off the train, my husband and I went to take a boat to his hometown in Shandong Province, and we had no trouble applying for our marriage certificate. When we were on the deck buying the ticket to take the boat, we heard that the boat was canceled due to a big storm even though it was a calm and peaceful day. I realized that as long as we put ourselves in the right frame of mind and walk a righteous path, our road is carefully arranged by Master. When encountering difficulties, it is critical whether or not you dare to walk forward. If so, you will notice that, "After passing the shady willow trees, there will be bright flowers and another village ahead." (Zhuan Falun)
A few months have passed. When I recall the process of applying for the marriage certificate, I realize it combined the power of fellow practitioners' group efforts in sending forth the righteous thoughts. At the same time, I lacked righteous thoughts and did not do well in some respects. For instance, I did not clarify the truth to the police and did not persuade my relative to withdraw from the CCP and its affiliated organizations. Today I write this article in hopes that those fellow practitioners who have similar experiences can believe in Dafa and our Master, treat marriage as a serious matter, and walk well on your cultivation path.
