(Minghui.org)
From the 2012 Korean Falun Dafa Cultivation Experience Sharing Conference
Greetings Venerable Master! Greetings fellow practitioners!
I received a call in June, 2006 from a monk with whom I used to practice Mahayana Buddhism. He told me about this wonderful cultivation way, and instructed me to purchase the book Zhuan Falun, then go to visit him. I went to see him after I purchased the book. He told me that from that moment onward, to study Zhuan Falun well and learn the exercises and that there was no need to continue practicing Mahayana Buddhism. We watched the Falun Gong exercise instruction video and learned the five sets of exercises. I trusted the monk very much; he was able to completely give up what he'd learned in the past, so I decided to do what he'd asked and tried my best to practice Falun Dafa cultivation.
I began reading Zhuan Falun diligently and doing the exercises. I even studied the Fa in my dreams. When I began reading Zhuan Falun, the next morning, my body felt very light. I was surprised and called the monk - he said it was a good thing. Later, I realized that Master had cleansed my body.
I had all sorts of illnesses in the past, including gastroenteritis, osteoporosis, a swollen vertebral disc; I couldn't even sit for over 30 minutes without experiencing back pain. My hands ached from arthritis. Due to my poor health, I began practicing different types of qigong but without results. I lived in agony and felt exhausted both mentally and physically. However, practicing Falun Gong was truly amazing. I was able to sit for over 3 hours during the first Fa study, and my back never ached. I thought that Falun Gong was a very good practice and quite amazing. I spent over six hours exercising and studying the Falun Dafa teachings daily. Over that period of time, my back pain completely disappeared, as well as the arthritis and all other illnesses.
When I first studied Zhuan Falun, the characters glowed with golden-yellow light, and I could see each character clearly. One day, I was standing at a roadside curb ready to cross; when the traffic light turned green, I couldn't move forward - as if someone was holding onto me from behind. I turned around but didn't see anyone. At that very moment, a car passed by at high speed. Later, I realized that Master had protected me.
Another time, my house caught fire, burning everything in my room except the clothes with Dafa characters on them. I realized that everything related to Dafa was very precious and protected by an unseen force.
I found the group exercise site one month later; I didn't know how to cultivate by myself, just the exercises and studying the Falun Dafa teachings. I truly integrated into the group cultivation, exercise and Fa study environment after attending the nine-day lecture series. After the experience sharing, I learned that Master required us to do the three things well, that is, study the Fa, send righteous thoughts and clarify the truth. I was able to do the three things with fellow practitioners, and truly felt happy.
After becoming involved in the group cultivation, I was able to put my cultivation first and foremost, diligently clarify the truth, send righteous thoughts and do the exercises.
I was in tears every time I did the exercises at home, but fellow practitioners told me that everything happening in cultivation was a good thing. The situation lasted for some time. One day, my tears wouldn't stop no matter what I did. During that time, the physical and mental abuse from my husband and the hurt from my son all surfaced in my mind. During those tearful moments, I felt sorry for them from deep down in my heart.
For the longest time, I complained, disliked my husband and did not do well as a wife. I was also disappointed with my son. I realized that those were all my attachments that I needed to eliminate. Even though I used to complain and disliked them, I felt sorry for not treating my family well in the past. From that point on, my husband and son completely changed their attitude towards me. Facing Master's mighty grace, I was in tears, since I'd benefited so greatly.
I was always worried that I'd started practicing Falun Gong late compared to fellow practitioners. I always wanted to catch up with them in areas of studying the Fa, sending righteous thoughts and clarifying the truth. This was a strong attachment. My mother-in-law lived with her other son. One day, my brother-in-law dropped her off without saying anything - she had just been discharged from a hospital. We have only two rooms in our home, so my mother-in-law had to move in with my son. That was not the most important issue, and I felt that I was far behind compared to fellow practitioners. Now that I also needed to take care of my sick mother-in-law, I couldn't help but blame my selfish brother-in-law.
As a cultivator, it is an unalterable principle that one must take care of elderly parents, and I realized that my heart wasn't in the right place. I let go of my attachment and began taking good care of her. I became even busier while taking care of a sick mother-in-law, going to work, doing group exercises, studying Fa and clarifying the truth. Maybe I let go of the attachment, since I didn't feel tired or bitter. My mother-in-law passed away shortly after she came to live with us.
I had new understanding through this; Master said:
“One must repay one’s own karma, and no one dares to violate this principle.” (from Zhuan Falun)
My mother-in-law might have a grudge and come to collect the debt, but I was still grateful to her. I believed that she would have a good future since she passed away with the thought: “Falun Dafa is good.”
