(Minghui.org) Before I began to practice Falun Dafa in 2020, I missed a few opportunities to obtain the Fa. However, Master Li, the founder of Falun Dafa, didn’t give up on me and I was finally able to get connected with Dafa. I truly appreciate Master!
Since the practitioner who helped me lived in another city, I practiced alone. I knew I had Master and Dafa, so I never felt lonely. But I wasn’t sure how well I studied the Fa. With the voice monitoring system in place in China, I couldn’t share with anyone. Luckily, I could access the Minghui website and read other practitioners’ articles, which became my best reference on my cultivation path.
I browsed the Minghui website almost every day. Some articles displayed Master’s divine power, while others shared practitioners’ precious experiences in passing trials and tribulations. As a beginner, they helped me to realize that, as long as I cultivate diligently, I would one day be able to reach a fairly high realm.
Reading about other practitioners’ experiences—from tempering one’s xinxing, passing tests, and improving in cultivation to how to awaken people’s consciences—encouraged and inspired a new practitioner like me.
I Begin Identifying My Attachments
In Zhuan FalunMaster talks about xinxing improvement and that practitioners should pay attention to maintaining virtue. By reading the Fa regularly, I realized I had a lot of attachments and shortcomings. Before I began to practice, I’d always thought I was a good person. Master said,
“Some even think that they are better than others, since they see themselves through the distorted lens of modern values, which has altered their sense of right and wrong.” (The First Talk, Zhuan Falun)
I felt this referred to me as I seldom identified my own issues. After I began to read the Fa, I started to look inward. I noticed that I had all kinds of attachments and bad thoughts.
Some attachments were easy to identify but hard to remove. For instance, jealousy. As soon as I heard a person who’d been recognized by the boss talking loudly, I was annoyed. I thought, “What’s to brag about?” After this happened a couple of times, I realized I was jealous and made up my mind to eliminate it.
I was gradually able to let go of some attachments, but others kept surfacing, such as my attachment to self-interest. As a practitioner, I thought I shouldn’t trade stocks so I sold my shares. But a family member didn’t, so I still kept an eye on the rise and fall of those shares.
Another instance revealed my show-off mentality. When I began to clarify the facts to people, I liked to quote what Master said in Zhuan Falun. WhenI spoke at a level higher than most people could accept, they stopped trusting me. The more reluctant the person was to listen to me, the more I itched to convince them. I thought Falun Dafa was so wonderful, so why didn’t people want to listen to me? Then, one day, I had the thought: “Are you validating Dafa or yourself?” Only then did I realize how overzealous my approach was.
Sometimes our attachments are very cunning and well disguised. For example, I felt I cultivated well and that I could handle any difficulties or xinxing tests. I later realized this wasn’t true. It was this attachment cunningly hidden. Every time I felt I was about to encounter a difficult situation, I rehearsed it first in my head and thought about what I’d say or do if the worst happened.
Of course, none of these things happened. But I began to think that it was because I cultivated well. Right then, I woke up and thought, “Hey, what are you doing?!” Only then did I realize how laughable I was.
In addition, the joy of obtaining the Fa could get me so excited that I appeared irrational. Sometimes, when someone would kindly prompt me to pay attention to safety, I would just ignore their advice. Sometimes, my Party culture would get the better of me and I’d announce, “I’m not afraid. Even though I might be arrested, I’ll still have done something to validate the Fa.” I had other weird thoughts, such as about what I should do and how to validate the Fa if I were arrested. These thoughts were hard to subdue. For a while, thoughts like that were popping up several times a day. I even took that as my steadfastness, until one day when I clarified the facts to someone, he told me very unkindly, “I’d rather you say that after you get arrested and tortured!”
His words made me feel very uncomfortable. But I came to realize steadfastness was something I used to cover up my fear. However, wasn’t such a strong and hidden fear an attachment? Wasn’t it a pursuit?
Master said,
“If a practitioner always thinks he is ill, he is in fact asking for it—asking to be ill. And then that illness can push its way in. A practitioner’s plane of thought should be high. You shouldn’t always worry that something ails you, for your fear is an attachment and will bring you trouble just the same as other attachments.” (The Sixth Talk, Zhuan Falun)
When I came to realize this also came down to fear, my fear subsided.
Although all kinds of attachments still surfaced, I saw it as a good thing and felt I was getting more and more clearheaded in my cultivation, since now I could see through those attachments. I also knew that these were great opportunities for me to improve my xinxing.
Clarifying the Facts to People Face-to-Face
Master said,
“If you don’t study the Fa well, there are many things you will not be able to do well.” (“Dafa Disciples Must Study the Fa - Fa Teaching Given at the 2011 Washington DC Metro Area Fa Conference,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. XI)
Master also said,
“The Fa can break all attachments, the Fa can destroy all evil, the Fa can shatter all lies, and the Fa can strengthen righteous thoughts.” (“Drive Out Interference,” Essentials for Further Advancement II)
I only recently began practicing and at first I wasn’t very diligent about studying the Fa. I’ve now realized that how well I am able to clarify the truth goes hand in hand with how well I study the Fa.
