(Minghui.org) In 2001 I was on a quest for spirituality and the deeper meaning of life. I kept asking: “Why are we here?” I tried yoga, and then Tai Chi. By searching for different cultivation ways, including Buddhism, I found the Falun Dafa website: www.falundafa.org.
I began to read Master Li Hongzhi’s teachings. Although at first I had a hard time understanding them, I felt something special, an extraordinary attraction to what he wrote. I began practicing the exercises by watching the videos, following Master’s instructions and copying his movements.
As I continued doing the exercises, I experienced a powerful energy. My mood, even my posture improved. My perception of myself and the people and situations around me became positive. At first the changes seemed small, almost imperceptible, but they were radical. I began to cleanse myself of negative thoughts, and my attitude and actions began to be more upright, simple and benevolent, not at all confused as my life had been until then. After many years of neglecting my body and mind, I began a path of spiritual cultivation and self-knowledge through meditation and by reading Master’s teachings.
Dafa Is Wonderful
The first big change was that I stopped smoking. I had no withdrawal symptoms! Next, I gradually stopping drinking alcohol and using drugs. Through reading the main book of Falun Dafa, Zhuan Falun I realized that these were attachments that seriously interfered with my cleansing process and cultivation.
I used to get very angry, especially with my daughter. I could not tolerate her disobeying me or questioning my words or actions. I didn’t know how to set limits for her without getting angry. I actually raged at her. I screamed at and denigrated her. I verbally mistreated her, and I even shook her to make her come to her senses. She drove me crazy. I think I treated her this way because she reflected my own behavior. She said one thing and did another. What I saw in her disgusted me. I couldn’t change it, it frustrated me, and made me very angry.
I easily became upset over the smallest difficulty and I lost control. Anger, laziness, lust, envy and selfishness dominated my life completely. I was submerged in an environment full of darkness and negativism. But with Dafa I was able to get out of that pit. My mindset changed, and I felt hopeful and optimistic. I know the positive changes happened when I remembered the teachings and applied them in my daily life.
Despite my changes thanks to Master’s teachings, the transformation was superficial. Since I did not know any other practitioners, I had no one to discuss the teachings with. It was very difficult for me to understand the deeper meanings, and it seemed that they were very difficult concepts due to their magnitude and complexity. Intellectually and culturally I perceived them as far from my ability to understand. I felt that I was not advancing. This put me off reading so I ended up giving up Dafa.
Lost and Regained
Because I had no one to talk to, I began to lose my initial enthusiasm. I lacked determination and discipline. I gradually stopped reading Zhuan Falun or doing the exercises. I began to lose myself again in the world of illusion and the pleasures of ordinary people. I almost missed this one chance for salvation.
For 15 years I abandoned Falun Dafa but something miraculous happened. At the end of 2018, when I was leaving an activity in a cultural center in a small town in the interior of Córdoba where I live, I was surprised to find some Falun Dafa flyers. They had information about Dafa and an invitation to a Nine-day Seminar. I was amazed by how Dafa came back into my life in an unexpected way.
I immediately picked up the leaflet and called the contact number. I learned that the practitioner traveled from Buenos Aires and wanted to introduce Falun Dafa to the people in our area. She was originally from Villa General Belgrano. We chatted for a while. She invited me to help organize the activity, which was held the next day.
The experience was amazing! I suddenly remembered everything. The teachings, the principles, even the exercise movements! It was as if I had never stopped practicing Falun Dafa. The changes that I experienced were remarkable, since I once again felt that powerful energy that adjusted and cleansed my mind and body.
After the seminar, the practitioner and I established a practice site in that town. Her brother was also taking his first steps in practicing Falun Dafa.
I have benefited so much. I feel good. I try to keep my heart pure and my mind calm, which I can do most of the time. Thanks to practicing Falun Dafa, I see things more clearly and simply. I have a lot of energy and I spread it with joy around me as I want to share this blessing with others.
