(Minghui.org) Greetings, revered Master, and fellow practitioners!
I am a college student and Falun Dafa practitioner, who came to Seoul, South Korea four years ago.
Introduced to Dafa at a Young Age
In the early spring of 1998, my uncle introduced Falun Dafa to my mother and father. Dafa became an integral part of my life. I was just three years old at the time. The scenes when I studied the Fa with adult practitioners are still vivid in my mind.
Unfortunately, the cultivation environment changed soon after we became practitioners, as Falun Dafa was banned in the following year. Our family suffered many hardships in raising awareness of the persecution.
Master always protected us. I have distributed fliers with adult practitioners at night and went to Tiananmen Square in Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Dafa. Every time we returned home safely, thanks to Master’s protection. I could always feel the protection of Master during my growing years. Master protected me from being overly influenced by conditions in the depraved society, I could feel the peace and happiness of the mind as I assimilated to the Fa.
Facing the Sleep Demon
I arrived in Korea in July 2014 and continued my Dafa cultivation. When I first went to the practice site, I was close to tears. The interior of the practice site was bright and spacious. Master’s portrait hung in the center of the wall and emitted light. At that moment, I was truly happy, and my heart was surrounded by warm energy. When reading Zhuan Falun with the practitioners, each and everyone’s face was so peaceful.
When I first arrived in Seoul and studied the Fa, I was interfered with. Because of sleepiness, I would miss the time to study the Fa, or fall asleep during Fa study. It took me a lot of effort to overcome this tribulation.
A group of practitioners decided to meet at 9:00 a.m. to study the Fa. I sent forth strong righteous thoughts and set several alarms before going to bed to make sure I would wake up. But, when I woke up it was past 9:00 a.m. I was so angry and distressed that I wanted to lie down and cry and not get up. Then, through my third eye, I saw myself lying on the concrete floor and heard Master say, “Get up!” At first, I didn't realize what was happeneing, but then I enlightened that Master was helping me.
Master said,
“There's a prominent phenomenon in you folks' cultivation, which is, after you haven't done something well, you're only overwhelmed with regret, and you don't do it over. If you regret it too much then that's another attachment. Once you've done something wrong, seen where it was wrong, and recognized it, then do it well next time, do it over. If you trip and fall, and just keep lying there instead of getting up, (audience laughs) then that's no good.” (Teaching the Fa at the 2003 Lantern Festival)
I stood up and ran to the group Fa study site. From then on, whenever I felt sleepy during Fa study, I either crossed my legs to sit in the full lotus position or stood up. As I looked within, I realized that most of the time, whenever I have a bad notion, the sleep demon would make me feel drowsy or fall asleep.
When I did not fall asleep during Fa study, I got excited, but soon my head would feel heavy and sleepy. I tried to get rid of all the disturbing thoughts by concentrating on the Fa, and my willpower was growing stronger. I kept a steady and pure heart to keep up with Fa study every day regardless of how effective it was. Then, I discovered that I had overcome the state of sleepiness when I study the Fa.
Participating in Shen Yun Promotion
I participated in the 2015 Shen Yun promotion for the first time at the end of 2014. The coordinator told the young practitioners at the main practice site to memorize Shen Yun promotional presentation contents.
The coordinator suggested that I should promote Shen Yun at the Chinese language schools. I felt the task would be too challenging so I refused to take the challenge. But, I didn't want to let the coordinator down, so I decided to memorize the promotional information.
After the next week's group Fa study, the coordinator asked us to recite what we's memorized as a trial run before we went out to promote Shen Yun. I was so embarrassed, because I couldn't speak well in front of a crowd. When it was my turn, I was so nervous that I had a hard time remembering. I was so embarrassed that I started to cry. I expected to be criticized, but everyone smiled and encouraged me to try again. With practitioners' help, I regained my courage and confidence. I've been able to do better ever since. I promoted Shen Yun in Chinese to Korean students who were studying Chinese at language schools.
Whenever I found the opportunity, I told my professors and classmates at my university about Shen Yun. Once there was a class with 'Festival' as the main topic. The professor asked the students about festivals they were familiar with. I took this opportunity to promote Shen Yun. The students loved it and kept saying “Wow!” The professor said, “It's really beautiful. I would like to see the show.”
