(Clearwisdom.net)
Greetings, respected Master! Greetings, fellow disciples!
1. Obtaining the Fa and Studying the Fa
I began cultivating Dafa in December 1997 and have personally experienced Master's careful protection. I can not describe my gratitude to Master over the past 14 years of my cultivation path. Dafa is so good! I've read Zhuan Falun more than a thousand times. I memorized the first lecture of Zhuan Falun before the persecution began, as well as Hong Yin, Essentials for Further Advancement, and many scriptures. So far, I have recited Zhuan Falun from memory twice, Hong Yin II, Essentials for Further Advancement II, etc.
2. Passing the Test of Life or Death, Helping Others Learn Dafa
Due to a solid study of the Fa and doing the exercises, my mind and body have improved miraculously. I used to have many illnesses: gynecological disease, urinary tract infection, urine in the blood, weakness, dizziness, pain, etc. My body began healing the very first day – I could feel it! In less than three weeks, my whole body felt light and energetic. It was the first time I experienced having no sickness. This made me indescribably happy!
In the autumn of 1998, I got off a bus and was crossing the street when a farm truck loaded with mung beans quickly drove towards me and knocked me down. The back of my head bled, and I passed out. People pulled me out from under the vehicle and took me to the hospital. A doctor sewed me up and said there were no serious injuries. I had been unconscious for three days and only when I awoke did I realize that I had been involved in an accident. The driver paid for the taxi and medical costs. I remembered Master's teachings;
“From now on, whatever you do, you should consider others first, so as to attain the righteous Enlightenment of selflessness and altruism. So from now on, whatever you do or whatever you say, you must consider others—or even future generations—along with Dafa’s eternal stability.” (“Non-Omission in Buddha-Nature,” Essentials for Further Advancement)
I thought, “I am a Dafa disciple. The driver has a hard time making a living and did not intentionally hurt me.” I went to the driver to pay him back the money from the taxi and medical costs. When he refused to accept it, I explained, “I practice Falun Dafa. Master taught us in Zhuan Falun, 'Sure, the driver was going too fast. But he wouldn’t hit somebody on purpose. He didn’t mean to do that.'” The driver was very moved and said, “Your Master is truly great!” I lent him a Dafa book and he later became a practitioner.
3. Looking Inside, Cultivating Away the Attachments to Fame, Profit and Emotion
Master taught us, “For a cultivator, looking within is a magical tool.” (“Fa Teaching at the 2009 Washington DC International Fa Conference”) I have come to deeply understand this while rescuing fellow disciples.
a. Cultivate Away Emotion
At the beginning of 2011, two fellow practitioners were arrested on their way to clarify the truth. I was shocked. I was not prepared at all. I then realized that the old forces will never wait until we are ready to persecute us. I did not look inside and was totally moved by emotion. One of them was a close friend over the past 13 years of cultivation. I cried and cried. I could not take it when she was being tortured. I knelt down in front of Master's photo and sobbed.
As I was crying, I remembered Master's words in Zhuan Falun, “Emotion is the stuff of ordinary people. They just live for emotion.” This woke me up. I immediately dried my tears and recognized that we need to cultivate this emotion away. My anxiety and tears were wrong. We should use the experience to look inside and turn the hardship into a good thing.
b. Cultivating Away the Attachment to Fame
I found I had neglected cultivating myself in recent years. I was attached to doing things and could not calm down when studying the Fa. I always thought we were doing very well in our area—we even competed with each other on how many sentient beings we each helped save. I would be overzealous when I heard other practitioners praise us on how well we did, and I failed to find my attachment of fame. I think that this was one of the factors behind the arrests of our fellow practitioners.
A practitioner from another town was arrested in our area in 2010, and I was very depressed and too embarrassed to see anyone when I heard about it. I did not look inside to find the attachment of fame. At the beginning of 2011, I thought we had to be careful, so that no other practitioners would be arrested, but I failed to calmly study the Fa and failed to look inside. As a result, the two fellow practitioners were arrested. I was so miserable that I felt I would rather be the one arrested. Master then revealed another teaching in my mind,
“That’s not out of compassion. He hasn’t gotten rid of his attachments to reputation and personal gain one bit, and no compassion is about to come out.” (Zhuan Falun.)
I realized Master was talking about me! Master gave me a hint to find my attachment to fame. It was just in time. A coordinator came to my house, and I told him how I had found my attachment to fame to be very strong. He asked me, “How about you dig further down? Was it rooted in selfishness?” I thought, “That's right! My base was wrong, how terrible!” I thank that fellow practitioner for helping me find the root cause of the attachment.
c. Cultivating Away the Attachment to Profit
I found attachments to fame and emotion, then began to further seek any attachment to profit. I thought I treated profit very lightly, since my home material production center is supported by our own money. Once I was compiling materials containing facts about the persecution when Master's words appeared in my mind again,
“This huge stage before us today—the stage of mankind—was prepared for Dafa and its disciples. Whatever project or initiative it may be that you are involved in, or whatever it may be that you’re doing to save sentient beings, you should all be steadfast about doing it, and finishing it, well.” (“Fa Teaching Given at the Fa Conference Marking the Tenth Anniversary of the Minghui Website’s Founding”)
I suddenly found I still had an attachment to relying on fellow practitioner's families in doing rescue work. Fellow practitioner's families do not cultivate. We wanted to hire lawyers to help rescue fellow practitioners, but their families thought there was no point. We have delayed the rescue process already. Since we disciples play the main role on this stage, we should take the lead. I realized the reason for the delay was because I still had an attachment to profit. I immediately went to a fellow practitioner's home. Her husband said it was useless to spend so much money because some officials already said she would be sentenced to 8-10 years. I told him, “We cannot decide. Only our Master can decide. We will pay the lawyer's fees, but you must cooperate with the trial.” He agreed. Two days later, our fellow practitioner was released.
4. Being a Genuine Cultivator
The painful lesson of rescuing fellow practitioners from being arrested served as a mirror revealing my cultivation state. I need to study the Fa more, study well, and look inside to be a genuine disciple. I recited the scripture, “Broad and Immense:”
“Its broad and immense, profound inner meaning can only manifest itself to, and be experienced and understood by, practitioners who are at different levels of true cultivation. Only then can one truly see what the Fa is.” (Essentials for Further Advancement)
I asked myself seriously, Did I truly cultivate? Genuine cultivators must do whatever Master teaches – to cultivate away the attachments to fame, profit and emotion. There is no shortcut on our path, we must do well, not just have empty talk. I truly experienced what was related to Master's teaching in Zhuan Falun:
“I’ll tell you a truth: the whole process of cultivation is a process of constantly getting rid of human attachments.”
My cultivation experience proved to me that all attachments are to be abandoned. All my attachments were relinquished with the help of Master. I dissolved myself in solid cultivation and made sure my every word and action was according to the Fa, and my mental and physical health vastly improved in a short amount of time. I used to be able to sit in the lotus position for two hours, but in recent years, I could not even sit in the full lotus position at all. After I carefully read 39 Dafa books, I can once again sit in the full lotus position for two hours. This change comes from the Fa: Master strengthened me and encouraged me.
Thank you, Master! Thank you, fellow disciples!
Heshi!
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