(Minghui.org) Greetings to Revered Master! Greetings to fellow practitioners!
With the encouragement from fellow practitioners, I conquered my fears so that I could write down my cultivation experiences during this sacred moment in history.
1. After Studying the Fa, I Understand that Falun Dafa Is All about Cultivation
I feel fortunate to have started on the path of cultivation when I was a child. Back then, it felt like I had assimilated to Dafa and knew that it was good. However, I never asked myself the question: “What is Dafa?” Also, I did not spend a lot of time studying the Fa. Thus, after the persecution of Falun Dafa began, I basically stopped practicing. When I returned to the Fa, I was already a teenager!
One day, I met one of the little practitioners that I knew back then and he asked me, “Why do you practice Dafa?” I was caught off guard and really didn't know how to answer him. When I returned home, I began to calmly study Teacher's lectures. I knew that if I practice Dafa diligently, I could return to my true self. I later found out that my understanding of Dafa was not very pure, since I had a lot of the elements of the Communist Party's culture mixed in, especially atheism.
I suddenly realized that the old forces persecuted the younger generation with these evil elements, making it much harder for them to improve. After coming to this understanding, Teacher allowed me to see other dimensions. That's when I knew that my deeply held notions had been the cause of all of my troubles. I also realized that the world is an illusion and that the only thing that is real in this material dimension is Dafa and cultivation practice.
2. Promoting Shen Yun in China
Teacher said,
“But do you realize something? Those who were originally meant to have been saved last year [by Shen Yun, but didn’t go], have lost the opportunity forever. That’s because Fa-rectification is unceasingly forging ahead, step by step, and when it arrives at one cosmic plane it is time for that level of people; when it reaches a certain heavenly kingdom above, or a certain layer of cosmic body, it is time for that group of people to come see [the show], and next time around [when Shen Yun performs], that seat will belong to someone else. Do you realize how many lives have been lost?! Do you know how I feel when I see those empty seats in the theater?” “There has been a great deal of groundwork done in advance. All that’s missing is your carrying things out with righteous thoughts. Yet you haven’t had the righteous thoughts that it takes.” (“Dafa Disciples Must Study the Fa”)
After this year's Shen Yun DVDs were released, I did a bit of preparation work, including researching the highest prices that tickets were sold for in the different countries. Most people in China measure everything by how much it costs, thus talking about show's ticket price was a good way to start a conversation. I also compared the quality of the DVD packaging and gave different people DVDs with different packaging.
I was happy to receive this year's Shen Yun DVDs one day before a large class reunion. I had not seen my classmates for ten years. I grabbed a stack of DVDs and carefully checked every one of them. I constantly sent righteous thoughts and told myself that the Shen Yun DVDs were magnificent. Thus when I gave them to my classmate as presents, the DVDs would definitely save them. I didn't worry about my own personal safety, thus my heart was light and full of compassion.
The next day, I found myself hesitating when I saw my friends. However, I knew that their knowing sides yearned to be saved. I greeted each one of my classmates with a few simple words then put a DVD in their hand. I told them it was a precious present which showcased traditional Chinese culture, a culture of pure compassion and beauty.
I told them that the Shen Yun show brought to life ancient Chinese culture and was rated by audience members and critics alike, as the Number One show in the world. Everyone looked at the DVDs with surprise and delight. Some smiled at me with a knowing glint in their eyes, while others carefully put the DVD in their pocket.
One classmate of mine arrived late, so when I saw him I gave him a DVD, too. When he asked me if the DVD was from Dajiyuan (Chinese version of TheEpochtimes.com), I told him, “No, it is from NTDTV.” He said he often came across Dajiyun when he traveled overseas. He also liked to read the publication online, when he was at home, using anti-firewall software.
When I first saw my old friends, I had mixed feelings. Ten years ago they were very scared when they heard me talking about Falun Dafa. Through practitioners non-stopping efforts to clarify the facts, most people now understand that Falun Dafa is good, and many are eager to find out the truth. There is nothing that the old forces can do now to stop people from awakening.
One day, I took some DVDs to school. A classmate approached me and several of my friends to help him hand out a special invitation to the teachers in our school. I knew that Master had arranged this opportunity for me to deliver the DVDs. I volunteered to deliver the invitations and at the same time, I gave each teacher a Shen Yun DVD. I sent righteous thoughts towards each teacher that I met, to eliminate the evil elements behind them.
After I handed out the stack of invitations that I was given, I discovered that some of my classmates did not have time to deliver their share of the invitations. Thus I offered to help them. While delivering the invitations, I had to constantly tell myself to calm down and not be afraid. I noticed that my fear and anxiety started to get weaker and weaker. I told myself, “I am a Dafa practitioner and Master is doing everything through me. I should not have any notions at all.”
