(Minghui.org) I live in the countryside. I was close to being illiterate since I dropped out of school after the second grade. As the eldest girl among my siblings, when I was eight or nine years old, I was tasked with household chores that included washing clothes, cooking, and cleaning.
I was fortunate to start Dafa cultivation with my in-laws over 20 year ago when I was in my 30s. However, when I picked up the Dafa books, I could only recognize a few words. I asked my family for help—my father-in-law and husband were my primary sources of assistance. Although my husband often grew impatient with my questions, I didn’t mind. After more than six months, I was able to read Zhuan Falun from cover to cover. I am deeply grateful for Master’s support.
However, after many years of practice, I didn’t really know how to cultivate. My resentment towards my mother-in-law troubled me for many years, and various human attachments hindered my improvement in cultivation. My journey in cultivation was full of setbacks and difficulties. I felt distressed and didn’t know how to overcome my issues. In recent years, I was greatly inspired when reading other practitioners’ sharing articles in the Minghui Weekly, especially their experiences of memorizing the Fa. So, I resolved to memorize Zhuan Falun.
However, it was extremely difficult to memorize the Fa at the beginning, and sometimes I thought of giving up. I knew those thoughts weren’t my true self, so I was determined to continue.
I usually went out to clarify the truth in the morning, and memorized the Fa, paragraph by paragraph in the afternoon and evening. I would first memorize sentence by sentence, then link the sentences into a paragraph, and repeatedly recite it until I’d memorized the entire paragraph. Then, I would move on to the next paragraph. If a paragraph was long, I would divide it into two parts, memorizing the first half, and then the second, memorizing it as two separate paragraphs. After memorizing the Fa for about an hour, I would send righteous thoughts to cleanse myself for ten minutes, which reduced interference and made memorization smoother. I persisted in memorizing the Fa every day, memorizing three to five pages daily, and sometimes as many as six pages. I could normally memorize the entire book once every two or three months.
Last year, I went through memorizing Zhuan Falun five times. I felt as if I had been reborn, and experienced profound changes.
Eliminating Decades of Resentment and Jealousy
After I got married, I lived with my in-laws. My hot temper caused a lot of discord, and even small matters would lead to chaos. I held deep-seated resentment for my mother-in-law. My husband was her only son, and she lived with us, relying on us for food, clothing, and other necessities, yet she favored her daughter.
Once, my mother-in-law removed her pension money from the village accountant and hid it under her mattress. Coincidentally, my eldest sister-in-law visited that day. After she left, I noticed the money was gone. I asked my mother-in-law if she had given the money to her daughter, but she denied it. Instead of using this as an opportunity to improve myself, I lashed out at her. Thinking back now, I truly regret my actions.
At that time, I was completely controlled by resentment and jealousy, falling into the old forces’ trap, unable to distinguish my true self from the false one. This created a rift between me and my cultivator mother-in-law. My cultivator husband was thus helplessly caught in the middle. I realized later that my behavior did not meet the standards of the Fa and I resolved to cultivate diligently. However, I would fail the tests when they came again. When I was clear-headed I would worry that I could fail completely in cultivation.
After memorizing the Fa, my field has been cleansed by the Fa, leaving no place for resentment and jealousy to hide. Now, whenever negative thoughts arise, I can immediately recognize them as not being my true self and eliminate them immediately.
Eliminating Attachment to Personal Gain
Since my parents struggled financially when I was little, I placed a great deal of importance on money, and the conflicts with my mother-in-law were mostly about money. However, after memorizing the Fa, my attachment to personal gain gradually diminished. Once, my mother-in-law was hospitalized, and my younger sister-in-law paid 3,000 yuan for her hospital expenses. I tried to repay her, but she wouldn’t accept it. After my mother-in-law was discharged and returned home, I thought that although it was also her daughter’s duty to be filial, as a Dafa cultivator I shouldn’t let my sister-in-law bear the cost. I went to her home and gave her 3,000 yuan for the hospital expenses. In the past, I wouldn’t have been able to do that.
My younger sister would often stay at my house because her workplace is nearby. At the end of each year, she would offer me money, but I didn’t accept it. She has been struggling financially; how could I, as a cultivator, take her money?
