(Clearwisdom.net) I began practicing cultivation in October 2007. I spent all my spare time on studying the Fa and studied a lot in a short time. After I read all the books, I started over again. The time that I have spent studying the Fa provided me with a solid foundation for validating the Fa. Studying the Fa has also helped me a lot in passing xinxing tests. I keep Master's teachings in mind, study the Fa as much as I can, and believe that this Fa is the foundation for everything. I also recite the Fa. As of today, I have recited Zhuan Falun in its entirety twice. In the process of reciting, I comprehended much more than when I was just reading it. It helped me to look inward and relinquish my attachments, and I experienced a wonderful feeling of immersing myself into the Fa.
Studying the Fa has increased the capacity of my heart and resolved my conflicts with other fellow practitioners. One practitioner, Xiao Fei (alias), had displayed strong jealousy and a competitive mentality. It affected both our Fa study and the salvation of sentient beings. Many other practitioners were dissatisfied with him. I looked at this problem and analyzed what was right or wrong from a human point of view. The more I thought about it, the angrier I became. How could he be like that? He did only what he thought was right and did not listen to others' advice. He interrupted others when they talked, appeared to consider himself superior to everyone else, and did not seem to think about the big picture at all. Some practitioners were afraid of him or even loathed him.
At first I thought that I should gently point it out to him, since we were both cultivators. I thought that if I pointed out his attachment, even if he was not happy about it, he would think about it and eventually get rid of it. To my surprise, however, he was greatly annoyed. He said that he had always been like that and there was no way he could change.
After a period of time, I discussed this problem with other practitioners, and we thought about it from the perspective of the Fa. We realized that we were all wrong. The existence of this conflict was for us to see Xiao Fei's problem and then reflect on our own, rather than solely focusing on his attachment. When we see other practitioners as a mirror and dig out our attachments deep inside, we can surely find something we need to work on.
Perhaps this was Master's intention--to use him so that we could see and remove our own problems. When all of us can focus on our xinxing cultivation and look inward, we can relinquish our attachments and use compassion to rectify the field around us. Then the other practitioner would be rectified naturally. That is precisely the issue--whether we can keep ourselves in the Fa or not.
Studying the Fa helps me to look inward. At first I did not know how to look inward and thus could not find my problems. Master emphasizes the importance of looking inward in Zhuan Falun and his latest lectures. I realized that if a cultivator does not take the initiative to look inward or even does not know how to look inward, then, fundamentally, he cannot be regarded as a real cultivator. That is because only when you look inward can you relinquish all kinds of attachments and truly upgrade your xinxing.
In the past, I always used Master's Fa to measure others' behavior and rarely looked at myself, as if I did not have those attachments. Through studying the Fa, I enlightened to the fact that, because I had those attachments myself, I was made to see those problems in fellow practitioners. Therefore, I now try to do things according to Master's requirements and unconditionally look inward. Regardless of whether something is right or wrong on the surface, I look inward, because there must be some attachments that I need to relinquish. After taking that approach, I was no longer confused by the appearance of things. No matter how badly I felt, I focused only on finding my own problems. When I actually did it, I noticed that I didn't really get hurt at all. My grievances disappeared, and the only thing in my mind was the attachment that I needed to relinquish. At that moment, my heart was very light and my body was relaxed. I realized that when Master saw my willingness to look inward, he reminded me of my attachments and then helped me remove them. Looking inward during cultivation is truly a marvelous thing.
Of course, we will experience a painful process when relinquishing these attachments at the beginning. However, without this process, we will never know the wonderful feeling of "After passing the shady willow trees, there will be bright flowers and another village ahead!" (Zhuan Falun) Whatever I encounter, I look inward to see whether it was because of my attachments or from something that I did wrong. One might consider this tiresome, but I don't agree, as it reminds me that I am a Dafa practitioner.
We set up a materials production site in my home in 2004. Because not many materials sites existed at that time, my family provided materials to a lot of people. Because I was busy making materials and treated that as cultivation at the time, I neglected to study the Fa. Though I still studied the Fa, I did not study it well and with a focused mind. I even thought about making materials during my study. Therefore, my xinxing was not upgraded, we were persecuted, and the materials site was destroyed. It meant a big loss in our validating the Fa. After seriously thinking it over, I realized that this occurred because I did not study the Fa well. This was a painful lesson. Doing things apart from Dafa is dangerous. I still feel bad when I think of that episode.
