Shared by a practitioner from Sweden at the 2002 European Fa Conference in Copenhagen
Hello Everyone!
First of all I would like to give my best greetings to our great Master and all Dafa Disciples!
My name is Thomas. I come from Sweden. I am 18 and soon will be 19. Right now I am studying in my last year in high school. I started to practise Falun Dafa in 1998 when I was about 14 years old. Actually it is my mother who had been to a health fair where she had bought a book called Zhuan Falun for me. I started to read it. In the beginning I thought that it was difficult to understand, but gradually after reading the book more times I understood that this was something very special. It is the true principles of the universe!
I am very happy that I had started so young. It has taught me to behave as a truly good person. Sometimes it has been very tough to cultivate when you are young because the environment among young people today is very tough and many commit all sorts of bad deeds. But one should treasure the opportunity to practise cultivation in a difficult environment.
To practise Falun Gong has improved my health a lot. My body felt very light shortly after I started to practise. It is difficult to express the joy and good fortune about being able to practise Dafa in this very special period of time. It is also an enormous responsibility to be a Dafa disciple during the Fa-rectification period.
I wish to share with you some of my understandings and my experiences about clarifying the truth, studying the Fa and sending forth righteous thoughts.
When the persecution of Falun Dafa began in 1999 I felt a bit confused and I felt very sad in my heart. I was unsure about the reason why the persecution started and I didn't really know what was right to do. I often thought: Could it be our karma or was it the old forces' interference? However, I felt all the time that it was wrong to be passive when the great law of the universe was being attacked.
In the beginning I thought that it was a little bit uncomfortable to take part in Hongfa activities in public places, because sometimes people would laugh at us or make strange comments. I started to search inwards and I found that the reason was fear and lack of determination and belief in Master and Dafa. Actually there was nothing to be afraid of when one practises Dafa. How can one be afraid when one practises the great law of the universe? It is just a question of Xinxing. Through reading more I broke through this fear that was an attachment that the old forces were making use of to prevent me from stepping forward to validate the Fa.
While doing Dafa work, I have discovered my impure sides and motives. When we were collecting signatures during the UN meeting in Geneva I was often in a shopping centre by myself to collect signatures. I thought that it was very good that people could sign their names for Dafa. In other dimensions it certainly means a lot for that person and more evils will be eliminated. But I had selfish thoughts. I wanted to collect many signatures so that I could get a lot of mighty virtue for myself and show off to other practitioners. I didn't have a heart of compassion. As a result it didn't go very smoothly.
In Zhuan Falun I read "In offering salvation to people, there is no condition or consideration for cost, reward, or fame. They are thus far nobler than the heroes of everyday people. They do it completely out of their benevolent compassion." I understood that to do something for Dafa you must have a heart of great Compassion. When I changed my heart, collecting signatures went much more smoothly. I think during the whole process of clarifying the truth and saving people it is very important to search inwards for what kind of motives and heart we have. If we are not upright the old forces will find loopholes and cause problems and interference.
Even when I would write an experience-sharing article I discovered that I had impure motives and thoughts that absolutely are not assimilated to the characteristics of the universe. I wanted to show off and really come with very special understandings and experiences so that others would find that I was a great practitioner. When I read the article, "The Fa-conference," "Meanwhile we should avoid practising superficial boasting- something which derives from everyday people's theoretical studies. No one should compile, with the intention of showing off, articles in the style of official reports and then deliver them in some large public speech." I understood that as a practitioner you should unconditionally share your understandings. And even if it is only one other cultivator who benefits from hearing your understandings, it is definitively worth it.
As Dafa disciples during the Fa rectification period I feel that we have a very big responsibility. We are actually representing Dafa. What we say and what we do cannot be two different things. I think that one of the best ways to clarify the truth to an everyday person is to show the goodness and kindliness that the cultivation of Falun Dafa gives. An everyday person's heart will surely be touched by such goodness and compassion and this person will without doubt disapprove of the evil persecution. In "Rationality," Master wrote: "All of this is your goodness (Shan) made manifest, and it is what the evil fears most, as those who attack goodness are bound to be evil." Then I think that it is extremely important to have compassion when we clarify the truth. The people of the world will be able to see the evil clearly when it is exposed by our mighty compassion. People will without hesitations resist the evil, because they can clearly see the difference between the evil and our great compassion.
