(Minghui.org) Greetings esteemed Master, greetings fellow practitioners.
I am 29 years old and have been practicing Falun Dafa for 20 years. I emigrated from China to Montreal in June 2014 and began my cultivation in a brand new environment. My two years of cultivating outside of China taught me that cultivation must happen in everything we do and at all times.
Nothing Is Accidental
When at work, I used to tell people, “Don’t be defensive and don’t complain.” When people complained to me about something, I told them not to, as the more one complains, the more misfortune would happen. I had thought that I rarely held grudges against other people until I realized otherwise.
When I was playing in the marching band, I was behind an elderly practitioner who walked very slowly. I was annoyed and thought, “He is so slow that I am out of sync with the group. People will think that I didn’t know what I was doing.” As I was having these negative thoughts, he made more mistakes. When he made a mistake, I got distracted and even more upset. As soon as the parade was over, I complained to the band coordinator.
Then, I remembered that I used to hold many grudges against one of my sisters. She and her husband took me in for five years when my parents were arrested and detained. Not only was I not grateful to her, I did not have much respect for her. My attitude was so bad that I had become worse than an ordinary person. I did not quite understand why I was so critical of her, no matter how she behaved.
When my sister complained to me, I told her that she needed to get rid of her resentment and that she complained too much. My sister, in turn, told me that I held grudges. I realized that Master had arranged for my sister to complain to me so that I can look inside to find my own resentment. It was not accidental.
Master said,
“If the matter has absolutely nothing to do with you or doesn’t involve any of the attachments you should break, then that thing would rarely happen to you.” (Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Europe)
As soon as I found my attachment, I tried to eliminate my resentment. The first thing I did was to remain quiet, no matter what I saw or what people said, whether it was right or wrong. This was very difficult at first. I almost felt that I had sustained an internal injury from doing that. After a few rounds of this, Master must have noticed that I had been trying very hard, so he took away some of the bad substances. All of a sudden, I did not see anything abnormal with other people and there was nothing for me to complain about.
Master said,
“You have to search inside yourself when you encounter problems. As I said earlier, it’s not because others treat you improperly, but rather that there’s something wrong on your part. For example, if the grand cosmic body is in harmony but there is discordance on your part, and a knotty situation occurs only where you are, you are the one who isn’t in accord with others. When you spot the cause within yourself and correct that problem, the situation will become harmonious and calm, and everyone will treat you nicely once again.” (Lecture at the First Conference in North America)
In March, I participated in a parade in Ottawa. I was again behind the same elderly practitioner, and I was perturbed at first. Then, I realized that it was not easy for him to travel so far on such a cold day to play in the band. Even young people found it difficult. He must have strong righteous thoughts to be able to do this at all. What happened to my compassion after 20 years of cultivation?
As soon as I had this thought, my negative thoughts disappeared. Although I did not complain, I still needed to deal with it. At first, he was walking very slowly. I just kept reminding him to quicken his steps in a whisper. A few pieces later, he got his rhythm wrong again. I tried to control my own steps so that I did not affect people behind me. I did not resent him. Gradually he started doing much better. He caught up with the rhythm, quickened his steps and eventually he was perfectly in line with the group. As my xinxing improved, I played my instrument better and did not feel tired afterwards.
Put My Heart into Everything
The coordinator for the local telephone group asked me at the end of 2015 if I could be the technical support for the group and promote the project to local practitioners. I agreed to it without hesitation.
Master has told practitioners during many of his lectures to do well in everything that they do. Thus, I should do a good job in everything that I do. So I picked eight projects and researched each of them. I got familiar with how things worked with each program within a month, and was confident that I could start the promotion. So I let the coordinator know that I was ready.
During my presentation, I talked about how we were pressed for time and that it was dangerous if we did not do the things that practitioners were supposed to do. Besides, I felt that these projects were all very easy to do. My intended message was for fellow practitioners not to be left behind. After the presentation, half a dozen of the practitioners expressed interest. I thought that I did a great job.
Paying Attention to the Presentation Method
The next day, I asked the coordinator if I had done well with my presentation.
“I felt bad when you were talking up there,” she said. “You were so pushy. You complained that other people were not pulling their weight when it came to truth-clarification. You are trying to mobilize people to do these projects, not push them away.”
I retorted: “I listened to your presentation, but only a couple of people expressed interest afterwards. But I got half a dozen practitioners interested. It is the outcome that matters.” The coordinator did not say anything except to continue next week as planned.
After I hung up the phone, I was still in the same mode of thinking, that the outcome is the most important. The numbers will speak for itself. It is nothing if we don’t get people to participate. But since the coordinator thought I was pushy, I thought that I should pay more attention to the way I speak.
The next week, I did the presentation again. I was not as pushy, but I still blamed people for not pulling their weight. I thought to myself, some of you have not signed up for any project. Why don’t you guys want to get involved?
After my high pressure mobilizing effort, a dozen practitioners expressed interest. But, in the end, only a few followed up with me. Then, some did not stay with it after they did it for a short while.
Compassionate Conversation Awakens Buddha Nature
A fellow practitioner and I talked about how to operate manual broadcasting.
“No project is easy,” he said. “Look at this project. You don’t have to say anything. You just sit there, send righteous thoughts, and turn on the broadcast. Some people found it boring or ineffective, so they gave up after a few times.”
Thus, I called the coordinator of the telephone group and asked her why so few people participated in the projects, and even fewer people persist.
