(Minghui.org) Greetings, esteemed Master and fellow practitioners:
I am a Falun Dafa practitioner from Hsin-chu, Taiwan, and I started to practice in 2004. From the time I was little, I knew that I had a purpose and a mission in life and thus searched high and low until I found the Falun Dafa book Zhuan Falun. I thank Dafa for giving me a new life.
I began to make phone calls to mainland China to clarify the truth about Dafa a few months after I became a practitioner. After that, I helped people quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated organizations. I also made calls to rescue practitioners and called hospitals that were involved in forced organ harvesting. During the past 11 years, I mainly used the phone to tell people about Dafa.
Last April I was appointed district assistant. My cultivation routine changed dramatically and it was not easy. Nonetheless my xinxing improved fast. However, in the beginning I was stressed out and worried about my inexperience.
I dreamed one night that I was a Shen Yun artist, which made me wonder how this could be possible. Then I heard a loud voice, which said, “It requires strong righteous thoughts to be able to do it.” I woke up and knew that Master had reminded me that being an assistant was sacred and that I must constantly assimilate to the Fa and have righteous thoughts.
An assistant once suggested that no matter what I did, it must be based on the Fa and that I must be upright. I also have to treat fellow practitioners well and have their interest at heart. I was not sure if I could do that and asked Master to help me.
All district assistants in our area study the Fa together once a week. We share experiences on how to create a good cultivation environment for local practitioners.
Master said,
“Your most important task is to create for our students a stable cultivation environment that’s free of disturbances. This is your greatest responsibility.” The same goes for those of you present here: Your greatest responsibility is to ensure that your assistance centers and practice sites are free of disturbances and to lead others in cultivation.” ("Teaching the Fa at the Assistants’ Fa Conference in Changchun")
We used to have a group Fa study session once a week. Many practitioners, because of their busy schedule, spent little time studying the Fa outside of this weekly session. In May 2014, we added a new Fa study site and held a study session daily from Monday to Thursday. It has been 18 months, and practitioners who attend this daily Fa study have greatly improved in their cultivation. Frequent Fa study is truly important.
I shared this experience with other assistants and explained to them the benefit of having more group Fa studies. I suggested that they add more places and/or times and they agreed. After six months, some areas started morning and night group Fa study.
With the help of other assistants, I have a good idea of how the practitioners in our area do in their cultivation. In the process of helping practitioners assimilate to the Fa, a lot of my attachments were exposed.
I once exchanged opinions with another practitioner and became anxious. I quoted something Master said and wanted the practitioner to do what I suggested. After talking with the practitioner a few times, I realized that he couldn’t accept my suggestion. Neither of us was ready to compromise. I felt terrible and realized that something was wrong with me. I eventually asked another assistant to help resolve this situation
I once had to talk to a practitioner and remind her about her mistakes. I was afraid that I would cause conflicts between us. I asked another assistant to talk to her. Then I asked myself why I could not be calm and nice to practitioners who did not have a good understanding of the Fa. I kept looking within but could not find an answer.
The next morning during the sitting meditation I saw with my third eye a gray forest with a lot of pebbles on the ground. “Is it my universe? It feels cold and dead,” I said to myself. I knew something had gone wrong, so I sent righteous thoughts for half-an-hour and searched for my attachments. Suddenly, “seeing evil as if it were a deadly enemy” came to my mind. I looked within and realized that I was unforgiving when I found faults in others. I was attached to fighting, complaining, and wanting to impose my view on others. For a long time I refused to face these attachments, and now they blocked me from dealing with fellow practitioners compassionately.
I paid attention to my competitive mentality, and as soon as I wanted to argue or complain, I would stop this urge. I tried to smile and listen to the other person. Now I smile a lot more instead of being accusatory.
When I went shopping for a cell phone with my child, the saleswoman said, “Your mother is so kind!” Another time I visited and clarified the truth to a woman. She said to me, “You look so caring.” I looked in the mirror and thought to myself, “I do look friendlier now.”