Following another practitioner's recommendation, I joined the Divine Land Marching Band after one year of cultivation practice. I had always wanted to do something for Dafa since I began. The musical instrument assigned to me was the alto saxophone. I'd never played a musical instrument, and this was the first time I'd even heard of an alto saxophone. I had no sense of rhythm nor could I read the music notation. After I took the instrument, I asked myself: “Can I really do it?” My attachment to fear suddenly surfaced.
At that time, I had new understanding of the Fa. Master said:
“Cultivation depends on one’s own efforts, while the transformation of gong is done by one’s master. It is good enough if you have this wish. It is the Master who actually does this, as you are simply unable to do it.” (from Zhuan Falun)
Master was carrying out the task, not me; I needed only to have the wish to do well. With determination to do well, I could use the alto saxophone to save sentient beings. After I let go of my fear, I wanted to practice and learn.
Without a basic knowledge of music, it was not easy to read the music notation, harmonize the chords and manipulate the instrument. After several days of a crash course, I began to practice, but playing the instrument while reading the music notation was difficult - it might not be something I could do successfully. I almost gave up a number of times, but each time, practitioners encouraged me and told me that they were this way at the beginning as well. That really raised my confidence, and I practiced repeatedly and finally began to play a little better. Even though I still needed to improve, I was very excited when I was able to play the songs composed by Dafa practitioners. Something that began with uncertainty had become a reality.
I felt that I still had a long way to go. During the process of repeated practice, I noticed that my thumb was much shorter compared to others'; my thumb swelled during every practice and ached severely. There was not much time left before the Dafa activities began, so I couldn't stop practicing. The pain lasted over one month.
I thought about giving up, but if I were to give up whenever I ran into difficulties, then I might not be able to succeed in cultivation. I continued practicing without interruption. The pain disappeared after one month, and magically, my thumbs are now the same length as fellow practitioners. I told others about the miracle; thank you Master for your boundless grace, the Fa lit a beacon during my difficult times.
After practicing for some time, we were required to go to Seoul, Korea to rehearse. Even though it was far away, going with practitioners, studying and verifying the Fa together would be so much fun. Each time I thank Master deeply: “Thank you Master, thank you for granting me so much joy and happiness.”
When I was able to play wonderful music, my confidence greatly increased and I began attending activities in Hong Kong, Taiwan and other countries. Even though I'd invested much of my time and money, I didn't feel tired at all. I felt improvement in various areas of xinxing each time.
In order to form a group with local practitioners, I attended all the group exercises, Fa study and truth clarification activities. In order to explain the facts about Falun Dafa to mainland Chinese, I went to the local Quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Service Center and local airport to give truth clarification materials to them. I anxiously hope that each one of them can be saved. I carry Falun Gong brochures with me at all times, and I clarify the truth to everyone I meet and give them the materials. Sentient beings always expressed their deep gratitude towards me.
When Shen Yun Performing Arts first came, I felt pretty bad inside; what could I do to help? I am not very good at communicating, I don't have any marketing experience and don't know how to operate a computer. I looked for things that I could do. I went everywhere posting Shen Yun posters. I wanted to help those people who didn't know about Shen Yun to purchase tickets to see the show. Last year I went to Taegu, South Korea to help promote Shen Yun. I kept asking myself if I could do well. I felt fulfilled working with practitioners as a group.
While in Taegu, I thought that we should sell more tickets. Since the local practitioners had many attachments, the ticket sales were not ideal. After we shared several times, we decided to let go of the attachments and focused on ticket sales. After a while, I heard that the ticket sales increased, and understood that it had everything to do with our hearts. No matter where we were, as long as we were able to carry out the task with pure hearts, we would be able to save sentient beings.
While I was running back and forth between home and Taegu, my son developed a sore on his neck which required surgery. I felt that this was interference, since it occurred during the time for promoting Shen Yun and saving sentient beings. I started sending righteous thoughts and told my son that he would get better if he watched the show, and that we should wait until the show finished. He didn't lose his temper and agreed. When Shen Yun came to Taegu, my son attended the show with his friends. He decided to do the surgery one week after the show.
I suggested that he go for a checkup at a local clinic, then if he needed to, he could go to the hospital. He went to a clinic; a physician told him that he no longer needed surgery, and that the sore would soon heal. My son smiled and said: “My mother was right.” Even though he is not yet a practitioner, he cooperated with me to save sentient beings, so it was his blessing.
Cultivate well and let go of attachments. Over the years, there were enormous changes in our family. We used to live in a small and messy place, but we moved to a large, clean and neat home. Before, life was chaotic, but now we live in harmony. I have benefited greatly from cultivation, from Master's protection.
I felt that I was not as diligent as when I first started practicing Dafa, and felt pretty bad. When I wrote this experience sharing article, I promised Master that I would never forget how I felt when I first started Falun Dafa cultivation practice. I will continue to cultivate diligently and not let Master down.
Thank you Master, thank you fellow practitioners.
