(Minghui.org) Greetings esteemed Master, and fellow practitioners!
I started practicing Falun Dafa in 2014. The last ray of hope that was granted me was that before stepping onto the cultivation path I met a Chinese person, who recommended a Falun Dafa practitioner in Linköping to me. One day, we went to visit that practitioner at his home. He told me about Zhuan Falun, the main book of Falun Dafa and cultivation practice. He said that Zhuan Falun was a special book, which must be treated well, and that I could borrow it for as long as I wanted.
Zhuan Falun remained in my house for months, and I read it over and over again. At the beginning I could not understand almost anything. Even if the text was simple, I had a difficult time understanding it. But, I nonetheless kept reading Zhuan Falun. When I successfully finished reading the book, I noticed that I came across many words that touched my heart, and I wanted to know more. I called that practitioner in Linköping and told him that I wanted to learn the exercises.
He suggested a group practice site close to me. I called a practitioner at that practice site. The practitioner taught me all the exercises when I visited the practice site. The first few exercises made me tired, and I had to sit on a chair. But I still wanted to go back to the practice site and keep doing the exercises. I just didn’t want to give up.
Another day, as I sat at home and read about the Falun emblem, I felt something swirling in my belly. I thought that Master had planted a Falun in me, but I was not sure. I had just read about the Falun in Zhuan Falun. When I did the exercises at the practice site I asked the practitioner if I was given the Falun when I studied the Fa at home. The practitioner was happy and said that it was true, and that I had a great predestined relationship with Falun Dafa and Master. I have since not stopped doing the exercises and studying the Fa. I am a happy person, as my life has changed since that day.
I still have a lot of deficiencies in my daily life. But I have let go of so many bad things, thanks to Falun Dafa. My life has changed, Master has helped me along the way, and I can’t imagine how much karma Master has eliminated for me.
When I started practicing Falun Dafa, I told my friends and family how amazing the practice was, and how it benefited people.
My mother used to think that Falun Gong (also called Falun Dafa) practitioners set themselves on fire on Tiananmen Square, but only after I started practicing did she realize it was not true. These were lies and false propaganda spread by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) who told people worldwide their version of the incident.
My sister, mother, and father signed a petition to stop the CCP’s live organ harvesting that is still being perpetrated in China today. My wife also supported me, and she and her family in Sweden signed the petition. I’m glad they know the truth, what the wicked CCP has done to the people of the world, and what the CCP’s political propaganda is all about.
My accumulated ailments weighed on me day after day before I began cultivating. I had problems everywhere, from a collapsed lung to inflammation. I had to go to the hospital for treatment. I tried gymnastics and had to take medication, but nothing seemed to help. They took a sample of my electrocardiogram, which showed that my stamina was below average for my age.
Since I started practicing Falun Dafa, my health has recovered. I noticed my energy at work, and my colleagues noted my change. My lung was no longer sore as it used to be, and the inflammation started to subside. Doctors said I no longer needed to see them over and over again for health check ups. I think Master helped me stay away from the hospital. I don’t want to go to the hospital now because I know that doing the exercises will help and relieve my physical discomfort. Also, I stopped seeing an occupational pathologist, who was supposed to help strengthen my muscles and joints.
My back was very curved, since I spent most of my youth sitting in front of a computer. My back is now strengthened by meditating. My back often hurts, but it gets better every time I meditate. Thirty minutes is enough, but sometimes I practice meditation with other practitioners for an hour. After each practice, I feel my entire body getting stronger. When I do the exercises, I have pain in my legs and arms, but every time I finish them, my legs and arms become lighter and feel better.
I felt different when I first started cultivating. One day I thought I was going to start floating while walking. I remembered I parked my car in the woods, and I was looking for a way to come out of the woods. I then felt my entire body float.
I used to have a lot of pain on the left side of my neck, usually when I was out at work. At that time I had to interrupt work or rest many times because of the pain. I now no longer feel that pain. But if I don’t do the exercises well, the pain will return. In the past, I used to do massages to soften the stiff muscles left by my collapsed lungs. I no longer have that problem, and I don’t have to pay for physical therapy.
My mother noticed that I was getting healthier after I started practicing Falun Dafa. She said that I didn’t show the peace of mind as I do now. I’ve applied to different spiritual schools before, but as a kid I didn’t know what I wanted. I’ve tried many different exercises, but each only for a short time.
