(Minghui.org) Greetings to compassionate Master and fellow practitioners!
I am from Canada. I would like to share my experience over the last year, in which I had the opportunity to save Chinese people while both maintaining my cultivation practice and my regular job.
After last year’s New York Fa Conference, I began to participate in the local group exercises. We started doing one-hour exercises, but now we wake up at 4:30 a.m. to do all 5 exercises and send forth righteous thoughts together. During the week, we study one lecture of Zhuan Falun after the exercises.
On weekends we study Master’s other lectures. As a result we bathe in Master’s compassion seven days a week and receive tempering and cleansing from his immense energy. My heart is filled with limitless gratitude to Master, and I begin every day with a fulfilled, peaceful and compassionate heart to await Master’s arrangement for me to save the predestined.
I used to only occasionally do the exercises, thinking that it wasn’t as important as studying Fa. Although I did the three things, I often felt fatigued. In reality it was my lack of understanding, which prevented me from harmonizing to Master’s teaching about doing the exercises. Worst of all, I often looked for excuses to cover up my attachment to comfort. In Master’s “Fa Teaching at the 2013 Greater New York Fa Conference,” he once again said, “Cultivate with the heart you once had, and consummation is certain.”
I was deeply moved by the lecture, and repeatedly asked myself: “Am I cultivating with the heart I once had?” After the conference, I vowed to retrieve the determination I once had, that mental state of “Hear the Dao in the morning, die with no regret in the evening.” I wanted to free myself from the inertia of not wanting to do the exercises, due to my lack of doing the exercises.
As a Fa Rectification Period Disciple, we shoulder the responsibility to save people. As a Fa particle, our bodies no longer belong to ourselves. Doing the exercise was no longer about obtaining a healthy body, but contained Fa Rectification implications: weren’t we also rectifying the universe that is our body? Therefore persisting in doing the exercises was not only our duty and responsibility, it was our way to negate the old forces’ test, to harmonize with Master’s arrangements, and a way to guarantee our ability to do the three things well.
In “The Great Way of Spiritual Perfection,” Master said:
“The exercises are part of the harmonization and perfection in our Dafa. So Dafa is a comprehensive mind-body cultivation system. It is also called 'The Great Way of Spiritual Perfection.' Dafa thus requires both cultivation and exercises, with cultivation taking priority over the exercises. A person’s gong won’t increase if he merely does the exercises and fails to cultivate his character. Meanwhile, a person who only cultivates his character and doesn’t perform the exercises of the Great Way of Spiritual Perfection will find the growth of his gong strength impeded and his innate body unchanged.”
As a disciple, we all have the experience. When we feel fatigue due to sending forth concentrated righteous thoughts, doing the 5 exercises can quickly replenish our energy; its effect was much better than sleeping or resting. Conversely if we didn’t do the exercises for long periods of time, the effect of our righteous thoughts would be blocked. Therefore using the excuse “I need to spend more time to do the three things” to escape doing the exercises actually became a great obstacle to doing the three things well.
In “Teaching and Explaining the Fa at the Metropolitan New York Fa Conference,” Master said:
“All of you sitting here, listen up. Did you all hear that? You must do well the three things that Dafa disciples should do well. You need to do the exercises. As long as the day of Consummation hasn't arrived you need to do the exercises, you need to study the Fa, and you need to do the Dafa disciples' three things. Definitely.”
Once I reached the correct understanding, I had to figure out how to carry out that understanding. Over the past year, I was able to persist in doing the exercises regardless of how harsh weather was. Every improvement I experienced was the result of Master’s compassionate care. At first, I wanted to snooze for 5 minutes after the alarm went off, only to miss the exercise time entirely. I really regretted it after being tardy several times.
