(Minghui.org)
Greetings to Master! Greetings to fellow practitioners!
I am 75 years old and began practicing Falun Dafa (also known as Falun Gong) in 1997. Over 29 years of cultivation, I have undergone tremendous changes, both physically and mentally. Not only have the ailments that plagued me for years miraculously disappeared, but I have also come to understand the purpose of being human and the reasons behind illness. I have found answers to many questions that eluded me in the first half of my life, such as why one should be a good person and how to be a good person.
On the occasion of this Fa conference, I would like to report to Master about some insights I gained through cultivation and share them with fellow practitioners.
When I obtained Falun Gong, I felt so fortunate and wanted to share this wonderful Dafa with other people. My home became a group Fa study site, and the number of practice sites in my city grew rapidly. Fellow practitioners and I made the most of our time to study the Fa and introduce the practice to others.
One day, we gathered to watch a video of Master’s lectures in an old vacant building scheduled for renovation. Because of the loud echo, it was hard to hear Master’s voice, which made me feel anxious. Afterward, I looked at the surrounding buildings and made some inquiries. Then I noticed several newly constructed buildings and had the thought of buying an apartment so predestined people could come and listen to the Fa.
However, my husband learned from the building manager that all the new apartments had been reserved, except for a few units on the top floors. I only wanted a lower-floor unit, ideally on the first floor. Also, according to a lady who lived in the complex, no more new buildings were being constructed in the area. I told my husband, “If Dafa requires it, Master will decide.”
A few days later, the lady called, saying someone no longer wanted an apartment on the first floor. This was exactly what I wanted, so I went over right away and reserved the apartment. While processing the property transfer, the manager expressed surprise that I had gotten this apartment. Based on his experience, he said my chances were so slim that it would be almost impossible for me to own it. It wasn’t until many years later that I realized I merely had this wish, while Master had already made all the arrangements.
We completed the purchase in December 1997. The apartment covered more than 1,000 square feet, and we paid only 120,000 yuan (17,997 USD). I made eight copies of the key and gave them to local coordinators, saying, “You are welcome to go there anytime.”
This miraculous experience strengthened my faith, and I knew this apartment was meant for cultivation only. Apart from my husband, no one else knew I owned it. Even when my son got married in 2000, he stayed with us in our old apartment.
After 1998, videotapes of Master’s lectures given in various places overseas were released, one after another. I bought a television and a fellow practitioner bought a VCR. At that time, we hadn’t yet renovated the apartment, so it was spacious. We made around 60 seat cushions. Since there was only one videotape available, practitioners in my area were organized by district, township, and village to watch the video. There were three sessions a day: morning, afternoon, and evening, and each session had over a hundred practitioners.
Between April 25 and July 20, 1999—before the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched its brutal persecution—practitioners gathered in this apartment many times to read Zhuan Falun, exchange experiences, and deepen their understanding of the Fa. Therefore, when the persecution began, group after group of fellow practitioners from our city went out to validate Dafa. They carried banners made in this apartment and went to Tiananmen Square to speak up for our wrongfully accused Master and for Dafa.
I also went to Beijing to appeal, but was illegally detained. After I was released and went back home, my husband had finished renovating the apartment. Then we moved in.
Nearly 29 years have passed, and this apartment has continued to serve as a place for fellow practitioners to study the Fa and share cultivation experiences. Many fellow practitioners who came here do not know who I am. All of this is a miracle from Master, who paved the way for our cultivation. I have always cherished this cultivation environment.
Both my husband and I are Falun Dafa practitioners. Fellow practitioners often visit because we have a harmonious home environment. Over the years, in addition to participating in Dafa projects, I have also taken the initiative to help distribute truth-clarification materials to many practitioners in our community, including Shen Yun DVDs, Minghui calendars, amulets, and stickers. I regard this as part of my responsibility in assisting Master with rectifying the Fa and saving sentient beings. I told myself I must do this well.
Every week, when I passed on the materials to fellow practitioners, we usually shared experiences and understandings of the Fa. We didn’t contact each other by phone. If there was something to discuss, they came directly to my home. I never asked for their personal information or told them where the materials were produced.
Over the past two decades, I have delivered materials to five or six practitioners, while countless others have come to my home to collect them. Some practitioners have expressed concern for my safety. In fact, I have always prioritized safety, and I also remind other practitioners to be cautious and never rely on luck when doing Dafa work. Anyone who came to my place did not bring their cellphone with them. We only used a basic, old cellphone at home.
I believe that true safety comes from Dafa. As long as we follow Master’s instructions, diligently do the three things, and walk the path Master has laid out for us, we will certainly be safe. At the same time, we should not neglect our physical safety.
