(Clearwisdom.net) I started practicing Falun Gong at the end of 1996. In the past nine years, I have steadfastly believed in Teacher and persistently walked the path of validating the Fa. Teacher renews my life and allows me to be a cultivator of the new universe, walking the path towards godhood. I sincerely appreciate Teacher's compassionate salvation and His infinite grace.
1. A Precious Chance to Meet Teacher Makes Me Diligent
I obtained the Fa early, but I didn't study the Fa well. My enlightenment quality was poor and I had a tendency to seek a comfortable life. I was lazy and couldn't understand the Fa from the Fa's perspective; therefore I was far from being diligent.
Things changed on July 29, 1998, a day I'll never forget. It was sunny without a cloud in the sky and the Buddha light illuminated everywhere. Around 9:30 a.m. at a county temple, I met Teacher. When another person and I were introduced as His practitioners, Teacher happily shook hands with us. I immediately showed my respect with a heshi gesture (hands pressed together at one's chest). At that moment I felt I was being cleansed in Teacher's mighty grace, and that I was most fortunate and honored. I couldn't keep from shedding tears of happiness. Teacher is tall, compassionate and peaceful, and I will never forget His demeanor. He patiently answered each and every question we raised about cultivation. I remember clearly when a practitioner asked, "Teacher, when will you come back again to this county?" Teacher answered, "Don't I have to pick you up from here one day? Residents in this county have great predestined relationships." This short reply carried Teacher's expectations for us. It continuously encourages me and pushes me forward. I am submerged in a wonderful memory every time I think of it.
From then on I became diligent on the path of cultivation. I joined a Fa study group and persisted in studying the Fa and practicing the five Falun Gong exercises every day. I was able to read through Zhuan Falun and memorize Lunyu and Hong Yin. I enlightened to a lot of Fa principles. My xinxing improved as I took my first steps on the path of cultivation.
During the period of July 20, 1999, because of the overwhelming evil terror, the attack on and suppression of Falun Gong in China by the evil old forces, the pressure from the company I worked for, and not studying the Fa well enough, I was seriously fearful and turned in my Falun Gong books and Teacher's picture. I also signed the so-called Repentance Statement and the Guarantee Statement, which no cultivator should do. I felt terribly sorry to Teacher and Dafa. Although I later submitted a "Solemn Declaration" (1), I still regret it deeply today. "Fear" and "seeking comfort" prevented me from studying the Fa and practicing the exercises. I was diagnosed with serious diabetes and trapped in a painful and helpless state.
Through Teacher's compassionate hints, I returned to the Fa in October of 1999. When I once again heard Teacher's lecture, tears covered my face, and I felt the warmth of coming home. I persisted in studying 1 or 2 lectures of Zhuan Falun a day. I also re-read Essentials for Further Advancement, Teacher's new lectures from the Fa-rectification period, and Guiding the Voyage every 1 or 2 months.
Studying the Fa with a clear head enabled me to do well the three things Teacher requires of us. My xinxing was ascending and improving, and my body was being adjusted. Twice when reading Zhuan Falun I saw each and every character glowing. I also saw many wonderful and magnificent scenes in my dreams, which I will not describe here. I realized that all this was Teacher's compassionate encouragement, which solidified my belief in Teacher. Every time I slacked off a little bit, I reminded myself of the special honor of being able to meet Teacher, and I could feel that Teacher has always been by my side to encourage and strengthen me. Now my mind is so purified and I am completely free of illness. I've tried my best to devote myself to the torrent of Fa-rectification. Teacher said:
"Oh how many the years, looking for the master,
Finally the day has arrived to meet him.
Cultivate and return, the Fa now gained,
And follow your master to return, consummated."
("Destined Return for the Holy Fruition" in Hong Yin)
This poem by Teacher always encourages me to be more diligent.
2. What I Enlightened to When Faced with Illness Symptoms
One day in September 2005, during an important period of saving sentient beings along with the progress of the immense flow of Fa-rectification, my eyes felt uncomfortable and discharged from time to time right after I woke up. I looked in the mirror and found my mouth misaligned and left eyelid drooping. A thought popped up at once: "What's wrong? How ugly I look this way! How can I go out and clarify the truth about Falun Gong? What should I do if I don't recover soon?" I was upset and anxious and treated it as an illness. I even decided to go to the hospital that very day for acupuncture, thinking, "Acupuncture cures it in days, anyway. It's not taking medicine. Better not delay the work I'm doing in saving people and clarifying the truth about Falun Gong." I called my classmate and asked for help. She brought me some medicine to rub on my face and told me, "You'd better believe in science." My husband also said to me, "It's alright, you can use some at night. Nobody sees it, and besides, it's not taking medicine." He called our daughter who is working away from home. She worried about my "sickness" and called me and pushed me to get a CT scan to see if there was any "illness" inside my brain. I called up my friend in the city and asked her over to do acupuncture for me. Someone advised me to use a vinegar mixture to heat up the sick area. I was totally trapped in human notions during those days.
I looked inward, wondering, "Why was such a big gap exploited by the evil when I was still doing the three things and didn't even feel that I was doing poorly? I decided to calm my mind and study the Fa. Teacher said:
"You have no way to cultivate if you don't know the Law at high levels, and if you don't cultivate inward, if you don't cultivate your character, your gong won't increase." (Zhuan Falun)
I enlightened to the truth that we are cultivators walking on the path towards godhood. The Fa requires us to look inward and cultivate inward when we face problems. I'm a particle of the Fa and therefore supernormal. How could I seek everyday peoples' means of curing illness? When looking inward, I found some attachments and unrighteous thoughts.
