(Minghui.org) Greetings, Master! Greetings, fellow practitioners!
I started practicing Falun Dafa in 2008 and would like to share my cultivation experiences with Master Li and fellow practitioners.
Helping Others Improves My Cultivation State
I commute to work every day. Earlier this year, a new lady joined us. I thought that this opportunity must have been arranged by Master, so I moved to the seat next to her and told her about Dafa. When I suggested that she withdraw from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated organizations, she said she had done so already and walked off.
After work that day, she waved to me when she saw me on the bus, so I joined her. She told me that she had practiced Falun Dafa before the persecution started in 1999. But due to the hostile environment and personal factors, she was kind of “on and off” in terms of her cultivation state.
I encouraged her to treasure this great opportunity and practice diligently. She was pleased to hear it. She mentioned having problems with her computer while visiting the Minghui website recently and hoped I could give her a hand.
I realized that this encounter was not accidental, and it must be Master’s arrangement for me to help her out. So I went to her house the next day to repair the computer.
During our conversation, she raised some doubts about the Fa. It seemed that she had been affected deeply by the CCP's doctrine of atheism.
I encouraged her to study the Fa more often, and then she would be able to find answers to her misgivings. Before I left, I copied all of Master’s lectures to her computer. We agreed to start studying the Fa together twice a week.
I also picked some videos for her to watch and shared my understandings, as well as testimony about the miraculous experiences of other practitioners while validating the Fa with righteous thoughts and actions. She was deeply touched and made a commitment to find time to study the Fa.
Our study group was growing, and we could feel a peaceful field around us whenever we read together. The harmony between us suddenly changed, however, when she started to raise more doubts. I turned grumpy and spoke with a very poor attitude.
Master said:
“Accordingly, in your future cultivation practice you will run into all kinds of tribulations. How can you practice cultivation without these hardships? If everyone is good to one another without conflicts of interests or interference from the human mind, how can your xinxing make progress by your only sitting there? That is impossible.” (Zhuan Falun)
After returning home, I complained to fellow practitioners in my family about her poor understanding of the Fa and lack of determination. They reminded me not to complain and be tolerant. After looking inside, I realized that I had some attachments to vanity, glory and complaining, which were stirred up when I couldn’t answer her questions.
I soon met another test of my character, or xinxing. This same woman told me that I was somewhat arrogant on the shuttle and avoided mingling with other coworkers. She reminded me to be more merciful toward others, in order to tell them the truth about Falun Dafa and help save them—it is what Dafa disciples should do.
Upon hearing this, it was very hard for me to keep calm. When she talked about her own understanding, I felt she was showing off and thought herself to be better than me. I couldn’t stand it anymore and thought: "You are not qualified to criticize me! You are not even as good as me!"
Master said,
“But normally when a problem arises, if it does not irritate a person psychologically, it does not count or is useless and cannot make him or her improve.” (Zhuan Falun)
When I returned home, I calmed down and regretted my reaction. A family member who is a practitioner kindly pointed out that I always acted like I was better than her. Once again, I couldn’t stand such comments. However, I realized that it was a valid point. I always thought that she was not as good me in cultivation, even though she had started practicing Falun Dafa before me. I developed a human notion of “I am better than her,” which reflected my own attachment to self.
Master said:
“And as for the habits that you’ve formed over time, those stem from your various attachments. Those who are attached to saving face will be made to hear things that are embarrassing, hitting upon that attachment that causes you not to be able to stand hearing others’ critical remarks. There are also some people who think that since they are project coordinators, they should be immune to criticism. And then some people who have special talents in some regard or other won’t take criticism from people. Another group won’t hear anyone out on account of having a negative opinion about the other person. It comes in all shapes and sizes. Being unwilling to listen to others’ remarks stems from a range of attachments.” (“Fa Teaching Given in Manhattan” in 2006)
I strengthened my Fa study and was determined to eliminate this attachment. An idea suddenly hit me: All arrangements by Master were really just for me to help others and improve my xinxing.
Master said:
“And don't get conceited because of your roles, and don't think you're different from others. You're each a particle. And in my eyes nobody is better than anyone else, since I scooped all of you up at the same time.” (“Explaining the Fa During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference”)
After realizing this, whenever I went to her home, I tried to be humble and nice. At the same time, I realized that she was making big progress on her side. I started to find that I could learn many things from her as well.
My Mother Starts Practicing Falun Dafa
My mother suffered from diabetes, high blood pressure, and cataracts and had to take medicine every day. When I started cultivation in Falun Dafa, I often told her about Dafa and asked her to recite, “Falun Dafa is good; Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.” Although she agreed with the principles of Dafa, she doubted that she would benefit from reciting, “Falun Dafa is good.”
Her situation took a turn for the worse a year ago, and she could not even clearly see objects from a close distance. She then decided to undergo a cataracts operation.
