(Minghui.org) I'm a new Falun Dafa practitioner - I started practicing only a year ago. I work at a major university. Most of my daily work had involved writing articles full of Party culture, which were long, with no real substance, and full of lies. These articles included progress reports, year-end summary reports, and promotional articles for window displays.
Although I was frustrated with this zombie-like stereotyped Party writing, I felt helpless, and that I had to do it. Deceived by the Party culture and atheism, and trapped in the sentiments of human society, for 20 years I had passed by Dafa many times without being able to start cultivation.
After 20 Years, Finally Coming to Dafa
I went to visit my daughter, who was studying in the United States, during summer vacation in 2011. On Capitol Hill I saw many Dafa practitioners clarifying the truth. Another person who went with me said, “Falun Gong hires these people for $100 per person a day.” He also said some disrespectful things about Master Li Hongzhi.
I don't know why, but I became furious, as if he was insulting me. Forgetting the gentle image that I tried to maintain, I shouted, "You shut up! How could you say something without knowing the truth?" He said, "The Chinese Embassy personnel told me." I said, "Those embassy personnel are the CCP's lackeys!" Afterwards, we didn't speak for the whole day.
I stayed in the United States for a month. Upon seeing the real world abroad, I started thinking about belief, which the Chinese people have been lacking for a long time. I had read Buddhist scriptures and the Bible, and I kept comparing and considering, and had been wavering between the two schools for a long time.
I inadvertently entered an online forum in January 2012. The conversation in the forum got my attention. Several people commented on the Internet in May, that there were people in the forum slandering and plundering the Fa, and that they were not being respectful of Master.
When I read the word "Master," I felt my heart quiver, as if something had pulled on it. I started searching for Master and the books mentioned by the people on the Internet forum. I paid close attention to the words and phrases in Dafa practitioners' articles, and I suddenly came to understand who Master was.
By using software to circumvent China's Internet firewall, which I had brought back from the U.S., I downloaded Zhuan Falun, and printed and bound the whole book. That evening I opened it and started reading eagerly.
After I finished reading the book at 3:00 a.m., I was overcome by feelings of remorse, regret, excitement, and sadness. I thought, “Why have I been so blind to such great Dharma for 20 years? I have read Buddhist scriptures and the Bible, but this is the belief I have been searching for! For two decades I have not been able to wake up from this mortal world, and have drifted about. Master, can I still be your disciple?” In my mind I had a knot that was difficult to untie.
Learning the Fa and Cultivating My Xinxing
I was not busy at work. I had, in the past, spent a lot of time shopping online, and was trapped in everyday people’s gossip. After I started reading Master’s teachings and Fa lectures, tears ran down my face while I read. I made up my mind that whether Master wanted me or not, I wanted to conduct myself according to Master’s teachings, and I wanted to be a Dafa practitioner.
As I kept reading the Fa, I realized that I was attached to the fact that I was late in starting cultivation. I came to understand that my cultivating in Falun Dafa must be Master’s arrangement.
My husband passed away when I was 32. For more than a dozen years I struggled raising my daughter. Now, at this crucial time before the conclusion of the Fa-rectification, Master awakened my memory and guided me to become a Dafa practitioner of the Fa-rectification period.
After I began cultivating, my mother and daughter did, too. I came to understand that Master wanted me to save the people around me - a special group of people who had not been offered salvation by a Dafa practitioner until then. This is Master’s expectation of a Dafa practitioner, and compassion for all beings. How I could be attached to when I started!
After understanding my responsibility during the Fa-rectification period, I was no longer attached to it, and stopped worrying about whether or not I still had time to cultivate myself to consummation. I calmed down and started learning the Fa and practicing the exercises with a peaceful mind. I recently overcame my mentality of pursuing comfort, and joined the global exercises starting at 3:50 a.m. every morning. In the process of cultivating I kept improving my xinxing (mind nature).
I had often taken stationary supplies from the office for my personal use in the past. I didn't feel it was wrong because everyone did it. After I started cultivating, I bought paper and replaced what I had used from the office. I took home my small rice cooker and stopped using the electricity at work to cook rice. I stopped maneuvering to be promoted, and stopped accepting dinner invitations and gifts from the units that I was working with. Bit by bit I corrected my behavior as I cultivated.
After my husband passed away, I experienced many hardships while raising my daughter. After I started cultivating, I forgave everyone who had hurt me. I stopped hating and stopped feeling sad, and I became happy and calm. When I looked at everyone hurriedly passing by, looked at my colleagues who were trapped by fame and personal interests, trapped by sentiment, and trapped in the cycle of personal gain and loss, I felt very bad for them, and I gained a natural feeling of compassion in my mind. I looked at them and thought about how I was before, and I felt deep gratitude for Master’s salvation.
Clarifying the Facts and Saving Lives—Living Up to Master’s Compassionate Salvation
Since I worked in a school and my home was also on campus, I wasn't able to get in touch with the local practitioners, so I started doing the three things by myself. I distributed Shen Yun Performance DVDs to my colleagues and the students I knew, and gave them software to circumvent China's Internet blockade. I gave Dafa books to people that seemed predestined.
