(Minghui.org) Greetings Master! Greetings fellow practitioners!
I Start Practicing Falun Dafa
My sister asked me to read the book Zhuan Falun the day after I arrived in Japan from China. I was heavily influenced by the propaganda of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and I make a casual remark: “You guys even set yourselves on fire. If you think it’s good, then just do it on your own.”
My sister replied, “The self-immolation is staged; the entire world knows that. How come you don’t know?” I was quite surprised at hearing this and felt a bit embarrassed, so I didn’t say anything. I thought to myself: “So that self-immolation on Tiananmen Square was a lie? ”
From then on, when I had time I would open the book Zhuan Falun to read. Though my sister told me that I should read it from beginning to end without skipping over any of the contents, I didn’t follow her advice.
When I read the section in Lecture 2 about the Celestial Eye, my celestial eye was opened, and I saw the Falun rotating from within my celestial eye, from small to big. When I opened my eyes and tried to take a closer look, it disappeared.
At that time I read the book and felt that what the book says was right, but I felt that I couldn’t do it. So I thought I would just be a good person. Due to my poor enlightenment quality, between my cultivation and my career development, I chose the latter.
In April 2001 I opened a small store in Tokyo. During that time my sister often gave me Master’s lectures to read. But I never touched the book Zhuan Falun again, as I felt that I was heavily loaded with attachments to fame, personal gain and sentimentality and I was not worthy of the book.
One day, my sister said to me, “You can return all the books and lectures to me. You don’t read them anyway, and the books may get damaged.” I gathered up all the books and put them in a bag, put Zhuan Falun on top, and planned to give them back to my sister when I had time.
I was working very hard during those few years, and got new sicknesses in addition to old ones. I had had neurasthenia for 20 years, and rheumatism for more than 10 years, and I also got prolapse of my lumbar intervertebral disc and cervical spondylosis. My ability to bear the pain was almost at its limit, and every day I had a hard time sleeping. I had to wash my hands with hot water all year long (I couldn't stand cold water on them), and felt pain throughout my entire body. I had to use a sauna to alleviate the pain and went to the hospital once a week to do cervical traction. Sometimes when I greeted customers, I said “Welcome” but I could not move, as if there was a steel bar in my body and my neck could not turn. I was in a lot of pain and felt exhausted all the time.
I remember one day in November 2004: it was 3 o'clock in the morning and I could not sleep due to the pain. I sat on the sofa, moaning. Then I happened to see the book Zhuan Falun on top of that pile of books in the bag. I thought to myself: I’d better read the book, otherwise I won’t be able to read it once I return it to my sister. That was the first time I'd picked up the book in 4 years.
When I opened the book Zhuan Falun , it was quite unusual. The words in the book were very big: black words on white paper appeared very clearly. So I started to read. As I continued reading, I wondered how come my eyes did not hurt, as during that time my eyes often hurt so much that I could not read newspapers or watch TV. The more I read, the more I enjoyed reading, and every now and then I raised my head and saw the colorful paper cranes on the wall, and found them so vividly colorful and quite different than usual. Even the air in the room seemed so crisp and clear.
When I read in Zhuan Falun :
“We emphasize one point: If you cannot relinquish the attachment or concern for illness, we cannot do anything and will be unable to help you.”
I thought to myself immediately: I can set it aside, I can definitely set it aside. I continued reading the book and every sentence in the book touched my heart. Without realizing the passing of time it was already 10 in the morning. I had to rest since I needed to open my store that night, but I didn’t want to put the book down. I held the book in front of my heart, and went to sleep. But I then thought: it would not be good if the paper got creased. So I respectfully, gently put the book next to the pillow, then went to sleep again.
When I woke up it was 5 in the afternoon. That was the first good sleep I had in more than 20 years. I had the habit of touching my hands first when I woke up, as the rheumatism had caused my hands to be swollen all the time. That day when I pinched my hands, I was shocked: my hands were small and slender. I pinched my hand again, and all of a sudden realized that the swelling was gone. They were my real hands: I had not seen my real hands for over a decade. I burst into tears. I ran to the kitchen and washed my hands in cold water to check if my hands hurt; I ran downstairs and went out grocery shopping to check if my hands hurt or not without wearing gloves. I'd put down the thought of curing disease, and Master started taking care of me!
