Becoming Selfless and Saving Sentient Beings

(Minghui.org) I am a 70-year-old Falun Dafa practitioner from the countryside. I started practicing Falun Dafa in September 2012. Looking back on my cultivation journey, I am very thankful to Master Li (Falun Dafa’s founder), who has continually protected me. I’d like to report my cultivation experiences to Master.

Obtaining the Fa Miraculously

My friend Anne came to see me about some business in 2012. I always paid her well. She saw that I was kind and asked me if I practiced Falun Dafa. I told her that I didn’t, and asked her if she did, and who her Master was. When she said the name of her Master, I was surprised.

Why was I surprised? Falun Dafa hadn’t been made public when my grandmother was still alive. One day she said to me, “You look after me the most in my family. I’d like to tell you this story, and you should save our family members in the future. Your Master will be Li Hongzhi. We had a piece of cloth in yellow which had Master’s name written on it. It was confiscated during the Cultural Revolution.” I didn’t quite understand at the time. Though I was puzzled, I wrote down Master’s name on a piece of paper, folded it and put it in a box. Nothing happened after that for quite some time.

This incident jogged my memory. I asked Anne to lend me the main Falun Dafa text, Zhuan Falun. She took out a book without Master’s photo. I said that this wasn’t Master’s book. She gave me another book with Master’s photo and name on it. She asked me how I felt about the book after I had read one lecture. I told her that it was a book about how to become a good person. She asked me again after I finished the second lecture. I told her that I wasn’t going to pick it up again because I had diarrhea after reading the book. She laughed, and said, “You have a deep connection with Master. Master has looked after you. He is purifying your body for you.” I then continued reading the book. Shortly after that, Anne was persecuted. I then read the book, cultivated myself on and off, and tried to be a good person.

One day I saw a man in a street stall reading a book. I asked him what kind of book he was reading. He said it was a Falun Dafa book. He said he also practiced the Falun Dafa exercises. He agreed to teach me the exercise movements.

However, I felt that it was not appropriate for him to come to my home to teach me the exercises because I am single. I pleaded Master to send a female practitioner to teach me the exercises. One day on my way home from the market, I came across a female practitioner, Jane, who I knew previously. I have been connected with Falun Dafa since then.

Jane taught me the exercises and we studied the Fa together. I went out with her to clarify the truth to people. I was happy every day. Master purified my body. I previously suffered from a heart condition. I looked pale in my face and my lips were purple. I became a changed person after practicing Falun Dafa. I looked radiant and high-spirited. Most importantly, I have come to know the meaning of my life. For the first time in my life, I felt real happiness.

I spent all my spare time studying the Fa. The Fa-principles were continuously revealed to me. I cherished the cultivation opportunity very much and didn’t waste a second. I lived a very simple life so that I could spend all my spare time studying the Fa. I felt fulfilled and joy every day. I thanked Master for saving me.

Saving Sentient Beings Despite Hardships and Suffering

I listen to Master and try to fulfill my vows to save sentient beings. Because I obtained the Fa later in life, I started doing the three things as soon as I started practicing Falun Dafa. At the beginning, I distributed one flyer and one pamphlet a day. I was scared and my heart beat fast. Gradually, the practitioners gave me more flyers and pamphlets, and I could distribute them and be more at ease. Finally, I could distribute the materials by myself. Later on I found that many practitioners distributed materials in residential compounds and villages, but only a few practitioners were clarifying the truth to people face to face. I changed my way of clarifying the truth to people. I talked to people while I gave out the pamphlets and flyers and helped them withdraw from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated organizations.

I experienced joy, hardship, bitterness, and sourness during the process. Sometimes I wanted to relax a bit, but when I thought of Master’s Fa, I became more determined in my cultivation. Looking at the list of the peoples’ names who withdrew from the CCP and its affiliated organizations, I was very thankful to Master for his encouragement and felt very happy for those sentient beings. I went out to clarify the truth to people almost every day.

I am single and live a simple life. I tried to spend all my time cultivating myself and clarifying the truth to people to save them. When I pondered everything I had done, I realized that Master helped me do everything. It was indeed, “Cultivation depends on one’s own efforts, while the transformation of gong is done by one’s master.” (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun) I always felt that Master was by my side during the process.

I would like to share two stories. I went out to put up sticky posters with another practitioner one cold winter night. We had cotton gloves on, but our fingers still felt frozen. We had to take off our gloves to put up the posters, but we were not afraid of the cold and put them up one by one. Gradually, our hands no longer felt cold, and were actually warm and comfortable. We didn’t come home until all the sticky posters were put up. On our way home, we also didn’t feel cold. We were only hoping that the sentient beings would see our posters and that they would be blessed and stay safe.

I went to a park to clarify the truth at about 2 p.m. one January afternoon. I saw two women sitting on a bench near the river, so I went over to greet them. I told them how wonderful Falun Dafa is and the importance of the three withdrawals. I gave them the truth-clarification materials and they agreed to quit the CCP.

While I was leaving, a man on a motorcycle stopped in front of me and asked me the way. I told him how to get where he was going. As he was about to leave, I said, “Please stay a bit longer. I have an important thing to tell you.” I then clarified the truth to him and gave him the pamphlets. He accepted them happily and agreed to quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations. I asked him to tell his wife the facts so that she could stay safe. He said that his wife had passed away. I asked him to quit the CCP on her behalf. He then withdrew her membership from the Young Pioneers on her behalf. He was very thankful to me and Master.

