(Minghui.org)
Greetings to Master!Greetings to fellow practitioners!
I actually didn’t plan to write an article for this Fa conference. The biggest obstruction is because I know that I did not cultivate well enough. This time, I want to express my gratitude to Master through my little bit of cultivation experience. Without Master’s protection, I would not have been able to come so far.
1. Letting Go of Fame and Surviving Danger
I was fortunate to obtain the Fa in Japan in 1996, and I officially joined The Epoch Times media project in 2004. Having come so far, although there were ups and downs, I managed to overcome them with the help of fellow practitioners. However, there are no free rides in cultivation. In the media project, not only did I not cultivate myself well, I even acquired a whole load of attachments, such as being attached to doing things, pursuing fame, relying on others, validating myself, etc. An event four years ago helped me to thoroughly recognize the danger of the attachment to fame.
That project required a team’s cooperation and I was arranged to be in charge of looking for the venue, cooperating with the team, and making the arrangements for the live event. By rights, I should have felt honored for being able to participate in the project and completed my tasks well and quietly all by myself. However, during the work process, I felt that since I had some sales experience—and this was topped off with the encouragement and compliments from others—my desire for fame, to show off, and validate myself kept growing stronger. In the end, I behaved as if the whole project was managed by me alone, although I was just a contact person.
As I did not get rid of many attachments, the person-in-charge stripped me of all the contacts that I was supposed to make. This originally was a good chance for me to look within and improve my xinxing. However, I was obstinate and stubbornly held onto human principles. Under the effects of jealousy, although I said that I would cooperate with the person-in-charge properly, behind that was my desire to prove my innocence, gain sympathy from others, and indirectly prove that I am more capable than the person-in-charge. Therefore, I caused conflicts and unknowingly put a lot of stress on the person-in-charge. Thinking back, I made myself into a hypocritical and vane person who tried to show others how good I was and how I cultivated for others. That was so dangerous!
I still remember that an event required us to change the venue at the last minute. After receiving the client’s phone call, I was supposed to report to the person-in-charge before making a decision. As I was already accustomed to making my own decisions, and I only thought about myself without respecting others, I just directly made a decision and reported only after that. Due to this matter, the person-in-charge reprimanded me in front of everyone, “Why didn’t you confirm with me first?” I felt like I’d been slapped in face. But I did not look within to see that this was caused by my attachment to fame, gain, and jealousy, which made me think that I could call the shots.
Instead, I looked outwards towards others and felt unjustified about why someone treated me like that. This caused me to develop attachments such as dissatisfaction, grudges, and self-abasement. It is only now when I look back, can I understand how difficult it has been for the person-in-charge. She looked at problems from the perspective of the company, and her heart was all out for the clients. If I continued to do things my way, a wrong decision could bring great losses to the sentient beings and the project. Cultivation is really very serious and the demands on us are becoming higher. I did not improve myself based on the Fa but was brutally taken advantage of by the old forces such that I almost made a big mistake. Now that I think back, I was already on the brink of danger at that time. If not for Master’s watching over me and the tolerance of fellow practitioners, I really would not have overcome this trial.
Every time I go through a tribulation, I feel really uncomfortable in my heart. Usually, I try to sleep or watch videos to relieve the pain and escape the reality instead of trying to overcome the tribulation based on the Fa and look for problems in my xinxing. I did not treat myself as a cultivator, and the tribulations thus became greater. The old forces were also eagerly waiting to force me out of the project so that I would leave the cultivation environment. As I did not know how to look within and I was also afraid that others would talk badly about it, I often made mistakes. Despite so, fellow practitioners still looked me up to exchange insights relentlessly, hoping that I could quickly overcome those disturbances. At that time, I was not able to concentrate when I studied the Fa and I went to work with a heavy heart, not doing the work with all my heart. I had no desire to save sentient beings. My negative mood suppressed me so much that I really wanted to escape. However, Master has always been protecting and enlightening me.
At that time, my husband, a fellow practitioner, needed to go to his mother’s house to take care of his elderly mother and his younger brother who had been diagnosed with late stage cancer. Thus, he also had no group cultivation environment, was often in a restless mood, and really needed me to take care of him. However, at that time, I had been finding excuses to escape the tribulation I was supposed to face. To add to the tribulation, I could not let go of my affection for my husband. Therefore, I applied for a period of leave from my manager and only kept my task of delivering newspapers. My manager thought about it and asked me calmly, “Are you doing this really to take care of your family or are you just trying to escape?” This sentence really got me. Actually, I was being controlled by the attachment to self-abasement, and fame and gain, from not being able to produce any results. That made me keep wanting to find an excuse to escape. She said to me calmly, “If you take this leave, it may be very hard for you to return. The sentient beings in your world are waiting for you to save them and bring them home.” Tears started rolling down my cheeks. I knew that I had not lived up to Master’s benevolent salvation. I had also abandoned the sentient beings who had been waiting for me dearly to be saved. I only thought about my own feelings. I was so selfish.
Master said,
“To consummate yourself, reaping Buddhahood,Let joy be found in hardship.Physical pains count little as suffering,Indeed, cultivating mind is hardest....”(“Tempering the Will,” Hong Yin).