As a teenager, I played tennis and football, but only for a few years. I was rather tired after a while. After I started practicing Falun Dafa, I became more stable, and I showed a leader-like side my mother had never seen before. I felt more at ease with myself.
I have reached far on the spiritual path, and my mother and I can now talk deeply about things in the spiritual realm. We understand each other and acknowledge what kind of hardships we went through. We learn from each other. She is happy seeing my changes.
Before cultivating, I was afraid of the dark. Many times, I had trouble falling asleep because I always felt a shadow watching me. I still had trouble falling asleep when I first started practicing Falun Dafa, and was anxious at night. I owned a cottage in the countryside where I really wanted to sleep. However, I stayed there only during the day, working in the garden, or going for a walk in the woods.
In the cabin, I sometimes felt cold air from the kitchen passing me, and one day there were a lot of books all over the floor. I could not find out what had happened. I sat down one day, meditated, and thought about Master. I wanted his help. When I meditated, I tried to calm down. After that, I stopped feeling anxious, and that shadow disappeared.
When I was trying to sleep one night, I looked out the living room window and vaguely saw a face in the window. I thought it was a ghost trying to scare me. It made a lot of ugly faces, which I thought looked ridiculous. I told it to go away and I could sleep in that room for the first time.
I no longer feel anxious or scared. I feel an inner strength, and if the shadow comes back, I repeat the phrases “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good,” and send righteous thoughts. Sometimes in my sleep I notice demons trying to do nasty things to me. Even in dreams I repeated these Dafa phrases and they disappear.
I noted several shortcomings after I started cultivating, including a lack of concentration. I work as an instrument operator in an office at a large energy company. One day my supervisor and other colleagues noticed my lack of concentration. I didn’t seem to be listening as we went through the day’s work during our morning meeting. I sometimes didn’t know what other people said. My supervisor wanted to know why I was distracted, and I don’t remember what I answered.
When he asked me something, he had to repeat the question several times, which annoyed him and my colleagues. At work, you must be responsive and helpful. I sometimes missed words and sentences in what other people said, but I still wanted to show that I was good in my field of work. I’ve had this problem for a long time and I really hoped I could get better. I was also aware of shortcomings in other social situations.
I saw another shortcoming in my main consciousness. Our work moved to another larger workshop in the company.
I started talking more and more and I saw other people’s flaws first. I thought I was better than everyone else. After all, I’d been in this department longer than a few others. However, I faced many trials, and I started to realize that my main consciousness was weak because I wanted to argue with others.
I encountered these tests in order to strengthen my main consciousness and improve my xinxing. I found that I was afraid of conflict and criticism. I tried to calm down my coworkers who were arguing with me, but I always got more or less the same argument back. There was anger, exasperation, sarcasm, reproach, and a lot of vicious looks.
Master said,
“If you watch what happens when a physician at a psychiatric hospital is preparing to administer electroshock therapy, with the electrodes in his hands, you will see that the patient goes quiet with fear. What happens is that the fear of the shock makes his soul alert right then.” (The Sixth Talk, Zhuan Falun)
The above Fa touched me and seemed to resonate with me, given what I experience around me. I didn’t want the supervisor to dislike me, so I needed to wake up and strengthen my main consciousness, especially when I faced tribulations.
I also see the positives in all the hardships that I’ve encountered. I started spreading more and more information about Falun Dafa, what was happening in China, and showed other colleagues the first set of exercises. For a while, due to limited time, we only practiced the first set of exercises.
Some of the people who practiced together thought that we did the exercises for a short period of time in the morning as a good start to the day, and they felt much more relaxed. Some people wanted to know more about Falun Dafa, so I distributed Falun Dafa fliers for them to read.
I now feel that I am improving! Every time I complete something, I tell my supervisor or a colleague what I did. Many times, I went to the supervisor after completing an assignment to show that I could accept the job and do it well.
I did a lot of work for my department at that time, and the supervisor thanked me for my contribution. He sometimes admitted that he was wrong about me. I have fewer problems with other colleagues, and I’ve found that I work well with many of my colleagues who used to dislike being associated with me.
I know today that Master is always by my side. Thank you, all those who supported me on my cultivation path, and to all my fellow practitioners.
Thank you Master for your help and for the wisdom granted to me every day.
(Submitted to 2022 Nordic Fa Conference)