(Clearwisdom.net) Greetings everyone! I have been practicing Falun Dafa since April 2007. Even though it has not been a long time, the different experiences and knowledge I have acquired since then have made me feel that I gained a new life. In fact, I heard about Falun Dafa three years ago but didn't know about the book Zhuan Falun. At that time I didn't pay much attention to Falun Dafa, but my knowing side reminded me to study it thoroughly. I had been trying to distinguish myself from human society, which is on a big downhill slide, searching through such fields as history, the arts, and philosophy. However, I didn't want to give up doing everyday people's things.
When I was lucky enough to read Zhuan Falun, I felt that it was very special, without truly knowing exactly why. Having read the whole book, I decided to join a practice site at a park, but I encountered tremendous interference. As soon as my wife knew that I wanted to start practicing, she became hysterical. When I made up my mind to go, I didn't let anything get in the way. I anticipated a huge fight waiting for me at home when I returned, but surprisingly nothing happened. My wife wasn't angry like I had expected. Instead she asked whether I had had a good time.
In the beginning, I didn't experience dramatic changes in my health as other practitioners had, because I had no serious sicknesses or pain before beginning cultivation. I felt as if I used to be a filthy sewer pipe filled with dirty stuff, but gradually my body was purified and my character improved as well. I used to be a stubborn and arrogant person with a huge temper, but after I began cultivating my wife, parents, and even coworkers noticed the changes in me. I started drinking and smoking when I was 16 years old. I used to smoke a pack of cigarettes per day and I drank quite often as well. On several occasions I tried to quit but failed. After beginning cultivation, with Master's help and encouragement I was able to quit easily. I have enlightened that in order to rid oneself of any attachments, one must first be firm in wanting to be free from the attachments, and then they will definitely be removed. The benefits that I gained have fortified my heart in cultivation. I decided to devote the rest of my life to cultivating in Falun Dafa.
Not long after I started to practice, I encountered a big test in karma elimination. One day when I was at work, I started to feel ill. My whole body started to ache, but I was able to tolerate it until I got home. When I got home that evening, suddenly I felt my temperature soar. I felt pain in my head and it started to swell up like it was going to burst. I broke into waves of sweat and shivers. I didn't dare mention any of this to my wife for I feared that she would think that I was crazy for not taking medicine. Saturday afternoon my body temperature reached 40 degrees Celsius (104 F) and I had a huge headache. I knew Master was purifying my body and I knew I did not need to take any medicine. When my wife saw me in pain, she was angry with me and repeatedly urged me to take medicine. Even though I had a temperature and felt ill, I insisted on going to the park to practice with the others on Sunday. Against my wife's advice, the next day I went to the park. Once I got there, the pain immediately subsided and that night I felt much better. That was the biggest incident of the elimination of karma that I have experienced so far.
After reading Master's recent lectures, I realized that there were many other requirements in cultivation, including studying the Fa, sending righteous thoughts, and clarifying the facts. Because I work ten hours each day need to travel to and from work, when I get home it is already very late. I also need to help my wife with the housework and some cleaning. I only have time to either study the Fa or do the exercises but not both. To please my wife, I also need to find time to watch TV with her, so my spare time is rather limited. Fellow practitioners suggested that I join group Fa study, send righteous thoughts, and practice via Teamspeak each day at 5:00 a.m. I was thinking about how I work an exhausting ten hours each day and that I wouldn't be able to get up that early. But I realized that it was laziness that prevented me from being diligent. If I didn't overcome this laziness and get up to study the Fa, I would never be able to do well the three things that Master asked us to do. Therefore, I decided to take part in Fa study at 5:00 a.m. Once my mind was made up, I found it was not as difficult as I thought it would be. In other words, when we have strong righteous thoughts, the laziness becomes weaker and weaker and is easy to overcome. I have persevered in group Fa study, sending righteous thoughts, and doing the exercises with fellow practitioners each morning to date. Surprisingly, even though I sleep fewer hours now, I feel more energetic than when I sleep more.
I made up my mind to devote all of my time to Dafa even though I have limited free time with the exception of weekends. In addition, I don't have any other language or computer skills. Without these skills I didn't know what I could do for Dafa. When I received a call from a fellow practitioner asking whether I could distribute The Epoch Times newspaper, my first reaction was "no," because I couldn't get up that early in the morning. Thirty seconds after I hung up the phone, I thought, "Isn't this the opportunity I have been looking for?" I immediately called the practitioner back and promised to do it without asking any further questions. I felt very happy about rectifying myself. It was as if pushing a heavy bag off my chest--a black bag of selfishness. Since then, each Sunday morning we distribute the paper and later have time to practice in the park.
I now take advantage of all the free time I have to do Dafa work. In my spare time I distribute The Epoch Times in Madrid and surrounding cities. When we distribute the newspaper, we also collect signatures to support Falun Gong's anti-persecution campaign. Each week we go to Chinese shops to distribute The Epoch Times and truth clarification VCDs. During weekends we go to other Spanish cities to spread the Fa and clarify the facts to local Chinese people. Some Chinese don't want to accept the newspaper because they have been deceived by the CCP's lies, but I always deliver the paper again the following week. Even though there are times when we don't see immediate results, I know that as long as our hearts are pure and unselfish we will break the barriers surrounding their hearts if we persist, and eventually they will accept the paper and learn the truth. This was, in fact, the case. Slowly, those Chinese who used to not accept the paper eventually took them, and later they also accepted the truth clarifying VCDs as well.
