(Minghui.org) I am a new practitioner who started practicing Falun Dafa in 2011. I’d like to share with you some experiences from my two years of cultivation.
Missed Several Opportunities for Cultivation in Falun Dafa
I used to practice Taiji and dancing for a good health. I heard of Falun Gong in 1999 and knew it had amazing health benefits. One day I learned that many people practiced Falun Gong at the Workers’ Cultural Club in my local town. I went there with several friends but we were too late and nobody was there. The next day I had something else to do and didn’t go.
Several days later we were notified that Falun Gong was not allowed. But I was a bit confused because I had heard that Falun Gong was very beneficial to health so how come it was not allowed now?
A few days later, TV programs were slandering Falun Dafa all day long. They said that Falun Gong practitioners had burned themselves to death in Tiananmen Square, often committed suicide, cut their bellies open and were mentally ill. Brainwashed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) propaganda, I no longer had the ability to distinguish good from bad. I thought that what the TV said was true and started to hate Falun Gong. At the time I thought I was lucky that I hadn't learned Falun Gong and was not “polluted.”
My school organized a tour to Hong Kong and Macau in August 2003. I saw some people there giving out fliers with the Chinese character “Yuan” meaning “injustice.” I was a bit surprised: Didn’t the TV say the it was an evil cult? What was the “injustice”? The tour guide said to us: “This is an open city within the framework of ‘one country two systems.’ People have the freedom to believe and Falun Gong is legal here. You can take the materials to read, but please don’t bring them back home because they may cause trouble for you when you go through Customs in China.” I didn’t dare to take the materials and missed the opportunity to come to know Falun Gong for the second time.
My younger sister, Ms. Niu and I went to a friend's home to sell health products during the summer of 2006. This friend practiced Falun Gong. She played a video about the Tiananmen self-immolation incident for us and explained how it was staged by the CCP. My sister had good inborn quality and started practicing Falun Gong first. She used to be in poor health but her many illnesses disappeared after she practiced Falun Gong. This impressed me greatly.
My younger sister told me the facts about Falun Gong gradually. She said that Falun Dafa is a righteous Fa with great virtue, based on the Buddha School of cultivation practice. Practitioners cultivate Zhen-Shan-Ren (Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance) and strive to live by those principles to be good people. They cultivate their hearts and are kind to others, They try to improve their moral character. As long as they cultivate genuinely, they will achieve amazing health benefits.
I asked my sister why the CCP opposes it, if Falun Gong practices Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. I was still afraid of Falun Gong and said to her, “Can't you stop practicing? There are many other ways to keep fit. Why do you choose to practice it? Will you get any benefit if you go against the CCP?”
My sister answered, “Falun Gong teaches Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, while the CCP tells lies, promotes class struggle and does other bad things. The CCP struggles against Heaven, the Earth and the people. Look at China today. Fake goods are everywhere – such as poisonous rice, poisonous milk powder and poisonous oil. Eighty million Chinese people have been persecuted to death since the CCP came to power in 1949. The CCP has been persecuting Falun Gong for more than a decade and broken up many families. It harvests organs from living Falun Gong practitioners. Nowadays there are numerous calamities and man-made disasters. If humans cannot rectify the situation, then Heaven will.”
My sister asked me to read the book Zhuan Falun . I agreed. When I opened Zhuan Falun , I saw Master’s photo and felt warm in my heart. What is written in Zhuan Falun is completely different from what the TV propaganda claimed. This book teaches people to be good and doesn’t mention anything about the CCP. Then why does the CCP persecute Falun Gong? All of a sudden my mind clicked.
The CCP talks about atheism, class struggle and lies while Falun Gong teaches people to improve their moral character, purify their heart, to be good and to learn the meaning of life. But still I couldn’t understand some of the contents of Zhuan Falun . My sister told me not to look at it from ordinary people’s perspective. It is a heavenly book meant to save people. It talks about the universal law and is above everyday principles and I had to read it carefully and seriously.
When I read Lunyu the second time, I realized that I had been lost in the human world for too long and my enlightenment quality was poor. I was previously not respectful to Dafa and bad-mouthed Falun Gong. Once I went to my sister’s home with my brother to try to persuade her to give up Falun Gong and told her that she would incur loss if she persisted. I called her husband as well for some information about her. He told me that she would not give it up. I wondered why she was so determined.
When I started practicing Falun Gong, I realized that I almost made the biggest mistake and nearly missed the chance to know Falun Gong. Our compassionate Master woke me up and I thank Master for his compassionate salvation.
When I realized that Falun Dafa is the universal law to save sentient beings, I made up my mind to cultivate myself well and be worthy of Master’s salvation. I resolved to listen to Master and do the three things well.
I studied the Fa and practiced the exercises every day. When I started to sit in meditation, I was not able to sit in the normal full lotus position for an hour. When I sat in half lotus, one of my legs was not flat. I was not able to sit in full lotus for six months. I was anxious.
