(Minghui.org) I started to practice Falun Dafa in April 2020. As a new practitioner, I’d like to share my experiences over this past year.
Clarifying the Truth Face to Face
I understand that Master Li Hongzhi (the founder of Falun Dafa) arranged each practitioner’s cultivation path and each one is different. As a Human Resources consultant, I have many opportunities to interact with Chinese people who work in Singapore. I believe that clarifying the truth face to face is my path of cultivation.
Since many Chinese tourists do not speak English, I often volunteer to be their interpreter so I can clarify the truth to them. One day, I went to the medical exams center to pick up some documents. On my way back, I met five Chinese people who were there for medical exams. I silently asked Master to strengthen me and I sent forth righteous thoughts. I smiled and greeted them. They all smiled back. I broke the ice by asking where they were from. One person said he was from Hebei Province. I then said, “The Hengshui beverage from your province is very famous. When I was in school, my classmates from your hometown would bring some for the class to taste. We all enjoyed it.” They all laughed.
I turned to another person and asked where he was from. He happened to come from a city two hours’ drive from my wife’s hometown. In this way, I was able to clarify the truth in a friendly manner.
I said, “We must have predestined relationship to meet each other in Singapore, and I’d like to share important information with you.” I then asked if they heard about withdrawing from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated organization. They shook their heads. I said, “It is a way to help you stay safe. About two thousand years ago, the Roman emperor Nero began to persecute Christians out of jealousy. He sent his agents to disguise themselves as Christians, committed arson everywhere, and then blamed the Christians and incited the hatred of Roman people against them. The Roman Empire threw Christians into arenas to feed the lions for fun. But the wicked will be punished. Plagues in Rome killed countless people, including those who took pleasure in watching lions eat Christians. The fourth pestilence killed fifty million people.”
One of them said, “What does this have to do with us?” I said, “That’s a good question. The current Chinese regime has done the same thing as the ancient Romans. They demonized Falun Dafa, and incited hatred against practitioners. Isn’t it scary to think about the consequence?” I continued, “The Communist Party published a lot of hate propaganda to smear Falun Dafa. The staged Tiananmen Self-Immolation is one of them. First of all, we all know how strict the security is on Tiananmen Square. It was almost impossible to bring gasoline into that place.” They all nodded in agreement.
I then asked if any of them smoked. One person said he smoked. I said, “How does it feel if you have a cigarette burn? You can’t even stand the pain from a cigarette burn, right? Imagine how it could be possible for a normal person to pour gasoline on his own body, light it on fire, and then just sit there, waiting to be filmed. As you know, the whole process was filmed by various video cameras from all angles, like shooting footage for a TV program. Would it be like this in the reality of self-immolation? Before the persecution started, there were more than 100 million Falun Dafa practitioners, and the whole country knew that these practitioners were good people who believe in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. Falun Dafa explicitly forbids killing. Practitioners don’t even eat raw meat, let alone commit suicide.” One of them said, “It's true!” The others also nodded.
I went on to say, “Good will be rewarded with good, and evil meets with punishment. I am telling you the truth about Falun Dafa and I hope you will not believe the CCP’s deceitful lies. I don’t want to see the painful lesson of the Romans happen to us. I sincerely hope that each of you will be safe and sound during this pandemic.” They nodded and said, “Thank you!”
I continued, “Just now, I mentioned the withdrawal from the CCP and its affiliated organizations. When Chinese people were in school, they all had to join the Communist Youth Leagues. After they began working, they are asked to join the CCP. When they joined the CCP and its affiliated organizations, they had to raise their right hands and swear that they would give their lives to the Communist Party and its youth organizations. Think about it. The CCP is atheistic, so why do they force people to take an oath?”
I went on to say, “The Communist Party has carried out various political campaigns to persecute Chinese people including the Tiananmen Massacre in 1989 and the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. They have killed 80 million Chinese people over the course of their rule. Shouldn’t the CCP pay back the crimes it has committed?!” They all nodded in agreement. I said, “The CCP also knows it will meet its doom, so it forces everyone to take an oath and take the blame for it.”
One of them nodded and said, “That’s true.”
I continued, “So, I hope you void this oath for the sake of your future and the safety of your family by withdrawing from this evil organization. You are part of the CCP unless you withdraw from it, so you will have to go down with it. Isn’t that sad? Divine beings only look at peoples’ hearts, so you can quit it with pseudonyms.” They all agreed to quit the CCP. I also gave each of them an amulet and asked them to remember, “Falun Dafa is good, and Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.”
As I left, they all happily waved goodbye to me. I was delighted from the bottom of my heart that they chose to stand with goodness.
A few months ago, I went to a government department. When I walked out, a shuttle bus arrived, and a group of Chinese people got out. I was unsure how to clarify the truth to a group of people. Then I thought, “Since Master arranged for them to come and listen to the truth, then there must be a way for me. So I sent forth righteous thoughts while asking Master to give me wisdom.
