(Minghui.org) I have practiced Falun Dafa for four years now. Today, I would like to summarize my cultivation experience to report to Master and share with fellow practitioners. Kindly point out anything inappropriate.
The Wonder of Falun Dafa When I First Experienced It
In 2017, at the Shinjuku train station in Tokyo, I got a flier from a Falun Dafa practitioner. It contained an introduction to the practice and the phone number of a local contact. This was how I got connected with Dafa. In fact, I knew about Dafa before and had watched Shen Yun in Japan, but I missed the opportunity to learn it earlier. I thank merciful Master, who gave me this opportunity in the Dharma-ending Period, so I can still study Dafa and cultivate myself.
Fellow practitioners taught me how to do the exercises when I came to the practice site. Then I was told about a practice site in another park; that site was peaceful and very pleasant. Every Saturday morning we did the sitting exercise at 9 a.m. and then the standing exercises for another hour. Then we studied one lecture of Zhuan Falun. If we had time, we’d share with each other, with new and old practitioners participating. Except for when we were under a stay at home order due to the pandemic or I had something personal come up, I went to the site every Saturday to do the exercises. Group study and group exercises are the forms of cultivation left by Master for us to follow.
Before I learned how to send righteous thoughts, Master opened my inner eye, which enabled me to experience and see other dimensions. I saw a tall and big Buddha, and the aura around practitioners’ bodies when they meditated. There was a time when I read Zhuan Falun, I could see a beam of golden light, like a flashlight in the darkness, that followed my eyes. Wherever my sight went, the golden light would follow. I picked up other books to see if the same thing happened, but it didn’t. This was very shocking to me; I felt that this was a book of treasures and a book of Heaven. The experience strengthened my confidence in the practice.
Sitting in the Double Lotus Position
In a photo taken on New Year’s Day in 2018 to wish Master a happy New Year, everyone was sitting in the double lotus position, except me. My right leg was sticking up. I tried to use my pillow and a five kilogram rice sack to push it down, but it didn’t work. I was looking outward, without realizing that I should improve my xinxing.
This went on for over a year. It was because I didn’t know how to cultivate myself. Why was I stuck in this state for so long? It was because I was not attentive when I was studying the Fa; I was merely doing it and didn’t measure myself against the Fa’s principles. I didn’t get rid of my various attachments, desires, and pursuit of comfort; I needed to correct myself by following the Fa’s principles and eliminate these attachments.
Master said,
“When it is difficult to endure, try to endure it. When it looks impossible and is said to be impossible, give it a try and see if it is possible.” (Lecture Nine, Zhuan Falun)
One evening, when I was meditating at home, I made up my mind that I would not take my legs down no matter how painful they were. The pain paled in comparison to what practitioners in China have endured and I should be able to overcome it. So slowly, 15 minutes, half an hour, and 50 minutes passed; the last 5 minutes was the longest. I had to repeat “Falun Dafa is good” and “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good” to make it to the end. When I took my legs down, I saw a black substance fly off my right knee. I was shaking and shivered. From then on, I was able to sit in full lotus for one hour. Nowadays, when I read or recite the Fa, I can sometimes sit in the position for two hours.
A Story That Happened at Home
Last year, when the COVID-19 situation was bad, I still went to our truth-clarification site to talk to people at least twice a week. My husband said to me jokingly, “Don’t bring the germs home!” One day when I came home, I saw him lying on the couch with a high fever. He said that he was tired and lost his sense of taste. He could not tell sour from spicy or salty. He thought he might have been infected.
I was very calm. I made dinner as usual and started to study the Fa and do the exercises. At midnight, after I sent righteous thoughts, I held my hands in the big lotus position and told Master that I would accept His arrangements. Whatever happens, I would take it. I believed that the symptoms were an illusion and that everything would be good tomorrow. Then I fell asleep, listening to the song “Falun Dafa is good.” The next morning, my husband had no more fever and was fine. He could not believe it. I know that Master is looking after all practitioners’ family members.
Clarifying the Truth in Shinjuku
Starting in 2018, every week I went to Shinjuku neighborhood in Tokyo to clarify the truth. It was a place that helped temper me. At the beginning, I had many attachments and notions and was focusing on the number of signatures I got for our petition condemning the persecution in China. When I had many, I would be very excited.
As I studied the Fa more and deeper, and after sharing my understanding with veteran practitioners, I came to realize that Master has paved the way of cultivation for us and it was our state of mind as we carried out the tasks that mattered. In fact, all the things we do are for ourselves and for establishing our own mighty virtue. Saving sentient beings and assisting Master in Fa-rectification are our mission. Since then, I went on the road full of positive energy, sending righteous thoughts along the way to eliminate interference. When I clarify the truth, I do it with compassion and peace to save all those destined to learn the truth.
Participating in Online Fa Study and Distributing Truth-Clarification Materials
Since May 2019, I have been studying the Fa online with other practitioners every evening. Six months ago, I started to memorize the Fa. I am almost on Lecture Seven now. Although I have not been able to memorize it completely, the principles have made a deep impression on my mind. I have been able to have a quiet mind. In the past, when I read the Fa aloud, I missed or added characters, with an uneven pitch of voice. Now I no longer do that. When we study the Fa together, we can remind each other, harmonize, and improve as one body. It is wonderful.
Beginning in February 2021, I participated in truth-clarification activities in the 23 districts of Tokyo. I took hardship as joy and experienced the grace of Dafa. A week into the activities, I accidentally hit my head so hard that it bled. But I continued to go. Some time ago, my eyes were swollen and teary as soon as I went out. I just ignored it. I sent righteous thoughts to eliminate the interference. At first, I had to walk five to six kilometers to pass out the materials. I was exhausted at the end of the day, but now I feel much better. I eliminated my attachment to food and ate whatever I had at home. In distributing materials, I have learned how to work with others, show more concern for others, and look inward. I have also dug up my attachment to showing off and laziness. No matter what we do every day, we are working on our attachments that have been very hard to relinquish.
Lastly, I hope every practitioner, new or old, will hurry up and cultivate so we can go home with Master.
This is my limited understanding. Kindly point out anything inappropriate.
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