(Minghui.org) Greetings venerable master! Greetings fellow practitioners!
The Joy of Obtaining the Fa
My parents obtained the Fa in 1996. I was only eight years old and practiced the exercises with my parents. Although I also wanted to study the Fa, many words were too difficult for me to read. However, one night I had a dream in which Master handed me a Chinese dictionary. From then on, I excelled in Chinese, and I became the top student in my Chinese classes.
In 1997 our house became a practice site, and I studied the Fa and did the exercises with the other practitioners. Before July 20, 1999, Falun Dafa was extremely popular in China, and over 100 million people were practicing.
Before they obtained the Fa, my parents worked very hard at their business, which they had opened using borrowed money. They were exhausted every day. When I was born, my mother had to care for me and still help father with the business. My mother soon overworked herself. She developed heart problems and often fainted. My father frequented bars to socialize and drink, and soon developed a short temper. He would scold and hit my mother when he came home.
After they began practicing, my father quit smoking and drinking and became compassionate and kind. My mother’s heart problems vanished, and she did her best to take care of my grandparents and the household.
Before I began practicing, my health was poor and I easily became ill. After I began cultivating, my health improved, and my mind became quick and sharp. Because of my good grades, I was usually given leadership responsibilities at school. I held myself to the standards of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, respected my teachers, cared for my classmates, and had a good reputation.
Helping Master in Fa Rectification Amidst the Persecution
After July 20 1999, the Chinese regime began an extensive and brutal persecution of Falun Gong. Father went to Beijing to defend the Fa, but he was illegally arrested by the police. He later escaped from detention through his righteous thoughts. He returned home and resolutely continued to cultivate.
Father began explaining the truth behind the persecution to his friends and relatives in 2000. When the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party was published in 2004, I read it with my parents, and I returned to the path of cultivation.
After reading many of Master’s writings, I realized that I should talk about the persecution to my classmates. I brought some informational materials to school, and explained why Falun Gong was being persecuted to my classmates. One of my tests had a question which slandered Dafa. I answered it by explaining why the Party was persecuting Falun Gong. During school holidays, I would go to a materials production site and study the Fa with fellow practitioners and make truth-clarifying materials, and I could feel the sacredness of helping Master rectify the Fa.
Local practitioners later organized a Fa-study session for young practitioners. However, news of our activity was discovered by spies, and policemen came and arrested many practitioners. Several practitioners and I managed to escape through Master’s benevolent protection.
I soon began working at a company near home, and went home to study the Fa and do the exercises every day. At work, I would talk about the persecution to my colleagues. My house also became a materials production site. Many former practitioners returned to the path of cultivation, and we came together to carry out the three things that Master asked us to do. At night, we went door to door to distribute informational materials and hang banners outside.
Under Master’s benevolent protection, we passed many difficult trials, and witnessed Dafa’s miracles. One night, I went with fellow practitioners to a village to distribute materials. It was 11 p.m. and everyone was asleep, so we left materials on each doorstep. At one of the houses, we encountered a ferocious guard dog, but we sent forth righteous thoughts and carried on. In fact, the villagers' guard dogs are extremely fierce, but this dog did not bark or attack us at all.
Once when I was talking about the persecution to my friends, a plainclothes policeman came by. He smiled and asked me, “Aren’t you afraid that I’ll arrest you for talking about Falun Gong?” I compassionately talked to him. I told him that Falun Gong practitioners are all good people who believe in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. He understood, and we even became friends.
Overcoming My Attachment of Fear, and Saving Sentient Beings
Due to the severity of the persecution in 2011 in China, I moved to Singapore. A few days after arriving in Singapore, I went to Chinatown and found fellow practitioners. With their help, I learned about the practice site near my house.
My first year in Singapore, my workload was large. I frequently had to work overtime, so I was not very diligent studying the Fa or doing the exercises. On Sundays, I went door-to-door with other practitioners to give out informational materials. The thought that these sentient beings had the chance to read these materials and understand the truth uplifted my spirits. I also went to tourist attractions on Sundays and did the exercises.
I worked hard at my job, taking hardship as joy. I helped my colleagues whenever I could, earning the approval of my boss and colleagues. Because of changes in my understanding and improvements in my xinxing, my working conditions improved, and I worked less overtime.
Sometimes I would go to practice sites to do the exercises, and on Wednesdays, I would travel from the west to central Singapore to participate in group Fa study. Since my office was so far away, I thought: If my office was closer, I could participate in Fa-study more often, or even go to Chinatown to do truth-clarification. Master saw my heartfelt wish to continue cultivating diligently and benevolently helped me. In the second year of my job, my workplace was moved from the western part to the central part of Singapore, near the practice site.
I once heard other practitioners discussing the importance of clarifying the truth at tourist venues, and I realized that I had to be diligent about this. I lived with another practitioner, and we encouraged and reminded each other to do the three things every day. We would send truth-clarifying texts, make phone calls, give out materials in Chinatown, talk to people about the persecution, and take turns doing the exercises at tourist attractions.
While I was at tourist attractions talking about the persecution and making progress in cultivation, I had many trials, and witnessed many of Dafa’s miracles. While handing out materials, some passers-by who hadn't heard the facts scolded us loudly. Some people threw the materials back in my face. Some claimed to be Chinese Communist Party (CCP) spies to try scare me and stop me from giving out materials. Sometimes police would patrol nearby. Whenever I became scared, I would search inside while studying the Fa and realize that I could not let these trials and my emotions prevent me from saving people.
Master teaches us to look within when encountering tribulations. I examined myself, and found a huge pile of human attachments: the attachment of wanting to do things, zealotry, resentment, fear, and so on. I would think about how many flyers I had given out, rather than thinking about how to save people. When things went well, I became happy and complacent and would not remember to bring myself back to a state of righteousness. When passers-by scolded me I would feel resentful. When I saw police I would not think about how I was doing the most upright thing possible, saving people, but instead my attachment to fear would surface.
After I identified my hidden attachments, whenever these tribulations resurfaced, I would quietly recite Master’s words:
“When disciples have ample righteous thoughtsMaster has the power to turn back the tide”(“The Master-Disciple Bond” from Hong Yin Volume II)
“A Great Enlightened One fears no hardshipHaving forged an adamantine willFree of attachment to living or dyingHe walks the path of Fa-rectificationconfident and poised”(“Righteous Thoughts and Righteous Actions” from Hong Yin Volume II)
Under Master’s benevolent care, I have traveled a smooth and steady path.
Looking back over these past 10 years, I have stumbled many times on my path of cultivation, but Master has always cared for me. Without Master’s protection, I would not have made it until this day. Even now, I still feel embarrassed about my shortcomings in cultivation, and not being able to live up to Master’s standards. Henceforth, I will follow Master ever more closely, and do the three things required of Dafa disciples, and be diligent in my cultivation path.
These are just some of my personal experiences, please point out any shortcomings.
Thank you benevolent and mighty Master! Thank you fellow practitioners!
(Presented at the 2015 Singapore Falun Dafa Cultivation Experience Sharing Conference)
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