(Clearwisdom.net) I obtained the Fa in 2003 when the SARS epidemic was spreading throughout China, and caused a lot of people to flee the cities in panic and fear. I also left the city and went back to my hometown in the countryside. My body was weak due to my diabetes and heart problems, and because of all the stress, many of my previous illnesses returned. When the villagers heard that we were from the city, they stayed far away from us, as they feared that we may have SARS. However, the Falun Gong practitioners there were not afraid, and some of them came to my home to patiently talk to me about the practice and the persecution. I watched the truth-clarification DVDs and listened to Master's Fa-lectures. Within just a few days, my body dramatically changed for the better and my mind had never been as clear as this before. At that point, I started to practice.
Advancing diligently in cultivation
I knew that Falun Gong was great and that my predestined relationship with the Fa was very precious, and knew that I should tell my friends and relatives about the practice. During this time, Ms. Lian (an alias) also started to practice. We used every chance we got to spread the Fa and let people know the facts about Falun Gong.
Ms. Lian and I were not able to produce our own truth-clarification DVDs at the time and usually got them from practitioners from my hometown. We were able to hand out a few hundred DVDs in a single night, so we asked the practitioners to give us more. However, they refused to do so, as they were concerned about our safety because we were relatively new practitioners. We really felt an urgent need to save sentient beings, so we learned how to burn the DVDs by ourselves. Ms. Lian went to work during the day and burned the DVDs at night. Then I would hand them out to people. We cooperated well together. We once drove dozens of miles on a cold and windy winter's night to a small community to hand out the DVDs. We climbed many stairs in the apartment buildings and our clothes were soaked in sweat. We were exhausted but were still in high spirits, as we were encouraged by the magnificence of Dafa and Master's compassionate salvation.
As we passed by a police station one night, we saw a lot of police vehicles there, and I thought it would be a pity if we did not try to save them. We had to let them know the facts about Falun Gong and stop them from committing crimes against Dafa. So we put the truth clarification DVDs on all the cars' windshields and then continued to distribute the DVDs to the local apartments. When I felt exhausted, I would recite Master's poem:
“A Great Enlightened One fears no hardship
Having forged an adamantine will
Free of attachment to living or dying
He walks the path of Fa-rectification
confident and poised”(“Righteous Thoughts and Righteous Actions” in Hong Yin Vol. II).
Master protected me when I became homeless and destitute
In 2005, I drove a practitioner to the city, dropped him off and went back home. That night he called me and said that he had to go to another city, as the authorities were looking for him. When I picked him up, he told me how he constantly looked within and continually improved himself based on the Fa, and finally managed to evade the authorities. I truly felt Master's infinite grace. As long as we can truly understand the Fa's principles, there is no test that we can't pass. The following night, I received a phone call at my home saying, “Someone came to ask questions about you and said that you are connected to someone wanted by the police. Please hide as soon as possible.” The practitioner was still with me, so we left together the same night and became homeless to avoid persecution.
During that time, I woke up at 4 a.m. to practice the exercises and recite the Fa with a calm mind. I sent forth righteous thoughts every hour until midnight. I truly felt that I had melted into the Fa. Sometimes I felt sleepy at around noon and I really wanted to sleep. But I told myself, “You have no excuse to sleep. Master protected you so that you could have the chance to study the Fa. The old forces are watching you all the time. You can only make breakthroughs in cultivation by doing the three things well.” I advanced diligently and tried to follow Master's every word. Sometimes I did not do well, and then would strive to do better next time.
Two older female practitioners, who were also forced to leave their homes, lived with us at a house rented by a practitioner. The apartment was on the second floor, and we had to keep the water faucet turned off all the time, otherwise the water would flow into the shop below. Someone banged on the door one day and I heard a man shouting, “I cannot let you live here anymore. You must go!” I immediately remembered Master's words:
“I say that nothing is “natural,” nor is there any such thing as “coincidence”—everything has its cause.” (“Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Europe”)
We realized that this was Master hinting that we needed to move. Three days later, the police went to the apartment looking for us. We were grateful for Master's compassionate protection.
I stayed at a female practitioner's home and was able to learn from her. She studied the Fa well and clearly understood the Fa principles. When we were together, she always used righteous thoughts to encourage me and helped me gain the courage to go back home. My righteous thoughts became stronger, and my fear of the old forces became less. How could a practitioner walking on the path towards consummation be afraid of the old forces? I went to the local open markets to clarify the facts with this practitioner. No matter who the person was or where I met them, I would talk to them about Falun Gong. Master said:
“A Dafa disciple... what's a Dafa disciple? He's a being created by the most magnificent Fa, (enthusiastic applause) and he's rock-solid and as indestructible as diamond. How could a few words from an ordinary, bad person count for anything? “However evil you are, you can't change me. I simply must accomplish my historic mission, and I must do what a Dafa disciple should do”” (“Teaching the Fa at the 2003 Washington DC Fa Conference”)
There was a truck driver who looked lost because of all the construction work around the area. When I stopped to tell him the best way to go, he looked at me very suspiciously, as though I was lying to him. I told him sincerely, “I am a Falun Gong practitioner. I wouldn't lie to you.” I also asked him if he was a member of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and if he had ever heard of quitting the CCP. He then took out his cell phone and told me, “I am a party member. Do you know what I do? Tell me your phone number.” I told him solemnly, “No matter who you are or what you do, I need to save you. You must withdraw from the CCP if you want to have a bright future.” He looked shocked, and then said that he wanted to quit.
I had been away from home for half a year, but with fellow practitioners' encouragement and after continuously rectifying myself, I believed that I was ready to go.
Clarifying the facts and saving sentient beings
When I was arrested just before the Beijing Olympics in 2008, I kept clarifying the facts to the officers who arrested me and the officials who interrogated me. I just had the thought of saving sentient beings. As a result, a lot of the police that I talked to withdrew from the CCP.
I was later sent to a forced labor camp, where I kept clarifying the facts to any predestined people I met, and wrote letters to the prison guards to ask them to withdraw from the CCP. I also used every opportunity to copy down Master's new articles for the practitioners who needed them. With Master's protection, I was able to leave the camp five months earlier than my sentence was due to end.
I still have many short comings in my cultivation, such as being self-centered and showing off. No matter what I do, I always want to do things my own way. I sometimes look down on others and often complain about them, and have emotional attachments to my husband and other family members. I know that as long as I advance diligently within the Fa and study the Fa with a calm mind, I can pass all of the tests.
