Restarting My Cultivation Practice

In 1997 my mother brought home videotapes of Teacher's Fa lectures in Guangzhou, as well as a copy of Zhuan Falun. I watched the videotapes with my mother and gradually developed an understanding of Falun Gong. I realized the meaning of life and became a Falun Gong practitioner.

While I was watching the part about the Celestial Eye in Lecture Two in the video, I felt a power digging into my forehead. I knew Teacher was opening my Celestial Eye. As I continued to study the Fa and practice the exercises, I felt Teacher repeatedly doing guanding to me to purify my body. I could feel it. My body underwent repeated transformations. In the past, I often felt weak and lost consciousness for no reason, but these problems disappeared without a trace. Although I found the explanations in Zhuan Falun to be quite mysterious and was even sceptical about them, I had a steadfast faith that Teacher must be right. Due to the lack of understanding of the Fa, I felt very lucky because I would be spared from any disaster. I thanked Teacher from the bottom of my heart.

My mother also went through a lot of changes. Due her steadfast belief in Teacher and the Fa, she was cured of her rheumatoid arthritis and diabetes and she began to regain her energy. My father, a middle school teacher, had been severely poisoned by the Chinese Communist Party culture and atheism. He refused to believe anything outside of his domain of knowledge. He often made fun of my mother. In addition, he read Zhuan Falun in order to try to find faults and loopholes, but he failed to find anything wrong with it. When he witnessed the improvement in my mother's health, he found it miraculous and gradually dropped his opposition to Falun Gong. However, his attitude changed when the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) started its suppression of Falun Gong. My father was traumatized by the Cultural Revolution. For fear of the potential persecution that might befall my mother, he destroyed her entire collection of Teacher's Fa-lecture videotapes. By doing so, he committed a horrible sin. (He passed away in the beginning of 2004.) My father coerced my mother to give him all of her Falun Gong books. After that, she became ill again.

I had my own set of Falun Gong books. My wife and I hid them after the persecution began and stopped practicing Falun Gong altogether. However, I could never forget about Falun Gong. Occasionally I would tell people about Falun Gong. As time passed by, my memory of Falun Gong diminished. We stopped practicing Falun Gong for four and a half years.

Yet, Teacher didn't give up on us. In March 2004, my wife returned home from work and produced a DVD that someone had dropped in the basket on her bicycle. We played the DVD, only to find it was a short film revealing the truth about the CCP's hate propaganda against Falun Gong, including the staged self-immolation at Tiananmen Square and the homicide of Fu Yibin. The DVD also included footage showing that Falun Gong is popular around the world. I felt as though I had waken up from a nightmare. This film renewed my memory of Falun Gong. I decided to study the Fa and practice Falun Gong again. My wife found the set of Falun Gong books that had been hidden for years. I suggested to my mother that we resume our cultivation practice and she agreed right away.

This is how we returned to our Falun Gong practice. Over the next few months, my wife also started to study Zhuan Falun and learn the exercises. She started to follow the Fa and became a Falun Gong practitioner. Because we failed to get in touch with fellow practitioners, we cultivated by ourselves at first.

In July 2004, I was given several URLs when I chatted on the Internet. I checked out the websites to find that they are secure links to Falun Gong websites. I learned a lot from these websites and learned what really is going on outside of China. I learned to access the Minghui (Chinese version of Clearwisdom) website, and I downloaded all the Falun Gong books and articles, as well as Teacher's Fa-lecture audios and videos. I also learned to bind Falun Gong books and articles. Since then, we have been able to read Teacher's new articles, understand the severity of the persecution of Falun Gong in China, and learn what Falun Gong practitioners around the world have been doing to end the persecution.

As I studied Teacher's articles, I gradually understood the true reason why Falun Gong practitioners descended to the human realm and the responsibility of Falun Gong practitioners in the Fa-rectification period. I realized that we are supposed to follow Teacher's requirements. Teacher said,
"With validating the Fa, you should save the world's people and do well the three things Dafa disciples are supposed to do." ("In Fa-Rectification Your Thoughts Have to be Righteous, Not Human")

I downloaded the truth-clarification film "Prevailing Over Storm" from Minghui.org. After the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party was published, I downloaded it and its audio book, as well as the truth-clarification materials about quitting the CCP and its two affiliated youth organizations. I burned the audio book onto CDs and printed the materials to turn them into booklets. I started to search for opportunities to distribute them. This is how I made my first step to validate the Fa. Nowadays, my wife prints truth-clarification messages on all the paper currency we spend. I send text messages to mobile phones with secure URLs to Falun Gong websites. Because of my fear, I have not started to clarify the truth to people face to face. I feel ashamed for it. Now that I think of it, it has to do with fundamental faith in Teacher. I must purge this fear.

I can feel Teacher watching over me during my cultivation practice. It is just as Teacher said in Zhuan Falun:

"My fashen know everything--they know everything on your mind, and they can do anything. They will not take care of you if you do not practice cultivation. If you practice cultivation, they will help you all the way to the end." ("Guanding" in Lecture Four of Zhuan Falun)

Everyone in my family has had miraculous experiences that made them realize the infinite grace of the Fa. I would like to share a few stories.

One day when I was about to leave work, I felt restless. I felt strongly that I should go to see my parents-in-law. I wondered why I needed to go see them when I had no reason to, but I went see them anyway. (Normally my wife, my son, and I go to see my parents-in-law on the weekend.) My parents-in-law were not home. I opened the door and stood in their home. It was dark, but I didn't think of turning the light on. Suddenly I heard a noise that sounded like the hiss of air. I followed the noise to the kitchen only to find that gas was leaking from the stove. I turned off the gas and opened all windows and doors to air out the house. After about 20 minutes my in-laws returned home. They were surprised to see me. It turned out that they had been out for several hours. I was shocked. It had been hours, and the gas must have filled the entire house. It would have been horrific if they had turned on the light. I knew Teacher had saved us from a disaster.

One evening in the fall of 2005, my mother and I went for a walk after dinner. I was walking in front of my mother when I suddenly heard a noise behind me. I turned and saw that she had fallen onto concrete. She collapsed on her side. I hurried to help her get up, but she stood up on her own right away and told me, "I am fine." Then she continued to follow me. After we returned home, I saw nicks and cuts on my mother's right elbow. She didn't have any injury elsewhere. My mother was 79 years old at the time. She would have had a fracture if she had not practiced Falun Gong. I wrapped the cut with gauze but I didn't use any topical medicine. Mother and I both knew it was Teacher that protected her from major harm. In less than a week the wound completely healed.

One day I was driving to work when I passed through an intersection. I didn't see a car coming from the other direction. By the time I noticed the car it was right in front of me, only about a meter away. I slammed on the brakes, but I felt I had already hit the car. My mind went blank. When I finally came to my senses, the car was already more than 10 meters away. It turned out that I didn't hit the car. I knew Teacher had protected me from harm, and yet I had paid the karmic debt.

I am highly appreciative of the Minghui webite for giving fellow practitioners a channel for those of us in China to be able to exchange our cultivation insights and encourage each other to improve our cultivation practice. Teacher said,
"History's progression to this point today has not been easy, fraught as it's been with hardship and ups and downs. From ancient times till today, the multitude of gods have been watching and closely following this affair, and are paying particular attention at this final phase." ("Fa Teaching at the 2008 New York Conference")

Those fellow practitioners who have not done well, please remember that Teacher has been waiting for us with compassion and he is giving us and the sentient beings opportunities. Do not miss this transient opportunity that comes once in eternity. It is just as Teacher said,

"Save your sentient beings, fulfil your great prehistoric vows, and make good on the pledges you made!"
("Greetings")