(Minghui.org) Greetings revered Master, greetings fellow practitioners!
I began practicing Falun Dafa in 1999 when I was 80 years old. My lifelong dream finally came true, and I'm so fortunate to be a Falun Dafa practitioner. It is a great honor to be with Dafa and Master.
When I was eleven years old, my family took me to a convent. The convent was located in a pine forest on a mountain, and was a very quiet and holy place. The solemn and kind-looking Buddha statues looked very touching. I wished to live in a “home” like this, and made up my mind to keep strong faith. While growing up, I tasted the bitterness of life and thought about becoming a nun many times, however, my wish didn't come true for various reasons.
After experiencing 80 years of hardship, I finally fulfilled my wish for spiritual cultivation and started practicing Falun Dafa. I began cultivation practice with a pure mind, without the intention of curing my illnesses, yet my body was completely cleansed in the process. My heart disease, arthritis, deformed knees, Meniere's syndrome (deafness and dizziness), edema, hand and leg cramps, cataracts, and other health problems gradually disappeared. I knew that Master had cleansed my body. Gaining without pursuit is the one of the key principles of Falun Dafa.
There were very few Falun Dafa media and truth clarification materials available during a period of time in 2003. Practitioners had to take turns reading them. I had a lot of free time and wanted to do something to help, so with Master's blessing of wisdom and fellow practitioners' help, I quickly learned how to print the Minghui Weekly, newsletters and brochures, how to make amulets, and burn CDs. I later learned how to break through the Internet firewall to access the Minghui and related websites.
I have set higher requirements for myself since that time. I get up at 3:45 in the morning for exercises, send righteous thoughts, and recite the Fa. I make truth-clarification materials in the morning, go out in the afternoon to explain the facts about Falun Gong, and study the Falun Dafa teachings in the evening. I feel happy and energized every day, and have produced a large quantity of truth-clarification materials. My home production site has been running smoothly for the past ten years.
I'm 94 years old, but people think that I'm in my seventies. I think clearly and walk energetically. I can traverse long roads, take buses, and even walk on country roads easily, because I've practiced Falun Dafa for thirteen years.
Such a great law brings rapid changes to our heart nature, or xinxing, and health. As long as we follow Master's teaching to make improvements, our levels will be upgraded quickly.
Master said,
“Cultivation depends on one’s own efforts, while the transformation of gong is done by one’s master.” (Zhuan Falun)
During the 2009 Shanghai World Expo and the Eighteenth National Congress of the Communist Party in 2012, the Internet was tightly blocked. I couldn't access the Minghui website to download anything, and I became very frustrated. What could I do? I asked Master for help and kept thinking about His words, “They've never been able to block the Minghui website!” (“Fa Lecture During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference”) In a fraction of a second, Minghui and the other websites opened on my computer. I was so excited, and kept thanking Master.
My printer was once experiencing paper jams, error messages, and at times it would simply stop operating. I didn't know how to fix these problems, and had no other way but to ask Master for help. I sent righteous thoughts, “I'm a Falun Dafa practitioner. Printer, you are here to make contributions to the validation of Dafa. We have many sentient beings to save. We need more high-quality truth-clarification materials. Please work with me!” I felt the strong energy of my righteous thoughts. My printer immediately responded and started working properly.
One winter day in 2012, I was doing the second exercise when I suddenly felt excruciating pain in my left leg. I could barely stand, and had never felt such intense pain before. I thought that it must be persecution from the old forces or karma. I said aloud, “I'm Master Li Hongzhi's student. I don't want, or recognize anyone else's arrangements. If any evil specter tries to interfere, it will be eliminated.” My righteous thoughts were effective and the pain stopped immediately.
Falun Dafa sets high standards for cultivating practitioners. We should follow these standards, eliminate our attachments, and keep upgrading our heart nature.
I don't live with my children; the only other person in my house is a live-in maid. She has worked for me for 20 years and is treated as part of my family. She is an honest, reliable, and kind woman, and raised her niece after her mother passed away when she was young.
Her niece was exposed to bad influences and did something terrible as a young woman, which caused my maid to be very disappointed and angry. For a period of time, she hardly got any work done and became very short-tempered. She seemed to have changed her personality and kept saying that she wanted to kill her niece. She even vented her anger at me. To be honest, I hadn't been treated like this all my life, and was quite disturbed by it.
