(Minghui.org) I began practicing Falun Dafa in early 1999. Even though I’ve cultivated for more than two decades, I feel ashamed that most of the time I slacked off, and was only occasionally diligent. Thanks to Master’s benevolent arrangements and practitioners’ selfless help, I was able to gradually improve, and I now understand what it means to cultivate.

Putting Down the Cell Phone

For a very long time, I wanted to be diligent, yet I always failed. When I wasn’t busy at work I checked my phone—I shopped online or looked at entertainment programs. I didn’t watch Chinese TV or movies, as I hated the content infused with Chinese Communist Party (CCP) culture, but I enjoyed watching European, American, and Korean movies and dramas. I watched movies on my phone while I ate, and I sometimes even watched while I drove. As a result, I almost had an accident.

Cell phones are harmful. Master said:

“People may say that it doesn’t matter what they see with their eyes, and that they can just stop looking at something if they no longer want to see it. But that’s not true. When your vision makes contact with something, that thing has entered. That’s because any thing can replicate itself in other dimensions, so the longer you look at something, the more it enters. No matter what it is, be it on television or on a computer, it enters once you look at it. As more of these bad things are loaded up in your brain and body, they end up dominating your actions. Your speech, your mode of thinking, your perspective on things—all of it will be affected.” (“Fa Teaching Given at the 2010 New York Fa Conference,” Collected Teachings Given Around the World Volume XI)

I was sometimes driven to joy or sorrow by the content, and I became addicted to watching these programs. I knew it was a waste of time, but I just couldn’t snap out of it, which caused my will to cultivate diligently to be worn down.

I had a hard time getting up in the morning to do the exercises. I also slacked off and didn’t feel that Falun Dafa or cultivation was important. I behaved like a regular person and I was far from the state a practitioner should be in.

My wake-up call came when I was harassed by the CCP. I looked inward, sent forth righteous thoughts, and analyzed my cultivation state. Even though I was usually careless, I did become alert at the critical moment. I went up to the rooftop to send righteous thoughts while looking at the sky. It suddenly occurred to me that I was pursuing an ordinary life—I wanted to be comfortable, and I was not focusing on my mission as a practitioner. I sincerely apologized to Master, and realized that I must change. I thought, “Please Master, give me another chance. I don’t belong to the old forces or the three realms. The CCP has no control over me.” When my true thoughts came out, I truly felt that Master was in charge of me. The interference also disappeared.

I stopped checking my cell phone. I either listened to Dafa music, read Dafa books, or recited the Fa at work. In addition to the four global times to send righteous thoughts, I also added two more times, at 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. I also extended the length of time I sent righteous thoughts to half an hour. My cultivation state gradually improved. In the beginning, I sent forth righteous thoughts out of the fear that I’d be persecuted. I later stopped focusing on myself, and helped other practitioners by sending righteous thoughts for them. I deeply felt that practitioners who were imprisoned were going through large tribulations, so I did my best to help them by sending righteous thoughts to eliminate the interference in other dimensions.

I finally had a breakthrough in my cultivation state—I was able to get up to do the exercises. Progress in cultivation is made by day-by-day efforts, just as slacking off and falling behind don’t happen in one day either, so I really can’t slack off.

Helping Each Other

Master said:

“That’s Master telling you to mutually save and help each other, to save others while saving yourself—this is sentient beings saving each other at the end times.” (“Stay Far Away From Peril”)

I truly feel that when practitioners are together, we are helping each other. I sincerely appreciate the help from the practitioners in the same Fa-study group and other practitioners. If I stayed away from a group Fa-study environment, it’d be truly hard to cultivate diligently by myself.

I’ve now joined two Fa-study groups. I realized different practitioners have different strong points, and we complement each other.

I shared with practitioners in one group the strong points that I saw in those from the other group, and vice versa. We helped and encouraged each other. I realized that we could encourage and motivate each other when we talked about how we cultivate diligently.

For example, Ms. Lin (alias) always kept her back straight and sat in the full lotus position when she studied the Fa. She also held Zhuan Falun with both hands while she read, which neither Ms. Wu (alias) nor I could do. Even though Ms. Lin talked to me about this a few times, I didn’t want to change my position when I studied the Fa.

I later wanted to make a breakthrough—so practitioners in the other group and I began to study the Fa while sitting in the full lotus position. Ms. Wu was good at harmonizing her family. She held herself to a practitioner’s standard at all times, and looked inward. Her family felt that Dafa was great and praised Dafa in front of other people. She did well in validating Dafa, whereas neither Ms. Lin or I did that well. I told Ms. Lin how Ms. Wu looked inward during family tribulations, and how she did things to validate Dafa. We tried to learn from others’ strong points. I also began to think about how to validate Dafa at work, among my friends, family and relatives, and make a breakthrough in eliminating my fear so that I could hand out more informational materials.