There are also many other stories while I was clarifying the truth to people. Thank you, Master, for your saving grace!

Letting Go of Myself and Becoming a Coordinator

There was a large bout of persecution in our locale several years ago. I felt the heavy darkness high above the sky and didn’t know what to do. Many of the practitioners in my Fa study group and the practitioners I was in contact with were arrested. I had strong character and didn’t easily shed tears, but this time I couldn’t hold them back. Nonetheless, I sent forth righteous thoughts to dissolve the persecution. I pleaded to Master to help the arrested practitioners pass the tests with righteous thoughts and to help our local practitioners to form one body. The persecution shouldn’t impede our saving sentient beings. What should I do facing these hardships and tests? Master’s Fa appeared in my mind:

“The next person’s things are your things, and your things are his things.” (“Fa Teaching Given at the 2002 Conference in Washington, D.C.,” Collected Teachings Given Around the World Volume II)

Yes, Dafa practitioners are one body. We must listen to Master and steadily walk our cultivation paths.

Our materials production sites were also damaged during this time. Many practitioners were waiting for materials, and many sentient beings were waiting to be saved. I felt that we shouldn’t become less effective in saving sentient beings due to the persecution, or stop clarifying the truth to people. I knew Master didn’t want to see such a situation unfold in our area. I shouldn’t sit and wait, but should let go of fear and think of the sentient beings.

I went to a practitioner who was able to make materials. She had hidden the machines due to the large-scale arrests. I told her, “The evil’s persecution aims to damage our cultivation environment; we shouldn’t let it succeed. Your printer is also a particle of the Fa and came for Dafa. It wouldn’t be happy if you didn’t let it print.” She is a veteran practitioner who obtained the Fa before 1999 and had good enlightenment quality. She agreed to print materials immediately and not delay saving sentient beings. She accepted the responsibility enthusiastically and guaranteed the supply of the materials.

I went to see another Dafa project coordinator. The practitioner didn’t dare to continue the project, due to the persecution. I contacted several other practitioners and asked them to assume this task. I shared with them that we should do whatever Master asks us to do. There was a lot of other coordination work to do. I was so busy that I sometimes didn’t have time to eat or shower. Thanks to Master, our local projects ran in an orderly fashion.

Saving My Family Members

I regarded my daughter as a sentient being and let go of saving face or being overly attached to being her mother. I ultimately wanted to save her. I went through a difficult bout because of her.

I have three children. My middle daughter didn’t go to college, though her elder sister and younger brother graduated from college. She thought I owed her, and often gave me a hard time. I tried my best to look after her child to make up, but she didn’t accept it, and treated me as her enemy.

Due to a misunderstanding a while ago, she came to my home to smash everything like a lunatic. She found fault with me all the time. I worked for her like a slave. I cooked and washed the clothes for her and her child. In the frozen winter, she didn’t let me use the washing machine. I had to wash their clothes outside in the cold. My hands got cracked. When I realized I had resentment towards her, I rectified myself in the Fa.

One day I went to her room to take a rest and sat on the bed. She said that I would make the bed dirty, so I sat on the chair. She said that I should not move her chair, so I sat on a small stool. She didn’t let me sit, either. I had to go outside. My hair was a bit messy. I combed my hair outside. She came outside and shouted in front of many people that I was shameless combing my hair in front of so many people.

On another occasion she swore at me with her finger touching at my forehead. I felt so sad in my heart. I said to Master, “Master, I feel bitter in my heart!” Master gave me a hint for how to address this.

I know why I have come to this world. I shouldn’t resent my child; I need to save her. I might owe her from a previous life. I thought, she might be bearing karma for me and might be helping me improve. I shouldn’t be attached to my own feelings. I should regard the Fa as my teacher, assimilate to the Fa, let go of my notions, cultivate myself, and save my child. I must cultivate myself solidly and face her with a practitioner’s mindset. I must let her see that a Falun Dafa practitioner is a better person. No matter how she treated me, I did whatever I should do happily.

One day she came to my room. I said, “Daughter, thank you for helping me improve my xinxing. I know that you bore karma for me. You have had hard times as well.” She turned her face to one side in embarrassment. She covered her face with her hand and said, “I treat you badly, but you still thank me. Please don’t say more.” She changed from that moment on, and no longer badmouthed me. She has become respectful to the Fa. She asked me to take Master’s photo to her home and often bought fruit to pay respect to Master.

She was hot-tempered and often lost her temper with her husband and child. They were afraid of her. When her husband came home from a trip a while ago, he found that she had become gentle. He said to me, “Mom, you have changed your daughter a lot. You must have elevated to another level.” I said that it was the power of Falun Dafa. He hadn’t acknowledged Falun Dafa before, but now he’s changed, and agreed to quit the CCP.

My son-in-law bought me a golden bracelet before the New Year last year. My daughter knows I like lotus flowers because I practice Falun Dafa. She bought me a bracelet with three lotus flowers. I saw their respect for a practitioner and their support for me practicing Falun Dafa.

Thank you, Master, for your immense compassion!