Master saw my determination to improve and made an arrangement for me. By a seeming coincidence, I learned that 2 practitioners near me wanted to participate in the morning exercises, but couldn’t drive. Naturally I assumed the responsibility of giving them a ride. On the surface I was helping them out, but in reality Master arranged to help me break my attachment to comfort. In the depth of winter, if I was tardy for 10 minutes due to oversleeping, that means that the three of us together would be 30 minutes late. If I was 30 minutes late, our total tardiness would be 90 minutes. This realization allowed me to break through my laziness quickly. Even during a record-breaking snow storm, I still picked up the fellow practitioners. When we got to the exercise location, everything was dark due to a power outage. We did the exercises in the dark, then found a coffee shop to study the Fa together. Afterwards I proceeded to go sell Shen Yun tickets. Thereafter, getting up in the morning became as natural as breathing. No matter how cold it was outside, the warmth of my bed was no match to the wonder I felt after doing the exercises.
In the past, I would only find time to study Fa with fellow practitioners after I finished my work and chores. After studying Fa, I had very little time left to do truth clarification. A day would go by with very little accomplished. If I could study Fa in the morning, along with the fellow exercisers, I would have more time to work on truth-clarification projects in the evening. Master saw my desire to save people, and made the arrangements for me. First my husband volunteered to take the children to school in the morning. Then my manager at work allowed me to adjust my work schedule. As a result I was able to study Fa after the exercises every day.
When I take the subway to work, I have an hour to eat breakfast and to memorize and recite the Fa. Being mindful that every day is given to us by Master’s immense suffering on our behalf, in order to save time, I have no problem eating simple breakfasts on the subway. My former attachment to tasty, nutritious breakfasts fell easily by the wayside.
After breakfast, I would recite Fa. I didn’t force myself to recite much; I just wanted to make sure every word and sentence entered my heart. As I recite Fa, I felt the mundane things in life falling away, and cultivation and saving sentient beings becoming more concrete to me. Gradually I noticed that cultivation and saving people became the main focus of my daily life, and the mundane things miraculously got arranged to harmonize this focus. Because I can finish doing the exercise and studying the Fa by 9 a.m. each day, I feel I have more time to save people. When we demand “Cultivate with the heart you once had” of ourselves, are we solidly cultivating ourselves and saving people in a dimension that surpasses time?
In the article “Environment” (Essentials for Further Advancement) , Master said:
“The cultivation practice form that I have left for Dafa disciples ensures that disciples can truly improve themselves. For example, I ask you to do the exercises as a group in parks in order to form an environment. This environment is the best way to change the surface of a person. The lofty conduct that Dafa disciples have established in this environment--including every word and every deed--can make people recognize their own weaknesses and identify their shortcomings; it can move their hearts, refine their conduct, and enable them to make progress more rapidly.”
Doing group exercise outdoors creates a peaceful, righteous and compassionate field. Isn’t that a great validation of Dafa?
In “20th Anniversary Fa Teaching,” Master said:
“I have told you before that today’s Chinese people were once the Kings of the many ethnicities known to history, the Kings of each era; they are Kings of higher planes in the cosmos who have come down to earth, who’ve reincarnated in China. Their salvation will result in the salvation of the countless sentient beings behind them whom they represent.”
Clarifying truth to Chinese people is something I must face every day. In my work, I serve as an interpreter for Chinese-speaking people in the local court. Many people who come in contact with me often say, “It’s really hard to encounter somebody so willing help others like you.”
Many new immigrants were affected by the Chinese Community Party (CCP) party culture, and had no sense of the rule of law. They are victims of the evil party culture. I can understand their suffering and am willing to do my best to help them. Because of my work experience, they are also willing to communicate with me. Once they experience the kindness of a Dafa disciple, they give me their trust and gratitude. In turn I treasure every encounter to clarify the truth, to get them to quit CCP, and to introduce Shen Yun to them.
