(Minghui.org) Greetings, esteemed Master! Greetings, fellow practitioners!
I have been a Dafa disciple since 1996, and I am 86 years old. Before retiring, I was an associate professor and department head at a university. I would like to take this opportunity to report to Master [Master Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Dafa] and fellow practitioners about my cultivation experience over these past two years.
The past two years have been extraordinarily hard for me. The death of my wife, the ongoing pandemic, the tense social situation, and my family environment have all presented great changes. My life and the way that I clarify the truth have changed, but my belief in Dafa and my determination to assist Master in the Fa-rectification have remained as firm as ever.
My wife did not practice Dafa, but she read Zhuan Falun once and always supported my practice. She has also helped me do many things related to Dafa.
Ten years ago, our 48-year-old daughter died of lymphoma, and my wife and I were devastated. Although my wife survived breast cancer thirteen years ago, after enduring painful surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, she came down with esophageal cancer. She passed away a year later despite treatments. I felt like I’d been struck by lightning! We had been together for sixty-two years, but with her gone, my sweet home was no more. I felt unbearable loneliness, isolation, grief, and longing. I missed my wife so much that I cried every day.
During this tribulation, Dafa gave me righteous faith and strength. I remembered that I am a Dafa disciple in the period of the Fa-rectification and I am in this world on a mission. Actually, during the two months of my critically-ill wife’s hospitalization, I did my best to listen to the Fa, do the exercises, send righteous thoughts, and clarify the truth. We were in a private hospital room by ourselves, and my practice wasn’t affected too much.
The nurses always nodded to me whenever they saw me. They also looked at me with admiration whenever I meditated or sent forth righteous thoughts. I also clarified the truth to whomever I came across, whether they were patients, relatives of patients, caretakers, or custodians. I was able to persuade seven people to quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its youth organizations.
Master taught us:
“and everything in the entire human society comes from this qing. If this qing is not relinquished, you will be unable to cultivate.” (Lecture Four, Zhuan Falun)
“The Fa can break all attachments, the Fa can destroy all evil, the Fa can shatter all lies, and the Fa can strengthen righteous thoughts.” (“Drive Out Interference,” Essentials for Further Advancement II)
Looking within, I found that I relied on my wife totally. She handled everything at home, big or small, from financial management to shopping, and from cooking to cleaning. I helped with some household chores, but spent most of my time on my truth-clarification efforts. I never expected that this tribulation would befall me so soon. My wife was gone, and my living and practice environment were changed fundamentally.
Master said:
“But precisely because you do cultivate in Dafa, even though the pressure you face is great when the hardships come at you earlier than they would have, and the tests of your xinxing are tough to pass—and sometimes the tests may be huge—when all is said and done, those hardships are all things you need to overcome, they are accounts you need to settle, tabs that you need to pay. (Audience laughs) Aren’t they great things, then? So whether it is good things or bad things you run into, so long as you cultivate in Dafa, they are all positive, to be sure.” (Teachings at the 2005 Conference in San Francisco)
After a period of cultivation, I gradually recovered. In the process, I once again experienced the power and greatness of Dafa.
I live alone now that my wife has passed away. I take care of breakfast and dinner myself and go to my son’s place for lunch. He has a housekeeper to cook for them.
With more time now, I get up early to do the standing exercises, send forth righteous thoughts, and memorize Fa teachings. I go out to raise awareness of the persecution after breakfast, read the Minghui website in the afternoon and study Fa teachings and meditate at night. I go to sleep after sending forth righteous thoughts at midnight.
Over the past ten years, I have been printing Master’s new scriptures and Dafa informational material for seven fellow senior practitioners. Since they do not know how to use a computer or visit the Minghui website, those materials are very important to them.
My wife and I did our best in maintaining our little truth-clarification materials production site. Over the years, we had used four computers and three printers. All the other supplies were also purchased at our own expense. After my wife passed away, I had to do it all on my own, and I was able to do everything that needed to be done in a timely manner.
A fellow practitioner also has a materials production site at home. He makes Dafa truth-clarification materials, amulets, and Dafa books. They are beautiful and of high quality. Fellow practitioners love them, and he never asked fellow practitioners to pay for any of the materials.
Three months ago, I learned that he had financial difficulties, so I gave him four thousand yuan to solve the problem. He refused to accept it. But I insisted, and he agreed, as the money was essential for him to continue printing the materials for other practitioners.
Six months after my wife passed away, I discovered that the social security office was still making pension payments to her account every month. I was not sure if she was still supposed to receive a pension after passing away, but I thought that it was likely a mistake that needed to be corrected.
