Greetings, Master Li!
Greetings, fellow practitioners!
My name is Hellmut Lumpi. I'm a law school student from Austria. I have been practicing Falun Gong for two and half years now. It is a great honour for me to contribute my experience sharing article during this Fa-rectification period. When the evil sees that the Fa (Law and principles) is verified through an article in the human world it shudders with fear.
Falun Gong has changed my life
I had been suffering from depression at home for more than two years. I couldn't tell why I was always in such a bad mood. It was probably because somebody had hurt my feelings or some other unimportant stuff like that. One day my mother saw me sitting down looking miserable, so she gave me some sheets of paper and said: "Read this, you might feel better afterwards." I thought that this was going to be another "new age advice" book. I thought, "No, I won't read it." Then I thought again, "Why shouldn't I read it? After all it couldn't harm me to take a short glimpse." It was entitled Falun Dafa (Lecture in Sydney) written by a Chinese man named Li Hongzhi. One hour later, I found myself shouting: "Mom! Do you have this 'Zhuan Falun' book that Mr. Li Hongzhi is referring to all the time? I really want to read it!" My mom handed a nice blue book to me of which I immediately started to read. During the next three days, whilst I was finishing the book, I felt like I was on an emotional roller coaster. I asked myself "Can this all be true? Yes, I kind of believe every word! How remarkable!" Then I started to feel frightened, but I still continued to read. On the second day when I was lying on my bed, all of a sudden, there came an extremely loud sound around me. It became louder and louder until it came into my ears. Then it just became completely silent again. Something must have entered into me. Next, I was driving for three hours on my way from Salzburg to Vienna to learn the Falun Gong exercises. In Vienna, I made many new friends and my life was dramatically changing day by day. I used to have a lot of bad habits, such as drinking, smoking, taking drugs, being interested in girls, having to be a "cool guy" all the time, etc. Everybody knows how hard life is. But it is even harder to ascend out of the human mentality. I want to point out that it has always helped me a lot to be with other practitioners. This is definitely the most precious environment in the world. Whenever there is time (holidays, etc.), many practitioners get together to watch Teacher's lectures, read the books, have discussions and share experiences.
Step out of personal cultivation, truly join in Fa-rectification cultivation
In July 1999, the news that China banned Falun Gong shocked me. For the first time in my life, I had found something that teaches people how to truly become a better person. Why did they outlaw it and even issue an arrest warrant to this selfless man who wrote down this pure teaching? The next fact is even more confusing. It is that some Falun Gong practitioners are being tortured to death in China. My understanding was that nothing bad could happen to practitioners and they would be protected. I had trouble comprehending all that was going on, and couldn't see clearly the relationship between what was occurring in China and our cultivation. However, I just continued my cultivation and left these questions alone. As time went on, I became more and more clear on the Fa (Law and principles) and verified what I had realised before, that Falun Gong was a very good thing. I felt that I had the duty to inform people in the free world that what the Chinese government claims against Falun Gong is false. So I began to attend the truth clarification activities. I went to the Falun Gong Info-Day on which I changed from just being present to actively talking to people. Later on, I thought that it wasn't sufficient to just always travel around and only go to other places. I thought that we should organize a Falun Gong Info-Day in my hometown as well.
When I went to Geneva this past March, I met many practitioners from all over the world. I was lucky to make friends with some American practitioners. My view that young Americans do nothing but read comics, watch MTV and play computer games was changed all at once. After that event I went back home and thought that everything would be back the way it always was. Then, I was told that it was extremely important that as many practitioners as possible should gather in Geneva in the next couple of days. Does this also refer to me? I was struggling. No, I don't have time. I have to go to university! Well, maybe I could reorganize my time and go to Geneva. I asked myself "Am I a Falun Gong practitioner or not?" My life has changed so greatly and I have benefited so much from Falun Gong. I thought that I should take part in the truth clarification activities and that I should help stop the persecution against Falun Gong as much as I could. When I arrived in Geneva, I was already overwhelmed with work. In the following days I ran with blisters on my feet from address to address to verify the Fa (Law and principles) to as many people as possible. I thought that we did very well, but somehow I felt that I just passively followed the instructions and accomplished tasks that other people gave to me.