It suddenly occurred to me, “I have leaflets in my car!” I quickly went to my car and got them. I found 27 copies of various truth-clarification leaflets.
I went to the bus drop-off spot and sent forth righteous thoughts. The bus to pick them up had not yet arrived, which was perfect for me to clarify the truth. I sent forth a powerful righteous thought to eliminate all the interference that would prevent them from learning the truth.
I walked up to them and smiled, “Just a kind reminder of keeping social distancing during the pandemic.” They stopped talking, and looked at me quietly. I then said, “For your own safety, please read this leaflet carefully.” As I said that, I handed out them out, one by one. I gave out 26 copies in total, with one left. I thought to myself, “Thank goodness that’s enough. Thank you, Master!” At that moment, a person behind me said, “Give me a copy. I don’t have one yet.” I turned around and handed the last leaflet to him. So I gave out exactly twenty-seven leaflets to twenty-seven people.
I was very moved when I saw these people read the information carefully. I appreciated Master for arranging such an opportunity for me to hand out the materials to them. I sincerely hope they would accept the truth.
Cultivation Is Serious
After this incident, I developed zealotry. I became proud and thought I was capable. A few days later, I did the same thing and distributed materials to passengers. But this time, it didn’t work. A man came up to me and shouted, “This is about Falun Dafa. I don’t want it!” After he said that, he threw the leaflet at me. Then another person came up and cursed me. I never encountered this situation before and I did not know what to do.
For a moment, I felt like I was surrounded by evil elements, and I was frightened. I did not know what to say. Finally, I gathered my courage and said, “I just want you to stay safe and not be deceived by the CCP’s lies.” After saying that, I left.
Afterward, I kept looking inward. Why did this happen? I realized my starting point of giving out the truth-clarification leaflets was not righteous this time. I did not treat saving people seriously, and I did not have compassion toward those passengers. Instead, I did it with a strong desire to show off. How serious and sacred is it to save sentient beings! After this experience, I always remind myself repeatedly that I must have righteous thoughts when I clarify the truth to people.
Once, I clarified the truth to three Chinese people after I volunteered to interpret for them. One listened very carefully, and the second one was absent-minded. The third person had a blank face at first and then suddenly yelled at me when I mentioned quitting the CCP. Anger twisted his face. His behavior even frightened passers-by. I tried to calm him down, but it was no use. He didn’t give me any chance to speak. At that time, I was driven by his emotions and thought about how to argue with him. He did not let other two people listen and asked them to leave with him.
The person who was willing to listen had no choice but leave. He kept looking back at me. He looked so helpless and sad, as if he was saying, “You haven’t told me the truth of Falun Dafa. You haven’t asked me to quit the CCP. You haven’t saved me yet!” Watching them walk away, I could not calm down for a long time. I regretted that I did not do well and hadn't saved them.
I then thought to myself, “There is no point in regret. I have to get up after a fall and do better next time.”
I looked inward, and realized I treated Fa study as a formality and I did not study the Fa well. I did not do things from the perspective of the Fa. Second, I had an attachment to competition and did not treat all people with compassion. Third, I did not eliminate the interference with my compassion as I was driven by people’s emotions, which caused them to lose the opportunity to learn about the truth. I told myself that I must stay calm if I encountered such a situation again.
Not long after, under Master’s arrangement, I met another three Chinese people. When I clarified the truth, two people listened attentively, while the third person was indifferent. This time, I was not driven by his attitude. So I clarified the truth to those who were willing to listen. I tried my best to interact with them so that I could untie the knots in their hearts. They both accepted the truth. One person thanked me sincerely, and the other said, “The Communist Party is all about deception. Only after I went abroad did I realize that Falun Dafa is not at all like the Chinese Communist Party says it is.”
I talked to the indifferent person, but he did not want to talk. The good thing is that he finally understood the destructive nature of the CCP and quit the CCP. However, he did not fully understand the truth about Falun Dafa. I sincerely hope that he will have another chance to learn more about the truth of Dafa.
Awakening
As a new practitioner, I want to catch up with the Fa-rectification as soon as possible. I became so anxious that I often clarified the truth to people in my dreams. One day I had a dream. In this dream, a huge Falun appeared in the sky, and Master came to take us home. Each Dafa disciple transformed into a rainbow and shot straight up into the clouds. I also turned into a rainbow and flew straight to the big Falun in the sky. When I was about to enter the Falun, I suddenly remembered that I still had many attachments to let go of. With this thought, I fell back to earth and woke up.
The scene in that dream was still vivid the next morning. I clearly realized that I cannot return to my true home if I do not eliminate my attachments, no matter how much I’ve done in truth clarification. Master was giving me a hint and asking me to study the Fa well and truly cultivate myself.