Now the relationship with my daughter has changed dramatically. I am much more patience and tolerant. I no longer lose control when she does something I don’t like. When she misbehaves, I calmly explain why I think she is misbehaving and what the consequences are—how our bad actions, attitudes and thoughts affect our environment and ourselves. I encourage her to be honest and sincere, patient and tolerant, compassionate and kind. I use my own experiences as an example.
She tells me that now I am the best dad in the world and that she loves me very much. She sometimes accompanies me to the practice site and does the exercises with me, she listens when I read the lectures, and participates in some truth-clarification activities. When I ask her how I was before, she tells me that I was always angry and that I slept a lot and that she doesn’t want that dad to come back.
Letting Go of Human Attachments
Last year a Fa conference was organized in Buenos Aires. From the very beginning I had a lot of interference which kept me from attending. When I found out that it was going to take place during the long weekend of October, my first reaction was to give up the idea since on that date in my town the national beer festival is celebrated and the local residents have a lot of work related to tourism. I had already committed myself to several work obligations that I believed I could not delegate to anyone else or cancel. I notified the contact person in Argentina that I would not be able to attend the Fa conference.
Thanks to the insistence, contribution of ideas, offers of help and motivation from various practitioners, I was convinced not to give up, and to stand firm with the goal of reaching the Fa conference no matter what. Just then, coincidentally, the opportunity arose to travel with a woman who could take me in her car to Rosario. Since there were two seats available, I took the opportunity to have my daughter accompany me. She would stay with her grandparents in Rosario.
I decided to travel to my hometown, where I have relatives. I would stay with them and from there it would be easier to get to Buenos Aires. When I made that decision firmly, the difficulties and commitments began to be resolved. I got a person to take charge of receiving tourists and attending to other pending issues. Little by little it seemed that all the difficulties were handled successfully.
The day after arriving in Rosario, with only two days left for the Fa conference, my daughter began to feel bad. She had a bad cough, headache, and fever. This situation made me reconsider traveling to Buenos Aires. I explained it to other practitioners who again encouraged me to travel anyway since my daughter would not be left alone. She would be with my parents and nothing bad would happen to her. I was filled with confusion, doubt and fear. I did not have enough faith and determination to stand firm. My thoughts were not clear and straight. The next day, I began to feel physical discomfort similar to my daughter’s. That night, I began having body aches and fever, so I decided not to travel to the capital city.
The curious thing about this is that the following day, Sunday, while the Fa conference was taking place, my daughter felt fine and so did I. I felt disappointed with myself for not having passed the final tribulations that were presented to me along the way.
Closing Remarks
I discovered something very revealing through Dafa, which is that we have to take advantage of the fact that we have incarnated as human beings and that the time we have is extremely precious. We should not waste this opportunity to cultivate in this lifetime. We must eliminate all kinds of desires and attachments, raise our moral standard and save other sentient beings from total and final destruction.
One must be able to endure bitterness among bitterness, endure suffering with a firm will, without hesitating or getting angry. We must be thankful for these tribulations that come our way, since they allow us to raise our xinxing. If we assimilate ourselves to the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, we can fulfill the objective of our existence: to return to the origin and return to the truth, which is the true meaning of our passage through this earthly life.
Thank you, Master for imparting your teachings! I also thank practitioners in Argentina and the Argentine Falun Dafa Association for organizing another Fa conference this year. Last year I had many tribulations which prevented me from attending the Fa conference. I did not make it, but this year I did not hesitate for a moment. I stood firm from the beginning and here I am. Ready to seize every moment to listen to other practitioners' cultivation experiences, receive criticism, look within to find and recognize attachments, and improve my cultivation process with humility in order to become more diligent and altruistic.
Thank you, Master! Thank you, fellow practitioners!
(Presented at the 2022 Argentina Falun Dafa Experience Sharing Conference)
Views expressed in this article represent the author's own opinions or understandings. All content published on this website are copyrighted by Minghui.org. Minghui will produce compilations of its online content regularly and on special occasions.