I understood that I should tolerate the hardship in cultivation instead of thinking that I came to the human world to enjoy life. I understood that my knowing side fundamentally did not want to leave the project. I cannot choose to escape. I must be responsible for my own cultivation and the sentient beings. Finally, I decided not to take the leave. After communicating with my husband based on the Fa, he also supported me in my decision. Now, I no longer have any thoughts of escaping and am progressing within the project in a steadfast manner.
2. Cultivating Myself in Small Matters
There are no small things in cultivation. The most critical thing is that one must truly cultivate oneself.
In the project, I often need to do tasks such as sending emails and letters to clients. These seem like small matters in an ordinary company. However, in the media project, any attachment will be exposed. As I did not get rid of my attachments to doing things, being impatient, being scared of trouble and of being criticized, I kept making mistakes at work. These attachments manifested in various way, such as the size of the font in the emails became irregular, the content was strange, there were additional or missing words, the envelopes couldn’t be properly addressed, there was missing client information, etc.
Everyone was very troubled by my mistakes and a colleague reminded me, “This is because you are not putting your whole heart into it. You are only considering yourself, but not the project. That is the reason for these results.” This sentence deeply stabbed my inner heart. But thinking about it, what they said was true. If I had thought about the matter from their perspective, I would have realized that a mistake may cause a bad impression on the clients and tarnish the company’s reputation, which would affect our ability to save sentient beings. So I tried my best to curb my impatience and correct my attitude so that I could settle every small matter with a serious attitude. Fellow practitioners also helped me proof my work every time, so the mistakes were minimized. Here, I would like to thank them for their silent sacrifice.
3. Not Afraid of Being Rejected and Growing in Adversity
A practitioner told me, “In the past, the practitioners involved in sales were on a touching path of Fa-validation. Now, they are creating even greater effects in other projects. Since you stayed behind, there must be certain things that you need to do. This is also your mission!” Thinking back about the practitioners who have devoted themselves to the media project in the past, we are full of gratitude. At that time, everyone had righteous thoughts and acted righteously, and they persisted in publishing the newspaper. Although I was following in the footsteps of other practitioners who did sales, I was just taking a free ride and did not really cultivate myself solidly during the process. In my heart, I was still escaping from those attachments that I was not willing to face.
In this business, I have to face countless rejections every day, which filled my heart with attachments such as fear and desire. When I saw other practitioners doing better than me, I was not happy for them. Instead, my jealousy and desire to contend with others grew. I couldn’t help but ask myself, “Why can’t I do it when others can? Why am I always rejected by clients? How can you save sentient beings when you have such an unclean heart? Are you really believing in Master and the Fa?” I knew I must face these fundamental attachments that I had been stubbornly holding onto, get rid of them, and cherish this rare cultivation opportunity. By going through such lessons time and again, I totally understand that it is all because of my own problem that I cannot successfully sell any advertisements.
I remember that I once worked with a practitioner on sales. As my righteous thought was not strong enough and I had the attachment to protecting myself and vying with other practitioners, I did not do my best to support the task. In the end, the client did not give us sufficient time to clarify the truth. After returning to the office, I only felt disappointed for not being able to get the contract signed immediately, but that practitioner was full of regrets for not being able to clarify the truth to the potential client. Comparing my selfish attitude with his pure heart to save sentient beings, I saw the difference between our cultivation states. After that, Master arranged another opportunity for us to meet that client, and twice as many people were present than had been at the previous meeting.
As long as we have the heart to save people, Master will arrange for predestined people to come and listen to the truth. However, as I was writing this article, I was still overcoming this test. As I did not let go of my human attachments, thoughts, and emotions, I caused many delays to saving predestined sentient beings.
I want to validate the Fa openly in my sales work. I understand that only by abiding by the three things that Master requires us to do, will I be able to attain that. I have to study the Fa more, strengthen my sending forth righteous thoughts, look within when I meet with problems, and join the big group Fa study actively. Only by maintaining a good cultivation state will I be able to save more sentient beings.
4. Saving Sentient Beings
I remember that when I first joined The Epoch Times, a thought was etched deep into my heart, which was to have The Epoch Times be available in every corner of Japan. Now, when I interact with Japanese people, I discover that many people still do not know about Falun Dafa and the Japanese media seldom report about the practice. However, the Fa-rectification is almost coming to an end but there are still so many people who have not understood the truth and been saved. The time that we have now is being prolonged by benevolent great Master by enduring great hardship. I asked myself if I had any attachments that I cannot let go or what reasons do I still have for not being diligent in my cultivation? I want to truly let go of self and cooperate with the group as a whole.
Once, I took part in a trade fair and met a fan of The Epoch Times. He was very excited when he saw me and said, “I admire everyone for their courage. All the best to The Epoch Times! I support The Epoch Times!” Thank you, Master, for using this man’s words to encourage us. I know deeply that doing well in the media project goes hand in hand with Japanese Dafa practitioners’ righteous thoughts. I cherish this affinity that we have, and thank all my fellow practitioners for their silent sacrifice.
In order to save more sentient beings, let us cultivate diligently together and do well on this last leg of our Fa rectification journey.
The above are my limited understandings. Kindly correct me if there is any room for improvement.
Thank you, Master.Thank you, fellow practitioners.
(Selected article presented at the 2025 Japan Fa Conference)
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