(Minghui.org) Greetings revered Master! Greetings fellow practitioners!
I would like to share some of my cultivation experiences about how I, with a firm belief in Master and Dafa, conquered difficulties one after another.
Persecution Destroyed My Family
I lived in the countryside, and both my husband and I practiced Falun Dafa. After the persecution began in 1999, our family was totally torn apart during a ten-year period. My husband and I had been illegally detained multiple times at a brainwashing center, detention center, and forced labor camp. My husband was jailed for four years, and I was forced to become homeless for many years.
After my husband and I were arrested, our two children (a 15-year old daughter and a nine-year old son) lost their home as well as some source of income. They wandered from one relative's home to another, and had to work various part-time jobs to support themselves. My in-laws, both in their eighties, passed away within years due to the arrest of their son and daughter-in-law.
Keeping Righteous Thoughts
I have been put into a forced labor camp twice. In the labor camp, I was forced to do heavy slave labor along with other prisoners. We worked day and night, and sometimes all night long. We were not allowed to sleep until a certain quota was met.
One day, I remembered Master's Fa,
“No matter what the situation, do not cooperate with the evil's demands, orders, or what it instigates.” (“Dafa Disciples' Righteous Thoughts are Powerful”)
I decided not to follow the evil's demands. When I saw the first person who finished her quota and went to sleep, I stood up too.
The guard walked up to me and said, “Have you finished your duty?”
I replied, “I have no duty here.”
The guard threatened, “If you don't finish your quota, we will extend your sentence longer!”
I said calmly, “The persecution of me is illegal, whether it is extended or not.”
The guard walked away and never mentioned “extending” my sentence again.
The prisoners were once counting the length of everyone's sentence and when each person would be released. They concluded that I would be the last to leave. “I'm different from all of you.” I said, “I may leave any day.”
They all thought it was impossible. In fact, I left quite a bit earlier than the others. Just like Master said, “Dafa disciples' righteous thoughts are powerful.”
I was arrested again in 2003, and sentenced to two years of forced labor. During the two months in the detention center before being taken to the labor camp, I memorized Master's “Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Philadelphia, U.S.A.” I understood that we as practitioners should reject and repel any evil being's arrangements.
In the labor camp, I had symptoms of serious illness. The police did not want to take responsibility so they called my family members to take me home. They wrote a note for “five days of sick leave.”
On the third day after I returned home, some relatives and local practitioners were very worried. They advised me to leave home and go into hiding to avoid being taken back to the labor camp.
Deep in my heart, I rejected all the evil being's arrangements. I resolved that they cannot control me, because only Master can make arrangements for me!
“When disciples have ample righteous thoughtsMaster has the power to turn back the tide”(“The Master-Disciple Bond,” from Hong Yin Vol. II)
I tore up the police's note. I won't go anywhere!
The police never called or showed up.
I was originally sentenced to two years but I was out within eight months, due to my righteous thoughts and my firm belief in Master.
Rejecting Persecution
My husband's four-year jail term was about to end in 2009. I had been forced to leave my house because I was put on the 'wanted' list by the police. I wondered if should take my husband with me into hiding. Should I go home with him and lead a normal life so that we can study the Fa, do the exercises, and assist with projects to save people? I had hard time deciding.
I asked Master to strengthen me, and increased my Fa study. I read,
“We should not have to stop taking baths because there are insects, and neither should we have to find another place to live because there are mosquitoes.” (Zhuan Falun)
I came to understand that we should not become homeless for the long term due to the evil force's wanted list and harassment. We should reject these 'insects' and 'mosquitoes', and clean them out.
I decided to follow the path Master arranged for me. I decided I shall return home, live nobly, cultivate myself, and validate the Fa.
Despite the worries of some fellow practitioners, on the “sensitive date” of April 25th, I returned home.
I had not been home for a long time, and seeing the house was a surprising experience. The backyard was covered with overgrown weeds. There were big holes in the roof, and spider webs were everywhere. Nearly everything inside the house had been taken away except for a few heavy items such as vats, cabinets, and the broken water pipes. I almost wanted to leave but I knew in my heart that this was my path. In order to save us, Master himself endured hardship beyond what we can imagine. Compared to that, is cleaning and fixing the house a big deal?
I immediately began doing the three things, and cleaned up the desolated house and backyard in between.
My husband was released in August. He was very weak physically but in good spirits. His health recovered rapidly after studying the Fa and doing the exercises.
We wanted to reject the old force's financial persecution and persuade more people to change their negative views about Dafa.
Before the persecution, we owned a successful shop. It was managed by a relative for nearly ten years during the persecution. When my husband and I expressed the wish to have the shop returned to us, the relative reasonably agreed.
Business went well. Within a year, we paid off all the debt for my son's schooling. We were left with some savings of 50,000 yuan. Master was so merciful to help us overcome the economic hardship!
Putting Down the Attachment to Personal Gain—Doing the 'Three Things' Well
When the business went well, but we faced a new problem. We spent so much time on the shop that we did not have enough time to study the Fa, and sometimes we could not send righteous thoughts on time. We felt very anxious.
One day, I was supposed to fill a bucket with water. The village where we lived only supplied water for a short time during the day but I was busy with something at that time. When I turned on the tap, the water only half-filled the bucket. I really regretted that I had not filled the bucket sooner.
I suddenly thought about my cultivation. I had been so busy with earning money that I did not have much time to do the three things Master asked us to do. What was I busy with? I did not treasure the time Master extended for us to save people. The time for Fa rectification is limited, and when it ends, it would be like the tap water suddenly stops running. There would be no time to regret that I did not do more! Earning money is good. But if it affects us in doing the three things, we must make some changes.
I began to discuss with my husband and suggested closing the shop. He disagreed and was concerned that we should not go to extremes, so that people would not misunderstand practitioners. We discussed with some local practitioners, and most of them advised us not to do so.
I considered the situation more. If we continued running the shop, we would get good money. But we wouldn't be able to do the three things well and we wouldn't be able to send righteous thoughts during the four global times every day.
I remembered Master's teaching,
“In the workplace or in society, some people may say that you are bad, yet you may not necessarily be bad. Some people may say that you are good, but you may not really be good.” (Zhuan Falun)
I thought, as long as I'm on the right path, there would be a way to survive. As long as we walk on the path Master arranged for us, what Master arranged is always the best!
I shared my thoughts with my husband, who eventually agreed with me.
As soon as we made the decision to sell the shop, an old customer inquired about it. When she heard that we wanted to sell the shop, she immediately said she would be interested in purchasing it. Several days later, the deal was set and we got a very good price for the shop.
We knew that Master had arranged everything.
In 2013, we used the money to remodel our house, and also bought a van and a tricycle. My husband started his new driving job, where he picks up and drops off students. It was a split morning and evening shift, and the income was not bad. He often drives fellow practitioners to the market to clarify the truth or to other areas to distribute truth clarifying materials. It is exactly as we had hoped - we had enough time to do the three things and survive on a part-time job. Master had arranged everything for us! Just like Master said,
“Cultivation depends on one’s own efforts, while the transformation of gong is done by one’s master.” (Zhuan Falun)