A few days later, I ran into one of the teachers that I had given a DVD to. He excitedly said, “The show was terrific and I've been watching it every day!” From that day on, he cheerfully greeted me whenever we saw each other. His sunny smile expressed the joy of a saved being.
I used to ask friends out for lunch or dinner so that I could give them the Shen Yun DVDs. Later, I realized that I only clarified the facts over meals and the results were often not very good. After I saw my attachment, people began to buy me meals and I used the opportunity to clarify the truth. When I felt anxious or worried about delivering the DVDs, I thought to myself, “This might be the last time I ever see this person, thus I must seize the opportunity!” When my righteous thoughts were strong, the person would take the DVD from me. When my thoughts were not righteous, I would miss the opportunity. I often felt the pain of not fulfilling my responsibility to save people.
One day, I took a train to a practitioner's home outside of the city, to pick up more DVDs. I arranged to catch the 7:30 p.m. train home, but when I arrived at the train station, it was already 7:10 p.m., and there was a long line in front of the ticket counter. I asked Teacher to help me and began to feel bad about bothering Him every time I ran into difficulties. When I finally had my ticket in hand, I looked up and noticed that the train was about to leave. I ran as fast as I could and barely made it on the train. When I sat down, I began to look within and thought about Teacher's words: “Saving people before catastrophe, racing against the clock” (“Fulfilling the Vow” from Hong Yin III) I knew that I had to stop being careless and irresponsible.
3. Providing Little Practitioners an Environment for Cultivation
When I was young, and the persecution was in full swing, adult practitioners had taken the initiative to provide us little practitioners with an environment to study the Fa together. Now that I was older, I wanted to do the same for the little practitioners that I knew. I informed everyone of my intentions, then divided the kids up into different groups, depending on which days they had off from school. Each group consisted of at least two adult practitioners and a few young practitioners.
The first problem I had to deal with was choosing which adult practitioners I would ask to participate. These practitioners not only had to have a good understandings of the Fa principles, but they also had to have great patience so that they could effectively deal with the little ones that were either hyperactive or very playful.
However, everyone was already very busy with their own Dafa-related projects, so it was difficult to ask them to spare even a few days to study the Fa with the young practitioners. Through sharing understandings, everyone realized that this, too, was part of saving people, thus some practitioners volunteered to shoulder the responsibility.
The next problem I encountered was finding a quiet place that was close enough to everyone. After I asked around, several practitioners offered their places to hold the Fa studies.
By the end of the first day, two little practitioners told me that the schedule that we set up for them was too intense and that they needed a lunch break. They also complained that it was too far from their home, thus inconvenient for them. They also said that they did not want to attend the study session anymore.
I thought to myself, “Everyone worked so hard to provide you with this environment to study the Fa together. Practitioners sacrificed their precious time to help you and now you want to quit because you can't take a nap at noon and the place is inconvenient to get to?! When I was little, I would do anything to study the Fa with others. You are so spoiled!”
After a while, I realized that all of this was just another form of persecution and that the little practitioners should not acknowledge it. They should know that it was not their true selves that did not want to come to study the Fa. I also looked within and found that I had an attachment to comfort. I did not want to solve the problems that arose, rather, I wanted to be successful at whatever I did with minimal effort. After calming down, I talked to the little practitioners. With the encouragement from other adults, they agreed to continue.
Shortly after, the second Fa-study group started. I scheduled myself for two mornings during the week. One day, I ran into a practitioner and he told me that the second group did not do well and that I needed to look into the matter. As soon as I got there, the adults complained to me that I agreed to attend the Fa-study sessions but did not attend, thus the second group was a mess.
Instead of trying to solve the problem at hand, I defended myself and forgot to look within. When I got home, I looked within and realized that I did not consider whether they could do the job or not. I simply wanted to do what I wanted to do because I thought my Dafa project was more important than theirs. I selfishly classified Dafa work into “important” and “trivial” projects. I felt that I was better than others and even thought that others could not have done the job without me. I realized how selfish I was and how important it was to eliminate the attachment to self.
After the third group started, everything went well for the first few days. Then, I heard someone complaining. I couldn’t take the criticism so I started complaining to the other practitioners, but they insisted that I solve the problem myself. I quickly calmed down and knew that I needed to look within. I found that I still wanted to validate myself and I did not want to hear about any problem or solve any problem. I sent righteous thoughts to eliminate the distorted Party elements within me, and to support the third group.
Later, I learned that the third group had improved significantly!
From the 9th China Fahui on Minghui.org
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