I later started explaining the truth about Falun Dafa to people face-to-face. I explained to my family members and the people I knew, including my colleagues, the directors of the Organization Department and the Propaganda Department of the university, students, taxi drivers, people in TV repair shops, and many others. When I visited my mother during summer vacation, I explained the facts to my brother’s friends who came to chat with him. I helped those who came to understand to withdraw from the CCP and its affiliated organizations.
The most difficult part in explaining the truth to the intellectuals was that they tended not to believe in the existence of gods and Buddha, and they tended not to believe that Falun Dafa is the Buddha Fa. They believe in "science," and their thoughts are deeply poisoned by atheism. If some of them do believe in gods and Buddha, they tend to avoid the truth, because they're afraid of the CCP's despotic power.
I tried my best to explain the facts to some of my colleagues, but they still didn't want to withdraw from the CCP. Sometimes I really wanted to give up, but when I recalled Master's words about not giving up on any sentient being, I regained my confidence. Many times over the course of an entire year I talked to the person who had visited the U.S. with me. Finally he understood the truth and quit the Party.
I work in an office with three others. They were all CCP members, and were the key members in their Party branches. The oldest one was the son of an “old revolutionary,” and was dead set on following the CCP. The other two were born in the 1980s, and were assigned to the job after they finished their postgraduate studies. They had all been educated to be atheists. I told them openly that I was a Falun Gong practitioner, and told them about the beauty of Dafa. With my conduct I showed them the selflessness and kindness of Dafa practitioners.
To help them overcome the atheism in their minds, I collected examples of karma and retribution, and explained to them the existence of gods and Buddha, mentioning all the scandals the CCP was involved in. They gradually saw how bad the CCP was, and understood the difference between good and evil, and they all chose a bright future for themselves by quitting. I took every opportunity to tell my other colleagues the facts and help them to withdraw from the CCP. I was very happy when each one was saved.
A few days ago, the head of my department asked me to attend a dinner for the executives of an equipment supplier. As a Dafa practitioner my original thought was that I should not go. After giving it some thought I accepted, because I wanted to save people.
After we discussed business matters at dinner, we began to chat, and naturally we started talking about the current situation in China. While I was thinking about how to direct the conversation to Falun Gong, the head of the supply company suddenly asked where Master was. I immediately understood that Master had created an opportunity for me. I told them that Master was in the United States, and told them that Falun Gong was practiced in the United States and more than 100 other countries worldwide, with more than 100 million practitioners.
I explained to them about Falun Gong cultivation and told them that Falun Gong teaches people to be good. I also explained why Jiang Zemin started persecuting Falun Gong.
The head of the supply company said, “Falun Gong is actually not bad, but it is involved in politics.” I told him that Master said that Falun Gong practitioners should not participate in politics, and that they only explain the facts to let everyone know about the persecution, and that the CCP is harvesting organs from living Falun Gong practitioners.
They insisted that that wasn't true. I told them that the international organ transplant conference had refused to allow China’s participants to attend, because they were believed to be the source of a large number of undocumented organs. I told them that the CCP at first refused to acknowledge where they came from, but later, under pressure, the CCP had to admit that the organs were from the death-row detainees.
I then pointed out that the number on death row and the number of organ transplants differed by huge amount, and that the CCP had even promoted "international organ transplant tourism" to attract foreigners to come to China for organ transplants.
I said, “Think about it. Since ancient times, evil has never overcome righteousness. If Falun Gong were really like what the CCP says it is, Falun Gong would have disappeared a long time ago. Why, despite 15 years of desperate repression, has Falun Gong not only survived, but flourished worldwide?” A young engineer sitting next to me kept nodding in agreement, while the others became silent.
When we talked about being saved by gods and Buddha, they insisted that it was not true. They thought it was only a belief and not scientific. I talked about Einstein and Newton's belief in the existence of God, but I still could not convince them.
In the end, I asked, “Do you believe that good will be rewarded and evil will be punished?” They all said, “I believe it.” I said, “OK. Since you all believe that good will be rewarded and evil punished, then who makes that happen? Is it because lives higher than human beings are in charge? Is this any different from human beings having dominance over the lives lower than human beings?” Everyone once again fell silent. The head of the supply company lowered his head in thought.
Because my management was also at the dinner, I did not advise them to withdraw from the CCP and its organizations, but I knew that they had started thinking about what was the truth. After the dinner, the young executive said to me, “Thank you! I am very glad to have had the chance to chat with you today. I had a very special feeling chatting with you. Many of your points make a lot sense. I hope we can talk more later.” Although I did not advise them to withdraw from the CCP, I knew that they had begun to wake up.
In the process of clarifying the facts to save lives, I deeply feel that Master is guiding us. As long as we want to save people, Master will create opportunities for us. When I turned on my music player and listened to the familiar melody of “Thank You, Master, for Graciousness,” Master’s compassionate salvation came to my mind again, and tears ran down my face.
I'm a new practitioner and my understandings are limited. Please point out any of my mistakes in my understanding.
