(Minghui.org) It was so hot that day, I was sure the road was melting, sizzling, in the scorching sun. I had already walked for hours and the village was about 5 kilometers away. My feet were killing me, and I was hungry and tired, hot and thirsty. I thought,“It's impossible, I can't walk any further.” Then I remembered I hadn't been to this village before and many people were waiting. I had to let them know the truth about Falun Gong and the persecution.
Greetings, Master! Greetings, fellow practitioners!
I was very excited when I read the call for submissions for the 10 th China Fahui on Minghui. I've only had an elementary school education and I'm not good at writing. Still, I would like to share my cultivation journey. Thank you, Master, for your painstaking salvation. Thank you, fellow practitioners, for your kind help.
I started to practice Falun Gong in 1995, and I'm now in my 60s. After I began practicing, all my illnesses disappeared and I'm less attached to fame, self-interest, and sentimentality. Especially recently, I've emphasized studying the Fa and doing the exercises every day, as well as sending righteous thoughts and going out to clarify the facts. Things are getting easier. I copied the poems from Hong Yin III and try to recite them while I ride the bus. Eventually I was able to recite all of them. Every night I recite Lunyu before I fall asleep.
I live in the suburbs where there are very few practitioners, but a lot of people who don't know the facts. When the persecution was very severe a few years ago, some practitioners I know were persecuted.
Three or four years ago, another practitioner got some truth-clarification materials, so I distributed them locally. After a while, I thought that the area had basically been covered and I felt a bit relieved. I told the practitioner I didn't need any more materials.
I was a key target for persecution by the local CCP, and police often came to my place to harass me, so I felt it wasn't safe to keep many materials at home. However, one night, this practitioner came by taxi and brought me two big bags of materials, about 400 sets. I wasn't very happy and was also a bit scared, thinking this would bring me trouble if the authorities came to search.
Because I felt it wasn't safe to keep so many materials at home, I worried about where to put them, thinking I had already distributed materials in the nearby area when I took walks in the evening.
It's very hard to go to other villages to distribute them in the evening. The villages are pretty far, and it's too dark to bicycle there since the roads aren't lit. There is no bus service in the evening, either. Besides, there are many dogs in the country, and old people enjoy sitting around outside. Whenever they see a stranger, they ask who you're looking for and they keep watching you until you disappear from sight. What could I do with so many materials at home?
I tried to bicycle to nearby villages to distribute them during the day, taking about 20 copies at a time. After I finished with nearby villages, I tried to distribute them to further places by bus. I kept a record of the villages I'd been to so that I wouldn't mix them up. I've traveled to more than 230 villages in the last few years, covering two cities, three regions, and two counties. Later, I said to the practitioner who gave me the materials earlier: "Thank you for giving me those materials at that time. It encouraged me to walk my own path."
By everyday people's standards I'm a strong person. I seldom cry and I do things quickly. When I see a village name on the bus stop sign, I make it my destination. I also write down the names of the villages I pass or ask people about other villages around. I write down their names and how to get there, and then find time to go to those villages to distribute materials. I try to go to every household, putting DVDs and booklets inside people's doors, under windshield wipers, on car door handles, in bicycle baskets, or places that where they can easily see them. This year, I also distributed Shen Yun DVDs to people face-to-face. When I didn't have enough materials with me, I made a note of where I stopped and returned later to cover the rest of the households.
I made a list of fairs and went to them. People visit their relatives during temple fairs. When they get the truth-clarification materials they pass them around and talk about them, so more people learn the truth about Falun Gong and the persecution. Because some villages don't have fairs, I go to those villages at lunch time when people are home, eating or resting. There aren't many people outside at noon, especially in the summer. I can distribute materials quickly, and when people come out again in the afternoon, they find the materials.
In the morning before I go out, I usually send righteous thoughts, do the exercises, read Zhuan Falun, and then have something to eat. Then I go out with the materials I prepared and bring a bottle of water. In the winter, I take two small apples or pears. I also bring a marker so I can make truth-clarification signs and a mobile phone to make truth-clarification calls. I usually make calls while distributing materials. People think I'm talking to someone, and it's a good cover to avoid attention. I make calls while waiting for buses. I bring money with truth-clarification messages printed on them. Each time before I leave home, I send righteous thoughts and ask Master to strengthen and protect me. Some of the places I travel to are so far away that I have to change buses three or four times. Sometimes I cycle 10 kilometers to clarify the truth.
Once I checked my fair list and realized that there were two temple fairs that day, one in the east and one in the north. I prepared two bags of materials and headed out. I changed buses three times to get to the fair in the east, but I didn't see anyone when I got there. It turned out that the fair had been held the day before and I had made a mistake.
The other village was about two kilometers away. It was a rather remote place, but I knew that people there should also learn the truth and be saved. It was midday and the sun was scorching. I hid one bag of materials in a cornfield and marked its location, then I walked to the village with the other bag. It was very hot and the soles of my shoes were very thin and nearly melted on the sizzling road. I got lost on the way. When I came to a fork in the road, I didn't know which way to turn. I took a sip of water and thought to myself: "It must be this way." As I began walking I recited Master's poem:
A Great Enlightened One fears no hardship Having forged an adamantine will Free of attachment to living or dying He walks the path of Fa-rectification confident and poised” (Hong Yin III)
Then I saw the village that had been blocked from view by the cornfield. I walked into the village. Some people were relaxing in the shade, some were having lunch. The village wasn't big and I distributed materials while making truth-clarification calls. I kept sending righteous thoughts to make sure people would learn the truth and pass the materials around. I walked around the entire village and went back to where I had hid the other materials.
