(Minghui.org) As a Falun Dafa cultivator I have studied Master Li’s article “Digging Out the Roots” (Essentials For Further Advancement) many times. However, it seems that I did not quite understand the meaning of, “From what standpoint you view Dafa is fundamental…”
The word “standpoint” became firmly stuck in my heart. With sincere Fa study and truth clarification over the past two decades, I have gradually understood the meaning of this sentence and put it into practice. I realized that, while cultivating during Fa-rectification, it is crucial for Falun Dafa practitioners to have the correct viewpoint or way of thinking. This means we must make sure our every thought and every sentence spoken are righteous and conform to the standards of a cultivator. I have experienced that, as long as our standpoint is right, everything will go smoothly in cultivation.
I would like to share some of my cultivation experiences during this time of Fa-rectification and how I made Dafa’s requirements a priority when solving problems.
Since the persecution of Falun Dafa began in July 1999, Master has been slandered by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its practitioners have experienced an unprecedented test of life and death. At that time, I worked for an education department. In the face of intense pressure when the directive “Cadres and Communist Party members are not allowed to practice Falun Dafa” came down, I was at a loss about what to do. Against my will, I once said, “Since the Party does not allow this, I’ll give it up.” Although I didn’t slander Dafa and Master, I still clearly remember the feeling of, “I would rather die than live after saying that.”
After much Fa study, I found my attachments to fear, selfishness, fame, and personal gain. I then made up my mind that, as a Falun Dafa practitioner, I must defend Dafa at this critical moment by letting go of my attachments to life and death. When I made that decision, I suddenly changed: My heart expanded and I became bold. I knew that Dafa had created me. From then on, despite the persecution, validating and safeguarding Dafa has always been my starting point.
At two Party member meetings, the host ordered me to give up Falun Dafa and I refused. I said that I would continue to practice Dafa until the end. They then expelled me from the Party. I was very happy because I had never wanted to be a Party member.
After that, we held an employee meeting to discuss my dismissal from my public office. I didn’t pay much attention to that, as life or death and other interests didn’t affect me anymore. Most of my co-workers were aware that Falun Dafa was very good and that its practitioners were kind, so they vetoed the company’s resolution. The boss didn't fire me but did make me retire early. I thanked them for this decision. Although my income was a few hundred yuan less every month, I had plenty of time to study the Fa, do the exercises, and clarify the truth, which was a very good thing.
After I retired, I opened a store on the Internet. Business boomed, which has increased my income. Then, a few years ago, benefits from my former employer increased from 650 yuan to more than 2,000 yuan per month. In the past few years, retirement benefits for teachers have also increased. My monthly income is now more than 5,000 yuan. My colleague said that I have been rewarded for cultivating Falun Dafa.
With Master’s protection, I have overcome tribulations such as being let go from public office, compulsory brainwashing, detention, and “re-education” through doing heavy physical labor, all without doing anything to tarnish Dafa. From a righteous standpoint for more than a decade, I have stayed on course and followed Master.
After my retirement, I bought a house in Beijing near my sister. My sister later sold her house in Beijing and bought a house outside the city. My children wanted us to move near her. I refused to move because I had met several fellow practitioners in Beijing and the cultivation environment was better, which is the most important thing for practitioners. The children were not happy with my decision to stay in Beijing.
My sister fell and broke her arm. When her husband had to leave town on urgent business, he asked me to come take care of my sister. Thus, I went to stay at their home for a time. Every morning while shopping at the marketplace, I clarified the truth to people and offered to help them quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations. I quickly discovered that I could help people there quit the CCP rather easily because most of them were northeasterners. I used to live in the northeast of China for decades. As soon as I mentioned, “I used to live there,” they would feel a kinship, which made it easier for me to bring up Falun Dafa. I eventually told my children, “If you want to sell my house, please do. I don’t care.” They were very surprised by my change of heart.
Selling one property meant buying another. I put saving more people as my first priority when it came to deciding where to buy a house. My children selected a house and asked me to go look at it. I said in my heart, “As to where I should live, Master will have the final say.” I rode my bicycle to see the house. On the way there, I persuaded 13 people to quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations. I was told that the bus service had only started in that area the day before. When I saw a lot of migrant workers in the area, I thought, “It seems that I should live here,” and decided to buy the property.
It was on the second floor. The neighbor on the third floor was raising two dogs. In the summer, their dogs’ urine and excrement would run onto my balcony through a rainwater pipe. At first, I used a bucket to collect it. When it was full, I would pour it out. Sometimes, if I didn’t have time to do it, the urine and excrement would run all over my balcony. A few times I was about to complain about it when I thought: “I haven’t lived here for very long and am not familiar with this neighbor. I haven’t clarified the truth about Dafa to them yet. If I complain and make them unhappy, they will likely refuse to listen and lose the opportunity to be saved by Dafa, and then I will have committed a big sin.”
I decided to find another solution. I asked a plumber to lengthen the rainwater pipe and connect the drain pipe of my balcony to it. That way, although there were some easily-seen pipes on my balcony which don’t look very good, the odor problem was solved. When my neighbors on the third floors saw it, they apologized to me after they heard why I'd had it done. They explained that their children enjoyed raising dogs. I didn’t criticize them. Their dogs soon disappeared; where they went I was never told. I thought: “It may be the power of goodness. As long as my standpoint is righteous, which is for others not for me, myself, the result must be the best.”
A fellow practitioner told me about her situation. She was from a city in the northeast where she has a three-bedroom house close to her mother’s. When her son got a job in Beijing, she rented a house near Beijing. She said, “My son can visit me every weekend. It is warmer here, so it is better to clarify the truth to people face to face. Now the contract for my rented house in Beijing is about to expire. I don't know if I should renew it or go back to the northeast. What do you think?”
I said, “I think that if you consider it from the correct standpoint, it doesn’t matter where you live. Ask yourself: 'Where is the starting point on this issue? Which is the most important: taking care of your son, taking care of your mother, or assisting Master to save more people? I have dealt with similar problems in the past few years. I feel that, as long as my standpoint is righteous, everything will go smoothly and the result will be the best.”
She said, “Your point of view seems correct. Now I know what to do next!”