(Minghui.org) I was only twenty when I first learned Falun Dafa in 1998. Although I was very diligent in memorizing and reciting Dafa books, I lacked a rational understanding of the Fa. Because of my various attachments and the temptations of ordinary human society, I thought that I should enjoy life a bit more while I was young. After six months of struggling in my heart, I gave up my cultivation in August 1997.
Ten years later, I went to visit one of my relatives who was persecuted for his belief in Dafa and had just returned from a forced labor camp. My memory was suddenly unlocked and my Buddha nature re-emerged. With tears in my eyes, I opened the Dafa books that had been in storage for a decade and resumed my practice in Dafa.
Eliminating Interference from My Wife
As soon as I resumed my cultivation, my wife couldn't sleep at night. She cried, argued with me, and even threatened to divorce me. She dreamed that she wouldn't survive if I continued to practice Falun Dafa. I realized from Fa-study that demons were manipulating my wife to interfere with me in an attempt to prevent me from practicing Falun Dafa. I was determined to keep my righteous thoughts and remain steadfast in my belief.
I always said “Yes!” whenever my wife asked me whether I wanted to continue to practice Falun Dafa. I believe that my firm response eradicated the evils behind her each time she asked me. When her mind was clear, I took the opportunity to tell her the facts about Falun Dafa. I spoke to her about the magnificence of Dafa and the persecution. The situation began to improve after six months.
However, my wife got mad when I brought home a printer that I had just purchased for printing truth clarification materials. She threw the printer to the floor and stomped on it. I didn't get upset with her and just quietly put the printer back and cleaned up the ink on the floor. Surprisingly, the printer still worked properly. My wife was sitting on the bed and she almost collapsed. I realized that, due to my righteous thoughts, Master eliminated the evil beings behind my wife and removed a huge roadblock in my cultivation.
My wife has now accepted Dafa, and she has read Zhuan Falun twice with me. When she was off work, she took good care of the printer all day long. She volunteered to help me add paper to the printer so that it could continue to run, as I set it up before I went to work. She also assisted me to organize and staple the pamphlets. Recently, she happily made amulets for truth clarification. She thought the amulets she made were so beautiful that other people would readily accept them.
Positive Home Environment
Similar to my wife, my parents and parents-in-law used to oppose to my practice. They became positive and supportive after they observed the changes in my wife. They have read Zhuan Falun and watched Master's teachings on videos. My six-year-old son accepted Dafa without any doubt. When my son just started to speak, I taught him “Falun Dafa is good. Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.”
My son choked on a piece of candy one evening last winter. My family members anxiously turned him upside down and patted his back to try to get the candy out. But the candy didn't come out, and his face turned red. He gasped for breath, but managed to shout, “Master, please save me.” All of a sudden, the candy vanished from his throat and everything went back to normal. With tears in our eyes, the whole family was most grateful to Master for his compassion and benevolence.
Thank you Master for creating such a good family environment for me!
Providing Technical Support
A printing center was set up in my area in 2008 for printing Dafa books to meet the needs of local practitioners. Because I was relatively young and had some technical background in computers, the coordinator asked me to provide technical support for the printing center. At that time, I was trying to make up for the loss from the past 10 years when I hadn't practiced, and keep up with the Fa-rectification process.
I took this as an opportunity to improve myself quickly and become a “Fa-rectification period Dafa disciples.” I thought, “It is magnificent to print Dafa books. Isn't this a good opportunity to establish my mighty virtue?” I was selfish, and wasn't really being responsible to the Fa. I was trying to use Dafa to achieve my personal goals.
I didn't realize that I was wrong, and fell behind in Fa study. I was just keen to have the work done, as Master said,
“... many people were using human thinking to consider, view, and handle things, and falling behind in cultivation.” (“Dafa Disciples Must Study the Fa - Fa Teaching Given at the 2011 Washington DC Metro Area Fa Conference”)
“...After doing a whole slew of things, you might find, if you look back upon them, that all of it was done with a human mindset. When it is a human being doing human things, and things are not being done with righteous thoughts, there won’t be any Dafa-disciple mighty virtue in those things. In other words, as gods see it, that’s just fooling around—not mighty virtue, or cultivation—even though you did do it. Then wouldn’t you say it was done in vain?” (“Dafa Disciples Must Study the Fa - Fa Teaching Given at the 2011 Washington DC Metro Area Fa Conference”)
When something was wrong with the printer, my fellow practitioners looked inward and sent righteous thoughts to eliminate interference. Although I sent righteous thoughts with others, I thought that only repairs could fix the problem. I didn't consider the printer a Fa instrument, but actually, if a practitioner who operated it didn't do well in cultivation, there was interference.
Taking Responsibility and Improving Myself
Since the coordinator was arrested in 2009 and another practitioner who was responsible for printing Dafa books was arrested in 2010, I took the responsibility of printing Dafa books while two elderly practitioners continued binding the books and making the covers. Because I wasn't busy at work, I worked at the printing center almost every afternoon.
I felt good the first several days, but I soon tired of the busy and repetitive, simple work. Sometimes I felt so lonely and helpless that I wanted to stop. I had to solve all the problems myself and take care of all the steps in the process, including purchasing consumables, troubleshooting, printing, cutting, packing and delivering. I had no time to slack off.
Because I was busy with printing and didn't study the Fa well, it was hard for me to carry on. I even complained, “Why was I so busy? Why did the other two practitioners do so little and work so slowly?” However, I was enlightened when read I an article in Minghui Weekly . A practitioner studied the Fa every day no matter how busy he was, even if he didn't sleep. I suddenly realized that I had deviated from the Fa and needed to study the Fa more diligently.
I started to study at least one lecture a day. After a while, I re-considered the situation from a different angle. The two elderly practitioners tried very hard to support the printing center. Although they had to take care of their grandchildren and work on their farms, they came to help at around 7 a.m. on the appointed days (traveling over an hour each way) regardless of the weather. Their work was so tedious, yet I even complained about them previously.
When my wife was on vacation, I either didn't go to the printing center or I changed the schedule in order to stay at home with my wife. The two elderly practitioners never complained about me. Instead, they tried to accommodate my needs. I noticed my selfishness when I looked inward, and I no longer felt lonely or unhappy.
Something unusual happened when my heart wasn't pure. When working with the two elderly practitioners, I was looking forward to finishing everything as soon as possible. One day there was an indication that the printer was jammed. I was puzzled because I checked the printer and there was no paper jam anywhere. It took me more than four hours to troubleshoot the printer, but it suddenly began to work in the afternoon.
I immediately realized that my mindset hadn't been that of a genuine Dafa disciple that day. I felt lazy when I got up in the morning. I was thinking about when to arrive at the printing center, how much time to spend on Fa study, when to start working, what time to take a lunch break, and when to return home. Printing the Dafa books is most sacred, but I was thinking about myself all the time.
I regretted wasting so much time. Furthermore, I noticed that I was selfish and didn't consider the printing center as one body that I was part of. Actually every participant is a part of the printing center and must assume his or her responsibility. If one individual didn't do a good job, the printing center wasn't harmonized and the old forces would take the opportunity to interfere.
Final Remarks
Thank you Master for providing me with an opportunity to find the fundamental problem in my cultivation, that is, selfishness. Being selfish, one can't validate Dafa from the perspective of the Fa or be responsible for sentient beings.
I have removed a lot of attachments during the process of printing the Dafa books, but I still have a long way to go in order to do the sacred work well and meet the requirements of Dafa. When I was writing this article, I still noticed my fundamental problem of selfishness, and I am determined to get rid of it.
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