Master said,
“For example, there are conflicts among one another, such as 'you’re good, but he isn’t good,' or 'your cultivation is good, but his isn’t.' These are conflicts themselves.” (Zhuan Falun)
To know more about fellow practitioners’ cultivation state, I often talked to other assistants about them. Often it turned into us criticizing those practitioners. When I discussed a practitioner with another assistant, I sent a text to the assistant, reminding him to cultivate his speech. The next time I met him, he said to me, “Did you ask me to cultivate my speech? Last time I spoke to you, you were the person who needed to cultivate your speech, and I forgot to remind you.” I was shocked and ashamed.
It occurred to me that I created a lot of conflicts because I failed to watch what I said. I wasn’t truly cultivating in that sense. Now when a practitioner is not doing well, I do not judge him nor talk to others about him. Instead, I talk to the practitioner.
When I heard that a practitioner criticized me behind my back, I tried to curb the urge to explain and not bear a grudge. I knew that it was the old forces trying to turn us against each other and prevent us from being one body.
Master said, “He’s right, And I’m wrong,” (“Who’s Right, Who’s Wrong” from Hong Yin III)
I knew that the practitioner must have seen a human notion in me and that as long as I improve in my cultivation, the criticism and tension between us will disappear.
Sometimes things went wrong in my area. For example, one practitioner admired another and learned from him, another sold goods at the group Fa study site, and one sold a pyramid scheme. I used to worry and wonder what went wrong with these practitioners.
Master said,
“But have you asked yourself, 'Did we perhaps do something wrong?' The truth is, when your understanding of it is right and you handle things correctly, those people and occurrences will disappear, for things cannot happen among Dafa disciples without a reason--that is not allowed, and no one dares to violate this.” ("Fa Teaching at the 2009 Washington DC International Fa Conference")
It came down to the fact that I needed to look within. Did I admire other practitioners? As I thought harder, the answer was yes. I listened to and agreed with practitioners whom I believed cultivated well.
When I saw practitioners purchase goods from other practitioners and waste time, I looked within and checked if I had done things that wasted other practitioners’ time. It was wrong to sell pyramid schemes or things among practitioners. Did I have the courage to point it out? If not, was I not part of the problem? I realized that it was never me helping other practitioners but we together assimilating to the Fa as one body.
Of course there were times I thought being an assistant was really difficult. But at the time, Master’s words would come to mind and my fear would disappear.
Master said,
“So steel the will, and lift thy leaden leg,Endure the pain, diligent, and cast off attachments;”(“Climbing Mount Tai” from Hong Yin)
In “Fa Teaching at the 2015 West Coast Fa Conference,” Teacher answered a question:
“Disciple: Should coordinators in different areas of China devote significant effort right now to finding former practitioners? And try to help practitioners who haven’t been diligent to organize more Fa-study groups and study the Fa more, and prompt them to step forward and help clarify the facts and save people?
Master: That should be done, it still should be, but you need to keep safety in mind.”
I often told fellow practitioners that they should pay more attention to practitioners who have not attended the Fa study sessions or have not come to the practice sites for a long time. I suggested that they encourage these practitioners to come back.
In our local area, most of the practitioners are scientists and engineers. There are also quite a few teachers and students. These practitioners were often stressed because of work and study and could not keep up with the Fa study and doing the exercises. They had to spend time with families and couldn’t make it to the group Fa study sessions on the weekends. Some have stopped coming to the sessions for a long time.
These practitioners are in the mainstream society, and their coworkers, friends, bosses, and teachers are the beings whom we wanted to save the most. I tried to set up Fa study sessions near their where they work so that they could come and spend 90 minutes studying the Fa after work. I also added a new weekly Fa study session for them.
Now, more practitioners come to the Fa study sites. They helped with the Shen Yun promotion and collected signatures for the petitions to sue Jiang Zemin.
I am still not a genuine practitioner in many things. Together with other practitioners, I will let go of attachments and save more people.
Thank you, Master. Thank you, fellow practitioners.
(Presented at the 2015 Taiwan Falun Dafa Cultivation Experience Sharing Conference)