(Clearwisdom.net)
Greetings, compassionate Teacher.
Greetings, fellow practitioners.
I started practicing Falun Dafa in 1996, and feel very fortunate to have come through many tribulations during my cultivation. With Teacher's protection, I am firmly striving forward on the path of Fa rectification and coming to realize my prehistoric vows.
In 1996, I was twenty-eight years old and was suffering from all kinds of diseases. The various prescribed long-term treatments had all failed. Soon after I began practicing Falun Dafa, all of my diseases were cured and my health miraculously recovered. Through studying the Fa I came to understand the true meaning of cultivation, as my life became very meaningful. After seeing the improved changes in my health, over ten family members and friends began to practice Falun Dafa.
After July 20, 1999, when the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Jiang's regime started its persecution of Falun Dafa, practitioners began to validate the Fa and clarify the truth to people in a variety of ways. Several practitioners and I put up posters such as "Falun Dafa is good," and "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good" around the city. We also printed truth clarification materials using a small photocopy machine. At that time, I owned a small business and decided to sell photocopy machines, because I thought that would be a very convenient way for making truth clarification materials. Teacher led many practitioners who wanted to produce informational materials to my shop. I noticed many familiar faces among those who came to my shop to buy photocopiers. None of them mentioned that they were practitioners, I could feel it, and although we had never met before, they looked very familiar.
When I opened my shop the economy in China was still poor, and people didn't have much money. I opened my business with borrowed money, and many practitioners helped my business by buying equipment and materials from me. Many veteran practitioners even contributed their earnings from collecting recycled waste materials, making shoe cushions and selling eggs. The cheapest photocopier that I sell costs around 2,600 to 2,700 yuan, and larger, more expensive copiers usually cost 10,000 to 20,000 yuan. It was not easy to come up with that much money. One materials site needed to purchase a large photocopier and needed money to help buy it. I contributed 1,000 yuan, and the next day, it turned out that my business earned an additional 1,000 yuan. Another time, I gave 500 yuan to help a practitioner install a computer. Several days later, my shop made an additional several hundred yuan. We truly felt the protection from Teacher all the time.
One time, a practitioner introduced another practitioner, an elderly lady in her sixties, from the countryside, to buy a photocopier from me. She brought 3,000 yuan, her whole life's saving, earned from selling crops, eggs and feeding pigs, and wanted to buy a photocopier worth 2,600 yuan. Seeing her coarse hands and determined eyes, I nearly burst into tears, and wished that I had the money to be able to give her the machine for free. Instead, I gave her some additional materials at no extra cost and told her, "I hope this machine will work for you until the day the Fa rectifies the human world!" She replied, "It certainly will. Thank you!" Due to the regular custom of Dafa practitioners, our business increased dramatically. We had to pay for delivery costs on a daily basis, and the manufacturer told us that we were their number one retailer in the whole province. We also found it amazing how much of the repair work we could undertake ourself, as at first we knew nothing about repairs, but then after a little research on it, we became quite competent.
My business was getting better and better, with more and more practitioners coming to my shop. Some even came from other cities and provinces. My shop also became a distribution center for truth clarification materials, and with so many practitioners coming and going, it felt like a home for some of them, and really helped resolve some of the distribution problems we had at that time. Sometimes we drove at night to rural areas to distribute materials. We had traveled far and wide, from a fisherman's village near the sea, and to the end of mountainous roads. We distributed hundreds and sometimes over a thousand copies before dawn. When I recall those times spent with practitioners, I feel very happy. Under Teacher's protection, our shop ran smoothly for over two years.
During that time, I was very busy and found myself slacking off in studying the Fa and practicing the exercises. I was too busy with doing other things, and developed many attachments. As a result, the evil took hold of the loophole I had created. The night before the CCP's Sixteenth People's Congress, I was arrested. Fellow practitioners immediately contacted each other through the Internet and sent forth righteous thought to rescue me. In the detention center, I refused to cooperate with the police. Every day, I memorized the Fa, practiced the exercises and sent forth righteous thoughts. One day, a policeman asked me, "Are you still practicing Falun Dafa?" To which I replied, "Yes. I practice every day." He then asked, "Are you still going to practice if you are sentenced to a forced labor camp?" Again, I replied, "Yes. As long as my head is still on my shoulders." Later, I found out that he was sent by practitioners to learn about my situation. One month later, I was released unconditionally. In the release papers it read, "Released due to lack of evidence."
When I returned home, the police ruthlessly went looking for my wife. People from the 610 Office told me that some practitioners in our area were listed as "targets to arrest," and they had found all of them, but not my wife. They promised me that if my wife turned herself in, they would not punish her. They put it in writing, and it was stamped by the Political and Legislative Committee for the area. Then they got a friend to notify me about it. We firmly refused to cooperate with them. I told my wife, "Let's defeat the evil." They even went to my wife's hometown, which was thousands of miles away, several times looking for her. But they never found her. Under Teacher's protection and help from fellow practitioners, we were able to move to another city and start a new life. During the process, there were many twists and turns and it was full of miracles.
We have not been back to our hometown for seven years. We miss fellow practitioners and our families there, but I thought to myself, for cultivators, anywhere can be our home. Yet in human society, nowhere can be our home. Our families are everywhere and they are all sentient beings who are waiting to be saved. As long as we can do the three things well, everything is possible.
After the many years of tribulations and experiences, with Teacher's compassionate protection, we have matured. Teacher, please don't worry. At the last moment of Fa rectification in the universe nothing can move our determined hearts. We will all firmly walk the path of cultivation and achieve our goal as practitioners in the Fa rectification period.
In order to validate the Fa, I wrote this in a hurry. Due to my limited understanding, please point out anything inappropriate.
Thank you, Teacher!
Thank you, fellow practitioners!
He Shi