(Clearwisdom.net)

Greetings, venerable Master!

Greetings, fellow practitioners!

I am an Irish Dafa practitioner. Initially, I did not know what to write about in this experience sharing article, because I had always thought that I did not cultivate very well and wasn’t doing well in my tribulations. I felt that I was not worthy of Master’s merciful salvation. Then one day, after reading a practitioner's experience sharing article, which said that writing an article is also a chance to report our cultivation progress to Master, I made up my mind to write my article.

I have been here in Ireland for about a year. It might be because I was not very diligent in Mainland China that Master has provided this overseas cultivation environment for me, which is relatively easier than in China. But here I have to cooperate with other practitioners when doing Fa rectification activities together, during which I have discovered many attachments that I did not realize I had. I would like to share how I enlightened to and eventually eliminated some of them.

Overcoming Fear

In China I always distributed "truth clarification" materials when there was nobody around. When I came here, I attended an activity to support withdrawaling from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). This was the first time I had attended such an activity and there were not too many other practitioners attending. One of the practitioners took out a white T-shirt with "Tuidang" (Quit the CCP) on it. It was the only "Tuidang" T-shirt there and the practitioner then asked: "Who wants to put it on?" I thought that I did not want to wear it as it was so eye-catching, and everyone would see it. Another practitioner pointed to me and said that I was wearing a red shirt and it would be nice with the white T-shirt. I put it on reluctantly, with the thought that everyone passing by would look at me. When this fear emerged, I thought about what would happen in the future if someone from the Chinese embassy or a spy saw me. This type of thought also appeared in my mind during later activities from time to time. I did not even dare to go and talk with Chinese people. Gradually, I realized this fear and asked myself: "Why did you come here? Isn't it to validate the Fa? Do you not want to do the three things, or do you want to stay at home because of fear?"

"If you have fear,

it will seize upon you

Should thoughts be righteous,

evil will collapse." ("What’s to Fear?" Hong Yin II)

"Fear is a death trap on a human being's journey toward divinity"("Pass the Deadly Test")

After realizing this, I rectified myself by studying the Fa, and the fear has been eliminated little by little.

Realizing the Attachment of Complaining

During Fa rectification, good cooperation and coordination are needed. However, at the beginning, I always felt sorry when I saw there were only a few practitioners attending street activities. I remember that one time only three practitioners were on the street to clarify the facts to people. At the time, the police officers also asked us to temporarily change our location, and the electric generator did not work, and we needed to move the heavy TV to the new location while passing out newspapers. I didn’t have strong righteous thoughts and was very much affected. I felt very disappointed and cried. It was the first time I had wept during cultivation.

At that time, although I realized it was qing, I could not control myself. Later, by studying the Fa, I asked myself: "You wouldn’t be able to do the three things if you were here alone, would you? Moreover, some fellow practitioners do things together. It is not fruitless even if only one person takes the paper, as long as you make the effort, as Master will let those people who want to assimilate to the Fa come and learn the truth." This showed me my attachment of complaining during street activities.

Later, with the improvement of fellow practitioners, many of them attended the activities on their own accord. However, I have found that I still complain from time to time. I complain that our whole cultivation situation is not good, that a certain practitioner is not very diligent, etc. I realized from this that I have an attachment to showing off. One practitioner kindly reminded me that sometimes each practitioner will have a period of not being diligent enough, and that we should be happy when we see a little bit of improvement from them. Our Master said:

"Yes, you are cultivating in [this realm of] illusion, so sometimes you manifest a state wherein you slack off, sometimes you are interfered with, and sometimes you seem very much like ordinary people. Of course, these, too, are manifestations of the states that you go through during the process of cultivation. If it weren't that way, it would not be cultivation, and it wouldn't be human beings cultivating--it would be gods doing so. …Passing some tests well and some poorly is normal, and just because a student does something wrong because of a momentary lapse, or a student isn't diligent during a certain time or can't make it through during a period of time, or has even made mistakes, you can't say that this student is no longer cultivating or is no longer good enough." ("Teaching the Fa in the City of Los Angeles")

Yes, Master has told us clearly that cultivation is about looking inside and has also asked us why we always look at other people. Teacher also mentioned in Zhuan Falun,

"If everyone searched inside himself, and if everyone thought about how to act better, I’d say society would stabilize and people’s moral standards would rise." (The Fourth Talk)

Searching inside unconditionally is what our Master wants us to do. Since we are Master’s Dafa disciples, why do we not follow what Master has said. We do not need to complain when fellow practitioners do not do very well.

Master especially mentioned this in "Teaching the Fa at the Fa Conference at the U.S. Capital,"

"Think about it, then: wouldn't it look as if this person is always cultivating--and doing so fruitlessly--and not making any marked improvements? Why is it that he can't display his divine side?"

Master also said:

"So during your cultivation process, as long as the side of you that has been fully cultivated goes over and is partitioned off, everything that you haven't fully cultivated will still manifest. Human attachments will still show themselves, just as will bad elements."

Only Master knows at which level our fellow practitioners are, and we should not judge or evaluate our fellow practitioners according to our own understandings. Everyone may have a period where they slack off during cultivation. I was also not very diligent before so why can I not understand other fellow practitioners with benevolence? The only thing I can do is to follow what Master has said—to search inside unconditionally. Only by doing so can we become a "Dafa disciple"—the supreme title in the whole universe.