What’s more amazing was that the next morning, there was something that moved from far away toward my body at a certain frequency, and it moved faster and faster and then entered my lower abdomen with a sound. I immediately realized: Master has given me the Falun. Falun Gong is so miraculous.
There was also something more amazing. A few days later, around 6 o'clock in the evening, I was lying on the bed at that time and thinking about the miracles and wonders that Dafa had brought me. Suddenly a powerful energy ran through my body from head to toe with great strength; once, twice, three times. I was a bit scared and thought: please don’t come again, it immediately stopped. Later I came to realize that it was Master who was doing guanding and cleansing my body.
At that time I had just become a Japanese citizen, so my sister asked me to go with her to attend the New York Fahui on the 21st of that month. I remember that I was negotiating with my sister and told her that if the air ticket were too expensive then I would not go. My sister said that practitioners could help book tickets that cost 39,000 Japanese Yen. I said that must be cheating: even flying from Japan to Shenyang, the 3-hour flight could not be that cheap; from Japan to New York was a 12-hour flight; how could it be that cheap?
My sister said that practitioners don’t cheat. I said: then the travel agency must be cheating. Since all my life I lived in the society that was full of the lies told by CCP, my way of thinking was to doubt everything and not trust anyone. Those days my sister called me almost every day and urged my to buy a ticket soon. With the help of my daughter I called many different travel agencies to ask, and the price varied from over 70, 000 Yen to 100,000 Japanese Yen.
I was very reluctant and went to the travel agency my sister recommended with a strong disbelief. When we arrived there I told my daughter: “Hurry up and ask how much it is.” The price was exactly 39,000 Japanese Yen. Later I realized that it was Master’s grand benevolence that led me to obtain the Fa.
I was really honored to attend the 2004 New York Falun Dafa Experience Sharing conference. When I listened to Master’s lecture, I was crying the entire time. I felt it strange myself too. Later I understood more that it was my awakened side that was so profoundly moved.
That conference changed me fundamentally. I had been feeling good about myself before; but after listening to practitioners’ experience sharing, I started to know that I was pitifully small. At that time I felt that aside from the joy of obtaining the Fa, there was nothing else that I could be proud of.
After I came back from experience sharing conference, I learned the 5 sets of exercise by watching the instructions on my computer. Whenever I had time, I practiced the exercises. I also calculated my situation this way: I obtained Fa 10 years later than some practitioners who obtained Fa earlier. If I practice the exercises twice a day, then I can catch up with veteran practitioners in 5 years. Hence I practiced 5 sets of exercise at least two times a day. However after a while I realized it was not right: while I practice, other practitioners practice as well. So no matter what I do, I cannot catch up. Anyway, I didn’t get slack, and practiced the exercise whenever I had time. During that time, when I walked I almost felt like I was flying. When I went up stairs I always climbed two steps at a time, sometimes three steps at a time. When I was sleeping, I felt that my blanket was flying up with me. All my illnesses were gone. I felt that I was the most fortunate and happiest person in the world.
After I obtained the Fa, I studied Zhuan Falun and Master's other lectures. I still remember that once, after I went to bed, I could not go to sleep and felt that there was something missing. I realized that I hadn't studied Teaching the Fa at the Conferenc e. I got up to study; then I felt sleepy after a while, so I went to sleep. As soon as I lay down I felt a strong energy twisting in my body, moving from my feet to my head, and it felt like all my hair twisting together and forming a big column on top of my head. My whole body was surrounded by this strong energy. I didn’t dare to move and felt a bit scared. Since the force was too strong, I didn’t know how twisted my body was. I thought this must be a good thing since I had gone through that experience of guanding, so this time I didn’t move.
After a while when things quieted down, I opened my eyes and saw where my body was, and found I still lying on the bed. So it was Master who was encouraging me and growing my Gong column in the other dimension! The wonderful feeling I felt at that moment could never be described in human language.
Clarifying the Truth Face-to-Face in Hong Kong
By chance I went to Hong Kong to clarify the truth for a week.
After I returned to Japan, I regretted that I didn’t know earlier that Hong Kong was in such a big need of manpower. Group after group of tourists from China and those that longed to know the truth always showed up in front of my eyes. Hong Kong really lacked manpower and needed the support from outside practitioners. I realized: the difference between Hong Kong and the mainland is that Hong Kong’s environment is better, and we are facing tourists from mainland China. This is equivalent to clarifying the truth in the mainland. Isn’t this arranged by Master to have these mainland sentient beings to come to Hong Kong to be saved? I realized: Nothing is more important than going to Hong Kong to clarify the truth and save sentient beings!
