(Minghui.org) I have practiced Falun Dafa for 10 years and feel fortunate to share my experiences with fellow practitioners.
I am an overseas media reporter. A few years ago, the editor asked me to do more reporting on criminal cases. An experienced non-practitioner reporter with more than 30 years of experience was surprised to hear that I would be reporting on criminal cases. A famous female reporter said the most difficult reporting for a female reporter is in criminal cases.
I suddenly realized three years ago that I would not be able to do the job well if I read only one lecture in Zhuan Falun a day. The job involved reporting on depraved people, which could affect me negatively.
I thought that I should memorize the Fa, because I needed a cushion against negative influences. However, to do this I must get up early.
At the beginning, when I tried to memorize Zhuan Falun, I felt it was very difficult. I then first memorized Hong Yin, Hong Yin Vol. II, Hong Yin III, and then started again memorizing Zhuan Falun. Now I'm memorizing Zhuan Falun for the second time, and I can almost memorize one page a day.
As I kept memorizing the Fa, I needed less sleep and felt energetic. My sleep quality has improved, and I rarely dream.
After I started memorizing the Fa, I experienced greater protection from Dafa and Master. When I interviewed and photographed in a place where people used marijuana, I felt dizzy and sick. After I left the area, I was fine.
On another occasion, I went to a press conference. To make it there on time, I drove in the fast lane and was stopped. I admitted my mistake and the officer only warned me instead of giving me a $400 ticket. I knew that Master helped me.
I rented a room in a townhouse. There was no fan or air conditioner in my room. During winter it was very cold in my room, and I could not sleep at times.
The landlord was a non-practitioner and almost 80 years old. He said that he could not adjust the temperature in winter or summer because he would get a rash. So, I did not ask him to change the temperature for me.
One day, while reading some local news, I learned that a landlord is required to keep the room temperature at or above 21 degree Celsius. I then asked the landlord to raise the room temperature. However, he yelled at me for about 20 minutes and refused to comply. I got angry and thought he was stingy.
Master said,
“I just said that the principles of cultivators and those of ordinary people are opposite. Human beings believe that a life of comfort is a good thing, while Dafa disciples believe that having everything be easy is a bad thing when it comes to their improvement and that discomfort is conducive to improvement. (Applause) Have you managed to turn around your fundamental concepts?” (“Teaching the Fa in San Francisco, 2005”)
I then remembered the Fa, which told me that I should not get angry. An ordinary person would get angry when encountering such a situation. If I got angry, wasn't I an ordinary person, too? I came to understand that a cultivator should treat hardship as joy and not get angry with anyone.
The room was not comfortable. But it provided me with the opportunity to improve my xinxing and discard my mentality of pursuing comfort. If my bed was too comfortable, would I be able to get up at 3:30 a.m. every morning to participate in the group Fa study and exercises? If the room was too comfortable, could I still get up early on weekends and holidays? If I slept late, could I still meet many tourists from China at tourist attractions?
Therefore, I should really thank the landlord for providing me with such a good cultivation environment. After I came to these understandings, I told the landlord, “I want to thank you sincerely. Since I moved here, I am able to get up early every day. I was able to be strict with myself, and I saved a lot of time.”
I previously had a strong sentimental attachment to my mother. However, after she emigrated from China, she strongly opposed my practicing Falun Dafa.
She often sent me harsh emails and texts trying to stop me from cultivating. She yelled at me on the phone, and I tried to reason with her, but she did not listen.
Through memorizing the Fa, my righteous thoughts firmed up. When she called me and spoke harshly to me, I listened quietly without getting angry. I kept sending righteous thought in my mind. I then called her back several days later and expressed my concern for her, as if nothing had happened. This situation lasted for two years.
One day I received a letter from my mother.
“Falun Dafa practitioners are good people,” she wrote. “Practitioners used to help me a lot. I respect your belief, and I will no longer treat you harshly. I know that I was wrong.”
My sentimentality was also reflected in the way I treated fellow practitioners.
I used to associate with a female practitioner, and we shared a lot. However, I did not have much to say to other practitioners, feeling that there was a generation gap, and I had not much in common with them. Over time I had a sentimental attachment to that practitioner. If she said something harsh to me, I felt very upset.
Master said,
"Since human beings have sentimentality, being upset is sentimentality, so are happiness, love, hatred, enjoying doing one thing, resenting doing another thing, preferring one person to another, hobbies, and dislikes. Everything belongs to sentimentality, and everyday people just live for it." (Zhuan Falun)
I came to understand this was also an attachment, and I must discard it. A divine being would not be close to only one or two people and stay away from others.
Every time I went to tourist attractions, I met a lot of Chinese tourists. Thoughts kept coming to mind that the chance of them coming to this city and our meeting again were very limited, and I might have only this one chance to tell them about Falun Dafa and about the persecution. I told myself that I must treasure every person I meet, and I must discard any thoughts of discrimination to save more lives.
During the past three years, I experienced various situations at tourist sites. For example, I was once surrounded by a group of people. On another occasion, some government officials wanted to drive me out of the tourist site and even warned that they would report me to the police. If such experiences could not stop me from telling people about Falun Dafa and the persecution, why could I not treasure my fellow practitioners around me?
The next time I went to our office, every practitioner was friendly, and I stopped being close to only one or a few practitioners. Now, I work with any practitioner, regardless of where he/she came from or their age.