In the article, "A Brief Explanation of Compassion (Shan)," " Therefore, a cultivator must cultivate Shan and become assimilated to the cosmos' quality, Zhen-Shan-Ren." So I think when clarifying the truth or doing anything for the Fa it has to come from our pure hearts.
Many modern people nowadays are very practical and busy thinking about their own fame and gain, and have the understanding that seeing is believing. They are actually very unhappy. Then if we really can show them our goodness they will see with their own eyes that Falun Gong is something really good. So when we clarify the truth to ordinary people I think that it is extremely important that we maintain our Xinxing and behave well.
When I was distributing flyers I would be sad sometimes if people didn't want to accept them and sometimes I would be very happy when people accepted flyers and said some friendly words. I understood that this was caused by my attachments. What did I really want from people? Did I really have the heart to save them or did I actually want their approval, appreciation, friendly words or understanding? Even doing it for raising my own cultivation level is wrong. Now I try to have a heart of compassion and do it for the Fa and for their own good.
For a long time I have understood how extremely important it is to study the Fa. Sometimes it got a bit slow when I was reading Zhuan Falun. All the time I wanted to get new understandings and insights, which are my attachments. I later experienced that to study the Fa with a tranquil mind is important because you cannot know higher Fa-principles if you have a mind that is unstable and full of pursuits.
It is extremely important that a practitioner who does a lot of things for the Fa pay emphasis on studying the Fa. Sometimes I think that the evil forces can find a loophole while we are busy doing Dafa work and prevent us from using the time well to study. I think that they know that if a Dafa disciple does things for the Fa without paying emphasis on studying the Fa they can find the loopholes and cause interference. In "Teaching the Fa at the Washington D.C. Fa Conference, July 22, 2002," Master said: "To do well is to not walk down the path arranged by the old forces; the goal is to not allow the old forces to take advantage of your gaps." In "Towards Consummation:" "The only way to prevent the old, evil forces from taking advantage of the gaps in your mind is to make good use of your time to study the Fa."
The excuse of being too busy for not studying the Fa is a sign of weak determination. I think the evil forces will use our weak determination to cause interference, so that we think that we have less time than what we really have. We should never forget that mind and matter are the same thing. If the Fa is not in our minds how can we do things according to Dafa? And if we can't do things well we are not being responsible for the Fa.
During my cultivation I have experienced that the pursuit of comfort is something that slows down my progress. In lecture four of Zhuan Falun it is written, "What everyday people want is personal gain and how to live well and comfortably. Our practitioners are not this way, but exactly the opposite". Once I planned to go to a small city to do Hongfa for about two hours. The weather was very cold because it was in mid winter and the bus trip would take about two hours. Some thoughts came up: "Don't go, stay at home, its too hard." When the thoughts came up I recalled what I had read in the article, "Fa-rectification Period Dafa Disciples:" "If you are still unclear about what a Fa-rectification disciple is, you won't be able to step forward in the current tribulation, and you will be led by the human world's pursuit of comfort to 'enlighten' along an evil path." With this in my mind I went to that city without hesitation. It is such a responsibility to be a Fa-rectification disciple. At the same time it is such an honour because this will be the only time in the history of cosmos that such a big responsibility and honour will be given to anyone. I should make full use of this opportunity!
In the beginning I mostly took part in group-activities. If somebody arranged an activity I took part in it. And if no practitioner arranged any activity I didn't do much either. Later I understood that this was very wrong. So I started to do more things by myself when I felt that it was important to take my own initiatives.
Now when I take part in a group activity or do something for the Fa on my own I always ask myself: Why do I do it? And then I give myself a clear understanding based on my understanding of Fa. It doesn't matter if one walks the path alone or with others, one must still have a clear understanding. When I have a clear understanding from my heart I really feel that what I am doing is really upright. We are all one body, and we are all Dafa particles. To really do well as a body in the Fa rectification I think that it is important that we have a clear understanding and go along our paths well.
Sometimes when I would send forth righteous thoughts many human thoughts came up. For example I still can't see anything with my celestial eye. I read in "Why One Cannot See," "Enlightening comes before seeing...Yet with or without seeing, an exceptional person can depend on his enlightening to complete cultivation." I understood that even if I can't see I can have my strong and determined faith in the Fa to send forth righteous thoughts. When I recite the Fa-rectification formulas from my heart it feels very powerful.
This is what I will share today according to my current understanding. Let's all walk our paths well during this Fa-rectification period.
Thank You!
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Category: Journeys of Cultivation