So I went to the Municipal Institution Pension Service Center to ask about it. The receptionist was a young man. After checking the information, he said, “You are right. We did overpay an extra six months, totaling more than 40,000 yuan.”
He immediately called my wife’s workplace. The person who answered the phone said, “Ask her to come in person!” The young man yelled, “She passed away! Why didn’t you report her death in time?” The person on the other end of the line finally understood.
After they talked for a while, the young man said, “Her husband is here, let me talk to him.” Then, turning to me, he said, “I’m so sorry! We made a mistake, and can you please return the money to us?” He also gave me the information of the designated bank account for me to return the money.
I replied, “I came here today for the purpose of correcting and returning the money. I will transfer the money over the phone right now.” Then, over 40,000 yuan was credited to the bank account he gave me. He did not expect that a matter like this, which was usually considered difficult, was resolved so smoothly. He was grateful and said several times, “You are a professor after all! Such noble character! Thank you!”
I felt that it was a good opportunity to validate Dafa and save sentient beings. So I told him, “This has nothing to do with my being a retired professor. There are many professors with corrupted morals nowadays. Let me tell you the truth. I practice Falun Dafa, which teaches people to be good.”
At this time, a woman who appeared to be the young man’s supervisor came over. After the young man whispered to her for a while, the woman said to me, “The caliber of Falun Dafa practitioners is really high! Thank you very much! We would be in trouble if you were a different person. We would have to ask the deceased’ workplace to chase the money down, which could be very difficult.”
During my forty-two years’ teaching career, I have had thousands of students, who often invited me to attend their reunions. My school also holds various activities for its retirees. These are all great opportunities for me to clarify the truth and urge my former students and colleagues to quit the CCP. Once, there were 42 people at one gathering who agreed to quit the CCP and its related organizations. In the past two years, due to the pandemic, these gatherings were no longer held, and I have lost my main battlefield for clarifying the truth.
Master told us:
“Clarifying the facts and saving sentient beings are what you need to accomplish. There is nothing else for you to accomplish. There is nothing else in this world that you need to accomplish.” (Fa Teaching Given at the 2015 New York Fa Conference)
I had to change the way that I clarify the truth. I chose to go to parks and the lakeside to talk to people. More retired people go there, and there are chairs and benches. I can sit down and talk with people at length so that people can understand the truth to be saved. Every day I can talk to up to five people.
During the process, I follow what Master has taught us and try my best to help people understand the facts.
Master said
“Validate the Fa with rationality, clarify the truth with wisdom, spread the Fa and save people with mercy.” (“Rationality,” Essentials for Further Advancement II)
I would like to share some of those experiences.
School Leaders Quit the Party
It took me years to persuade a former president and deputy CCP secretary at my school to quit the CCP. Both held provincial-level ranks and had strong Communist Party culture due to their jobs – indoctrinating students with the Party culture. They, however, were both upright and hardworking intellectuals.
President Zhang was well respected by both faculty and students. He suffered from extremely poor health. I was determined to save him, but how? Even though he and I had a good personal relationship, I could not directly ask him to quit the CCP, which he would certainly not accept. A fellow practitioner once clarified the truth to him, but he refused, saying, “We communists don't believe in that kind of stuff.”
After Zhang retired, he liked to read the news on the computer. I installed the “Freedom Gate” software for him so that he could see uncensored news by breaking through the internet blockade. He was very happy that I helped him with the software.
Two years ago he was hospitalized again with a serious illness. His heart, lungs, and other organs were failing. The doctors could not help. When my wife and I found out about it, we cooked soups for him every other day.
In the meantime, I gave him a special printout of examples of people recovering from critical illnesses by reciting the auspicious phrases, “Falun Dafa is good; Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.” He gladly accepted what I told him and was very grateful! When I asked him to quit the CCP, he readily accepted. Shortly after, his condition stabilized and he lived for two more years. Several days after his passing, a person with supernatural capabilities saw him in a very good place in Heaven and I knew it was because he had quit the CCP.
Chen was a deputy Party Secretary at my school and he was in charge of persecuting Falun Gong after the persecution began in 1999. Back then, our school was a well-known Falun Gong exercise site in the city, sometimes with up to a hundred people joining the group practice. We had more than 20 faculty, staffers, and students regularly attending the group exercises. Chen always protected us from being persecuted.
In 2001, when the persecution of Falun Gong was at its peak in our city, the 610 Office wanted to investigate me, but Chen blocked them. At the same time, the city’s Qigong Scientific Research Association also issued a notice to remove me as the executive director of the association, with the excuse that I was practicing Falun Gong. Chen called in the name of the school’s Party Committee, forcing the Qigong Scientific Research Association to rescind its decision.