Pretty soon it was time to have a grand parade in Hong Kong, and I bought a round trip ticket that allowed me to stay in Hong Kong for 15 days.
As time went by, Taiwanese practitioners who went to Hong Kong to clarify truth went back to Taiwan one by one. When it was time for me to return to Japan, there was only one local practitioner left. The local coordinator hoped that I could stay. I realized: when Dafa needs you to do something, and you do it; that is truly Dafa practitioners helping Master to rectify Fa. On the contrary, when you do things that you want to do and don’t do things you don’t want to do, that is ordinary people doing things for Dafa. Since I'd bought a cheap ticket that could not be changed, I decided to miss my flight and stay for one more month.
There are no coincidences in the path of cultivation. When I went to Hong Kong again and when it came time for me to go back to Japan, again only one local practitioner was left. So I decided to again stay for one more month and miss my return flight.
From that point on, going to Hong Kong to clarify the truth and save sentient beings became the most important thing in my life.
One time, a tour guide told some mainland Chinese tourists: “These people were hired.” Upon hearing it, I followed them and said to them, “Some people have said that we were hired. If I give you $1 million, would you dare to do this? Spies would take photos of you. If you return to mainland China your corneas may be cut out [referring to the Chinese Communist Party's crimes of forced organ harvesting]. Your heart, liver, and lungs may be cut out while you are still alive and sold for big money. If today I gave you $5 million: would you dare to come do this? For ordinary people, they chase after fame, personal gain and sentimentality; cultivators need to give up exactly those. We walk two different paths: faith cannot be measured with money.”
Several tourists were nodding in agreement, and the tour guide was embarrassed. He pointed at me and started yelling at me. I smiled and looked at the tourists, while sending forth righteous thoughts in my head, telling myself not to be moved: I am a Dafa practitioner and I am validating Dafa, not myself. I hoped to get Master’s support. I said in my head to Master that I would pass this tribulation well. The tour guide yelled for a few minutes, yet my heart was not moved at all, and I didn’t feel embarrassed. When I saw the respectful expression in the tourists’ eyes, I felt more confident. Though I did not say anything, this comparison of good and bad allowed the tourists to position themselves. I could feel that my heart was broadened and my compassion grew, without any complaint or hatred. I experienced the joy of elevating oneself through the Fa. Thank you Master.
A few months later I saw this tour guide again. He came up to me and we chatted for a long time.
Another time, a Taiwanese practitioner was surrounded by a group of mainland tourists who looked to be people who had a certain social status. They spoke sarcastically and laughed at the practitioner, then left. The practitioner was quite upset that he could not save these people. I told him not to feel upset. If those people had a predestined relationship with us we would see them again tomorrow. I didn’t believe that we could not save them. The next day we saw them again, and I told them the truth of staged self-immolation, the evil nature of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its history of violence and killing, how atheism is a lie, and the Quit CCP movement. After they heard all of this, some of them agreed to quit the CCP. After they got on the bus, we said good-bye and waved to each other. When I saw the smile on their faces, my eyes teared up.
Participating in the Global Phone Rescue Team
In 2013, I started to make phone calls on the global phone rescue platform. The day I started at this platform was the day of my 9-year anniversary of obtaining the Fa. I realized that Master used this way to tell me that I should be “cultivating as if you were just starting.” (“Fa Teaching at the 2009 Greater New York International Fa Conference”)
The coordinator of the platform thought that I had experience clarifying the truth face-to-face, so they decided to ask me to be in charge of the “Training Room for New Team Members.” Two months later, the coordinator asked me to be in charge of the “emergency rescue room 905.” It was a very sudden decision but I realized that there is no coincidence in the path of cultivation.
Timing is critical when making emergency rescue phone calls. We not only need to rescue practitioners as soon as possible, but also need to save those that can be saved in the process, by clarifying the truth. We need to analyze the case and find the responsible parties and individuals. We also need to be able to analyze and make judgments. It’s a very big responsibility. I was enlightened to the fact that being assigned to do tasks was not about doing the tasks themselves, but to give me the chance to cultivate certain things. In this case I needed to cultivate my sense of responsibility. I did not know the laws, but I had wisdom from Dafa; I did not have much experience, but I had strong righteous thoughts and strong belief in Master and the Fa; I hadn't studied management before, but I knew in my heart that the Fa is indestructible and in perfect harmony.
