(Minghui.org) When I was in high school, I saw a relative doing a type of qigong exercise at a park. Someone told me that the practice did not require you to always do the exercises, as it cultivates you around the clock. So I thought that this practice was good, and I started to learn Falun Dafa. I didn’t know anything about cultivation, but thought the practice must be at a high level. I just wanted to do it!
When I was in college, I saw some teachers and classmates doing the Falun Dafa exercises in front of the gymnasium. After the persecution began, the school told everyone to sign a statement slandering Falun Dafa. I heard that a teacher who worked in the library, as well as the computer teacher who taught me, were arrested. I also heard that the students from Tsinghua University who practiced Dafa were tortured.
I didn’t have too many ordinary human notions at the time and thought that even if I suffered the same torture as those students, I would still refuse to sign a statement renouncing Dafa. I was told to talk to the class monitor, and department counselors. I refused to sign any statement after talking with them, and I didn’t say anything negative about Dafa. After going through all this, nothing bad happened to me.
Master Li said:
“All of you are aware of the principle of mutual-generation and mutual-inhibition. If you have no fear, the factor that would make you afraid will cease to exist.” (“Eliminate Your Last Attachment(s)” from The Essentials of Diligent Progress II)
My mother went to Beijing to appeal for justice for Falun Dafa. When she returned, she was detained in a drug rehabilitation center before being transferred to the Masanjia Forced Labor Camp. I traveled a long way through unfamiliar areas to get to the camp. I tried every means possible to pass Master’s lectures to her. To this day, I still remember the scenery along the way. At the time, I wondered why a place surrounded by such beauty was so wicked? There were residential buildings around the camp for the families of those who worked there. I wondered how the guards could do things that were so inhumane?
I felt weighed down by an invisible pressure while looking for employment at a job fair after graduating from college, I didn’t even have the strength to stand up. However, with Master’s help, I finally got a job at an industry-leading company that provided room and board.
Master said:
“I know all of the suffering of my disciples. The truth is, I treasure you more than you treasure yourselves!” (“Eliminate Your Last Attachment(s)” from The Essentials of Diligent Progress II)
Sometimes, when we’re attached to our ordinary notions and even feel like giving up on ourselves, Master never gives up on us.
During the years my mother was in the labor camp, I still had the opportunity to practice with other practitioners, although the number of times was fewer. Another practitioner once said that I was not cultivating Dafa seriously. I thought that the tone was accusational, but I didn’t respond.
Master said:
“Usually, once a person enters the door of cultivation practice, he will want to continue. Everyone has Buddha-nature and the heart for cultivation. Therefore, upon learning it, many practitioners will practice cultivation for the rest of their lives. It does not matter whether he can succeed in cultivation or obtain the Fa. This person nonetheless has the heart for following the Tao and always wants to practice it.” (Lecture Six, Zhuan Falun)
When I studied this paragraph of the Fa again, my first reaction was that maybe I wasn’t diligent, but I wouldn’t give up cultivation. This experience left a deep impression on me. If it wasn’t for the practitioner speaking out frankly, I might not have realized that my life was inseparable from Dafa; I didn’t want to be left behind.
My mother was released from the labor camp in 2005. I resigned from my job, returned home, and found a job nearby. I wanted an environment where I could practice Dafa with my mother. The power of the Fa is irreplaceable. My mother said that she would not read Dafa books after coming back home. But after reading some of Master’s lectures, she immediately returned to the path of cultivation.
There were ups and downs in my new job. I was reported to the company leader by a colleague because I was clarifying the truth to people there, which led to my dismissal. Before I went to an interview for another job, I distributed Dafa informational materials with a pure heart along the way. The interview went well, and I got a teaching job at a university.
The university required me to go to a designated hospital for a physical examination. I had hepatitis B since childhood and had taken various medicines, but after practicing Falun Dafa I naturally stopped taking them. Although the examination still showed hepatitis B, I could work normally.
When the university scheduled another physical examination, I was still worried, but thought to myself that Dafa disciples do not have illnesses, so there is no virus in my body. When the results came back, I was the healthiest employee in my office. There was no sign of hepatitis B.
I haven’t taken medication or asked for sick leave for more than ten years. When I experienced a few cases of eliminating sickness karma, or interference occurred, I didn’t take them seriously and went to work as usual. This was all due to the power of Dafa.
When I first started practicing Falun Dafa, I didn’t study the Fa or do the exercises regularly. When there was an environment for Fa-study and cultivation, I slowly followed in others’ footsteps. For a while, I thought that I should memorize the Fa, so I started memorizing one page every day. I was able to memorize Zhuan Falun for the first time within a year.
Since I didn’t do the exercises on a regular basis, I made the commitment, starting from January 1 this year, to log daily both my memorizing the Fa and doing the exercises. If for any reason I missed doing either of these, I would find time to make up for it. So far this year, I have not missed a day of memorizing the Fa or doing the exercises.
Studying the Fa is the foundation of cultivation. Only when I understand the principles of the Fa can I know how to cultivate. When I read the section of the Fa about jealousy, I believed that I was not jealous. Only later did I realize that my jealousy was very strong.
We need time to break through each dimensional layer, with each one having different requirements for us to improve our xinxing. We also need to constantly check ourselves with the Fa, and treat the kind reminders from fellow practitioners seriously. I would also like to thank the Minghui website for providing a pure experience sharing environment. I sometimes felt that I could understand things quickly, so I often looked down on other practitioners. However, after reading sharing articles from the Minghui website, I realized this was a manifestation of my jealousy - I should be humble.
In today’s China, the environment in academia is very complicated. In order to compete for ranks, some teachers exaggerate their abilities and often commit fraud. I felt uneasy when teachers who lied to students in class gained promotions, and got highly professional titles, and often slandered others. Now I know they were helping me to cultivate. How could I resent them?
When my xinxing improved, the environment changed accordingly. The teacher who competed with me was transferred, and the leader who was hostile toward me completely changed. The veteran teachers in the school were now friendly toward me, and the new teachers were respectful of me. Everything was arranged by Master. Whatever happens, I should do things according to what Master said:
“For a cultivator, looking within is a magical tool.” (“Fa Teaching at the 2009 Washington DC International Fa Conference”)
A colleague’s unborn baby was found to have a serious health problem and could not be saved. The colleague who was about to become a mother could not accept it and was very sad. My mother and I went to visit her, told her the truth about Dafa, explained why she should quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and gave her Dafa amulets and a copy of Zhuan Falun. She and her mother also agreed to quit the CCP and its youth organizations. Soon after, she became pregnant again, and had a healthy baby. Now the baby is often praised by other parents and the teachers in kindergarten. It’s really all blessings that Dafa bestows upon people who understand the truth.
Colleges and universities in China have strict control over the Internet on campus. Some teachers heard that I had software to break through the Internet firewall and asked me for it. Others teachers asked me for Shen Yun DVDs. A student proudly exclaimed that his teacher didn’t believe the CCP’s lies and broke through the firewall to visit Dafa’s website.
Clarifying the truth is also a process of cultivation. Some people may be afraid that their personal interests would be affected after quitting the CCP, while others scolded us and said unpleasant words. In retrospect, many of the problems were caused by my human notions. When someone scolded me on the phone, I often fought back. I found out later this was my attachment to competitiveness that made the other person behave like that.
Dafa practitioners hope that all people can be saved. But we must cultivate ourselves well so we can assist Master in offering them salvation.