I had been thinking about clarifying the truth to him, such an upright and kindhearted person who protected Dafa practitioners. Since my wife was very close to his wife, I asked my wife to persuade Chen and his wife to quit the CCP. Chen’s wife refused, saying that they did not want to get involved in politics. After that, I spoke to Chen several times about the corruption and evil nature of the Communist Party, but I didn’t have the opportunity to ask him to quit the Party.
Recently, at a small gathering attended by both Chen and his wife, a fellow practitioner talked about how he recovered in two days after having a stroke. I took the opportunity to tell others how Chen protected the Dafa disciples at my school and expressed my sincere gratitude to him.
After the gathering, I said to him with kindness and sincerity, “You protected me from the persecution during those dark years, and I cannot repay you for your kindness. I sincerely hope that you quit the CCP.” I was choked with emotion and he was deeply moved as well.
He gripped my arm, “I agree. I will quit.”
Retired Party Cadre Learns the Truth
One time, an elderly man on crutches came up to me and greeted me, pointing to a bench not far away. He asked, “Sit down and talk?” I thought that this must be someone coming to me to listen to the truth, so I gladly sat down with him and chatted.
He turned out to be a retired health care cadre in the army and was already in his 90s. I also introduced myself. I felt that there was no barrier between us, and we chatted warmly. We talked about the corruption in the CCP and the army, the rapid decline in morality in today’s society, and the persecution of Falun Gong and other heinous crimes committed by the CCP. In the end, I helped him quit the CCP. When we parted ways, he sighed and said:, “We are like-minded!”
Another time, I saw another man in the park. Instead of taking the main path, he took a shortcut and walked towards me directly across the lawn. I sensed he was coming to hear the truth as well. I greeted him. We sat down on a bench and talked. I learned that he was a retired cadre from the Disciplinary Supervision Commission. He was 92 years old and his son was the director of a bureau in the city.
In the beginning, I wasn’t sure whether he would be receptive to what I had to say about the evil nature of the CCP, given his background. However, after I’d just mentioned a few examples of the Party’s corruption, he added, “After I was discharged from the army, I worked in Discipline Supervision Commission for several years. The Communist Party has long been corrupt from the inside out!”
I told him about the persecution of Falun Dafa and the CCP’s crimes over the many years of its rule. He understood and readily quit the CCP.
Maintenance Crew and Security Guard Understand the Facts
There are dozens of security and maintenance staff in each park, mostly migrant workers or people who have retired from state-owned enterprises. It is easier to clarify the truth to them. I usually start with the struggles people have nowadays and the various social injustices, before going deeper. It usually works very well.
One day, I was clarifying the truth to two cleaning people, when a security guard came over. To my surprise, he greeted me warmly and introduced himself. He told me that he was from the countryside. I realized that he also came to learn the truth. I talked with them for a while and in the end, I told them about the auspicious phrase, “Falun Dafa is good,” which could help them in times of danger. The guard asked me to write it down for him.
Before I began to write, I suddenly saw two patrolling police officers nearby. I was a bit nervous, but I wrote anyway. One officer stopped and said, “Oh, Falun Gong!” They both smiled and left.
I continued to help the maintenance crew and the security guard quit the CCP and related organizations. When I returned to the park later on, I met the security guard a few more times. Later on, he also helped his father, son, and daughter-in-law quit the CCP and related organizations.
Clarifying the Truth to the General Public
Once, I saw an elderly man sitting on a bench by the lakeside. I went up to him and greeted him. He immediately greeted me and asked me to sit down for a talk.
During the conversation, I learned that he’d worked as an accountant on a farm when he was young. He now stayed at his son’s home to take care of his grandchildren.
“You farmers suffered and were exploited by the government the most. People’s tax money is all embezzled by those who are in charge.”
He told me that he had joined the Party before, but he refused to attend the Party members’ regular meetings, even when participants would get ten yuan for each attendance. “If they didn’t give out the money, nobody would go to the meeting,” he said.
He agreed to quit the Party and added, “They are all corrupt from the top down. I despise them all.”
I gave him a Dafa amulet and asked him to say the auspicious phrases often, as they would bless and protect him. He held my hands tightly and kept saying, “Thank you.” Then he walked me to the bus station and waved me off.
One day, I met an elderly man at the park gate and greeted him. We walked together and chatted along the way. I learned that he was a retired technician from a factory and he was 83. He’d come to our city to visit his daughter and was going back home the next day. He came to check out the park since it was well known. I hadn’t come to this particular park for five days and I just ran into him when I visited the park again. I knew that Master had brought him to me so I could clarify the truth to him.