I accepted the assignment without preconditions.
Once, a practitioner and I made calls together to save a practitioner who had been abducted in the city of Wuhan. Around 10:00 p.m. (China local time), I called the police station chief. He said he didn’t know about the case, and said that I was harassing him by calling him so late, then he hung up. I called again and said: “You kidnapped people and then wanted to sleep? If you don’t release the person, how can you have a good night's sleep? The entire world knows about this now and those who know about this will all call you. You need to be clear that kidnapping people is committing a crime; getting involved in this kind of thing will become evidence of your committing crimes.” He hung up the phone and did not pick up the phone again. I asked another practitioner to continue to make calls. I helped to send forth righteous thoughts to clear the evil elements in other dimensions. Yet when the practitioner made the call, the police chief started to shout and curse at the practitioner. I encouraged the practitioner not to be moved, and the practitioner continued to talk with strong righteous thoughts, and continued to make calls when the other person hung up. Later, I called and talked while the police officer on the other end continued to yell at us. We cooperated with each other that day and called until 3 o’clock in the morning.
The next day we continued to call, and I saw that my fellow practitioner’s heart grew continuously broader. The practitioner made every call with compassion, and every time he started with these words: “I do this for your good, and hope that you do not align yourself with the wrong side.” The practitioner talked about the truth of self-immolation, the situation in China as well as abroad, what’s truly good for people, etc. In the end, the police chief finally became quiet, and listened to the practitioner until he finished. When he finally understood the truth, he started to talk to us. He said: “It was my job and I could not do much about it.” We told him that he could protect Dafa practitioners within his job responsibilities. We suggested, “When you get orders to arrest practitioners, you can go tell them to hide.” He agreed, and told us the cell phone number of the director who was responsible for the illegal arrests of practitioners.
I sent forth righteous thoughts with my fellow practitioner, then called the director. I started to clarify the truth after greeting him. He listened quietly. Later we called the director again and chatted with him like friends. Finally the director gave us some information and told us that the kidnapped practitioner was transferred to another city. The other practitioner and I immediately searched and found the phone numbers of the 610 office officials and security officials in that city. We called as friends and clarified the truth. Soon we learned that the abducted practitioner was locked in a brainwashing center. Finally we got the confirmation that he would be released in 10 days. This case made me realize that if we cooperate well as a whole body, we can validate Dafa better and save more sentient beings.
Later we found time to call that police chief again, and he listened to my story of how I obtained Dafa. I recited poems from Hong Yin and Lunyu to him, and told him several cultivation stories. Finally he agreed to read Zhuan Falun , and wrote down the website where he could download the book for free.
There are so many touching stories of practitioners who are involved in this phone platform. One practitioner who had just obtained Fa for 2 years came to the platform to help make phone calls. She had been to Hong Kong to clarify the truth yet had not made any phone calls before. I gave her a case and explained to her some key things about making calls. She did not have any notions and picked up the phone to call, and talked for a long time, and finally became friends with the person on the other end. The other person helped us to visit the practitioner who was illegally arrested and told us his situation, and even agreed to help the practitioner who had been abducted. Currently, this new practitioner has established a few such friendly relationships, which has helped build a very good foundation for rescuing more people.
Another practitioner obtained the Fa less than a year ago. He followed a case for more than one month, and got the phone numbers of responsible people from the police director, and got more phone numbers from others who were involved.
Practitioners who are involved in making emergency rescue calls have one thing in common: they all have strong righteous thoughts, and they become stronger and stronger in the process. It’s not to say that you need to wait until you have strong righteous thoughts before you can start to make calls. It is that you will increase your righteous thoughts and strengthen your will during the process of making phone calls, hence becoming more mature in cultivation. When facing groundless insults, when being abused and laughed at, our hearts are not moved; when facing difficult calls, we switch to someone else to continue to make the calls; when encountering issues, we share right away amongst ourselves and solve them. We don’t shy away from conflicts and don’t give up on any opportunity to improve.
Along with all practitioners on the platform, during the process of clarifying the truth and saving sentient beings, we continuously rectify ourselves using the requirements of Master’s Fa, purify oursleves under Master’s compassionate protection, improve our xinxing, and fulfill our vows.
Thank you, Master! Thank you, fellow practitioners!
(Presented at 2014 New York Falun Dafa Cultivation Experience Sharing Conference)