“You cannot use high pressure or scare tactics to get people on board,” she said. “If it is not from the heart, even though that practitioner tries it out, he cannot keep it up. When you see practitioners being hindered by the old forces, you should compassionately assist them, and have a compassionate conversation with them to awaken his or her Buddha nature. Only then can it work. Only then will he or she come aboard.”
An article I read said that a stormy sea may look scary, but it is not nearly as damaging as an earthquake. It’s like my presentation. It was eloquent, well-documented and it excited people, but the effect was short-lived. Without compassion, the message did not get through to people’s hearts. I enlightened that what can truly move people is the Fa, and it is manifested in our xinxing. We should be compassionate in what we do. We must eliminate human notions before we can have compassion and do well in our projects.
Having enlightened to the above, I tried to suppress my resentment. I no longer tried to scare people or demand something. For those who want to do it, I provide technical support. Due to interference from the old forces, technical support was not as simple as I had expected. I helped one Western practitioner install software for auto-dialing. With many hiccups, after two weeks, she finally learned how to do it. All she needed to do was click it with the mouse. Then her computer broke down.
Persisting Despite Interference
We realized that this was interference by the old forces who did not want us to clarify the truth about Dafa. So I asked her if she wanted to be involved. She was determined to continue, no matter what happened. After she made up her mind, the interference became much less. She has returned to France, but she is still clarifying the truth to Chinese people using the same software. The same thing happened to another Western practitioner. It also took me two weeks to install the software on his computer. I didn’t seem to be able to get it to work, even with the assistance of someone with more advanced skills.
When I asked that Westerner whether he wanted to persist, with all this interference from the old forces, he was unwavering. He said, “Whatever you need me to do, I will do it.” So I tried again and it worked. Normally it took 10 minutes to install the software, but for an Apple computer, it may require a few hours. During the process, my attachment to results, my impatience, and my attachment to fame kept disrupting me.
Voices kept telling me to give up. Then, I realized that if I didn’t help him, he would not be able to do it. I needed to try again. So, I sent righteous thoughts to eliminate the interference and encouraged him to persevere. When I was determined, I had an idea and it worked. Master saw my heart and gave me the wisdom to solve this problem.
Cultivating Xinxing
Being a technical support person helped me eliminate many of my attachments. Sometimes, I spent a lot of time and energy trying to solve a problem, but it still did not work when practitioners went home to try it. Some felt that I did not know what I was doing. Once, I helped a practitioner maintain the simplest program, and pointed out to her that she needed to pay attention and register for the accounts that had been locked.
The practitioner retorted, “I have no time.” Seeing her attitude, I knew that if I said anything negative, she would give up on this project. If she gave up on this project and failed to fulfill her vows because of me, it would be terrible. So I apologized to her and explained that I had failed to let her know about all the details, causing the accounts to be locked. She was touched and was willing to learn again.
After 20 years of cultivation, I finally understand that no matter what we do, we are cultivating xinxing. Master said, “One’s gong level is as high as one’s xinxing level, and this is an absolute truth.” (Zhuan Falun)
Thus, I thought that without improving xinxing, what is the point of doing a big Dafa project?
Before one group Fa-study, I was asked to briefly introduce the telephone projects to the group. While I was sending righteous thoughts at 9 p.m., I came to see how to do it properly. I explained how the practitioners were still being rounded up, persecuted and their organs harvested. We have so many phone numbers to call, but not enough people. I hoped that those who had time to spare would participate in this project. After my introduction, the young translator said to me, “I must join this project.”
When I changed and was no longer attached to results, and just did what I was supposed to do, more and more practitioners participated in the telephone projects, especially young and Western practitioners.
Elevate Gong Rapidly
In the 10 days between St. Jean Baptiste Day and Canada Day, I had two exams, four parades, four moves, and four big clean-ups. Every day I went to bed late and had to get up really early. I didn’t have enough time to study the Fa, and I had xinxing tests all the time. In one of the practice sessions, I was so tired that I could not lift my clarinet. I needed to take frequent breaks before I played another piece.
During the Canada Day parade, I lacked energy. When I looked in the mirror, I could barely recognize myself. One practitioner asked what had happened to me, because I looked completely different.
I believe that Master is merciful. He is arranging for me to improve my xinxing and let me eliminate karma by suffering physically, save sentient beings during the parades and elevate my gong rapidly. It is really a great opportunity that is hard to come by. Although I was tired, since I had eliminated my resentment, I didn’t feel any stress.
Normally people cannot manage that kind of workload effectively. Although I did not prepare well, I passed my two exams, participated in the four parades, and did not feel tired.
Master said, “Cultivation depends on one's own efforts, while the transformation of gong is done by one's master.” (Zhuan Falun)
With my xinxing improved, the best results happened naturally.
Choosing One's Future
My English teacher asked us to write about what we would choose if we were given an opportunity to do so before we were born. I told my teacher that I would choose my faith.
As a practitioner, I understand that we all made a similar choice before we descended to this world. We gave up everything, so that we could become the greatest beings in the universe – Dafa practitioners.
Looking back at the 20 some years of cultivation, I was under Master’s protection. When I was not up to the standard, Master gently provided guidance, and when I was doing well, Master encouraged me.
I need to walk the path arranged by Master with no regret and no resentment, do the three things well, and assimilate to Dafa.
Thank you esteemed Master and fellow practitioners!
(Presented at the 2016 Canada Cultivation Experience Sharing Conference)
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