I told him the history and the current status of the park. I then moved on to discuss the crimes of the CCP, how it killed 80 million people in its numerous political campaigns and the persecution of Falun Gong. He said that given his age, he had personally experienced some of the political struggles himself. He agreed to quit the CCP and related organizations.
Clarifying the Truth to the Wealthy
Once, I met the owner of a construction company. During our conversation, I learned that he had been the contractor for numerous projects of various sizes for more than twenty years and had made a lot of money. He knew too much about the corruption of the communist regime and agreed with what I said.
“If you don’t bribe the person in charge, you won’t get the project. Period," he said. “I saw someone carry a safe with hundreds of thousands of yuan and put it quietly at the door of the person in charge.”
He readily quit the CCP and related organizations. I met him a few more times later on. He greeted me and wanted to know more uncensored news.
Another time, I met a wealthy businessman in a park. He told me that his father was a high school teacher and was labeled as a “rightist” during a certain CCP political campaign. His father was then sent to a farm for “re-education through labor” and later starved to death. He had nowhere to seek justice. His son refused to die on the farm and he left to start his own business. He said, “With Divine intervention, I succeeded!” He was able to put his six daughters and one son through college and now all his children have their own jobs.
I admired his story and how he fought so hard through so many hardships. I was happy for him to know the truth about Dafa, the CCP, and the persecution.
Awakening People with Traditional Culture
When I first begin talking to people, I often use local news or various hot topics to break the ice. The effect has been very good.
In a scenic area of a certain park, there are models of Hetu and Lo Shu Square (two ancient Chinese cosmological diagrams). One day, I talked to the crew cleaning the sculptures about their history, including the mystery surrounding them and how profound traditional Chinese culture is. When speaking about the deeply-rooted belief of the connection between Heaven, Earth, and man, I talked about the communist regime’s destruction of traditional culture, and the stone found in Guizhou Province carved with the words “Chinese Communist Party Doomed.” The cleaning crew were all very interested and agreed to quit the Party.
There are times when I don’t succeed in persuading people to quit the CCP. Once, I talked to an elderly couple and the husband, upon sensing that I was a Falun Dafa practitioner, said loudly, “I just believe in the communist party! You go believe in your Dafa!”
On another occasion, I encountered a retired cadre who worked in the Bureau of Land and Resources. We once served in the military together. As we were talking, he said that he would never quit the CCP. I was a little disappointed, but I did not want to give up.
So I changed the subject and began to talk about the pandemic. I told him a story of how a doctor and his wife in Wuhan recovered from the infection by reciting the phrases “Falun Dafa is good; Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance is good.” He believed me. But when I gave him a Dafa amulet, he looked at it and said, “This is Falun Gong, and this is what I do in my workplace [meaning, persecuting Falun Gong].”
I explained what Falun Gong is, why Jiang Zemin [the former leader of the Communist Party] launched the persecution, and the Tiananmen self-immolation hoax. He did not leave and continued to listen to me.
“We are from the same hometown, and I don’t want you to be fooled by the CCP anymore. The universe is enormous and there are many beings more advanced than humans. They are too numerous to be counted! In the face of the pandemic and other disasters, only the divine can protect us.”
He seemed to understand this time, “Alright, give me this amulet. My wife believes in this type of thing and I will give this to her.” Even though I didn’t get him to quit the CCP this time, I trusted that I had laid a foundation for him to learn the truth more thoroughly in the future.
Master taught us:
“The human world is now at the end of its latter days, and the degenerate and chaotic things that have come about in these troubled times are affecting society more than ever. Though a battle between good and evil is taking place, you have to ensure that you do not let it negatively affect you, and should do even better at getting the truth out and saving people.” (“Greetings to the Taiwan Fa Conference”)
Looking back on the path I’ve walked over the last two years, I have felt the compassion and care of Master.
Master reminded me:
“And I especially want to remind our veteran Dafa disciples not to slack off. You have gone through so many long and grueling years to make it to this day, and it really hasn’t been easy! Do you not know to value and cherish yourselves? I certainly cherish you! And divine beings do too! (Applause.) So all the more so should you value and cherish yourselves.” (“2018 Fa Teaching Given in Washington, D.C.”)
I am now 86 years old. Because I practice Dafa, Master has extended my life. I have to cherish this opportunity even more. In this complex and chaotic society, I must study the Fa well and remain undisturbed. I will strive forward and do better in clarifying the truth and saving sentient beings. I’m determined to fulfill my vow and follow Master to return to my heavenly abode.
Thank you, Master!Thank you, Fellow practitioners!
(18th China Fahui on Minghui.org)