Eliminating the Attachment to Fear and Clarifying the Truth to People
Through cultivation, I realized that fear was the most difficult attachment for me to eliminate. Because I had been illegally detained and taken to a labor camp, the shadow of persecution lingered over me. I was afraid of being arrested and sentenced again. After memorizing the Fa, my fear significantly lessened, and it became easier for me to talk to people about Dafa and the persecution. Whenever I went out to clarify the truth, Master would strengthen me, and I would only think of saving people.
I usually rode an electric bike to travel from village to village to clarify the truth. Every day, I could persuade eight or nine people to withdraw from the CCP’s organizations, and at the most, I have helped nearly 20 people quit in a day. When I encountered people who were unwilling to listen, I would not get discouraged and would patiently continue to explain until they understood and thanked me. I would tell them, “Don’t thank me; if you want to thank someone, thank Dafa’s Master.”
I would not discriminate when talking to people. Once, another practitioner and I were on our way to a market to clarify the truth. On the way there, we met a middle-aged man who was dressed shabbily and muttering to himself. He appeared somewhat mentally unstable. Initially, we were going to pass him by, but I thought we shouldn’t miss this predestined person. Maybe he was waiting for a Dafa disciple to save him. We approached him and saw that he was eating a rotten cucumber. I kindly reminded him, “Don’t eat that; it’s bad for your health.”
I clarified the truth to him, and he listened attentively. He was mentally clear and withdrew from the CCP’s Young Pioneers which he had joined in the past. I gave him an amulet, he thanked me and wanted to give us money, but we wouldn’t accept it. After clarifying the truth at the market, I bought some fresh cucumbers and gave them to him on the way back. He was very thankful.
Fear would still occasionally interfere with me. Whenever it appeared, I would catch it and send righteous thoughts to eliminate it. By continuously doing so, the fear kept on weakening.
Eliminating the Attachment to Ego
In the past, I was very domineering at home, and my word was final; my family would usually give in to me. A few days ago, my husband brought home a painting with some words on it. Upon seeing it, I said to him, “This is an ordinary person’s painting, filled with dark karma. How can a cultivator keep it?” He immediately got angry and shouted, “Why can’t I keep it? I’ll hang it in my room, not yours!”
I immediately stopped talking. Before memorizing the Fa I couldn’t have done that. I looked within and found my attachments to being self-centered, wanting to change others, and imposing my will on others. I sat down to send righteous thoughts, cleansing my own field and letting go of my ego. When my husband saw that I was no longer arguing with him, he calmed down as well.
A few days later, he told me that he hadn’t been sleeping well recently and that it must be due to the factors behind that painting. He took it down and handed it to me. He wanted me to dispose of it. I truly experienced the beauty of looking within after memorizing the Fa.
Encouraging More Practitioners to Participate in Saving People
After memorizing the Fa, I noticed that some practitioners around me were not in a good cultivation state, and I began to worry. I took the initiative to reach out and shared my experiences with them. I rode my electric bike with some practitioners, going out to clarify the truth to people. My practitioner sister hadn’t been diligently studying and cultivating for years, so I invited her to stay at my home. Given our sharing, she gradually improved and was able to go out and clarify the truth to people as well.
I reached out to practitioner Tang during a coordinated effort to rescue imprisoned practitioners in our area. He hadn’t been involved in clarifying the truth to people for a long time. This time, he understood the importance and urgency of saving people and asked me for 30 brochures exposing the local police. After distributing them at night, Tang had a clear dream: a spring suddenly gushed brilliant water into the air. He realized that this was Master enlightening him because he had improved in his cultivation. We were happy for him. I would also frequently take several other practitioners out to clarify the truth to people, helping them keep up with the progress of Fa-rectification.
I still have many attachments that I haven’t eliminated, such as fear, lust, and not cultivating my speech. Although these problems have gradually lessened, they occasionally linger in my field, and I need to work hard to eliminate them and not give them any space to survive.
I wrote this article to serve as inspiration, hoping that more practitioners will memorize the Fa.
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Category: Improving Oneself
