PureInsight | May 23, 2005
[PureInsight.org] I live in a farming village in a remote area of Sichuan Province, China. I once felt prejudice towards fellow practitioners in my area. Half of them are elderly folks in the age between 50 and 80. Most of them have little education and, thus, have difficulty in reading newspapers or journals. Besides, they have a lot of attachments. I often wondered when they could upgrade their xinxing and fulfill their important historic mission of offering Teacher's salvation to the sentient beings in our area. Later I realized that I looked down at fellow practitioners because I had prejudice and that I thought I was better at cultivation practice because I had superiority complex. The truth is that all fellow practitioners have their respective merits and we are all trying to cultivate ourselves.
Fellow practitioner A is 76 years old. She has been practicing Falun Gong for nine years. Her husband has already passed away. She has a strong attachment to wealth and sentimentality, but she cultivates very well in some other aspects. For example, she passed each and every test in the form of "sickness karma" with flying colors. She firmly believes that it is impossible for cultivators to have any sickness. She once suffered from a severe fever and cold sweats. She completely denied the demonic interference in disguise of sickness karma. She continued to distribute truth-clarification materials in the nearby villages and towns. One an ulcer grew on the bottom of one of her feet. It festered and a hole of flesh came off. She ignored the ulcer and kept distributing truth-clarification materials as if nothing had happened. Chinese people normally believe in traditional Chinese medicine and the theory of the Five Elements that maintains a patient should avoid certain types of food. She refuses to be subject to the everyday people's theory of medicine. She would have whatever she liked when she was under attacks from demons from other dimensions. Each time the demons would come and disappear swiftly.
Fellow practitioner B is a member of the local Political Committee. She was the first person who obtained the Fa in our area, but she was also the first to give up her cultivation practice when Jiang Zemin and the CCP started to openly persecute Falun Gong practitioners. For a few years following July 20, 1999, B has been terribly ill. In 2004 she even had to be carried up and down the stairs. When she was about to die, practitioner A visited her and gave her Falun Gong books and truth-clarification materials. She spent a lot of time persuading B to resume her Falun Gong cultivation practice. Finally B started practicing Falun Gong again. As B resumed studying the Fa and practicing Falun Gong exercises, her illness disappeared without any trace. Once B was sitting in front of her home studying a Falun Gong's book when her neighbor, the General Secretary of the village, saw the Falun Gong book in her hands and snatched it from her. The secretary said, "You are a member of the Political Committee. How can you read Falun Gong's books?" She grabbed the book back immediately and said, "I want to read Falun Gong's books. If you want my job, you are welcome to take it." The man raised his voice and threatened her, "I am going into town to report you!" She replied, "Go ahead. I will be here waiting for your return." The man went as far as the entrance of the town and returned without reporting B. When the man saw B reading a Falun Gong's book, he wanted to stop her at first. Then he thought for a moment and sighed, "It's none of my business. I am responsible for XX (another Falun Gong practitioner.)" B smiled and said in sarcasm, "You are responsible for XX? Are you her son or her grandson? Are you responsible for her food or her clothes?" The man was furious but was unable to make any rebuttal. B has been very diligent in her cultivation practice since she resumed practicing Falun Gong. She has never neglected the Three Things that Teacher requires of us, especially clarifying the truth about Falun Gong. B is very eloquent and has a tongue sharper than a guillotine. B would go to each and every local Buddhist temple fair, but she did not offer incense or bow to the Buddha statues. She went to the Buddhist temple fairs to clarify the truth to the worshippers attending the fairs. She would tell them that those who try to become increasingly better people by practicing Falun Gong are now suffering from the Chinese Communist Party's persecution. Then she would offer them a small card with such a message as, "Those who treat Falun Gong with kindness will be blessed by heaven." The worshippers were all very glad to accept the cards. Several people have started practicing Falun Gong because of B's Fa-promoting efforts. Some of these new practitioners were highly educated.
Fellow practitioner C normally has a strong attachment to fear, but recently she courageously volunteered to teach a group of new practitioners the Falun Gong exercises. When veteran fellow practitioners wanted to meet new practitioners, C asked them not to. She said, "New Falun Gong practitioners have a long way to go to upgrade their xinxing. There is no telling what they might do. For the safety of veteran practitioners, it's better not to meet them yet." C protects the safety of other veteran practitioners and put herself in the most visible and most dangerous spot.
Fellow practitioner D is an honest and sincere woman. She looks very ordinary. She is a very reticent person. When fellow practitioners talk to each other, she mostly just listens and does not say anything. She has a very good stamina and is even more capable of farming than young farmers. One day she was plucking weeds alone on the mountain, her body started to rise to the air when she threw her arm to get rid of a handful of weeds. Then she landed in the middle of thorny bushes. She thought she ought to get out of the bushes, and then her body floated up to the air again. She has never showed off her supernormal ability of levitation. She only mentioned this incident to a fellow practitioner. This means that D has developed a good understanding of the Fa. She once looked at my face and told me there are Faluns rotating on my face. I smiled and asked, "Are you sure there is nothing wrong with your vision?" She only told me solemnly, "I can identify a Falun when I see one." Then she did not say anything else to defend herself. Her husband has not started practicing Falun Gong and has a strong attachment to lust. Her husband often goes to the whorehouse and gives allowances to prostitutes to please them. D has never been angry with her husband. When she practices Falun Gong's sitting meditation, her husband often says to her indignantly, "Why do you often sit there still practicing Falun Gong? One day I will bury you alive when you sit still on the ground." She has never been intimidated or lost her temper because of his threat. D gradually won her son and her daughter-in-law's approval and good opinion because of her good health, diligence and tolerance. Each time her son heard another Falun Gong practitioner had been unlawfully arrested, he would become very angry and condemn the CCP for its insanity. Over the time, her husband noticed that many everyday people developed strange diseases. Some of them died and others are tormented by their illnesses, causing a lot of strain on their family members. In comparison, he noticed that D has never been ill and has created a lot of revenues for the family. He started to feel guilty for being nasty to his wife. One day he even gave a 50 yuan allowance to D, the first allowance he has ever given her! In addition, D saves up each allowance that her daughter-in-law gives her, ranging from three to five yuan. When she saves 100 yuan, she exchanges the small bills for a one-hundred yuan bill and insists on donating the money to be used on making truth-clarification materials.
All of these fellow practitioners I have mentioned are elderly women. Because of their steadfast belief in Teacher and Falun Gong, they have been keeping the blue sky from collapsing for the past six years since Jiang Zemin and the CCP started persecuting Falun Gong practitioners in July 20, 1999. As a result, Falun Gong continues to spread in our area. On the day of the Chinese New Year of 2005, we had a local Falun Gong cultivation experience sharing conference. More than 20 new and veteran practitioners attended the conference. After we studied the Fa together, we started sharing our cultivation experiences. We talked about our experiences of sending forth righteous thoughts, paying more attention to security, clarifying the truth about Falun Gong and many other subjects related to cultivation practice. It was an excellent conference. A married couple has recently obtained the Fa. When they heard there would be a cultivation experience sharing conference on the Chinese New Year, they hurried to our area but did not find the location. They regretted missing the opportunity. A young woman who recently obtained the Fa was able to borrow a copy of Zhuan Falun at the conference and left the area, satisfied, for a part-time job.
I realized that our speeches and actions that are not in compliance with the Fa are part of trials and errors in our cultivation practice. We will continue to improve and rectify ourselves through these trials and errors.
I wrote this article with enormous respect and admiration for my fellow practitioners. Please kindly point out anything inappropriate.
Translated from: http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2005/5/12/32312.html