During the pandemic, our residential complex was under lockdown. However, the amount of informational materials we distributed did not decrease; instead, we produced additional A4-sized booklets. We used our wisdom and worked together, so we never stopped distributing materials for even a single day. We did not impose quotas or force anyone to take materials, and just distributed them according to need.
Desk calendars are seasonal and are distributed for only a few months each year. The practitioner in charge of producing these strictly ensures their quality meets the requirements of the Minghui Editorial Department. The calendars they produce feature vibrant, fade-resistant colors and an elegant, attractive design. The covers bear the Chinese characters saying “Falun Dafa is Good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is Good.” Many people find them very appealing.
The desk calendars are packaged in thin, transparent plastic bags, and when distributed, they are placed inside a plastic bag to make them easier for recipients to carry. The calendars are produced in batches and stored at my home. Practitioners come and take as many as they need. Some take 10 while others take an entire box.
Over the years of distributing materials, I have come into contact with many fellow practitioners, each at different levels of cultivation. They are like mirrors, constantly reflecting the attachments I have yet to eliminate and reminding me to promptly correct myself on my cultivation path. The relationship among fellow practitioners is one of mutual salvation, and we should be tolerant and kind toward one another.
For example, one fellow practitioner had a short temper. Whenever she came to my home, her first words were always: “Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!” regardless of what I was doing. She urged me to attend to her request first because there were many fellow practitioners near her asking for materials. I always tried to calm her down, saying, “Don’t worry, let’s take it slowly.” She admits she has a short temper, but has always been like that, which left me feeling helpless.
One day when I was reading Zhuan Falun, I came across this passage:
“What’s required of you, then? You must cultivate your inner self and not pursue things externally.” (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun)
I suddenly realized Master was using this fellow practitioner’s behavior to remind me that I, too, was impatient. Although I had identified many attachments, including complaining, resentment, self-interest, fear, ego, a domineering nature, a reluctance to be criticized, and a desire to hear only praise, and I made every effort to eliminate them with righteous thoughts, some of these attachments remained. Especially my impatience was quite evident. This fellow practitioner’s behavior reminded me I needed to quickly eliminate this attachment.
I also realized every practitioner has a different cultivation path and is at a different level, guided by the Fa at that level. It is therefore normal for practitioners’ behavior to manifest differently. Now I can calmly accept various fellow practitioners’ behavior without harboring negative thoughts toward them, and cherish the predestined connections we share.
Ever since Master affirmed printing auspicious messages about Dafa on currency bills as a way to save people, we have taken action and produced a large number of them.
We believe the quality of these “truth bills” directly affects their effectiveness in saving lives. Therefore, we place great emphasis on quality control throughout production. At first, we wrote truth-clarification messages by hand. Later, we carved stamps to imprint them on the bills. Eventually, Minghui provided templates. Throughout these different stages, we carefully controlled every step and continuously improved the quality.
When using stamps, we carved a large number of them. The text was downloaded according to Minghui’s requirements to ensure people could understand the message at a glance. In the early days, we had to wax the bills to prevent the messages from fading or being degraded by water. My husband was primarily responsible for this step. We used up countless sticks of wax. Later, we began using printers, which eliminated the need for waxing. This saved time and effort, and the quality was excellent.
At that time, we needed a large amount of cash. I set aside several tens of thousands of yuan of my own to produce truth bills, then exchanged them with fellow practitioners for regular bills. Every time, I only exchanged the exact amount of money on the spot. I also declined the kind offers of several fellow practitioners who wanted to contribute money to the project because I had enough cash to keep everything running. If occasionally I ran short, I would borrow some from my husband and repay him as soon as I could. I held myself to strict standards when dealing with money.
We needed a large number of small-denomination bills. Fellow practitioners found ways to help. Some exchanged money at banks, some obtained small bills while shopping, and some went to small businesses, such as barber shops, to make the exchange. We worked together as one body to get things done. Cultivation is woven into our daily lives, and working on a Dafa project is no exception.
Once, a fellow practitioner brought over between 5,000 and 6,000 yuan in small-denomination bills. We counted it together. The next day, however, she returned with 1,000 yuan, saying she had found the extra amount when she double-checked at home. I couldn’t accept the money, so I donated it to the materials production center.
Another time, a young practitioner came to exchange regular currency for truth bills. She was in a hurry and asked me to give her bills according to the number of bills of each denomination she had listed. I thought to myself that this practitioner is so conscientious and meticulous and had never made a mistake, so there was probably no need to count it. After she left, however, I felt compelled to count it anyway. Reluctantly, I did so and was startled to find an extra 500 yuan. I am grateful for Master’s compassionate guidance. It helped me recognize the attachments I haven’t yet eliminated, such as carelessness, dependence, and laziness.
