(Clearwisdom.net) I would like to share my experience of solid cultivation over the past year. I hope fellow practitioners can use it as a reference so we can all improve together.
I first came to know Falun Dafa in 2004. For three years, I only read Zhuan Falun. I did not know how to practice the exercises. From the very beginning, Teacher removed for me the animal possession and illnesses that I had suffered from for ten years. However, in these three years I only had a "perceptual understanding" of gratefulness to Teacher and Dafa and did not solidly practice. I was suddenly awakened to this problem, when in 2007, I was lucky enough to meet other practitioners. For the first time, I read Teacher's new articles as well as experiences and understandings written by other practitioners.
Here I would like to talk about my year-long journey from a perceptual to a rational understanding of Dafa.
I work in the hair styling and retail profession so I have many opportunities to clarify the truth about Dafa to people. During this time, I began to memorize the Fa to strengthen my righteous thoughts. I started with Hong Yin and Essentials for Further Advancement and then moved on to Zhuan Falun. I use almost all of my spare time to memorize the Fa. When customers come in, I send forth righteous thoughts, explain the truth about the practice to them, and ask them to quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated organizations. I speak according to each person's personality, hobbies, and attachments and think from their perspective to loosen the knots in their minds. This is the key that allows them to accept the truth. Many people are glad to quit the CCP.
December of last year was the busiest month in my hair salon, but I did not give up a single customer. I did not think about how to persuade customers to buy beauty products, but instead used all my heart and devoted all my thoughts to saving people. I was too busy to practice the exercises, but my gong still unexpectedly increased that month. I recall that when I did have time to practice, it felt like my body was being sucked up by a formidable energy. It was like I had to force my body to stay on the ground. I was able to clearly feel the automatic mechanisms Teacher planted for us outside the body. Since then I have truly been experiencing the supernatural and mysterious state of "the Fa cultivates practitioners."
I belong to the gradual enlightenment group of practitioners. By following the Fa-rectification progress and through continuous solid practice, my improvement on every level has been clearly shown. I also know the past life relationships I've had with my parents, elder brother, husband and son, and fellow practitioners close to me. I understood the root of karma which caused my attachment of sentiment (qing). Actually, what is reflected on us in this life and any attachments we have are related to the sins we accumulated in our past lives.
Here I would like to say that only by studying the Fa regularly, with faith in Teacher and Dafa, and with no pursuit are you able to strengthen your righteous thoughts. This is the key to whether you can do the three things well. In addition to studying the Fa well, we need to truly comply with Dafa's requirements in our daily lives and use Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance to evaluate our every thought, word, and deed at all times. Whenever we clarify the truth, help people quit the CCP, or interact with neighbors and practitioners, we must comply with Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. The Fa will let us improve when we can abandon our postnatal notions. Don't always focus on the results. We must validate the cosmic Fa principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance in everything we do.
I feel that every Falun Dafa practitioner should memorize Teacher's "Cautionary Advice" in Essentials for Further Advancement. If you can't move past a perceptual understanding of Dafa, you will only be deceived by the principle of mutual-generation and mutal-inhibition. One human thought can mean the difference between good and evil. If you study Dafa with pursuit, you will forever be limited to seeing principles on a human level, not the true manifestation of the Buddha Fa at different levels.
In conclusion I want to summarize my experience: Practice non-pursuit among purposeful actions; a person's choice to quit the CCP is the decision between good and evil; abandon attachments by doing the three things well; and look inwards to complete cultivation.
