(Minghui.org) I am a veteran practitioner, and I have mixed feelings when I think about my cultivation journey. The old forces created a harsh environment and tremendous hardships for us Dafa practitioners, and we were not able to overcome them without the compassionate protection of our Master. Here, I would like to thank Master and Dafa!
I obtained the Fa in 1995. I studied the Fa and did the exercises with practitioners every day, and lived a full and happy life. I truly miss that time!
The persecution started in July 1999, and I was in despair for quite some time. Master gave me hints again and again with so much compassion. Fellow practitioners gave me many articles from the Minghui website and I read them carefully. Those articles were difficult to get during that time. The courageous actions of practitioners worldwide, who safeguarded the Fa, encouraged me. Eventually I stepped forward and helped Master validate the Fa and save sentient beings.
By constantly studying the Fa, I came to understand the responsibilities and missions of Dafa disciples in the Fa-rectification period and started to tell people the facts about Falun Dafa. I started to distribute informational materials about Dafa and the persecution. Fellow practitioners risked their lives when they brought back materials from out of town, and these materials were very precious. Not many practitioners stepped forward during those days and I had to work very hard. In the beginning, I was extremely afraid, but through constant Fa study and cultivation, I became less afraid and took more materials. Gradually, I distributed materials in villages as well as in the town and in a larger area.
One Righteous Thought
I had my turning point in cultivation at the end of the year 2000. I became a technical support person and helped practitioners fix technical problems.
The material production site in the provincial city was sabotaged. At that time, we produced materials in this one place and then delivered them to different districts, towns and counties. Practitioners were not very concerned with the site's security. As a result, all of the practitioners from this production site were arrested and some were even tortured to death. All the equipment, which was worth hundreds of thousands of yuan, was confiscated.
Practitioners in our county didn't get any materials for two months, and we were getting anxious. A pure thought entered my mind: I want to learn to operate a computer so that I can log onto the Minghui website and print out materials for fellow practitioners, who can then distribute them and save sentient beings.
Master helped me. I discussed it with my wife and she agreed to buy a computer. At that time computers were rare in our little town, plus we were poor. It was almost impossible to buy a computer, but we used our savings. My wife was not a practitioner, but somehow she agreed.
Starting from Zero
I bought a computer, but it became a big problem for me to learn how to operate it. Not one practitioner in my area knew anything about computers and we didn't have any contact with practitioners in other areas. Ordinary people knew how to use a computer, but they didn't know how to break through the internet blockade.
The environment was dangerous and I didn't dare to ask anyone, even when I knew them. Thus I had to learn it by myself. It was a heart wrenching process and I had much to learn. Without Master's help and me looking inward, I could not have achieved anything.
In the beginning, I didn't even know how to use a mouse, and the Windows system was 95 and 98. I started to use the mouse and learn the operating system. I bought a book and studied it bit by bit, often until midnight. I had to repeatedly ask a technical support person for help. Sometimes it took me a long time and much effort to learn just one step. I broke down the computer system and had to get it re-installed. I ran back and forth to the repairmen. When they fixed the problems, I watched and learned. I had one strong thought: “I must learn how to do this.”
Gradually, I learned how to operate the system, and then I learned how to log onto the Internet. At that time the internet was a dial-up system with a slow download speed, and it was expensive. I had to pay over one hundred yuan for telephone and internet expenses each month. I paid it without my wife knowing about it, because we were very poor. My wife worried about me because I had been detained twice and she was against me doing any Dafa work. (Now my family environment is very good and she is supportive and knows what I am doing.) Sometimes, I had to sell some of my belongings in order to pay the phone bills.
It was easy to log onto ordinary people's websites. As long as I knew how to dial up and use the browser, I could do it. It didn't take me long to learn it and get familiarized with it. Afterward, I started to learn how to break through the internet blockade, and this was not so easy to learn.
One practitioner taught me a method: I set up a secret email address, accessed the internet, and read articles from there. I used this method once, but the articles I got were from a website called Renmin, not from the Minghui website. Later, I heard that I could use proxy servers, so I started to learn that and gradually knew how to use them. I needed to use it in order to break through the blockade. I also learned that there were primary and secondary proxy servers.
Finally Logging onto the Minghui Website
I knew the word “proxy”, but still couldn't log onto the Minghui website. I didn't know how to use the proxy server. We hadn't had any information materials for quite a long time and I was not able to log onto the Minghui website.
I was anxious and in my heart I asked Master for help. Master helped me again. One day, I went to an internet cafe and typed Minghui in the browser. It was extremely dangerous to type those words during that time, but Master protected me. Unexpectedly, many articles from Minghui appeared. I was excited but also nervous. We were longing to see those materials! I was afraid of being seen, so I tried to close it down but it got frozen. I shut down the computer, and noticed that I was very afraid. I constantly studied the Fa and gradually got rid of it.
Afterward, I learned how to find Minghui articles from the web page snapshots in the search engine. I decided to try it on my home computer first, but I worried: “Was the communist regime monitoring me? If they did, what if they found me through this phone number?” But if I didn't try, when could we see the Minghui website? Finally, my righteous thoughts prevailed, and I decided to give it a try.
I opened the browser a second time and typed in “Minghui” on my home computer and saw a few Minghui articles, but it was not the Minghui website. On one of these web pages, I found the software “Garden Networks”. I clicked buttons and followed the instructions. All of a sudden the home page of Minghui appeared. I saw our compassionate Master, the Falun and the pure lotus... I was so excited and couldn't hold back my tears. We had really missed the Minghui website. Master, I finally was able to log onto the Minghui website!
During those days the evil was rampant, and it was not as easy to log onto the Minghui website as it is today. I had to overcome many difficulties, but I succeeded with Master's help!
Becoming the Local Technical Support Person
I learned how Dafa was spread world-wide from the Minghui website and read Master's new articles and books. I found many experience sharing articles and also articles on computer technology. I learned those technologies eagerly. I bought a printer and learned how to print. I printed the first copy and passed it on to other practitioners. We also had many difficulties and hardships in making photocopies. Practitioners thought of many ways, but I will not go into details here.
We no longer needed to take materials from other counties. I kept learning new technologies, downloaded other software, such as Ultra Reach and Free Gate, with which I could break through the internet blockade. I became more and more skillful. I learned how to burn DVDs and VCDs and editing skills. I learned almost all of the technologies recommended on the Minghui website, including mobile technologies. I also learned the technology of modifying cell phone ROMs.
I also learned how to install NTDTV satellite dishes. Another practitioner taught me and I spent two months installing dishes with him so that I could learn the technical aspect. I taught many other practitioners how to install NTDTV dishes, and we got a lot of them installed that year. Those practitioners, who learned it from me, became the key servicemen.
I helped to set up many material production sites in our county, and became the key technical support person. Many local practitioners run a material production site at their homes. We spent a lot of time and energy developing and setting up these sites. I will not elaborate about the hardships and tribulations during this process in this article.
I am currently learning the physical isolation technology and want to promote it to other practitioners so that we can send the truth to more people.
I will work harder and be worthy of Master's compassionate salvation.
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Category: Improving Oneself
