(Minghui.org) Greetings Master, greetings fellow practitioners.
I live in Michigan. This year, I am 15 years old, and I just participated in the Ride 2 Freedom project this summer. When I first heard of the project last summer, I thought that it would be a great chance for young disciples like me to play a larger part in clarifying the truth and saving sentient beings. Here are some of my experiences while on the Ride 2 Freedom team.
Before the Ride
Last July, a young disciple in Michigan contacted me and told me about this project, which she heard about at the Washington DC July 20 events. I was very enthusiastic about it, and spread it among my young disciple friends, and soon we had thirty-some young disciples in the United States who were interested in the project. As time went on, we continued to welcome international young disciples onto the project as well.
However, the planning process was very slow. Our senior coordinator wanted Ride 2 Freedom to be mostly a kids’ project, and handed a lot of the planning to us. For many of us, this was our first major project, and it was hard to organize. For example, we had to find sponsors, design the webpage and clothing, as well as keep everyone’s cultivation on track with regular group Fa studies. Many less committed practitioners dropped out in the process, but I never hesitated. I believed that this was an important project, and a project where I could most use my youth to save sentient beings. I knew that a lot of Dafa projects started out rocky, but as long as we had righteous thoughts, Master would help us and things would work out.
This was apparent as the beginning of the ride neared, in getting permission from my two main roadblocks. The first was getting permission from my school to miss two weeks of class. I talked to my principal and teachers with righteous thoughts, and was also able to clarify the truth to them. Not only did I get permission very easily, many of my teachers were also very impressed. One teacher asked me to talk about Ride 2 Freedom to my classmates, and another even exempted me from the final exam due to participation in this project.
The second was my mother, who is not a practitioner. It was very possible that she would not let me participate. However, my thoughts were very strong; no matter what my mother said, I would come join the project, because it is a way for me to save sentient beings. When I informed my mother about my participation in the project, she agreed surprisingly quickly and easily. Thank you, Master.
Overcoming Physical Tribulations
The ride started on June 1st. The first day was only 20 miles, only 7 miles per group. However, it was very mountainous, and I was unable to ride those 7 miles. My legs felt sore and heavy, and I was breathing very heavily and going extremely slowly. I gave up after about three or four miles. Afterwards, I was very ashamed of myself, and though I said I would not give up again, when I rode again a few days later, I gave up again.
The day we were riding into Utah, it was my group’s turn to ride again. This ride proved to be extremely difficult, as it was mostly long stretches of uphill road. It was the hardest I ever pushed myself, and many times I thought of giving up. However, in those moments, I thought of Master and asked him to help me, and I managed to push through the entire two-hour ride with my teammates. After that day, whenever the riding got difficult, I would ask Master to help me, and I would be able to push through it. Another day, I was riding through Kansas. The wind was blowing against us, and it was very strong. The feeling was similar to a very steep uphill climb. However, I was able to ride 40 miles, and was not even tired afterwards. Thank you, Master.
Another test soon followed. The next day, I took a hard fall and lost a piece of flesh from my knee. Because it was a very deep wound, many of my teammates took extra care to look out for me, but for that reason, selfishness arose in me. I couldn’t stop crying, not because of the pain, but because I felt like I was dragging my team down. I felt like I couldn’t do anything for myself, and I was very moved. That thought actually limited me. When I first fell, I was still able to walk normally, but later on in the evening, bending my knee hurt a lot, so I began to limp, and I limped for a week afterwards, even though it was only a flesh wound. Many of my teammates and the adults told me to walk normally, to ignore the wound, but I couldn’t do it. When doing the meditation, I kept my leg straight. I also refused to ride.
However, I soon realized that this was wrong. I participated in this project to save sentient beings, and in this project, the way to do that is to ride bicycles. Three days after my fall, I gradually brought my leg up into double lotus position during the sitting meditation. It was very painful, but I sat through to the end. The next day, I rode for the first time since I fell. Although my knee hurt and I was very slow, I kept reciting “Falun Dafa is good; Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good” in my mind, and Master helped me, as I was able to keep up all the way with my teammates.
Clarifying the Truth
This project was also a great introduction when clarifying the truth to people. Because we are young people embarking on such a great mission, we are able to inspire many people. When we say, “we are an international group of youths biking 3,000 miles,” many people are willing to listen. However, I am a very shy person, and I have never been good at talking to people or clarifying the truth. In the beginning of the ride, I mostly stood nearby while my teammates talked, so as to give the appearance of helping out. In Denver, for example, we spent an entire day there, but I only took a few selfies. As a group, we took around 150 selfies.
Master says,
“Of course, such a person will be doing Dafa things like others, but what people see are the outward things, while in reality there are many attachments deep inside, which others cannot see. Many things that he can’t let go of are deeply hidden. The person knows himself that those things aren’t good, and so he’s afraid of others finding out about them, for fear of embarrassment.” (“Fa Teaching Given at the 2015 New York Fa Conference”)
I realized that no matter how I felt when talking to people, it’s important for me to clarify the truth and save as many sentient beings as I could.
Once I changed my mentality, there was a drastic change. When we were in Chicago, we spent two hours spanning two streets, trying to clarify the truth to as many people as possible. In those two hours alone, one teammate and I took almost 30 selfies, and we collected almost 200 together as a group. When we were clarifying the truth in Baltimore, although there were less people, almost everyone we talked to was extremely enthusiastic and supportive, and asked where to find out more and how to donate.
In Regards to Personal Cultivation
Ride 2 Freedom, more than anything, provided a great cultivation environment. Being with so many diligent young practitioners allowed me to see my flaws. Actually, in the past, I was very not diligent. I wouldn’t study the Fa or do the exercises every day, so my behavior in everyday life was poor. I was often moved by very trivial things and it was very difficult for me to guard my xinxing well. I hadn't fully realized the greatness of Dafa, but in participating in Ride 2 Freedom, I saw how the power of Dafa was able help people see the truth. Now, I see the importance of doing the three things well.
I would like to thank Master for everything he has done for us, especially on the Ride 2 Freedom trip, as it went very smoothly and we were able to gain a lot of support from many different sorts of people, even with very little experience and minimal planning. I hope to continue to improve my own cultivation as well as continue to help out with future Dafa projects to help Master in saving sentient beings.
Please point out any misconceptions I may have.
(Presented at the 2015 Mid-US Falun Dafa Cultivation Experience Sharing Conference)
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