My family has suffered many tribulations during these years, one after the other. But because we put more effort into studying the Fa and cultivating our xinxing, we advanced together in Dafa. We overcame many extremely dangerous and difficult tribulations with Master's protection. I know clearly that, without Master to carry my burden, I would not have been able to persevere until today.
We had a small materials production site at our house, which provided nearby practitioners with flyers and other materials. My whole family practices Falun Gong. We worked together with other practitioners to offer more people salvation. Our responsibility is to distribute the flyers at local residential areas and hand out Shen Yun DVDs to people face to face.
We have continued to distribute flyers to local residential areas for a number of years almost everyday, no matter how bad the weather. Amazingly, whenever we decide to distribute the materials, the weather eases up.
I was initially scared to do this. My heart raced and my hands shook, but I knew deep down that I should not be scared, as fear was a form of thought karma generated from human notions. I studied the Fa to enhance my righteous thoughts and understood that offering people salvation was the right thing to do. It was the best of all sacred things to do, and no one could stop us. If I, as a Dafa practitioner, were fearful, the flyer would lose its power and its ability to redeem a life. After that I gradually eliminated fear when distributing flyers. I distribute materials to this day and have experienced the power of the Fa in many ways. My xinxing has improved along the way, also.
When speaking with strangers, I have a tendency to be shy and fearful. I try to get rid of those attachments when I speak with people one on one. I send righteous thoughts, smile before speaking, and treat everyone with great compassion. People appear to relax when they are warmly greeted, and the ensuing conversation goes more smoothly.
Empowered by righteous thoughts, this has become much easier for me, especially when giving people the Shen Yun DVDs. People accept the DVDs with much appreciation.
Just as I completed distributing materials one day, I met an older woman on the street. I spoke with her, telling her the facts, and urged her to remember "Falun Dafa is good" and "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good." She asked me to write it down for her. I went to a shop, borrowed a pen, and wrote down those two sentences for her. She held that note, read it several times, and thanked me. I became aware that people were longing to know the truth. I was full of joy when I saw how happy they were after learning the truth.
If we do things not in accordance with Dafa, the evil will take advantage of us, even when there is a tiny lapse. We encounter many different kinds of people, but as long as we study the Fa diligently and have righteous thoughts, we will have the wisdom to handle all situations.
Shopping at a market one day, another practitioner came up to me and explained the facts. She kept talking, and I had no chance to interrupt. Finally I told her that I, too, am a practitioner. This incident made me realize that Master had sent her to me to teach me a lesson. I looked inward and found myself doing the same thing when I spoke to people, saying too much too quickly. Instead, I should talk for a while and let the other person ask questions, to allow them to truly have an opportunity for salvation. Talking incessantly and preventing others from asking questions will have a bad impact. Master used someone else to point out my problem, and I was grateful. I feel that Master has been there all the time to remind us.
I frequently encounter people who refuse to accept the facts about Falun Gong. I do as Master taught us, offering them salvation with a calm mind and great compassion. If they reject what I say, I continue eliminating the bad elements behind them and help them get ready for a future opportunity.
Sending righteous thoughts is one of the three things that practitioners are to do. I recently better understood its importance. After learning a bitter lesson from the destruction of our materials site, I enhanced my sending righteous thoughts and felt that my surroundings were purified and that the bad elements were under control.
I sent righteous thoughts to eliminate bad factors in my surrounding area. When I could not concentrate while sending righteous thoughts, odd thoughts would emerge. Those were not mine and a product of the evil trying to take advantage of me. Giving in to their thoughts could generate many attachments, such as fear, human desires, craving for comfort, and others. I soon realized that if I refuse to recognize them, send righteous thoughts to eliminate them, and ask Master for help, the stubborn thought karma and acquired notions is gradually eliminated.
What I have talked about are my experiences. I still have many problems and attachments. I shall cultivate diligently, live up to Master's expectations, and complete my mission.