At the Sweden conference, I was deeply shocked when I heard Master say: "Meanwhile, I hope that the students in Europe can be more like the students in North America." ("To All Students at the Nordic Fa Conference"). What was that supposed to mean? What's wrong with us? This article was like a wake-up call to me. I realized many of my attachments. One of them is the attachment of pride that is still living snugly inside me. Pride is the strong reflection of ego and in my view it is the biggest obstacle for my cultivation. Master says in the article "Non-Ommission of Buddha Nature" that "I also want to tell you that your nature in the past was actually based on egotism and selfishness. From now on, whatever you do, you should consider others first, so as to attain the righteous Enlightenment of selflessness and altruism." I'm determined to rid myself of this attachment!
Back home I realized more and more things from Teacher's articles. Teacher tells us to "actively verify the Fa." Therefore, I go to the park to practice the exercises more often, I go downtown to collect signatures more often, and translate more of practitioners' articles into German. One day, in a class about the law of the nations, the professor mentioned a bad word about Falun Gong. I thought that this was a very severe issue. The professor said this in front of all of the students whilst I was there. I felt that if I were to not say anything now then I would never forgive myself. If I left all the people there confused, it definitely would not be good for them. But it would be extremely embarrassing if I were to stand up and say something. This was a big tribulation for me to pass. But anyway, I asked myself, "Where is my benevolence to these people? I have devoted my life to Falun Gong and I have gained continuously from it, shouldn't I step forward to reveal the truth in every situation? Absolutely." Therefore, I raised my hand. With the professor's permission, whilst my heart was jumping. I stuttered to explain the truth in front of the whole class. Even though I didn't do very well, I was happy to have this chance to step forward to clarify the truth and also to see my own attachments. I feel we are truly blessed to be able to connect our cultivation with Fa-rectification. It is Teacher's great compassion for giving us this chance.
Since the practitioners are doing very well in North America and Teacher said: "I hope that the students in Europe can be more like the students in North America," then I decided to attend the Washington DC conference to see how I could improve in Fa-rectification. During the conference, I was very fortunate and by chance had to sit in the front row since my previous seat was taken after the lunch break. While I was trying to stay awake, Teacher appeared right in front of me. This was the most beautiful moment in my life. After two and a half years of practicing Falun Gong, I was finally able to see Teacher in person. In DC, I had a chance to meet some very good practitioners. In those few days, I learned a lot from them. My understanding of cultivation within Fa-rectification was changing on a daily basis. In the past, although I participated in many Fa-rectification events and I thought that I was cultivating within Fa-rectification, I just did what others told me to do, but lacked any of my own understanding on the Fa-rectification. I realized that just doing Fa-rectification work does not mean to be truly cultivating within Fa-rectification. Our understanding on Fa-rectification is extremely important. Before, my understanding was still in the stage of personal cultivation. When I attended Falun Gong activities, I was thinking that they were good for my cultivation. However, after the DC conference, I had a new understanding of Fa-rectification. Now, I have realised that taking part in Fa-rectification is my duty. With my deeper understanding, I was suddenly full of ideas of how I can take part in Fa-rectification and what needed to be done. I went to the Austrian Embassy in DC to clarify the truth about Falun Gong and to reveal Jiang Zemin regime's evil persecution of Falun Gong. I felt the urgency to go back to Europe immediately to start to arrange Fa-rectification activities and break through the old evil forces' arrangements, although I originally intended to stay a little longer in DC.
When I returned home, I worked much harder to clarify the truth to various people. I talked to many VIPs and media people and I received a very positive response. I had an idea that it would be a good thing if every European practitioner sent forth righteous thoughts every day at the same time. Shortly after, I found out that many other practitioners in Europe had the exact same idea. Spiritually, Falun Gong connects us together as one. This is really beautiful. Europe is waking up and the old evil forces' arrangements are being broken down. The magnificent future will be here soon with practitioners' united effort.
I hope that we will all do our best to assist Teacher to do Fa-rectification in the human world and that the evil persecution in China will soon come to an end!
May we always stay within Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance!
Thank you.