At that time, another practitioner pointed out that I might need to enhance my own faith in believing in Master and the Fa. After looking inside, I realized that due to my attachments to fear, worry, and fame, I could not absolutely follow Master’s requirements while handling many issues.
For example, a coworker said some bad words about the Fa and Master, due to being deceived by the CCP's propaganda. Another practitioner tried to clarify the truth to her, but she did not change her mind. Due to her past negative attitude toward the Fa, I was afraid to step in to explain the facts to her.
I said to myself that it is my mission and responsibility to help save others; Master would give me wisdom if I changed my human notions and really wanted to save her. One day, I offered her a ShenYun Performing Arts DVD. This time, she accepted it happily and promised to watch it.
As I gradually improved myself and deepened my faith in the Fa, I received a call from my mother, who exclaimed excitedly, “I can see things clearly now! I do not need an operation anymore!” She added, “Every day, I recite sincerely ‘Falun Dafa is good’ and ‘Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.’ Amazing! My eyes have recovered now!”
I realized that my mother’s attitude reflected my own issues. After I improved myself, my mother also changed. Now, she has started practicing Dafa, too.
Removing My Attachment to Being Indifferent
One March morning, I received a phone call from another practitioner. She said a fellow practitioner had been hospitalized due to serious sickness karma. I was busy at the time and was unable to visit the hospital as requested.
The stricken practitioner used to attend the same group Fa study with me a few years ago. When he was previously enduring a health tribulation, we invested a lot of effort and time to help him pass the test through sending forth righteous thoughts and sharing experiences from the viewpoint of the Fa. During that period, a project we were involved with almost collapsed due to limited manpower.
Since this practitioner did not pass the test for a long time, all practitioners on our team started to complain about him. We lost our patience. I left the team and eventually forgot his story.
Because of this experience, this time around, I felt annoyed upon hearing the news. Although I did send forth righteous thoughts for a while, I knew that I had not paid serious attention to this issue. In the afternoon, I got another phone call, notifying me of this practitioner's discharge from the hospital. Now, I was asked to visit him at home. I continued to take the matter lightly and did not get to his home on time. I finally went over there with a family member that evening.
Before sending forth righteous thoughts, we shared experiences for a while. We exposed any human notions we held toward this practitioner and did not provide the evil with any loopholes to continue to persecute our fellow practitioner.
We realized that what the evil did to one practitioner, it was also doing to all of us, the whole body. I felt ashamed. I found my attachments to being indifferent, irresponsibility, and selfishness.
During the past two years, I always received praise from fellow practitioners for working hard on a project of clarifying the truth. If I had not come across the practitioner with health challenges, I would not have realized these attachments. I was used to focusing on my own business and was unconcerned about others' problems.
I now pledge to play a more supportive role by sending forth righteous thoughts for other practitioners, domestic or overseas. Moreover, I will participate in local activities more actively.
Master said,
“If Dafa disciples can manage to pool their strength together in one concerted effort, and act with extremely strong righteous thoughts, think about it, that will truly amount to divine beings being present in this world. It would be simply terrifying to the evil!” (“20th Anniversary Fa Teaching”)
Wherever we are and whatever we are doing, whether we are doing something as part of the whole body or as a particle of Dafa, we must maintain our righteous thoughts and cooperate well with one another.
Eliminating Interference Through Righteous Thoughts
With the popularization of truth-clarification phone calls, more and more local practitioners are participating in this project. Due to a lack of technical support, some older practitioners tend to give up when facing a minor problem.
We started to handle this issue and provide them with troubleshooting services, but
some practitioners advised us not to do it because of security concerns. Nevertheless, whenever I thought of those practitioners waiting anxiously for us to fix problems, I could not stop giving them technical support.
Master said:
“If you feel that you're especially skilled in a certain regard, or there is something you especially like to do, then go and solidly, resolutely, do a good job with that thing. As long as that effort can save sentient beings, and you have a part to play in it, then go and do it, and that's that.” (“Fa Teaching at the 2009 Greater New York International Fa Conference”)
Since I was already involved in this project, I decided to continue providing assistance. After a discussion with others, all of us had a similar feeling: We would continue to help, but also pay more attention to security issues.
We have been providing troubleshooting services for almost a year and have solved all kinds of technical issues for other practitioners. With the advancement of Fa-rectification, making phone calls is an efficient way to save more people. In addition, the practitioners in this project are able to encourage everyday people to withdraw the CCP and its affiliated organizations.
After recalling my cultivation path, I found that sometimes I was cultivating diligently, but sometimes slacking off. In addition, I had many shortcomings and regrets. I often felt that I could not make progress without protection from Master.
As a Dafa disciple, I cannot find any human words to express my gratitude toward Master. Only through cultivating diligently, doing the three things well, and taking responsibility to fulfill my vows could I not let Master down.
Thank you very much, Master! Thank you to all practitioners who've helped me.
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