Later, I reviewed what I'd done throughout the day on my way home. I thought I did a good job that day. I clarified the truth to several Chinese people. They accepted what I said and quit the CCP. I was quite satisfied with myself.
However, when I arrived home and looked at Master’s photo, I felt that Master looked very serious. My heart sank. I thought for a while but could not figure out what I had done wrong, so I let it go.
The next day, my tenant came to complain about my house. She is Chinese. She first said my house’s sound insulation was not good and the air conditioning had problems. And then she started to boast about her son. She said her son was my age and was very successful. He has a big company and was very rich.
I felt angry and thought to myself, “Why you have rented my house for such a long time if you don’t like it? Why doesn’t your son buy a house for you if he is so rich?” I didn’t want to listen to her, so I found an excuse and left.
My mind was full of negative thoughts about what she said when I got home. I suddenly realized that I am a practitioner. How could I have so many negative thoughts in my mind? Why was my heart stirred? I looked inward.
I would not be bothered if she said, “The tree outside is not good.” Then why I became irritated when she criticized my house? It was because I had an attachment to my house. I also found my attachments to competition, showing off, jealousy, and personal gain.
Because of my attachment to fame and money, I felt angry when she boasted about her son. I realized that her comments uncovered many attachments that I did not realize I still had. She had come to help me improve in cultivation.
My heart immediately opened up when I realized this. Master was dropping hints to me this way. I said, “Thank you, Master.” Master smiled at me when I looked at his photo again. I think it’s because I truly learned how to look inward instead of just talking about it.
Eliminating Hidden Jealousy
I'd read the lecture where Master mentions jealousy many times. I never really thought that what Master said applied to me. I felt that I did not have the attachment of jealousy. This was because I didn’t have a deep understanding of the Fa. Recently, a trivial matter uncovered my attachment to jealousy completely. Thank you Master!
My wife is also a new practitioner. She didn’t quite understand what the Fa-rectification is, so she had not clarified the truth to anyone. I worried about her cultivation state and tried many ways to help her improve. I shared my understanding of the Fa-rectification with her and also studied the Fa with her. However, I still couldn’t untie the knots in her heart, so I became unhappy with her.
Finally, a small thing triggered all my dissatisfaction with her. My wife was pregnant, so I was very concerned about what she ate. One day, when I asked about what she'd eaten during the day, she said she did not feel well, so she only ate some corn for lunch. I got angry and yelled at her, “Don’t you know you are pregnant?! How could our unborn baby have enough nutrition and grow with only an ear of corn? You did not eat properly, and you did not participate in the Fa-rectification activities!” I lost my temper and did not behave as a practitioner at all.
My wife burst into tears, but she did not say anything. After a few minutes, I calmed down, and only then did I remember that I was a practitioner. I knew I did not pass the test, and my xinxing was not up to standard. I began to look inward and asked myself why I felt so angry.
I found my sentimentality toward the unborn baby. I didn’t remember that my wife practices Dafa, so Master is taking care of her and the baby. I realized that my concern was completely an ordinary person’s notion.
Second, I found my attachment of looking down upon others. I felt that I did better than my wife because I went out to clarify the truth and handed out truth-clarification materials. However, as a new practitioner, I was so far behind in cultivation! The other practitioners never criticized me when I did not do well. Instead, they encouraged me. Then why did I always criticize my wife instead of encouraging her? When I behaved like this, how could I meet the standards of a practitioner?
Master said,
“Then when you lose your temper, what was that for? What is there for a cultivator to get angry about? And shouldn’t there be even less of that when you are with other cultivators? No matter who you are, you are cultivating. How come you always get mad at my disciples? Did I agree to your acting like that towards my disciples?” (“Teaching the Fa at the 2004 International Fa Conference in New York”)
Isn’t this passage directly talking about my situation? We are all Master’s disciples, and we are all saved by Master. How could I treat my wife, a fellow practitioner, like this? What a deep predestined relationship we have in this life: to be husband and wife and fellow practitioners. I felt so regretful! I confessed my mistake to Master and apologized to my wife.
Before practicing Falun Dafa, I was immersed in pursuing fame, personal benefits, lust, and competition. I often received praise from people, and I thought I was born to be capable. After practicing, I learned that Master gave me all my strengths so I could use these skills to save sentient beings.
Other practitioners also say that I have been diligent, and I have clarified the truth to many people. However, I know it was all done with Master’s help.
Master said,
“Therefore, it is said that cultivation depends on one’s own efforts, while transforming gong is done by one’s master.” (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun)
Compassionate Master saved me from Hell and arranged the path of cultivation for me. Being Master’s disciple is the happiest and most sacred thing in my life. As a new practitioner, I will live up to Master’s compassion.
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