One day a practitioner came to see me and suggested that I press down my legs with heavy objects. I followed her advice but it was fiercely painful. My tears kept rolling down. I knew it was my own karma from previous lives. I kept repeating Master's words:
“When it’s difficult to endure, you can endure it. When it’s impossible to do, you can do it.” (Zhuan Falun)
I can sit in full lotus position for two hours now. Thank you Master for your strengthening.
My sister came into contact with some other local practitioners later. We began a group Fa study and I felt I made some improvements.
Overcoming Interference from Family Members
My husband is a safety supervisor. He likes to jog, play ping-pong and has practiced several kinds of qigong. My sister once introduced Falun Dafa to him. He said that we could practice it at home as long as it was good to our health but we should not go out to practice. He didn't interfere with us for the first year. I told him the facts about the persecution of Falun Gong and let him read our materials. He didn't say anything after reading them.
Master asks us to do the three things well. So we went out to tell people the facts about Falun Gong and asked them to withdraw from the CCP when we had time. My husband found out and started to interfere with us out of fear, though he knew that Falun Gong had been wronged. He tried to persuade me to give up Falun Gong. I didn't listen to him. He then took my Dafa books, materials and MP5 to my brother's home and asked him to watch over me.
My brother came to me and said, “How come you started practicing Falun Gong? Didn't you come with us to persuade our younger sister to give it up?” I said, “Yes, but our younger sister informed me about who the real evil cult is. I read the Dafa materials and Master's books and realized that Falun Gong has been wronged. Falun Gong is saving people so I started to practice Falun Gong.”
My eldest and second brothers had read Falun Gong materials but didn't quite believe them. They said I was too naïve and Falun Gong was getting political and going against the CCP. I said to them, “If it was not good, how come it has spread to more than one hundred countries and regions and it is respected by people all over the world?” But they were brainwashed by the CCP and were atheists. They slandered Falun Gong and our Master and didn't allow me to go out to distribute materials.
My husband didn't allow me to have Falun Gong materials at home either. He damaged my MP3 and MP5 players as well as other materials. He got angry with me if he was not in a good mood and beat me and cursed at me. He was very pathetic and committed sins against Master and Falun Dafa. Yet I was not able to save him. Where did I fall short?
Master said:
“For a cultivator, looking within is a magical tool.” (“Fa Teaching at the 2009 Washington DC International Fa Conference”)
I was impatient, competitive and had a mentality of showing off. I still had a strong attachment to qing (sentimentality). I didn't think from their perspective.
My brothers, sisters and other relatives came to my home in May 2011 and tried to persuade me and my younger sister to give up Falun Gong. They said that we would cause damage to the family and our kids if we continued practicing. I said, “I will not give it up. Dafa will not do any harm to the kids. In fact, whoever believes in Falun Dafa will be blessed. Dafa teaches people to be good and to cultivate themselves according to the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. The world needs it. China needs it and everybody needs it. Then why don't we practice it? If you don't want it, I want it. This is my freedom and my belief. I can give up everything except cultivation.” They were not able to convince me.
Master Protected Me
I believe in Master and Falun Dafa. I know that I am doing the most righteous thing in the universe. No matter how big the interference and hardship, it was an opportunity for me to improve. As long as I conducted myself according to the Fa principles, with righteous thoughts, any hardship would disappear.
I put up some posters in an affluent area one day in August last year. When I was about to leave, I was reported to the security guard, who checked the video recording. They then called the police. The police checked with some residents there. One of them, whom I had clarified the truth to, said to the policeman, “She asked me for directions. I don't know what she is doing here.” I knew that Master protected me and she would be rewarded because she had treated practitioners kindly.
The next day one of my friends called me and said that the police called in that lady and her boss and threatened the boss, telling him that he had to take full responsibility if anything happened. I said to my friend, “Please take it easy. I haven't done anything wrong. What I am doing is for saving people and it is a good thing. Please take it easy.” During the whole process of my clarifying the truth, I was all right, though there were risky situations.
People Come to Learn Falun Dafa One after Another
I have benefited a lot both physically and mentally from practicing Falun Gong. I told my relatives, friends and whoever I have come across of the wonderfulness of Falun Dafa. My sister-in-law believed me and started practicing Falun Gong. She was able to sit in full lotus position within six months. She said that she finally found the purpose of life.
When my sister came to visit me one day, she clarified the truth to one of my friends and helped her withdraw from the CCP and its two affiliated organizations, the Communist Youth League and the Young Pioneers. She also helped her husband and her son withdraw from the CCP and gave them amulets with the words, “Falun Dafa is good.” They were very happy to accept them. When my sister came to see me again in 2012, she gave them Shen Yun DVDs and some other DVDs. They said that they were very good programs after they had watched them. This friend started practicing Falun Gong. Master purified her body from the very beginning. She cultivates diligently and is doing the three things.
There are many predestined people whom we have to save. We shall try our best to save them and be qualified Falun Dafa disciples. I shall let go of my fear, eliminate interference, help Master in Fa-rectification and follow him to return to my true home.
Please kindly point out anything inappropriate.
Heshi