My Understanding of Illness Karma

I recently contacted some practitioners who were stuck in illness karma tribulations. I felt that they didn’t truly realize the seriousness of the issue, and just quietly endured. Even though they wanted to make breakthroughs, they felt powerless. I was worried, but all I could do was encourage them, and quietly help them by sending righteous thoughts. Afterwards, I had some new understandings about illness karma.

Some practitioners were persecuted into paralysis, unable to move their arms or legs. Think about it: We are the masters of our bodies. The body belongs to the main spirit, and the main spirit should dominate the body. The main spirit has the final say, and our arms and legs should obey our orders. If the arms and legs won’t move, it means they aren’t obeying the main spirit’s orders. So whose orders are they obeying?

I realized that they are obeying the orders of entities in other dimensions. How can practitioners allow low-level spirits to control their bodies? Isn’t it because, in this case, their main consciousness is too weak? It’s just like a mental patient who no longer controls his body, so entities in other dimensions take over his body. What can we do? We can strengthen our main consciousness, send righteous thoughts, and focus on studying the Fa, look inward, and cultivate diligently with a true heart. We need to rectify ourselves. When one strengthens one’s righteous thoughts, negative entities in other dimensions will be eliminated, and our main consciousness will be in charge.

Making Use of My Expertise

I’ve been very good at computer technology since I was a child. As a young practitioner, I feel so fortunate that Master gave me this technical talent. I like high-tech things and I like to study them. After the toolbox V1.2 (now updated to V1.3) was released on the technical forum, I studied and downloaded the toolkit myself. I installed systems for local practitioners and took on the role of technical support.

I watched a tutorial on making a read-only TF card for making truth clarification materials, and I thought this project was really great. Local practitioners had made truth-clarification USB flash drives before, but the flash drives have many restrictions. When buying a USB flash drive, one needs to know what brand the main controller of the USB flash drive is, and one also needs special decoding software to make a read-only USB flash drive. I thought this was overly difficult. TF cards are different—they don’t have so many restrictions. As long as you buy a card of slightly better quality, you can make it into a read-only TF card through the software provided by the technical forum. After putting the truth clarification video and audio in, all you need is a card reader.

Almost everyone now has a mobile phone or computer that the card can be plugged into. I did the research on how to make them, and then started making them. When I ran into issues, they were resolved with help from practitioners on the Technical Forum. I wrote a post about the difficulties I encountered, the solutions, and precautions, and posted them in the tutorial post. I wanted to help practitioners who made the truth-clarification TF read-only cards to save them from taking detours. The moderator acknowledged what I shared. I also told local practitioners how to make the cards, so that they had another way of clarifying the facts to people. I felt the outcome was very good.

Learning to Cultivate Myself Unconditionally

I’ve always paid attention to sending forth righteous thoughts, and I truly came to feel the power of righteous thoughts. When I was in a good state, I could feel my field becoming clear. One time, I could clearly feel energy in my hands. Before that, I often sent forth righteous thoughts in a half lotus position. This probably came down to my attachment to being comfortable. I recently began sending righteous thoughts in the full lotus position, and I could feel energy around my body like huge ripples of water—it was wonderful.

I often went to the Public Security Bureau and police station to send righteous thoughts. I felt that the Public Security Bureau was so tiny. After I sued the former CCP leader, the local police station made harassing phone calls to me. I went to the police station to send forth righteous thoughts in close proximity every night. After doing that for over a month, the phone calls stopped. I later heard that the police couldn’t find me no matter how hard they tried. I knew that benevolent Master was protecting me.

Because I excelled when I was a child, I developed a strong show-off mentality and always thought highly of myself. When I did well, I attributed it to the fact that I possessed strong righteous thoughts, and completely forgot about Master’s benevolent protection. Now, thinking back, I see my conceit and arrogance.

When I wrote my experience sharing, I thought: When others write that they appreciate Master, why don’t I? Why didn’t I think of Master? Thanks to the practitioners around me for that kind reminder. I began to correct my incorrect state. I also asked for Master’s help to strengthen my righteous thoughts. I paid attention to eliminating any of my hidden notions that lacked faith in Master and Dafa. I also downloaded several episodes of “Recalling Master’s Saving Grace” and listened to them every day. I finally eliminated my arrogant false self and returned to my humble self.

I’m grateful for Master’s benevolent arrangement to have me meet the practitioners in my current Fa-study group. We help and encourage one another to be diligent. I learned to look inward, and cultivate myself. Thanks to the sharing articles posted on the Minghui website, and the unselfish hearts that practitioners have cultivated in Dafa, the simple and unpretentious articles they wrote inspired me to improve. I would also like to thank the practitioners who broadcast on Minghui radio. Their calm and compassionate voices help me see and begin to correct my Party culture.

I now know how to cultivate diligently, and I feel regret for wasting so much time. When I do my very best, I can feel that I am walking on the cultivation path arranged by Master, and I feel truly happy.

Please treasure our predestined relationships with fellow practitioners. Let’s cooperate with one another, cultivate diligently together, fulfill our vows, and follow Master home.

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Category: Improving Oneself