(Clearwisdom.net) I have practiced Falun Gong since 1999. For years, I have experienced Master's enormous and powerful grace and the immense power of this universal law. I would like to share my cultivation experiences. Please correct me if there are flaws in my understanding.
Appreciating Master's Benevolence
I was deeply attracted to the book Zhuan Falun when I first read it in 1999. The book provoked deep thought. Many questions regarding human life became clear. I regreted not having read this book sooner. Master began disseminating Dafa in 1992. Why did I obtain it only now? I went to my first Falun Gong group practice. When I practiced Holding the Law Wheel, my old symptoms of transit ischemic attack (TIA - mini-stroke) that had accompanied me for half of my life emerged. I persisted and thought, "I am a Dafa practitioner. Master must adjust my body, and I must not think anything else." With that firm thought I persevered in the practice. I was covered in sweat and was cold following the exercise. If these symptoms had happened before I began Falun Gong practice, I would have been in bed for two days and stayed home for a week to fully recover.
The Chinese New Year was nearing, and there was lots of work to do before the holidays. I decided to believe in Master and Dafa and decided to continue working without a break after Falun Gong practice. That day, I did all my cleaning work in 12 six-story buildings and also helped my co-workers clean other sections. Since one of my co-workers had hypertension, I cleaned the higher sections, such as the windows. I skipped lunch and worked until 7:00 p.m. I was a little bit tired, but felt no ill effects, and all the symptoms of TIA were gone. That was the first time I witnessed Dafa's supernatural powers. At the same time I deeply appreciated Master's benevolence, from the bottom of my heart.
I started Falun Gong practice late compared to those who had started practice in 1992, and I felt that there was no time to waste to complete Master's cultivation path arranged for me. In the beginning stages of the practice I was unable to sit in the full lotus position, but I still felt that Master had opened up the great heavenly circuit for me. When I could not concentrate during Falun Gong practice, Master would point things out in my dreams. I have encountered several life-threatening events, but Master has headed off the danger. Master has repeatedly purified my body. After about six months practice, I was nearly healthy, without illness symptoms, and I had a strong desire: "I must cultivate Dafa diligently, and not cause Master worry."
Validating the Fa
As practitioners during the Fa-rectification period, validating the Fa is our responsibility. We have matured as we have continued cultivating and validating the Fa, and we have reached new cultivation levels.
After the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began persecuting Falun Gong on July 20, 1999, some practitioners said, "The persecution has begun and we should stop practicing." I replied, "There is nothing wrong with 'Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance,' and there is nothing wrong with Falun Gong practice!" My family and relatives saw the fabricated TV shows and the staged Tiananmen Square Self-Immolation and told me to give up Falun Gong. I told them, "Please remember what I have said. There is nothing wrong with Falun Gong practice! Some day in the future, people will gladly kneel and beg to have Falun Gong. When that time comes, you may not even qualify to practice Falun Gong."
One day in 2001, as I went shopping for office supplies for work, a crowd was gathered on a bridge and I hear someone joke, "Hurry up and see a Dafa practitioner who has jumped into the river!" I went over and told them, "Don't listen to the lies and fabricated news and do something stupid. Dafa practitioners are good people. You have to wait, and one day you will regret not practicing Falun Gong." My words surprised people, and they did not know what to say.
In 2004, one of our practitioners was illegally arrested. I posted flyers at her workplace on the evening of her arrest. I removed any posters with slanderous wording in my residential area to avoid future contamination, and I clarified the truth wherever I went.
Although I did a lot Fa-validation work, I was not very solidly anchored on the Fa principles. I regarded the old forces' persecution as persecution among people, and I had a strong desire for human confrontation. Eventually, after studying a series Master's new articles and lectures, I came to understand the real facts of the persecution. The old forces used evildoers to do evil things to Dafa. The old forces aimed to test practitioners, while in the meantime eliminating those lives they had singled out for elimination. That is why--except those few who had no hope of being saved--most human beings were waiting to know the real facts and be saved.