On one occasion I went with two fellow Chinese practitioners to a commercial area where Chinese people gathered, to clarify the facts and urge people to quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations. Since I don't speak Chinese, I held out a "Quit-the-CCP" form in Chinese and told them it was important. To my pleasant surprise, having read carefully the Epoch Times announcement on top of the form, some Chinese people did actually sign their names on the form declaring they wanted to quit the evil Party organizations. I enlightened that even though I don't know Chinese, with a heart that truly considers others I can also exhort people to quit the CCP and save sentient beings.
In order to distribute the newspaper and truth clarification VCDs to Chinese people, I learned a few words of Chinese, such as "Hello," "For you," and "Falun Dafa is good." In order to clarify the truth to them, I learned to burn truth clarification VCDs. Using my savings, I bought large quantities of discs to create VCDs that expose the evil nature of the CCP and clarify the facts about Falun Gong, such as the Nine Commentaries, Feng Yu Tian Di Xing, We Tell the Future, etc. I give them to Chinese people so that they can learn the truth and quit the CCP.
I sense that there isnt much time left to save sentient beings as Fa-rectification accelerates faster and faster. Therefore, I use every minute of every day to think about doing the three things better. I remind myself to follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance at work, at home, with neighbors, on the bus, or anywhere. Everything that happens to me in life is an opportunity to improve myself or save others. For anyone I meet on the street, even though sometimes I don't have time to clarify the truth to them, I give them a leaflet or assist them in doing something so I can leave a positive influence for clarifying the truth to them in the future. After I get off from work and before I reach home, I distribute newspapers in Spanish and Chinese and collect signatures. In the beginning I collected signatures far away from home. Gradually, as I eliminated my attachments to bashfulness and fear, and I started collecting signatures closer to home. Later, I collected signatures from relatives and colleagues and eventually neighbors in my building. Sometimes I still have various attachments with regards to collecting signatures and clarifying the truth. Every day I carry signature forms and truth-clarifying leaflets in my briefcase from home to office. When I collect signatures, I also take the opportunity to invite people to come to practice in the park. This is pretty much how I spend every day, and every time I sit in front of the computer, it is for a Dafa project.
On one occasion when I was printing something at home for a Dafa project, the printer refused to work even after I spent thirty minutes repairing it. I knew it was interference, but I didn't know how to overcome it. Then it was time for righteous thoughts, and afterwards I still did not know what to do. I clicked onto the Minghui website (Chinese version of Clearwisdom.net) and read an article by a practitioner from China. This practitioner talked about her experiences repairing practitioners' printers in her spare time. Once she had to repair a printer that she was not familiar with. She dismantled it completely but had doubts about being able to put it back together. After cleaning it, she attempted to put it together. The practitioner mentioned that it was as if Master guided the screwdriver to put back each screw in its original place. She didn't even know where the individual screws belonged. After the printer was put back together, it worked without a problem. The practitioner enlightened that it is Master who leads us forward following the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. After reading this article, a dialog box appeared on my computer screen. I clicked "OK" and my printer started working again. It was a miracle! When you are diligent, Master will guide you.
In August of this year, fellow practitioners and I went to Barcelona to hold a press conference regarding the Eutelsat incident and to clarify the truth to Eutelsat's largest stockholder, Abertis. At the Triumphant Arch, we distributed truth clarifying flyers and collected signatures from passerby and tourists. Fewer people were passing by during noontime, so rather than waiting for tourists to come over and sign, I walked over to busier areas to clarify the truth. I know that everyone has a kind side, but some have turned numb and cold due to economic interests. Others were deceived by CCP lies from and illusions of prosperity. But if we can eliminate our attachments to fear and shyness and clarify the truth with selfless, pure hearts, almost everyone will sign to support us and condemn the CCP's shameless acts. Having learned the truth, the reporters who were present all signed to support NTDTV.
Even though several significant shareholders of Abertis, Eutelsat's largest stockholder, hadn't returned from the holidays, we distributed materials and clarified the truth to all the employees whom we met, and collected signatures from many of them. Not only did we call upon Eutelsat to immediately resume NTDTV's broadcast signal, in the process we also saved all the sentient beings from all walks of life that we met.
Since I began practicing Falun Dafa, I have felt that my attachment to
selfishness has become less and less. I have become more and more tolerant and I
have learned to be considerate of others. Every day is busy yet fulfilling, and
I have realized that my home environment is gradually changing. For example, my
wife disliked Dafa because she thought that I spent all my time doing the three
things, and that I didn't spend enough time with her. As I continuously
cultivate away my selfishness and think of others, I see that my wife has
changed as well. Initially, I was worried that getting up at 5:00 a.m. in the
morning to do the three things would upset her because we had just been married,
but gradually she changed and has now accepted my routine. She no longer
complains and even comes along with me to distribute the newspapers. Once we had
to go to another province to clarify the truth and I ran out of time to
distribute the newspapers. Therefore I left the car with the papers at home in
Madrid and said to my wife, "If you'd like you can distribute the
papers." At the time I thought for sure she would refuse to do it. I was
merely making a suggestion, but to my surprise when I got home a few days later,
my wife had distributed all the papers by herself. That afternoon when I arrived
in Madrid, my wife didn't ask me to watch TV or go shopping with her. Instead,
she came along with me to distribute the next issue of The Epoch Times.
Just like Master said,
"Buddha's light illuminates everywhere,
Propriety and justice are perfected and illuminated."
("Harmonizing with Fa" from Hong Yin, Translation Version B )
Falun Dafa is the law of the universe that I have been seeking all my life, and which I have finally found. Master, please rest assured that I will walk straight the path of cultivation that was arranged for me and I will do my best to do the three things well.
Thank you, Master.
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