(Minghui.org) Greetings, esteemed Master and fellow practitioners:
I originally picked up the precious book Zhuan Falun at a friend’s house about 20 years ago. I quickly skimmed through the pages and didn’t really know what this book was all about. Over the next few years, I suffered a lot of hardship and eventually obtained Zhuan Falun again.
It has been 15 years since I obtained the Fa. My first encounter with Falun Gong, also called Falun Dafa, was when I saw a man doing the second Falun Dafa exercise, holding the law wheel, in the park. I was also doing exercises there and thought that what that man was doing was some kind of qigong.
I had practiced martial arts qigong a long time ago. I was in search of the truth so, I ventured to the book store and found Zhuan Falun. I looked at the topics and saw that it extensively covered the aspects of qigong, so I decided to read the introduction. After reading Lunyu, I thought that the author of this book knew everything. Then, I looked at Master Li’s (the founder) photo and could see only a very pure and compassionate man. I started to read and got very interested.
I also saw the introductory book, Falun Gong, at that time. Thus, I had a look at that book as well, and read the exercise instructions. I quickly read it in the bookstore and went straight to the park to do the exercises. I could remember exercises 1 and 2, but only some of exercises 3 and 4.
I did the exercises quite a lot. A few months later, I wanted to try the sitting meditation. I remembered that it was to be done in a double lotus position. To my surprise, I could cross my legs, although not for too long. However, I was not calm, as my mind was churning out thoughts and worries. I put them in perspective, and eliminated them, and could relax a short while later. After practicing, I went to sleep.
I saw in a dream a man standing in front of a world. I really felt like I had been set free. For a couple of weeks I continued to practice, but when I went back to get the book from the bookstore it was gone. So I was practicing the exercises without the book to guide me for about a year-and-a-half.
Thoughts Dictating Happenings
At the time I experienced much, and I decided to share them. My most important experience was the feeling that Master was watching over me. If I had a wrong thought and needed to rely on hints, I would look up and see a street sign with an encouraging word that I needed to finish the sentence. Master’s Fashen was helping me, and I had the feeling that I needed to improve.
I also experienced a feeling of myself lifting off the ground while walking in public, and then felt a click in my fingertip. Master said, “...you will not be able to levitate if your fingertip, toe tip, or a certain part of your body is locked.” (Lecture Eight, Zhuan Falun)
I looked in the mirror one morning and saw that the wrinkles around my eyes were turning reddish. After I did the fifth exercise every night for two weeks they were gone.
So, after about one-and-a-half years after learning the exercises from the book Falun Gong, I saw practitioners at a practice site. Some looked quite old but were able to cross their legs. Then, I saw another practitioner close to a busy traffic signal doing the exercises by herself. This gave me an idea of what to do. So I went to the practice site that week. All the way there I had a stomachache, but I was determined to go and do the exercises. After we finished the exercises, a practitioner gave me the book Zhuan Falun to read. It brought tears to my eyes, as now I was able to be guided by the book Zhuan Falun.
Getting Involved in Dafa Projects
I was asked if I wanted to help with a photo display. Thus I and another western practitioner ventured many times to Rotorua [a city in New Zealand] to set up the display in the park where all the tour groups stopped.
A Korean man wrote in the visitors' comments, “This is a treasure of the earth.” We also toured the South Island during the Christmas holidays and set up the display boards in all the big cities and smaller towns. We brought with us boxes of Dafa informational fliers, and also gave out little lotus flowers. Besides, we donated the books Zhuan Falun and Falun Gong to the local libraries. While I was passing out fliers, a man stopped and abruptly said, “And where are you coming from?" I replied, “Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance,” and he seemed to accept my words and accepted a flier.
I also drove to Wellington one Friday after work in the van with the photo display. On the way there I was nearly blown off the road by the wind. On arrival, I experienced a strong storm, and one of the other western practitioners was a bit concerned, and said: “I am worried about setting up the photo display.” I was determined and sent righteous thoughts for about an hour, and then went to sleep. The next morning the sky was blue. There was no wind, and I set up the display. Thus, many people learned about Dafa and the persecution. I knew that Master helped us – Thank you Master.
Dafa Brings Blessings
Since I began to practice Falun Dafa, I have been blessed with a wonderful family, and I am very grateful for the blessings Dafa has brought me.
When I was in the front of a shop next to my wife and a few practitioners, holding the truth-clarification banners I saw that she was clarifying the truth to a Chinese man, but he turned and was going to walk away. I immediately sent righteous thoughts. The man turned back, and my wife kept clarifying the truth to him. The man seemed to not understand at first but did so after a few minutes. Afterward, I noticed tears in his eyes.
Since getting married, my wife, daughter, and I have participated in various Dafa activities. Every Friday we take our child rain or shine to deliver the Epoch Times newspaper. It has been 5 years. During the Shen Yun promotion, I took my family to the city every night to do the exercises, send righteous thoughts, and hand out Dafa materials with little time to rest even though I worked 12 or 13 hours a day, I get up at 4:30 am. After work, I drive my wife and daughter to take part in a group practice, sending righteous thoughts, and distributing Dafa materials every evening.
For me, Dafa activities are the most important thing in my life. I drive my wife and daughter to every Dafa event, no matter if it's a faraway place or abroad -- we all cherish the opportunities to help Master during this Fa-rectification.
We go to band practice every Monday, and I do the dragon dance, and drumming on Sundays. I have very little time to rest, but I don't feel tired.
Truth-clarification about Dafa and the persecution of Dafa did not come easy for me. Therefore, I spoke of my own experience. I would explain that I don't drink alcohol, I tell them about the meditative exercises, and how I practice Falun Dafa. I speak of how I came across Dafa, and most importantly, I talk about people being killed in China for their belief. This helps people understand the truth. Then, I will tell them about organ harvesting from living practitioners in China, the investigative report about organ harvesting, the organ tourism industry, and so on.
After truth-clarification, a co-worker thanked me for telling him about the persecution. He said that he did not know about it, and more than half of our other co-workers had not heard about the persecution.
Letting Go of Attachments
As for my cultivation experience, I realized after physically giving up some attachments and reading Zhuan Falun more often, that there was another level of giving up attachments in my mind.
When I went to work after I just stepped into Dafa, I still had the attachment to laziness, and it took me about a year to give it up.
After giving up laziness I realized that when I used to be lazy, I also had the attachment to anger. Since I improved my xinxing, I worked very hard, so my skills improved, and I was promoted at work. Wherever I worked, the employers called and asked me to come back and work for them.
I stopped complaining, stopped blaming others, and looked inwards. When I see something I'm not sure about, I quickly try to examine my thoughts and conduct to see what I was thinking or doing to make whatever it was to happen.
I have had so many good experiences since I obtained Dafa. I'm not able to share all of them due to time constraint. I really appreciate Master’s guidance and protection.
(Presented at the 2019 European Fa Conference)
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