I no longer rely on others when promoting Shen Yun. When I was distributing Shen Yun brochures on the main street, the Korean practitioner had an emergency and had to leave. My confidence vanished – there were unfamiliar streets and strangers. I felt embarrassed and scared because my Korean language skills were poor. Then, I realized that this was an opportunity to let go of the attachment to relying on others, since cultivation is up to me -- I must walk my path on my own. There is no such thing as relying on others in cultivation. As soon as I recognized this attachment, I sent righteous thoughts and felt as if Master was with me. I was no longer afraid.
When the Shen Yun came to Korea to perform, I watched the show for the first time. My face was covered with tears through the first half of the show. I didn't know why, but deep down in my heart, I felt touched and grateful. It was just like what Master said,
“Regardless of what corner of the world one lives in, when seeing this culture and what it contains, people all feel a connection with it, as if they had personally experienced it before, or been there. Everyone has that feeling.” ( “Dafa Disciples Must Study the Fa” from Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. XI )
Clarifying the Truth at the University
Throughout my college life, I followed the Dafa principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and clarified the truth to professors and friends. I used my experience to tell the truth. I related my class assignments or essays to the truth about Dafa using various perspectives. When the topic was about human rights, I spoke of the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) oppression of human rights against Falun Dafa. When the topic was history, I spoke of how the Chinese Communist Party was established and that millions of people died during its political movements. In art class, I talked about Shen Yun from the angle of pure art. When people I knew were dealing with personal problems, I told them about Dafa by talking about the persecution I went through as a child in China.
When I took an Introduction to Chinese Literature class last semester, I was initially in favor of the professor’s teaching style, but then I realized that he was praising the communist party and I was surprised and upset. Why was he praising the communist party for destroying Chinese culture when he is so knowledgeable about Chinese history and literature? Also, I was upset about the impact he might have on his students.
I didn't feel calm and was, in fact, angry. I asked myself why I was angry. I knew that I should protect the Fa and not have so many negative thoughts. I looked within and found that I still had the attachment of sentimentality.
Master said,
“You want to do something, you don’t want to do something, you’re happy, you’re unhappy, you love something, you hate something—everything in society comes completely from emotion.” (Zhuan Falun)
When the professor's ideas conformed with mine, I respected and admired him, but when they didn't, I was angry and disappointed. I realized that I should give up this love and hate emotion and be merciful because the professor was not a practitioner.
After coming to this conclusion, I looked for a way to talk objectively to him. At the end of the class I approached him and told him my thoughts. He was very sympathetic to my point of view.
After our discussion, whenever a communist-related topic was discussed, the professor began to criticize the communist party in a humorous and thoughtful way. And just as the practitioners continued to improve on their cultivation path, the professor was renewing his point of view every day in class. It is very fortunate for the students that the professor made the right choice.
Clarifying the Truth at Tourist Sites
When I first participated in clarifying the truth at a tourist attraction site, people were swearing at me. I cried often and had to go through a lot of xinxing tests. I didn't know how to answer all kinds of questions. Thus, I took and memorized information about clarifying the truth about Falun Dafa from the Minghui website. I also teamed up with another practitioner who does well at clarifying the truth and learned a lot.
I once clarified the truth to four middle-aged men who looked like party members. But they cursed at me and had a contemptuous look. When I added a few words of resentment and anger, they were even more agitated and loudly sang the Chinese Communist Party song while surrounding me. Their faces were black and red, and they had an evil look. I was so scared. After coming home, I cried and cried. I've never been treated so badly in my life. Moreover, I couldn't do anything when they were insulting the precious Dafa. After I thought of the scene for a while, I was in tears, but I didn't lose my confidence to clarify the truth, thinking it was a tribulation for me to overcome.
