(Minghui.org) I have been reading many moving experience-sharing articles on the Minghui website, published as part of the online China Fahui. The many stories, in the language they were expressed, were a revelation of the level of the maturity that practitioners in China have reached in their cultivation.
What is most inspiring to us practitioners outside of China is their steadfast observance of the Fa teachings, of constant engagement in reflective self-assessment, and unwavering commitment to saving people under the most oppressive conditions inside China. Filled with anticipation and excitement, I stayed up the night the first day of the online Fa conference reading through a few of the articles. I was left with the impression that I am way behind practitioners in China in terms of personal cultivation and commitment to saving people.
As a young practitioner myself, the stories of even younger practitioners striving to break through their attachments to clarify the truth to all sorts of people, under all sorts of circumstances, brought back memories of my own childhood cultivation. Like these children, I was pure at heart and practiced with an unconditional devotion. Reading these stories seemed to put my cultivation back to how it was in the beginning, that is, “...cultivating as if you were just starting...” (“Fa Teaching at the 2009 Greater New York International Fa Conference").
You need to understand there’s a lot of hard work behind each and every article we get to see. Despite the tremendous pressure in China, these practitioners have managed to tell their personal cultivation stories that are rich in detail and replete with miracles. The stories are a testament to the beauty and power of Falun Dafa, as well as shining examples to spur on fellow practitioners around the world. I am very grateful to these contributors.
I was feeling particularly tired a few days ago after juggling with morning classes, work, children, household chores, and late night Dafa project work. I wanted to read more of the Fa conference articles, but my eyes were really tired, so I decided to listen to the Minghui radio broadcast instead. The reader’s soothing voice carrying this pure righteous energy woke me up from deep inside. It seemed to have washed away my physical fatigue and delivered the story deep into the microscopic levels of my being. I felt as if all my cells were all at once awakened and my body refreshed.
One of the stories I listened to was shared by a teacher. It was broadcast in three parts. One part was about live organ harvesting. At the end of the story a particularly fitting music piece was played. For another part which was about non-practitioners showing kindness towards Falun Dafa disciples after they had understood the truth about Falun Dafa, lively music came on as the narration faded out. The whole listening experience was like that of being in a concert where powerful pieces of music were performed, filling me with a renewed level of righteousness.
I read over “Doing the Impossible” story twice. What struck me the first time I read it was how practitioners had worked together to successfully save a fellow practitioner from a 14-year jail sentence, thereby validating Master’s words:
“When disciples have ample righteous thoughtsMaster has the power to turn back the tide”(“The Master-Disciple Bond,” Hong Yin II)
When I read it a second time, I picked up more on the little details. For example, the author talked about the difficulties she had to overcome in order to devote time to memorizing the Fa while having to look after her very young children. She also talked about her determination to keep doing well in the basics of cultivation.
I have tried memorizing Zhuan Falun many times before without success. I always found excuses for doing so, such as: “Everyone’s path of cultivation is different, memorizing the Fa may suit some practitioners. My children are just too young, and I am too busy with Dafa projects. I am better off focusing on my family, my studies and so on.” But, after reading this story, I realized I had to raise my endurance a notch. In comparison to her, I was less willing to endure the hardship of “Tempering the Will” in Masters's poem (Hong Yin).
Memorizing the Fa is a process of assimilating to the Fa, and to transform our karma into virtue, so suffering hardships is inevitable. I only wanted to do things that achieve quick and visible results. In cultivation, I wanted to select activities that yield instant results, and shy away from anything that takes long term discipline and commitment. That story inspired me to take up memorizing the Fa again. Whenever I felt discouraged, I would refer back to her story on how she overcame her difficulties, to spur myself on.
Another thought I took away from this story was that the pace of Fa rectification is carrying us practitioners along with it, after overcoming our own difficulties at a certain phase, you will find that practitioners around you have had the same experience. I remember last week when I was reading “On Dafa" with my children, I came across the following of Master's Fa:
“If a human being is to understand the mysteries of the universe, space-time, and the human body, he must take up cultivation of a true Way and achieve true enlightenment, raising his plane of being.” ( “On Dafa,” Essentials for Further Advancement)
The words “cultivation of a true Way” stood out from the rest. I thought about it later, and came to this understanding – the “true Way” is what Master wants, so Dafa disciples can improve their level in the quickest and most direct way, which is only via “cultivation of a true Way.”
I read the “Eliminating Barriers And Saving More People” story twice. I found I had a similar test before, but was at a loss to pinpoint the origin behind my thinking.
Reading this article gave me the clue I needed. This practitioner talks about the importance of getting rid of the ingrained “Party culture” in order to clear out elements that cause conflicts with fellow practitioners. She also talks about how reading The Ultimate Goal of Communism [published by The Epoch Times] helped her clear out the malevolent element that had been forced on her by the evil Party, and restored her innate kindness.
This story served as a strong reminder to me. I have been having trouble raising my performance in the RTC truth-clarification telephone team. I was always hoping the person on the other end would be good natured and easy to talk to. I felt ineffective when it came to difficult people.
After reading this article, I realized my problem was in my lack of understanding of the true nature of the Party’s evil spirit. If I wasn’t clear about it myself, I could hardly expect my listeners to understand the significant harm this evil spirit can bring to mankind. I promised myself from now on I would spend some time carefully reading The Ultimate Goal of Communism and several related books. It is time to act responsibly and put more time and effort into saving people rather than hoping that more good people will be on the other end of the phone to make it easier to boost my success rate.
Lately, I have also been trying to get rid of my mentality of showing-off. For a long time, I tended to only want to read those Minghui articles written by more advanced practitioners with higher level enlightenment qualities, and skimmed over stories on how to do well on the basics of cultivation. I have also been very critical of some practitioners in our area. For a long time, I have been unable to change my way, which bothered me a bit. From reading some of the articles discussing the RTC truth-clarification work, I finally came to understand that the egotistic “self” can be a hidden cause of the show-off mentality, and this mentality is also a form of disrespect towards Dafa and Master.
The article also talks about concentrating on other practitioners’ positive qualities rather than the negative ones, and when her kindness and compassion arose she came to an understanding of the profound meaning of “the boundless mercy of the Buddha Fa.” I could not hold back my tears when I read that. I was grateful to Master for his mercy, happy for this practitioner and for the many lives she could now save.
This year’s online China Fahui also included many stories about rescuing fellow practitioners. Practitioners’ patience, indefatigable spirit and cooperation in many cases changed the attitude of non-practicing family members from casting blame to supporting their rescue effort. Many officials working on these cases have also been saved. These stories are perfect illustrations of Dafa practitioners’ leading roles in today's current events.
All the stories are told by individual practitioners who are special in their own way – everyone is a cultivator in Dafa and walks their own path in cultivation. Every story appears to be an individual practitioner’s own cultivation story, but we know that we are all cultivating in an environment that is closely tied to the situation of our local practitioners, as well as the larger body of practitioners in China. As practitioners in China grow in maturity and cultivation state, the cultivation environment is improved for everyone. For that, we have to give thanks to our great Master and Dafa.
Reading experience-sharing articles cannot replace actual cultivation, but it can certainly help us see our own shortcomings. Fellow practitioners’ experiences can serve as a mirror or a pointer to us, and also act as a way of helping one another fulfill our historic mission, as we vowed to do when we came together to this earth.
I hope more practitioners will write about and share their cultivation experiences so that everyone can learn and grow together.