(Minghui.org) I began practicing Falun Dafa in 2012. I would like to share some of my experiences in helping new practitioners.
When I first began cultivating, I was surrounded by veteran practitioners who were very diligent. They diligently studied the Fa, did the exercises, and clarified the truth, and they also constantly encouraged new practitioners like me to cultivate. We should truly, “Cultivate with the heart you once had, and success is certain.” (“Fa Teaching on World Falun Dafa Day”)
There is much a new practitioner does not understand when just starting to cultivate: Such as the importance of studying the Fa, paying attention to safety, and so on. We veteran practitioners should encourage and help new practitioners in their cultivation.
Young Practitioners Who Have Predestined Relationships with Me
Soon after I started cultivation in 2012, a practitioner clarified the truth to a young lady who was a practitioner but had long stopped practicing. Her mother was also a practitioner. The lady stopped practicing after she attended school in another city. When talking with her, the practitioner found that she and I were the same age, so she introduced her to me. When her mother and other practitioners asked her to study the Fa, she refused, but when I asked her to study the Fa with me, she agreed. When I later moved to another city to work, she followed me there, studying the Fa with me.
During that time, I was going through a big tribulation regarding sentimentality. I fell in love with a man I shouldn’t have, but it was hard to end the relationship. When I was at my lowest point, the girl came to me. It was during the Chinese New Year holiday, we both were taking a break from work, and we would read three lectures in ZhuanFalun every day, and did the exercises.
We were immersed in the Fa every day, and we felt peaceful and pleasant. She told me that she dreamed we both were sitting in a classroom, Master came to the window, looked at us, and smiled. I knew Master was encouraging us with her dream.
I managed to pass the trial of sentimentality that I couldn’t get over for a long time. The man later wanted to get together with me again and asked to see me, I was able to refuse this time. I realized that when I tried to help this particular young practitioner, I had cultivated myself diligently with her, and I had actually helped myself, thus I was able to pass the trial.
Influenced By the CCP’s Indoctrination
In the process of helping this new practitioner, my own attachments were exposed. She liked to chat with people, watch TV, and look at her phone, but I was just the opposite: I was quiet and focused on cultivating.
When I saw she wasn’t diligent, I wanted her to improve. However, because of having been indoctrinated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), what I said to her lacked compassion, and I had made her feel uncomfortable. I later realized that it wasn’t right to force my opinion on others, and when her behavior bothered me, it was an opportunity for me to look inward and find my attachments.
I stopped focusing on her shortcomings and only looked at my own cultivation. When she chatted with people and watched TV, I would just ignore her, going to another room, or putting on my headphones. I tried to stop looking down on her or complaining about her. I later found that she changed, and she started taking the initiative to study the Fa and do the exercises.
She soon met other practitioners who motivated and encouraged her, she became diligent, her celestial eye gradually opened, and she would often share with us based on the Fa. I knew Master arranged for us to help each other.
A Coincidence
I met practitioner Mr. Fan through my job, and he told me that a coworker Ms. Ding used to cultivate in Dafa, then stopped. She recently resumed cultivating because she was diagnosed with cancer. Mr. Fan felt she would be more comfortable talking to a woman practitioner, and I agreed to study the Fa with her. Because I later lost contact with Mr. Fan I felt this was truly Master’s painstaking arrangement—through him, I met Ms. Ding, and I could help her.
In my understanding, since she had stopped cultivating for a while, she needed to be more diligent in order to catch up. It would normally take me an hour and a half to travel to her place. However, I felt as long as it was related to cultivation, I could overcome every difficulty. Years ago a practitioner said something that inspired me, “We only have group Fa-study once a week. Even if the weather is bad, I’ll come!”
Besides studying and reciting the Fa, we would also spend some time sharing our cultivation. When something happened that we couldn’t let go of, we would look at it from the Fa’s perspective, and I felt our dimensional field was pure.
Treating Other Practitioners Kindly
Because I still had not let go of my CCP indoctrination years ago, I sometimes would force my opinions on Ms. Ding. Now I tried to understand her situation from her perspective, and she resumed practicing cultivation in order to recover from the cancer. I found some articles on the Minghui website about illness karma tribulations to help strengthen her righteous thoughts.
We also talked about what we could do to save people, and we would encourage each other. I often felt seeking personal salvation was not the reason why I practiced cultivation—instead, we are here to save sentient beings. We have the sacred title - “Dafa disciple” that Master gave us. We formed a small cultivation environment to encourage each other and be more diligent.
One time, she tried to spend a paper money bill with Dafa messages imprinted on it, but the seller refused to take it. Afterward, she didn’t want to use the paper money bills anymore for fear that she would be refused again. I felt this came down to one’s cultivation, and I couldn’t force her, or tell her what to do. As long as she had the heart to save people, no matter what approach she would take, it was all fine.
Conclusion
Whether we are new or veteran practitioners, everything we experienced was carefully arranged by Master. When we cultivate diligently together, the cooperation between us is a process of cultivation. As a veteran practitioner, I shouldn’t feel superior to others, nor develop zealotry. Even though a new practitioner just began cultivating it doesn’t necessarily mean their enlightenment quality is low.
If we have the heart of helping others, we would be more broad-minded, and we would continue to push ourselves to do a good job, be good mentors of new practitioners, take on this responsibility, and not let down Master’s arrangement and other practitioners’ trust in us.
I’d like to tell new practitioners: It’s great to have the veteran practitioners encourage and help us, but we should not develop any attachments—such as gratitude, following others, and so on. Any attachments can be taken advantage of by the old forces, which may interfere in our cultivation. We should treasure our group environment, and open our hearts to share on cultivation issues, and we should encourage one another and cultivate diligently.
I hope we can all treasure this precious group environment, walk the final leg of our cultivation path well, and return home with Master.
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