Master said,
“I've told you before that Shan isn't something pretended, nor is it a state that's just maintained on the surface. Shan truly comes from within and can only be attained and embodied through cultivation. When you're before sentient beings, as soon as words come out of your mouth and as soon as your thoughts emerge, they are able to disintegrate bad elements and the bad things that poison the world's people and that exist in people's minds. And then people will come to understand, and you'll be able to save them. Without the mighty power of true Shan at work, you won't be able to disintegrate those things, and you won't achieve anything in clarifying the truth.” (“Teaching the Fa at the 2004 Western U.S. Fa Conference”from Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. V)
This incident made me focus on cultivating compassion. When I was insulted, I made sure not to have a resentful look and tried to keep my mind at peace. When I treated the ordinary people with mercy, the numbers of conflicts slowly decreased.
For a while, people asked me, “How can you do such a thing at such a young age?” Of course, I wasn't moved since I knew what Dafa is, who I am, and what I was doing. But, I realized that I needed to look inside when I was told this several times.
I found that I was very attached to the idea of being young. Many practitioners who were clarifying the truth were old and few were as young as I. I discovered a notion that since I was still young, I should be forgiven if I wasn't diligent in cultivation. I also thought that I could pass difficulties without being as strict as the elderly practitioners.
After mulling over this thought, I realized that I thought of Master as a father figure. Just as parents always forgive their child's misbehavior, I thought Master would forgive me. I was looking at the issue with human sentimentality. I realized that Dafa teaches compassion, but has strict requirements – there is no sentimentality. Since then, few people have treated me as a child, but said, “Wow, a young person is practicing Falun Dafa!”
We clarify the truth next to a traffic light. Most people who stop at the traffic light look at the Dafa display board, but they leave as soon as the light turns green. Thus, I would often miss having them quit the CPP because the traffic light would suddenly change. Then I got impatient because I worried that people would leave without hearing the truth. I realized that I had to look inside, and I found that I worried because I might delay their journey by holding them too long to tell them the truth and have them miss the green light. They have waited for so many years to hear the truth. How is it a big deal if they miss a traffic light? When I set my mind straight, people no longer checked the traffic lights. They also listened when I asked them to miss a traffic light, as what I had to tell them was important.
Once, two pretty young women stood in front of the Falun Dafa display board and the table where we left the fliers. When I approached and asked them if they needed help, one of them asked me what it was in Chinese. I smiled and told them the truth. She listened carefully and was suddenly so moved that she said to her friend, “She's so nice! I somehow want to hear more of it.” I was touched to know that she felt the kindness of a practitioner. When I finished speaking, her friend said, “At first, I thought you were a bit anti-government, but once I learned the truth, I see you are truly patriotic. I think you're doing something really meaningful and you're all good people. I support your beliefs. Keep it up!”
Master said,
“When I was born, many Gods came down with me. From then on, this happened every year and Gods have been coming down. By the time I started to teach the Fa, those Gods came down like snowflakes—it was just that many. I calculated their ages now, and from when I started to spread the Fa till now, they would be young people around twenty-five years old, many of whom really have not been saved. They were all Gods, coming down to Earth, and they scattered to all areas of the world.” (“Fa Teaching at the 2016 New York Fa Conference”)
Not long after this lecture was published, a young Korean man signed a petition against Jiang Zemin. After that, he looked at the flier very carefully, which said, “Falun Gong was first introduced in Changchun in 1992 by Master Li Hongzhi.” He looked very excited after he read that. “1992,” he said. “I was born in 1992, and am 25 years old this year!” At that time, I was too surprised to say something, but I could feel that he was moved.
Feeling the Sacredness of Dafa
When I was diligent in studying the Fa and had passed a tribulation, I felt something strange for a few days. I felt my feet were stepping on the ground, but as if I was not in this space at all. When I saw a Chinese tourist coming and going from the Hanok Village, for the first time, I got a very strong feeling that the Chinese tourists were sacred and great kings before descending to the world. Their tens of millions of years of waiting were just for this flier, seemingly so simple. Dafa disciples have the responsibility to enlighten them. It's also the last hope they're waiting for.
During my years of overseas cultivation practice, Master gave me the greatest and most sacred, and He renewed my life. When I recalled the years of my cultivation, the most important thing was to remember clearly that under any circumstances, “I am a practitioner and Dafa disciple.” If I don't forget to be a Dafa disciple, much of Master's Fa will constantly come to mind and help me overcome difficulties.
Thank you, Master.Thank you, fellow practitioners.
(Presented at the 2018 Asia Fa Conference)
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