(Minghui.org) Our Fa study group was established about two years ago. Most of us are middle-aged or seniors. Some are veteran practitioners who have practiced Falun Dafa for over 10 years, as well as new comers who just started cultivating four months ago. Here are some of our stories.
Two senior practitioners are siblings. The brother is a veteran practitioner, and was illegally arrested twice when he talked to people about the persecution of Falun Dafa. His older sister is 77 and used to live in the countryside. Her husband passed away and her children married. She saw from the changes in her brother how wonderful Falun Dafa is, and decided to practice and move to our city.
They rented a place and live on the brother's meager retirement pension. They can barely make ends meet and live very frugally.
Even though the sister is a new practitioner she is very capable of bearing hardships. She is completely devoted to doing the three things. She used to be illiterate but with her brother's help she was able to read Zhuan Falun in just a few days!
She says that the more she studies the Fa, the more she feels how lucky she is to have the opportunity to obtain it at such an old age. “Master has saved me,” she said, “I must not forget what Master told us to do—save sentient beings.”
Besides studying the Fa and doing the exercises, she goes out to clarify the facts every day. In the past two months she’s persuaded up to 16 people each day to quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and affiliated organizations.
At one point her knee became badly swollen for over 10 days but she never stopped going out to talk to people about Falun Dafa When the top of her foot began bleeding after walking for hours she ignored it and recited, “When it’s difficult to endure, you can endure it. When it’s impossible to do, you can do it.” (Lecture Nine in Zhuan Falun)
Once she ran into a plainclothes police officer in the park who searched her pockets. She stayed calm and asked Master for help. The name list of people quitting the CCP was in her pocket but the policeman did not find it.
The brother gets up every day at 3:40 a.m. to do the exercises. After finishing Fa study in the morning he eats a simple breakfast and goes out to clarify the facts until evening. He studies Master's other lectures and reads Minghui articles, and sends forth righteous thoughts every hour. He can persuade at least 20 to 30 people to quit the CCP every day, and won't go home unless he reaches that number.
Fellow practitioners estimated that since he came to our area five months ago, he has helped over 5,000 people to withdraw from the CCP. Overall in the past years he has helped about 50,000 people to quit the CCP and affiliated organizations.
Ms. Zhang: I Improved My Mind and Heart Nature
Ms. Zhang, 65, has practiced for five years. Here is her personal account of her cultivation experiences:
After I had been practicing for three months, I could only do the sitting meditation for five minutes because I could not endure the pain. One day my neighbor suddenly became angry. She began cursing me. I thought, “I am a Dafa practitioner, Master told us not to behave like everyday people while in conflicts, and we should not fight back or curse back.” Even though I calmly reasoned with her, I still felt upset. Later that day I studied the Fa and was able to let go of it and calm down.
The next morning I was able to sit for 50 minutes in meditation. I felt so wonderful. I knew Master was encouraging me and I burst into tears. My gratitude to Master was beyond words.
An elderly neighbor often asks me to help her do housework and I am always willing to help her out. I get along well with all my neighbors. When they see Dafa practitioners are good people they know the persecution is wrong.
After practicing for six months I realized from the Fa the real purpose of life is to return to one's original true self and I should take fame, fortune and sentimentality lightly. At that point I encountered a big test of my xinixng. My husband passed away and left an inheritance worth about one million yuan. My son, however, wanted to monopolize it and made unreasonable demands on me.
At first I wanted to sue my son, then I recalled Master's teaching: “Material wealth does not come with birth, and neither will it go with you after death...” (Lecture Nine in Zhuan Falun)
I talked with my sister who is a practitioner, and gave up the idea of suing him. I passed this test calmly.
My son was moved. He often came to visit me and was ashamed. If I had not practiced Dafa, I definitely wouldn't have handled this well.
Ms. Li, 77, is a veteran practitioner. She recently joined our Fa study group. She had a hard time making a breakthrough in face to face truth clarification. She also had some interference from her family.
After joining the group Fa study and studying it more on her own, she managed to make arrangements for her sick husband so she could step out to clarify the facts. At the beginning she partnered with Ms. Zhang in the park. When Ms. Zhang clarified the facts she would send forth righteous thoughts, and wrote down the names of the people quitting the CCP.
Within two weeks they persuaded 85 people to withdraw from the CCP and it’s affiliated organizations. Ms. Li then went to the park by herself for the first time. She met an older man with his grandson, and easily persuaded him to quit the CCP. She realized it's the encouragement from Master, and that she should diligently save more people.
After joining group Fa study, Ms. Li said she felt more energetic. People often ask her, “How can you walk so fast?” She used to have difficulty walking up the pedestrian bridges as the stairs were too high, but now she can walk up briskly. She happily clarifies the facts of Falun Dafa face to face every day. She now looks 20 years younger.
As a teacher, Ms. Li joined the CCP many years ago, and was even named an “advanced party member.” She often reproaches herself for having poisoned the young people with CCP party culture out of her ignorance. Other practitioners helped her quit the CCP with a nickname in early 2005; however, out of fear she continued to pay the party membership dues.
An article published on the Minghui website talked about how some practitioners’ bodies are still partially controlled by the evil. Some could not free themselves, and certain practitioners thus lost their lives. Ms. Li was alerted.
She went to her workplace and told the director, “I formally quit the party. I will not attend any activities. I am old now and also need to take care of my husband.” She was very calm and without any fear or worry. Since then her former workplace no longer asks her for party membership dues.