I took them out and wondered if I should go to the village in the north. It was very hot and the village was pretty far away. The sun was so hot it seemed the road was melting under the scorching sun. I walked about 5 kilometers and my feet were killing me. I felt hungry and tired, hot and thirsty. I found it very hard to walk any further. Then I thought, "There must be a lot of people for the fair--I have to let them know the truth about Falun Gong and the persecution." Besides, it was in the same direction of my home. I changed buses twice and by 3:00 p.m. it was even hotter. My face was hurting due to the heat from the metal bus roof. When I got off the bus, I felt as if I were walking on a hot plate. With excruciating pain in my feet I walked with a limp up a slope for about 2 more kilometers before I came to the village. The entire way, the road was bumpy and uneven.
I distributed materials, sent righteous thoughts, and made truth-clarification calls. When I sat down for a rest, I helped people quit the CCP organizations. As I left the village, I posted truth-clarification signs where appropriate, thinking it hadn't been easy for me to get there. I had to do more and help save more people. I didn't know when I'd be able to come back. By the time I got home, it was already past 6:00 p.m. I took off my socks and became teary as I saw two egg-sized blisters on my feet. They were very painful and I was exhausted. Because no one else was home, I cried for a while. Then I thought that, as long as sentient beings can be saved, this was nothing.
Another time when I was getting on a bus with a bag of materials, my leg hit the stepping board of the bus. It was so painful that I could hardly get up. I realized it was interference to stop me. So I sent righteous thoughts to eliminate the evil. I managed to get up and sat down on a seat without looking at my leg. I asked Master to strengthen and protect me.
I traveled on the bus for over 15 kilometers. After I got off the bus my leg hurt and I walked with a limp. I went to a friend's place and borrowed a bicycle to go to a fair. I rode for about 3 kilometers and the traffic was stopped. I got off the bike and pushed it, going door to door to distribute materials. When I returned home, I was shocked to see that the lump in my leg was as big as a steamed bun and there was a bloody cut in the middle of it. I cried again as there was no one else home.
Cultivation can be hard sometimes. In icy cold winter, my face became swollen when I went out to distribute materials. In summer I got sunburn on my arms and had blisters on my feet. Oftentimes, I didn't have anything to eat or drink. Besides, conditions in the countryside are not very good, and we need to be more careful and rational and pay more attention to safety issues. However, we are Fa-rectification period Dafa disciples. As long as we can save more people, hardships are nothing.
It seems I've talked a lot about hardships. Now let me share a happy occasion. It's very hot this year. Some time ago, I went to distribute materials by bike. The sun is hottest around 11:00 a.m. I rode about 16 kilometers to a village. When I was about there, Something caught my attention and I looked up at the sky. I saw a heavenly gate, magnificent and splendid, covered with carved patterns. A thought came to my mind: "Sentient beings in this village will be saved. Gods have sent me here to save them."
I got off my bike and looked up again, but the heavenly gate was gone. I knew Master was encouraging me to save more people. People in this village are waiting to be saved and sentient beings in a celestial kingdom are waiting to be saved. I walked into the village and started to distribute materials while sending righteous thoughts. I gave Shen Yun DVDs to people and asked where nearby villages were so I could go there next time.
On my way home I wrote truth-clarification messages where ever I could. It was midday and very hot. As I pedaled, I sang, "Falun Dafa is good! Falun Dafa is good! Falun Dafa is the righteous Fa [Law of the Universe]. The Buddha light illuminates everywhere.”
I leave home to make truth-clarification calls. Sometimes, I sit in a field and make calls with two phones, so that when one call goes through, I can make another. It's time-efficient and I can save more people. In addition to calling everyday people, I also called people who have done evil things and their family members. Sometimes, they say, “I know. Thank you.” Some police threatened me and said, “Come here if you dare to.” I ignored such remarks.
I once called someone who was both a deputy mayor and the CCP secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee. He refused to accept my call, so I called him every day. One day when I got through, I heard a male voice saying almost in tears, “I didn't do anything. There are so many of you from far-away places calling me.” From this we can see the power of our phone calls in deterring the evil.
Now, I always take many materials from our material site each time. I don't have much money, so in spring, I harvest wild vegetables. Master said, “He’d eat whatever he could get his hands on to fill his belly. He just wanted to fill his belly and he wasn’t attached to any specific food, so it didn’t matter.” (Zhuan Falun ) The reason I'm saying this is to let people know it's not easy for practitioners and they should cherish the materials they get and cherish their predestined relationship to receive them and cherish the opportunity to be alive during this time.
I cultivate with my celestial eye closed and I cannot see anything. However, I know I'm a Dafa disciple and I listen to what Master says and do well the three things. I don't have any opinions or think about anything. In fact, whatever I've done is the result of Master's strengthening and protection.
I don't know how much more I'll cry when I edit this article. I cannot express my gratitude to Master in words, but in tears. Master has pulled us out of hell and helped us become the most fortunate beings in the world. We can never repay Master for the immense grace He has given us.
I often miss Master. Each time I think of Him, my eyes overflow with tears. I truly want to see Master, even if just in my dreams, but I never have. I think if we all cultivate well, be diligent, do the three things well, save more people, and disintegrate the evil CCP soon, we'll welcome Master back home, and then I'll see Master. I feel very happy at this thought. Tears are running down my face again.