First, my righteous thoughts were not strong enough. When "sickness" occurred, I did not deny it with righteous thoughts, nor did I disintegrate it with the Fa's law of "cultivators don't get sick." Instead I was trapped in the unrighteous state of "what should I do if it doesn't get better?" and "How could I go out and clarify the truth about Falun Gong while looking like this?" Actually, I acknowledged old force's arrangement.
In addition, I had not been compassionate enough towards fellow practitioners. From time to time I had a show-off mentality, and attachments to competition and zealotry. I looked down upon others, and always sought comfort. I was arrogant and complacent, among other faults. Looking inward, I found so many bad attachments. With so many bad attachments, I certainly couldn't pay much attention to improving with other practitioners as a whole. Therefore it was impossible to do well in coordination, thinking of others before myself and being selfless. Teacher requires that "our minds must be righteous," why did I still have so many attachments and bad thoughts? Didn't the existence of such attachments reflect the fact that I didn't look inward and that I didn't reach the state of "our minds must be righteous?" Wasn't this the reason why I had been exploited by the evil? Wasn't it the reason why I got "sick?" When I elevated in the understanding of the Fa, my acupuncture friend didn't make it over to my house because of other business, I didn't use the medicine and nor did I go for CT scan. I was recovering from the "sickness," yet my mentality of curing the sickness was not removed thoroughly.
Teacher said explicitly in Zhuan Falun:
"If you cannot relinquish the attachment or concern for illness, we cannot do anything and will be unable to help you."
Teacher's Fa helped me relinquish the thought of curing illness.
In the next few days, I studied the Fa with fellow practitioners. They helped me in sending forth righteous thoughts. From the Fa, I realized more about the importance for cultivators to let go of the thought of life and death. Teacher said:
"If a cultivator can truly let go of [the fear of] death, then that death will forever be far removed from you. But this isn't something you can will to happen--it's a point that you cultivate to in the Fa, one at which you become that kind of being." ("Teaching the Fa at the 2004 International Fa Conference in New York")
"Only when a person has truly grasped the Fa can he walk the path righteously and can his being be assured a good outcome." ("Teaching the Fa at the 2004 International Fa Conference in New York")
Teacher's lecture awakened me again. I understood how insignificant this "sickness" was. Needless to say it was only false appearance and interference, and I should deny it and disintegrate it! Other fellow practitioners have walked on the path of Fa-validation and anti-persecution, even at the cost of their lives. The fact that Teacher suffers and awaits for us Dafa practitioners and sentient beings, as well as fellow practitioners' righteous thoughts and actions in validating the Fa, displays how infinitely wonderful, magnificent and supernormal Dafa is. But even at that moment what I thought of was still myself. I couldn't let go of the attachment of life or death! On my way home I still bought a bottle of vinegar, but ended up dropping it and it broke. I realized immediately that Teacher was giving me hints. So when the storeowner wanted to replace it with another for me, I declined. I started denying all arrangements by the old forces. I told myself that no matter how many attachments and human notions I had, I would rectify and cleanse them with Teacher's Fa. I thoroughly let go the thought of curing illness. Three days later the symptoms affecting my mouth and eyes were gone, and my face went back to normal. At this moment I further realized the hardships that Teacher faces and goes through to save beings. Teacher and Dafa have rectified my surface body and my heart.
This incident made me, my fellow practitioners and my non-cultivating family members come to realize how infinitely wonderful, magnificent and supernormal Dafa is. Not long after, my husband, family members and friends quit the Chinese Communist Party and its associated organizations, and I further realized the meaning of "the evil fails itself when our human notions are gone."
3. Study the Fa with a Calm Mind and Become Mature
In "Towards Consummation" Teacher said:
"What's a fundamental attachment, then? Human beings acquire many notions in this world and are, as a consequence, driven by these notions to pursue what they yearn for." ("Towards Consummation" in Essentials from Further Advancement II)
As Fa-rectification period Dafa practitioners, we should become aware of these fundamental attachments and rid ourselves of them. We need to meet the standards for cultivators and cultivate to higher realms.
Teacher said:
"But in reality, what human society takes to be truths are, from the perspective of the cosmos, inversions of truth; when humans go through hardship and suffer it is so that they may pay off karma and thereby have happiness in the future. A cultivator thus needs to cultivate by correct and upright truths." ("The Closer to the End, the More Diligent You Should Be")
Through studying the Fa well we are already aware of the fact that all benefits everyday people pursue and yearn are for themselves, which is a rule of the old universe. This is what we should be clearheaded about, and must remove in the course of validating the Fa. Because we are cultivators walking on the path towards godhood, therefore, how to walk the path well becomes ultimately important and is a key factor for us. Teacher clearly instructs us on the importance of validating the Fa, our mission and responsibilities, and the pressure of time.
Teacher's Fa is a serious teaching, immerses us in compassion, and is a call for us to awaken. Let's cherish this opportunity that comes only once in millions of millions of years, validate Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance, save sentient beings, and accomplish our own mission and responsibility. While maturing in cultivation, let's truly cultivate in doing the three things, rid ourselves of invisible attachments through studying the Fa, take the Fa as teacher, maintain righteous thoughts and actions, and improve and ascend as a whole. Only then can we be worthy of the honorable title of "Dafa Disciples in the Fa-Rectification Period."
Note:
(1) A "solemn declaration" is a person's public statement declaring to the world that whatever he or she has done or said under duress or deception that was against Falun Dafa is null and void. Most of these statements have come from Falun Dafa practitioners in China who wished to express regret that, in the face of physical torture and/or brainwashing, they had signed documents renouncing Dafa and guaranteeing not to practice again.
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