I like to clarify the facts to people in person. When I study the Fa well, I don’t have to talk a lot, but what I say is effective. Sometimes when I mention how corrupt and evil the CCP is, most people immediately agree. But when it comes to quitting the CCP, they often try to change the topic.
After being brainwashed by the atheistic CCP for over 70 years, many Chinese no longer believe in gods. Most are afraid and just want to live quiet lives. Several people advised me to pay attention to my safety and said that the Party would dare to do anything. Others have argued with me until I felt very tired. Then I feel that I haven’t studied the Fa well enough. As a result, I lack the power to clarify the truth and save people.
When I read on the Minghui website that so many practitioners could help a dozen or more people quit the CCP each day, I was moved and I truly admired them. At the same time, I also regretted waiting so many years to practice. When some people refused to accept what I said, I felt I failed to live up to Master’s expectations. I was also a little discouraged. Thinking back over the past 20 years, benevolent Master arranged for three practitioners to awaken me. I only formally started practicing last year, how can I not fulfill my prehistoric vow and save sentient beings? I surely can.
Benevolent Master also made some arrangements to encourage me. Here are three examples.
One time when I tried to help people quit the CCP, two people in a row refused. I felt a bit depressed and thought I should take a break and spend the time studying the Fa, before I continued to clarify the facts. I then had an appointment with two former colleagues. One was an engineer. When we worked together, he was very quiet. Just as I was wondering what to say to them, he broke the ice.
He said that, with the outbreak of the CCP virus (Covid19), he’d stopped watching any news from the Chinese media, as it was all lies. Instead, he used an application to break through the Internet blockade to watch the news from overseas. I felt that Master had arranged for me to see him. I was able to naturally begin talking about Falun Dafa. Both of them listened attentively. In the end, he said, “I believe in Falun Dafa. After I broke through the Internet blockade, I often checked out practitioners’ media. I find they are very honest. Well done!”
After I explained why millions of Chinese have quit the CCP, he asked if I could help him do that. I told him about the Epoch Times website set up for that purpose, and he logged into it very quickly. Then he said that he’d checked out almost every media run by practitioners, and he liked both the Epoch Times and NTDTV. He also said he would encourage his wife to quit the CCP, too.
The lady quietly listened. She decided to quit the CCP right away and said she would share the information with her family.
I usually play Dafa music on my way to work. One morning I arrived early and very few people were in the office. I turned on PuDu and played it loudly. A custodian walked in, greeted me cheerfully, and said the music was very nice. I didn’t think about it right away. A couple of days later, I ran into her again. She asked me why I didn’t play the music. Only then did I realize that Master had arranged for her to come and learn the truth. I told her it was Falun Dafa music and I asked her to often say, “Falun Dafa is wonderful, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is wonderful!” to stay safe. She wrote the words down and made sure she had written them correctly before she left.
In the process of talking to people, I met some lay Buddhists and other religious believers. Misled by the CCP, and because they did not understand what Dafa was, some of them didn’t want to listen to me. Some thought that their Gods or Buddhas would safeguard them, so they didn’t have to quit the CCP. Some even wanted to convert me to their religions. Because my efforts with them didn’t go very well, I later became hesitant.
My coworker is a devout Buddhist. I knew I should talk to him about the persecution and about quitting the CCP, but I didn’t feel very confident. When I remembered that Master asked us to do the three things well, I decided not to be selective. When I talked to him I naturally brought up Buddhism, then I talked about Falun Dafa. He told me that he saw Zhuan Falun in his teacher’s home many years ago. Even though he wasn’t interested in practicing, he wasn’t against Falun Dafa. He thought the persecution was wrong. When I mentioned quitting the CCP, he said the CCP was evil and he didn’t want to follow it. Instead he joined a democratic party years ago. He asked me to help him renounce his memberships in the Youth League and the Young Pioneers.
Through this, I enlightened that Master arranges everything, and we only need to carry it out. So many sentient beings are waiting for us to awaken their consciences so they can be saved. After this experience, whenever I talked to Buddhists or Christians, I could help most of them quit the CCP. Now when I think back, I realize I hesitated because I did not cultivate well enough.
With continuous Fa-study, as well as learning from the articles on the Minghui website, I now feel more confident when I clarify the truth to people. As a result, I’ve helped more people quit the CCP. I feel every time I talk to people, it’s part of my cultivation. Master has also encouraged and supported me. I will continue to believe in Master and the Fa, do the three things well, and not let Master down. Thank you, Master!
This is my personal understanding. Please kindly point out anything inappropriate.
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