(Minghui.org) Greetings, Venerable Master! Greetings, fellow practitioners!
I am an 11th grader at Fei Tian Academy of the Arts. In the past year I experienced many tribulations. What struck me the most was the urgency of saving people. Just like Master said:
“In this difficult environment, you will temper your will and upgrade your xinxing. Under the influence of different ill thoughts from everyday people, you will be able to reach above and beyond.” (Zhuan Falun)
I understand that cultivation is about continuously enduring hardships, tempering our will, and removing attachments. Sometimes the tribulations are very difficult to overcome, but at the critical moment, if I can think of Master and Dafa and trust in Master and the Fa, I will be able to overcome the tribulation. Oftentimes I can feel Master’s compassion toward Dafa disciples. He helps us in even very subtle matters. It is really like Master said:
“There is no affect between master and discipleThe Buddha’s grace remolds Heaven and EarthWhen disciples have ample righteous thoughtsMaster has the power to turn back the tide”(“The Master-Disciple Bond” from Hong Yin Vol. II)
Cultivation Is Serious
In the past year, I realized that cultivation is very serious. Even when we are very busy we cannot become lax in our cultivation. Master said:
“Cultivation is the cornerstone of what we do, and saving people is our responsibility. Both of these things need to be done well.” (“Fa Teaching Given at the 2015 New York Fa Conference”)
Last year, there was a time when we were very busy with performances, and we worked very hard night and day. I became lax with my cultivation. In the week before a dance competition, I was practicing aerials with my classmate in the ice-cold auditorium. I clenched my teeth and forced myself to practice. In one aerial, I twisted my knee as I landed. The next day my entire knee swelled up, and I couldn’t walk.
For something like this to happen right before a performance was surely interference from the evil. I looked within and found that I had the attachment of not wanting others to criticize me, a terrible thought. I also had many other attachments that were led by human thoughts. I realized I needed to have high standards for myself and not just do whatever I liked.
Through this incident, I enlightened that I need to proactively cultivate away my attachments and not wait for problems to occur and then passively cultivate; only this way can I upgrade speedily.
Through studying the Fa and doing the exercises, after two weeks I was able to go back to dance class. This also demonstrated the power of Dafa. However, later I read a Minghui article about an elderly practitioner who twisted her knee, but she rejected the persecution with righteous thoughts, and her knee was all right in ten minutes. Compared to that practitioner, I am still far from the standard.
Urgency of Saving People
I truly feel that saving people is very urgent. Master said:
“Saving lives is the purpose of your cultivation, and it is the culmination of your vows, so how could you not do it?” (“Fa Teaching at the 2015 West Coast Fa Conference”)
When I went to Chinatown to clarify the truth, I felt like I was a monk wandering about in the human world. First I had to let go of the attachment to saving face and not be easily swayed by ordinary people’s behavior. When saving people, we need to maintain strong righteous thoughts, be clear about what we are doing, and be very firm.
One time when a few people walked past me, I had very negative thoughts. Once I realized it, I immediately eliminated those thoughts and felt very bad. Why did I still have so many negative thoughts? After I realized my issue, a kind looking elderly gentleman asked me for materials. When saving people, we really need to maintain a pure mindset. Only then will the energy we emit be pure and clean.
Recently I had another realization about how young practitioners can save people. Many young practitioners don’t pay much attention to clarifying the truth. I think we should remember that Master and Dafa are being slandered and so many Dafa disciples are being persecuted; we really should put all our effort into clarifying the truth. So I joined some projects.
I think the hardest thing is clarifying the truth face to face, but that has the best results. When I was younger I would pass out materials at tourist sites with my parents, but I didn’t know how to talk to people.
A few years ago I tried making phone calls to China to clarify the truth. At first I was very nervous and afraid. But when my righteous thoughts were strong and I used scripts prepared by other practitioners, I was able to help a few people quit the three Chinese Communist Party organizations. But I realized I didn’t know much about many things related to China and people often rebuffed me when I tried to clarify the truth to them. I felt very ineffective. So I thought this project was not right for me.
At the beginning of this year I joined the RideToFreedom project made up of young practitioners. Through riding across the country, young practitioners raise awareness about the persecution and help save kids orphaned by the persecution. Last year 30 young practitioners went on the bike tour. Their press conferences attracted many sentient beings, and the results of saving people were great.
I am grateful to Master for this project for young practitioners to clarify the truth and have the public accept it. RideToFreedom provides me a cultivation environment where I can upgrade along with fellow young practitioners. Some young practitioners can study Fa for three hours a day and save tens of sentient beings; this showed me the gap between my cultivation state and theirs.
Each day at school is very intense—dancing, academics, truth clarification projects, and Fa study and exercises—I can’t let up on any of them. Even though I joined this project a while ago, I didn’t put much heart into it, and sometimes completed it like a task.
Only until this time when I went to New York to attend the Fa conference did I realize the urgency of saving people, and on the return flight I decided to save people at the airport. First I studied Fa. I saw a billboard in the airport lobby that said in English, “You cannot stop, you can only go forward.” I felt that it was Master encouraging me. I saw an elderly man standing by the window who was dressed very plainly. Just then I thought of Master’s words:
“I can tell you that some gods at extremely high levels are smaller than the tip of a needle, but are incomparably mighty! They can instantly turn themselves into enormous gods.” (“Fa Teaching Given at the 2014 San Francisco Fa Conference”)
When saving people we should not differentiate, so I went over and told him about RideToFreedom. I could have told him all about it in five minutes, but I ended up talking to him for over an hour. He told me he was an investor who helped others expand their projects.
In the end, he took a photo with me and said, “As a young person, a 17-year-old, you were brave to walk over and talk to me. You will surely be successful in your aspirations!” We exchanged contact information so that he could learn more about the RideToFreedom project.
I know that, with my personality, I usually would not strike up a conversation with a stranger, but in order to save people I was able to clarify the truth face to face. I overcame my attachment to fear, and Master planned everything. Thank you, Master!
I remember what Master said in the “Fa Teaching at the 2016 New York Fa Conference:”
“...you are the hope for humanity! The hope for sentient beings! You are also Master's hope!”
When I heard this I was very touched. I know that I can only put all my effort into being diligent. I hope that in the future we can regard Dafa and saving people as the most important, and try our best to let go of self. While other classmates are anxiously applying for college, oftentimes I would not worry about my future, because Master has planned everything. No matter what I do or where I go, if I can help Master rectify the Fa, I will be very happy.
Thank you, Master! Thank you, fellow practitioners!
(Presented at the 2016 San Francisco Falun Dafa Cultivation Experience Sharing Conference for Young Practitioners)
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