Not long after, a fellow practitioner’s daughter came by to exchange truth bills. I was busy with other things, so I asked my husband to help her. Usually I do not trust him to do this because he was careless. But that day, I saw them working together carefully, and I was quite pleased.
That night, the fellow practitioner called to say the truth bills were short by 500 yuan. I immediately said, “Don’t worry, I will make up the difference tomorrow.” At the same time, I complained to my husband, “You never do anything right.” He didn’t believe he had made a mistake. I told him, “No genuine practitioner would lie. The problem must be with us. We should look within.”
Nothing is a coincidence. One time there had been 500 yuan extra, and another time, 500 yuan was missing, so why had this happened? I couldn’t figure it out at that time, and my heart felt heavy.
On the very day the call for submissions for Minghui.org China Fahui was released, I suddenly realized Master was reminding me to get rid of my attitude of looking down on my husband! I knew this was the reason because, as soon as I had this realization, my heart felt light.
My husband and I both began practicing Falun Dafa before July 20, 1999. We have weathered more than 20 years of ups and downs together. My husband has little formal education and doesn’t grasp the Fa well, but he has faith in Dafa and Master.
A few days ago, he suddenly cried while we were reading the Dafa book, something that rarely happens.
I asked, “What’s wrong?”
He said in tears, “I don’t want to read any more. Didn’t Master say that it is sufficient to recite ‘Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good’?”
I replied, “That is enough for non-practitioners. But you are a Dafa disciple; you have a mission. Are you crying because I scold you often? I do it for your own good.”
He said, “No, I just don’t feel I am worthy of studying this Fa. My eyesight is blurry, and after all these years, I still skip words when reading Zhuan Falun. I am just causing trouble for others.”
I began to cry. As the saying goes, “A man doesn’t shed tears easily.” His sadness and tears might have been caused by me!
That afternoon, two fellow practitioners with a clear understanding of the Fa came to visit. I sensed Master had arranged for them to come and help me and my husband. With my husband’s consent, I shared the situation with them. Drawing on the principles of the Fa, they encouraged my husband to maintain his righteous thoughts, and his spirits quickly lifted. Since then, he has happily continued to do the three things every day.
I also looked inward. My husband and I should work well together; however, I had been using the excuse of “doing what’s best for my husband” to conceal my attachments to resentment, impatience, nitpicking, and looking down on him. I often told him things like, “When reading the book, you must concentrate and not let your mind wander; when sending righteous thoughts, do not let your palms turn downward; when doing the exercises, your movements must be precise; when going out to distribute materials, you must be careful.”
On the surface, I seemed to be acting for his own good, but actually I was placing myself above him and lecturing him. This was a manifestation of the Communist Party Culture.
As I write this, I suddenly realize that I have a deep-seated attachment: I often belittle and complain about my husband in front of others. I complained that he didn’t know how to do anything and couldn’t do anything right. All this complaining was to prove how capable and wonderful I was. No wonder my husband felt miserable! It was my selfish, domineering, and unkind “false self” that had caused him so much harm.
But I did not acknowledge these behaviors, which didn’t align with the Fa and weren’t my true self. These negative notions are corrupted elements formed after birth, and I must eliminate them by sending righteous thoughts more often.
When I truly began to look inward and cultivate myself, my perspective on my husband also changed. I realized that he has actually done quite well over the years. He does most of the household chores, so I have more time to focus on Dafa projects. We have worked together on quite a few projects, and he always took the initiative to handle the tedious and physically demanding tasks. Just like the junior monk described in Master’s teachings, he quietly did what he was supposed to do.
I felt guilty and realized how much I had let my husband down over the years. We are husband and wife in this lifetime, but our true identities are Dafa disciples. Each practitioner’s path is different, and we are all cultivating within Dafa. All lives are equal; there is no distinction between high and low. I should understand, be tolerant of, and treat my husband, also my fellow practitioner, with kindness. I must cherish this precious predestined relationship, strive forward diligently together with him, fulfill our mission, and return together to our true home.
Only by cultivating oneself in accordance with the requirements of the Fa can one walk the correct path of cultivation; doing things without cultivating one’s heart is not cultivation. Only by eliminating the self-interest of beings from the old universe, along with the various human attachments stemming from it and the distorted notions formed later in life, can we become beings of the new universe who are selfless, free from ego, and place others before ourselves.
By considering others, identifying our own shortcomings, and focusing on the strengths of others, we can accomplish our tasks smoothly and successfully. In this way, we can advance diligently along the path of cultivation and fulfill the vows we made before coming to this world.
Thank you, Master! Thank you, fellow practitioners!
My educational background and level of cultivation are limited; please kindly point out anything inappropriate.
(Selected submission for the 23rd China Fa Conference on Minghui.org)