My name is Xaofeng Zhang, I obtained Falun Dafa in Nov. 1996. Before that I learned Taiji for health reasons. And then because of the wide spreading of Qigong in Mainland China at that time, I had attended some Qigong lectures both in China and the United State. After attending numerous lectures on Qigong and practicing for a few years, my level of understanding of Qigong was still at the level of trying to find the connection between Qigong, man and the universe.

One day, I received an email which said there would be a video-showing at Harvard University on a lecture given by Master Li; And in this lecture, Master Li would reveal the relationships between Qigong, man and the universe from scientific perspective. That was just what I have been looking for, so I went to the show.

From the video lecture, I got two clear images that I can still remember vividly to this day. One is that heavenly paradises do exist; the other is that í De (morality)í is a real white substance that does exist in another dimension. After I got home, I printed the book <> from Internet right away. And when I finished reading the book, I really felt that it was a book from heaven. After that I went and attended the free 9-session video lecture seminar given by local practitioners. And following that, I was lucky enough to be able to attend the lectures given by Master Li in person in New York and then in San Francisco. Like many practitioners, I went through a jubilant period after obtaining Falun Dafa. The vast and intricate structure of the universe revealed by Master Li in the Dafa settled deeply into my heart and changed my whole picture of man and the universe.

However, true cultivation is not an easy task for me, it requires getting rid of bad things within oneself piece by piece and assimilating to the highest cosmic quality.

Now I would like to share with you a few of my cultivation experiences.

1. Defeating thought-karma:

For a long time, my thought karma interfered with me intensively. Whenever I started to read the book, study Fa or watch the video, my thought-karma would come out to interfere. It seemed the more I tried to get rid of them, the more it was stuck in my brain and it would not go. However, I understood that those bad things I had acquired in my earlier life caused it and I wanted to get rid of them. I recalled one day, when Master came out with a new article í Dao Lawí and while fighting with thought-karma, I kept on reading it and tried to memorize the article over and over again. Finally, When I was able to recite the article. I found my mind became clear and clean, thought-karma had disappeared. Ever since, although the thought-karma will re-surface once a while, they became weaker and weaker and bother me less and less.

2. Change human mentality and get rid of attachment:

Being interested in Qigong many years and coming from a science research background, I was still chasing after knowledge and wished I could experience some of miracles myself. At the very beginning, Master Li did let me experienced a few things to strengthen my belief. For example, one night in a dream, I saw my body undergo a change when "GuanDing (Fill energy from top)" process happened. In another morning, when I was too lazy to get up after waking up, I saw another me get up and sit on the floor start to practice the fifth exercise of tranquil meditation. When I asked him:" what are you doing there, our system is to cultivate main consciousness". He then replied: "As you are not willing to do the exercise, I will do it."

As I kept on pursuing the paranormal experiences, the fewer these experiences became. Through studying the Fa, I gradually realized the attachment and I understood the foundation of a cultivator should not be built at the rewards of this current lifetime and this flesh human body. Our goal should be to return to our Original True Self and going back to the most beautiful, most splendid world we originally came from.

When I first started to study the Fa. I often had questions about some paragraphs in the book due to my strong notions of a common person. After some time, one day I suddenly found that the whole book fit together as one piece. And after some time again, I found that whenever there were some doubts I had while reading, it was always caused by one of my attachments.

3. Maintaining outdoor exercise practice:

I have been doing the exercises in the Boston Common for almost two years. When I first started to do the exercises in the morning, I found perhaps it was with the help from Master's Fashen, I was able to wake up on time easily. However, It was not easy for me to continue so as time goes by.There are mosquitoes in the summer and the chilling wind in the winter. At the same time, I also had to overcome some common people's notions such as: Do I have enough sleep? Is it safe to do the exercise in the dark morning? Would my colleague laugh at me if they saw me doing the exercise? My understanding of the Fa that supports me doing my morning exercises comes from the article "Environment". In the article, Master Li says: "The cultivation form that I have left for the Dafa disciples is the assurance for the disciples to be able to raise their levels indeed. For example, I ask you to go to the park and practice the exercises together so as to develop an environment, which is the best way to change the surface of a person." And also Master Li mentioned in the lecture in Geneva that we usually spread Dafa through two ways, one is to practice outdoor, the other is to let our books be available in the bookstores. Since practicing outdoors benefits both for spreading Dafa and my own practice, I surely should keep it going.

During this period, my family had moved to a different town and I had to walk over 20 minutes to the subway station and then take the subway for another 15 minutes to get to the practice site. I was lazy and said to myself that maybe I should do the exercises at home. Because at home, I can save the time I have to walk to the subway station and also I can extend the sitting meditation time as long as I can. Then one day I read a sentence from article " Purging Demonic Nature." Master Li said: í How can you reach completion if you can not even get rid of the attachment to yourself." I understood that my behavior was too selfish. I then resumed my morning exercises in the park again. One of the by-products of my morning practice is that I can start my work early in the company everyday. And I feel energetic at work the whole day.

4. Be firm on Dafa: Since the beginning of the brutal crack down of Falun Gong in China, a variety of messages flooded in from all the sources. There were some messages that confused me for a few days. One day, I suddenly recalled the story of Buddha Mileriba's cultivation process, then a concept arose to me: whatever Master does is for the benefits of the disciples, and then my confusion dissolved. And when I later found out that most of the messages were fabricated, I was totally relieved. After this experience, I became more firm on Dafa and Master Li. I know that no matter what will happen in the future, I will stick to Falun Dafa to the end firmly.

Thanks.