(Clearwisdom.net) I am thirty-one years old and have been serving time in jail for eight years due to a crime I committed. Three years ago, I took a three-hour-long class on Falun Gong for the first time. I did not feel that this exercise could do much to change me.
Three years later, Falun Gong returned to Ludao Jail. The difference this time was that each participant would have to attend the class for ten days. I did not want to go, but there was a force pushing me to the class. I did not know why this force was around me all the time until after I listened to the first session.
Before cultivating in Falun Gong, I was searching for something. I felt there was something missing in my heart. Sometimes, even if I felt I had caught something for a brief moment, I still felt unsettled in my heart. It was like a drop of water on the dry, hot desert: the drop couldn't help any and the desert was as dry as before. I read what Master wrote in Zhuan Falun,
"Nothing is as profound as BUDDHA LAW. Of all teachings in the world it is the most wondrous and highest science. To open up this field, ordinary people have to fundamentally change their way of thinking. Failing that, the reality of the universe will forever remain something of a myth to mankind, and ordinary people will forever grope around inside the box created by their own ignorance." ("On Buddha Law", Zhuan Falun)
After just a few brief sentences, I was stunned. I finally found the answer that I had been looking for. I like the idea of improving xinxing with "Zhen-Shan-Ren" - Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.
The more important part of life is to cultivate the mind and eliminate karma.
From the past to the present, people have been seeking the truth or teachers who could teach them the purpose of life. In recent years people have joined this group or that group, yet they could not find their path and got more confused.
Then I thought of "The Buddha's Law." The meaning of the word "Buddha" is "enlightened being." The Buddha's Law is the law that "enables people to become enlightened."
In the past, I did not see any difference between a religious practice and daily life. I believed if I lived an honest and serious life, it would be a cultivator's life. However, in "Perfect Harmony" in Essentials for Further Advancement, Master wrote,
"As a cultivator, you should first of all let go of every attachment and conform to the ways of human society, as this is maintaining the Fa's manifestation at a certain level. If no one performed the human jobs the Fa at this level would cease to exist."
Master already explained that cultivation is the process of continuously eliminating attachments and upgrading xinxing.
On this cultivation path, sometimes I have deeply felt that I did not do well on some tests. Sometimes I have even argued with others over tiny things. I did not act like a Dafa practitioner. Then I thought of Master's teaching reminding me to conduct myself all times so as to demonstrate the best of a Dafa practitioner during the Fa-rectification period. I should take the Fa as the most important thing and give up the attachment for gain and human notions so that I will be able to upgrade my xinxing.
I will continue my cultivation and no longer have any hesitation.