On one occasion I put flyers into two big pockets of my winter coat and prepared to place them at a parking lot near a supermarket. I waited for the hourly bus at the parking lot but I could not get on because of overcrowding. I decided to visit another practitioner's home before the next bus arrived. The practitioner took all my flyers. I was able to catch the next bus to the market, but with empty hands. I went shopping but I was upset. After I finished shopping I saw many undercover police out in the parking lot and some inside a car near the parking lot. I suddenly realized, "Master is protecting me." As long as we practitioners of the Fa rectification period have Dafa and saving beings in our minds and let go of our attachments to "self," the old forces will not do anything to us.
I continued clarifying the facts face-to-face, helping Master to move the Fa-rectification process along. With fewer evildoers in the universe, face-to-face truth clarification became easier. When I sent righteous thoughts I added thoughts of cleaning up barriers that block people who might have a chance of being saved from correctly understanding Dafa, quitting the CCP and its affiliated organizations, and entering cultivation. With those thoughts, no matter where I went, I felt that Master used all kinds of methods to connect me with people who had predestined relationships. I was able to use such opportunities to clarify the facts and ask people to withdraw from the CCP and its affiliated organizations.
Once I recognized a former coworker whom I had not seen for 30 years in a taxi after he went shopping for a new apartment. I talked to him in the taxi, and he agreed to withdraw from the CCP. Another time, when I was distributing flyers in a residential area, an old man, a person who does recycling work, smiled at me. I thought he might be a person with a predestined relationship. I approached him and told him the facts and asked him to withdraw from the CCP. He did! He then found a piece of clean cardboard and a pencil and asked me to write down, "Falun Dafa is good! Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance are good!" When I had done that, he carefully placed the cardboard under his clothing, near his heart. I was deeply moved. There are many similar examples.
I was progressing in face-to-face truth clarification as well as in my cultivation. These experiences helped me more clearly understand that we were predestined to save people. Master gave us full opportunities to offer more people salvation in our own universe and to build up mighty virtue. Master has done everything for us. No matter what or how much we have done, we should not be joyful about it but rather deeply appreciate what Master has done for us.
Walking Toward Divinity
Master said,
"What is human? Sentiments and desires fill the body.
What is immortal? Human mentalities do not exist."
("Distinction between Human and Enlightened Beings" in Hong Yin, Translation Version B)
Being a Dafa practitioner in the Fa-rectification period suggests that we should continuously cultivate ourselves and abandon human mentalities to the point where they no longer exist, and become selfless and consider others first, as Master tells us to do. Recalling my nine years of Fa cultivation, I have been relatively stable on my cultivation path. Nevertheless, I still have problems when cooperating with other practitioners, especially working as one body. I felt that my Fa-cultivation level was higher than others' and that I did better than others in Fa-validation. I could not tolerate other practitioners who did not cultivate diligently. I complained to the other practitioners or talked the person directly without compassion, which resulted in no progress.
With continued cultivation and looking inward, I realized that the results of my efforts to protect Dafa or help other practitioners reflected my deeper human attachments. I was self-centered and did not consider others first when doing things. For example, I became impatient regarding sending forth righteous thoughts to support other practitioners and about how to reach the same understanding of Fa. "Hey, if you all cultivate in Dafa like that, how can we end this persecution?" I then could not help but say, "Hey! I said what I could. Each person has his/her own path." I was looking outward and could not find a solution. I did not realize that nothing for cultivators is accidental. All the hardships are presented to help rid ourselves of attachments.
I should eliminate my attachments to self and zealotry. As soon as I realized those attachments I became aware that I needed to purge them quickly and get rid of things that are not the real me. In the meantime I will study the Fa well, look inward, and consider others first. We should use righteous thoughts to help others and to improve ourselves. We should abandon human attachments and never stop boldly and vigorously forging ahead in cultivation, assisting Master with Fa-rectification, walking toward divinity.
