(Minghui.org) I was fortunate enough to begin practicing Falun Dafa when I was seven years old. Throughout my nine years of cultivation, Teacher has been taking care of this off-again-and-on-again, lazy-stumbling-but-staying-with-Dafa practitioner. I am writing this sharing here to tell fellow practitioners about my cultivation practice since my junior high school years.
First: Finding my attachment through continuous school exams.
Ever since obtaining the Fa in my second year of elementary school, up to the present, I could not really grasp the idea of “cultivation practice.” Instead, I just practiced one set of Falun Gong exercises and read one chapter of Zhuan Falun, according to my mom's arrangement, just like completing my chores. I didn't even recognize the importance of Fa study until I was in my second year of junior high.
In the first year of junior high school, my test results were always good and I was always among the top few in our class. But I wanted to do better and so I felt that I needed more time to study to achieve good test record in my class. This caused me to neglect Fa study.
But instead of doing better, I dropped out of the top ten of our class in the final semester exams. I still remember it, because upon learning of my results, my mom from then on asked me to memorize and recite, each and every day, two pages of Teacher's Fa. In my mind I complained about her demand. I thought to myself “You do not do this yourself, but you ask me to do it so much every day.” However, gradually I found it was not as difficult as I imagined, and soon it was not a task anymore.
During this period of time, there was one day that I was unable to recite a paragraph of Fa no matter how hard I tried. My mom came to help me. When I came to understand its meaning I was finally able to recite it. What Teacher said was:
“if you can see the plane of each level instead of a point, and see the plane of molecules, the plane of atoms, the plane of protons, and that of nuclei, you will see the forms of existence in different dimensions.” (The Issue of the Celestial Eye, Lecture Two, Zhuan Falun)
Since that day I gradually increased the speed of memorizing and reciting Zhuan Falun, but I was also able to judge things from the Fa. After going along in the third year of junior high for a period of time, my classmates all said to me that I had become a different person. I also felt that my view of life turned out to be quite different.
When the mid-term school exams were on their way, I was again extremely stressed, wondering what I would do if I could not get into a key high school. At the time of intense study for school exams, I wanted to first study the Fa and do the exercises. While studying Fa, I came to comprehend that Teacher arranges everything, and that we must believe in Teacher and the Fa and do well the three things. In the later three simulated exams, my mind gradually quieted down and the test scores got better. I did not show any proud attitude when the class teacher praised me. Instead, I thought of what Teacher said,
“For a cultivator, all the frustrations he comes across among everyday people are trials, and all the compliments he receives are tests. (Essentials For Further Advancement, “A Cultivator is Naturally Part of It”)
From then on, I did not make any careless mistakes in school exams and my mind became less impetuous than before.
On the third day of mid-term exams, my mind was extremely calm and I was not nervous at all. I knew it was the supernormal power of Dafa. When the test result came out, I had been admitted to a key high school.
When mid-term exams ended, I did not study the Fa as diligently, always thinking about going out to play with schoolmates, because it wasn't easy to get together with them after graduation. All these thoughts coming up was due to the attachments of taking it easy, loving comfort, and lack of Fa-study.
When the first monthly exam results came out in high school, it was a big blow to me. All of a sudden, I realized that this monthly exam result was a xinxing test, Teacher's hint to me, that caused me to energetically restart studying Fa, and reciting Hong Yin III. So gradually I returned to my former condition.
Through personal experience, I realized that we cannot slack off in our cultivation practice, let alone lose ourselves for the sake of enjoying comfort.
Improving ourselves while interacting with everyday people
A good friend of mine suddenly broke off her friendship with me last week for an unknown reason. I didn't feel that I'd done anything wrong and was quite surprised. Through studying the Fa, I found that I had an attachment of hatred in my mind, whereas that schoolmate said I was a person of “indifferent manner” or “taking whatever comes.” Later, I suddenly thought of what Teacher wrote in Hong Yin III,
"He's right,
And I'm wrong,
What's to dispute?”
(Who's Right, Who's Wrong, Hong Yin III)
Gradually after getting rid of my attachment and looking inward for problems, that classmate who broke away came to chat with me again. I also understood from articles in Minghui Weekly that the more human attachments one has, the harder it is to get rid of them. When one has eliminated all attachments, he or she may be able to assist Teacher's Fa-rectification and walk the path of gods.
Thank you, Benevolent Teacher for your Great Fa and kind protection, enabling me to grow up in good health.
Thank you, fellow practitioners for your good articles, and, Please kindly correct my errors in my understanding.