Finally stretched to my limit of tolerance, Master's teaching dawned on me.
He said,
“As a cultivator One always looks for one's own faults 'Tis the Way to get rid of attachments most effectively There's no way to skip ordeals, big or small [During a conflict, if you can remember:] 'He's right And I'm wrong,' What's to dispute?” (“Who's Right? Who's Wrong?” from Hong Yin III)
I suddenly saw the light, and my grievance disappeared. I realized that we came into this world to eliminate our karma, and need to look inward for our own faults, and see the good side of other people during conflicts. We need to stand in others' shoes in order to understand and be considerate of them. My maid was devastated and needed comforting.
Whenever she lost her temper, I showed my understanding, offered comforting words, and explained Dafa principles. She gradually felt better and eventually stopped this behavior. We are now even closer to each other. I realized that Dafa's power was boundless. Cultivation not only elevates a person's level, but also enables one to treat all people with compassion.
Master said,
“But for you, disciples of Dafa, you cannot let up in what you need to do—namely, the three tasks. By all means, you mustn’t. Nothing less than your mighty virtue, your cultivation, and all that you shoulder is bound up in these.” (“Dafa Disciples Must Study the Fa - Fa Teaching Given at the 2011 Washington DC Metro Area Fa Conference”)
One day, I saw a former colleague in our residential compound. I knew that he was a member of the Communist Party. I asked, “Have you heard about quitting the three organizations?” He answered, “Yes.” I said, “Since you know about it, why don't you quit? Quit to be safe.” He agreed, and I was happy that another person made the right choice. I was amazed at how smoothly it went. Everything was already arranged by Master. All I did was say a few words.
As soon as I left our residential compound, I saw an elderly couple walking with their arms around each other. I approached them and asked, “Do you know about Falun Gong?” They didn't, so I told them how my diseases disappeared after I began practicing Falun Gong, and about my good health due to the practice. They couldn't believe that I was 93 years old. They were convinced that Falun Dafa was amazing, and after hearing about quitting the three Chinese Communist Party (CCP) organizations, the man quit the CCP and his wife quit the Youth League. I told them to keep in their minds, “Falun Dafa is great! Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance are great,” and wished them good health. They happily accepted my truth-clarification materials and thanked me.
Citing my personal experiences as evidence, I have successfully explained the facts about Falun Gong to many elderly people. Some even asked me for the book Zhuan Falun to read. They were grateful for learning the truth about Falun Dafa and for the opportunity to quit the Chinese Communist Party and its affiliated organizations.
On another occasion, I gave a Shen Yun Performing Arts DVD to a middle-aged man. He looked at the DVD and said, “How bold you are! Do you know who I am?” He took out his badge which revealed that he was the police department director. I wasn't intimidated and said with a smile, “You are a police department official, and the focus of our truth-clarification. I'm sure that you know how Falun Gong was slandered and falsely accused, and actually know more about the persecution than I do. It's heavenly law that good will be rewarded and wickedness punished. Please take advantage of your position to do good deeds and build virtue. Your children and grandchildren will also benefit.” The man didn't argue, and accepted my truth-clarification brochures. Before I left, I wished him a bright future. He answered with a smile.
Not every experience has gone smoothly. This usually occurred when I had slacked off on Fa study or didn't put much thought into my truth-clarification explanations. Some stubborn people said, “Your pension is paid by the Chinese Communist Party, yet you're speaking out against it. Are you playing politics?” I explained, “The CCP doesn't produce any wealth. It takes money from taxpayers, and brutally persecutes Falun Gong practitioners.” They wouldn't listen, and drove me away. I'm not too concerned about this. I pity them and pray that they'll be awakened by another practitioner. A Falun Dafa practitioner's responsibility is to offer salvation to people - not to be disturbed by anyone's distorted logic. No matter how much misunderstanding they demonstrate, nothing should weaken our strong will.
My achievements are small compared to fellow practitioners. I just wanted to take this opportunity to write a report to Master, and share my experiences with fellow practitioners. Please kindly point out anything inappropriate.