Actively Participate in Fa-rectification Activities

At the beginning I passively attended the activities. Sometimes fellow practitioners would say that they needed help, and so I would help, but I never did anything on my own to share the pressure. With participation in Fa rectification activities, I gradually enlightened that I should take on some work. Master also said that Dafa disciples should walk their own paths. So I took responsibility to help organize street activities with another fellow practitioner and also began to work with our media. It might seem very simple to organize street activities, but every time we needed to make a lot of phone calls to encourage more practitioners to take part, so that we would have a good effect. Still, I sometimes felt frustrated when there were only a few practitioners participating.

On one occasion, I didn't attend the street activity because I was preparing materials for the car tour. On that occasion, only three practitioners went out on the street. One younger practitioner did not speak good English and was continually busy with petition letters during the activity. At the time, I thought that it might not have had a good effect. However, several days later a practitioner who teaches the exercises at the class at Trinity, phoned to say that someone new had come to the class because of the street activities. The person wanted to learn more about the persecution and the practice. I was surprised by what this practitioner said. I understood that it was our Master encouraging me. Later, through talking with other practitioners, I enlightened that we should not regard distributing even one flyer as useless, because the effect is different in other dimensions. People who have strong karmic relationships will make use of this chance to assimilate to the Fa.

Measuring Myself with the Fa and Treating Conflicts with Righteous Thoughts

I always think that I do things easily and don't have too many tribulations. Sometimes I smile and think that maybe I hadn’t incurred lot of karma before and it is unnecessary to face bigger tests. However, one thing happened recently that helped me enlighten that cultivation is serious and that the old forces will make use of any loophole we have not gotten rid of. This thought is such a strong attachment that the old forces can find it and then interfere.

Because I came here from Mainland China, I wanted to do more things in Fa rectification in this relatively easy environment. Recently a practitioner told me that someone was suspicious of me and thought that I was a spy. This really affected me a lot at the beginning and I felt very angry and resentful. I thought, "I have done so much. Why was I being thought of as a spy? If I stayed at home to do the three things, then there would be no suspicion or conflict." However, after calming down, I understood that I would be just walking down the path arranged by the old forces if I let myself get angry and resentful or stayed at home. The old forces try to create conflicts between us and hope that we won’t cooperate well, so as to negatively influence the Fa rectification. Wouldn't I be walking the path arranged by the old forces if I stayed at home?

After enlightening to this, I studied the Fa and sent forth righteous thoughts, but it still felt difficult to break through. Master said:

"Accomplishing is cultivating."

("Solid cultivation" in Hong Yin)

It is not enough to just understand. When conflicts appear, do I truly search inside and behave righteously? Nothing is accidental, so shouldn't I get rid of those attachments to showing off, being too engrossed, and to doing things? Do I put all my energy into Fa rectification and do I put Dafa first at all times? Do I treat fellow practitioners compassionately? The answer is definitely "No!" Now that I have not done well, why can’t I resolve the conflicts and improve myself using these tribulations?

Master said:

"The conflicts and tensions that Dafa disciples encounter are solely for the sake of cultivation and the sake of validating the Fa. Even though human attachments, the attachment of showing off, the attachments of the individual, and the elements of human beings that want to validate themselves are involved, [Dafa disciples] know about these and once they are discovered, they will fix them. That is completely different from ordinary people. So there will be problems between Dafa disciples, and, moreover, such things play an additional role. Namely, once the conflict or tension surfaces, it will affect other people. Once others take notice of it, the conflict or tension will intensify, which will then make the cultivators involved take notice of it. If [a cultivator] can look within when going through that, he will be able to find his shortcomings. If the conflict or tension were not brought to the surface or didn't appear, you wouldn't be able to discover your attachments and identify them. When all is calm and smooth, can you cultivate yourself?" ("Teaching the Fa at the Fa Conference at the U.S. Capital")

"Whatever you experience during your cultivation--whether good or bad--is good, for it comes about only because you are cultivating. A cultivator cannot achieve Consummation when laden with human thoughts, laden with karmic debts, or laden with attachments." ("To the Chicago Fa Conference.")

"But that doesn't mean that as you improve a smooth path is in store for you. Say you went up to the heavens with a lot of karma and were hauling along a huge load of baggage (audience laughs), how could that be permitted? I have to set up certain tests for you and have you let go of those attachments of yours, have you get rid of all that baggage. As you go through one test after another, you are to continually shed your attachments and human thinking, and you won't be able to carry those things into the various tests [and still pass them]." ("Teaching the Fa in Canada, 2006")

Before when I read Master’s lectures I always thought they were referring to someone else. Since these things have occurred to me, however, I have felt each and every word. Every sentence in Master’s lectures relate to me. Rectifying myself after discovering a shortcoming is one of our Master's requirements, and it is a requirement of the Fa. By doing this, we then become cultivators and Dafa disciples who walk towards divinity. I have found that when I do this, I can break through this tribulation. The only thing then left on my mind is how to cooperate well to finish the task together with others.

Finally, I want to finish my article with Master’s words in the hope that we can all study the Fa more, study the Fa well, and walk our own final cultivation path well:

"The Fa can break all attachments, the Fa can destroy all evil, the Fa can shatter all lies, and the Fa can strengthen righteous thoughts."

("Drive Out Interference," Essentials for Further Advancement II)

Thank you, Master. Thank you, fellow practitioners.