(Clearwisdom.net) I have been through quite a few tribulations on my path of Falun Dafa cultivation and saving sentient beings. I made it here today because of Teacher's help and my belief in Dafa.
Clarify the Truth and Create a Good Environment to Practice
In 2003, I lived in Beijing for a year. I did not systematically clarify the truth to others and only talked about Dafa to a few people around me. After I went back to my home town, a practitioner gave me software to break through the Internet blockade. It was then I understood the scale of Fa rectification. I hope to return to Beijing to compensate for what I neglected to do.
One time while I clarified the truth in my hometown, the authorities arrested me and locked me in a detention center. I was released later with the help of fellow practitioners. Later, I had to do company business in Beijing again. I immediately realized what I must do there.
I hesitated to clarify the truth of Dafa to the leader of the company while we were doing business. I worried that if the leader did not agree with Dafa, then I would lose my opportunity to go to Beijing once he knew I was a practitioner.
Through Fa study, I knew I shouldn't worry and to hold strong righteous thoughts. It is Teacher's decision whether or not I go to Beijing to validate the Fa and save sentient beings, not mine. If I couldn't even clarify the truth to colleagues I work with, how could I save anyone else? Being afraid of clarifying the truth so that I could gain an opportunity to clarify the truth in Beijing makes no sense - I deviated from a fundamental principle of Dafa. It was also an attachment of fear, that was hidden very deep down. I feared that I would lose the opportunity to gain better access to money (I was poor after I got out of the detention center and the position in Beijing offered a good salary.)
After I rectified my thoughts, I tried to do my best at work and at the same time I looked for the opportunity to clarify the truth to the leader of the company. One day after dinner, the company leader asked me in front of a crowd of people if I was a practitioner. I took the opportunity and told everyone that Dafa is good and that I had been a practitioner for over 10 years. A colleague sitting next to me said that when he was at school, there were many teachers practicing Dafa. The leader seemed to have a positive impression of Dafa.
Later I officially joined the company and went to Beijing. I continued to clarify the truth of the persecution of Falun Gong to my colleagues and give them software that could break the Internet blockade so they could see more information online and understand more about Falun Dafa. After they gained a better understanding of Dafa, one of my colleagues wanted to practice, and I could finally send righteous thoughts in my office openly.
I made an electronic copy of "Zhuan Falun" for the leader I talked to at the dinner table, and she told me her ex-husband was a practitioner and they used to watch lectures from the "9-day lecture in Guangzhou" together. She said she would make sure she read it. One time the director of the company talked about how our company was gaining influence in the industry during a meeting, he said, "The company's development is due to Falun Gong, people are starting to look at us differently." Though the comparison wasn't exactly appropriate, I knew Dafa is gradually changing people's hearts.
I learned that as long as we listen to Teacher and clarify the truth with a compassionate and pure heart, the results will be good and we can create a better environment for the practice.
Balance Work and Practice
There was a period of time I wasn't efficient at work and often took work home. I wasted a lot of time at work and working overtime, and could not do very well the three things Teacher asks us to do.
My job is challenging and most people work overtime at it. However, being a practitioner, I should spend more time on the practice and saving sentient beings. I need to lay the foundation for sentient beings of the future. I should balance work and practice.
I knew I needed to look inward and I understood that every problem happened for a reason. I had an attachment that I needed to calm down and look for. Through Fa study and righteous thoughts, I realized the problems I had at work were to expose my attachments: I wanted to show off, was sentimental, didn't want to offend others, wanted to avoid difficulty, and valued personal gain and fame. I also held onto everyday people's concerns and browsed a lot of websites irrelevant to work, while not clarifying the truth at work.
I started to rectify my thoughts and act according to the Fa. I put more emphasis on Fa study. As I better balanced the relationship between work and practice, the wisdom Dafa gave me started to emerge. Quickly I improved my work efficiency and my achievements impressed leaders in the company. The leaders credited my rapid improvement to Falun Gong. My colleagues and supervisors thought even more highly of Dafa.
Teacher said in "Fa Teaching at the 2007 New York Fa Conference", "This goes back to the topic that I brought up earlier--that everything of mankind in the Three Realms has been created for Dafa, built up for Dafa, and has come for Dafa. One can cultivate while doing anything or while working in any profession. In other words, human society is one big practice site for the cultivation of my Dafa disciples, and you can cultivate no matter where you are."
Practitioners need to realize the missions we shoulder at all times. We need to utilize our work environments to practice and save more sentient beings and lay a foundation for the path of future beings.
Eliminating the Attachment of Working on My Own
Teacher said in "Fa Teaching at the U.S. Capital", "The focus for you right now is simply to find ways to do better, to be more efficient, to have a greater impact, and to save more people."
To be more efficient and have a greater impact, I used email to clarify the truth. By spreading more and more of the anti-Internet-blockade software, more and more people were able to receive my truth clarifying emails. I put in a lot of effort to selecting good pictures and put in individual greetings to the email recipients. I sent righteous thoughts. In time, I helped more practitioners to get past email filters and to deliver truth clarification information through email.
However, one of my greatest faults was I didn't communicate with other practitioners and share the techniques I discovered soon enough.
Through Fa study, I readjusted the content of the truth clarification materials and shared with other practitioners online the materials I made and the techniques I used.
Teacher said in "Fa Teaching at the 2007 New York Fa Conference", "At present, the most important thing is to save sentient beings, save more people! That is the most important thing."
I know by now that the better I do in the practice, the better I can save sentient beings. I will continue to follow the requirements of Teacher and Dafa to fulfill my prehistoric vows.