An elderly immigrant was hit by a car while crossing the street. Because she jaywalked, the police wrote her a ticket even though she was laid up in a hospital. She felt it was unfair and asked her daughter to accompany her to the court to fight the ticket. As soon as we met, she poured her heart out to me. I patiently listened to her, then explained to her how the law works. Consequently she felt more at peace with her predicament. Then I clarified the truth to her and her daughter, and they both agreed to quit the CCP. Several months later, their appeal was met with an unexpectedly good resolution. Coming out of the courthouse, both of them shook my hand and said, “We were hoping to run into you again today. You always bring us good luck!” I replied that it was their choice to distance themselves from the evil CCP that enabled the gods to give them blessing. Therefore they ought to give their thanks to the Falun Dafa Master. I asked them to remember “Falun Dafa is good.” As we parted, both mother and daughter repeatedly said, “Falun Dafa is good.”
There are many additional examples. I spoke a few times with a business owner embroiled in a tax dispute. Just before his court trial, he finally agreed to quit the CCP. On the day of the court hearing, he brought his wife along to be a character witness. The district attorney, with boxes full of evidence against him, unexpectedly announced that they would withdraw the case based on technical reasons. Outside the courthouse, I told him that behind the superficial “technical reason” lay the blessings of the gods, because he made the correct decision to quit the CCP. His wife also agreed that something supernatural had intervened to help them. She said that she used to have negative views of Falun Gong. After meeting me, she felt that Falun Gong practitioners were kind, unlike what the evil CCP had portrayed. Therefore she also quit the CCP on the spot.
In “Fa Teaching at the 2013 Western U.S. Fa Conference,” Master said:
“When someone heads abroad [from China], well, since he isn’t able to hear the truth while in China, isn’t he being directed to go overseas so that he can learn the truth? You can’t abandon these people.”
I also frequently encounter these people at work.
Once the court police led an elderly Chinese man to my office and said, “I know only you can help him.” As it turned out, this gentleman had come abroad to visit relatives. He got lost on his way to a friend’s daughter’s wedding and ended up at the courthouse. The police wanted to perform a security check, but he couldn’t understand the instructions. Therefore the officer led him to me. I realized that it was arranged for him hear the truth from me. So I led him to the city hall in the next building. On the way over, he told me he was a professor in China. I quickly clarified the truth to him regarding Dafa, the persecution and the significance of quitting CCP. He eagerly quit the CCP on the spot.
One day a young man asked me where he should go to pay the fines. As I led him to the place, he told me that the elderly gentleman next to him was his father, who recently came to Toronto and wanted to see what the Canadian courts looked like. His father was a government employee in China and despised its chaotic legal environment, so he wanted to see how the legal system operated in a democratic society. I recommended that he read The Epoch Times , saying that this newspaper paid a lot of attention to the issues faced by new immigrants. It has a legal section that features interesting cases each week. New immigrants can learn a lot about Canada’s legal system through these stories and save themselves plenty of trouble. The father was very interested. I further told him about the editorial Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party , which exposed the true nature of the CCP in an unprecedented fashion. I said that anyone who loves China ought to take a good look at it. After hearing my truth clarification, both father and son agreed to quit the CCP. The father said he would seek out The Epoch Times and study it in depth.
A couple applied for asylum under the aegis of Falun Gong. The wife subsequently began to cultivate, yet the husband beat her to stop her from practicing. She reported the abuse to the police, yet her mother in law often interfered with her as well. Because she was not familiar with Canadian law, she was afraid her case would cause her family to be deported. This case was assigned to me, and the husband told me that his wife started practicing Falun Dafa after they applied for asylum. When he learned that I had started to practice Dafa in 1998, he asked me many questions. First he didn’t understand why Falun Gong practitioners didn’t keep the practice to themselves and had to “go against the CCP.” Secondly he was influenced by his mother’s church friends and opposed passing out flyers in Chinatown. When his friends saw his wife passing out flyers, they asked him how much money the US government paid them, etc. He didn’t know how to answer those questions and felt embarrassed in front of his friends.
To respond to his first question, I told him that Falun Gong was not against the CCP, but against the persecution they launched. Its repression persecuted cultivators by spreading lies to the world, therefore it was also persecuting everybody else. Whether it was the CCP or another organization persecuting Falun Gong, the Heavens would not allow it. I saw that his eyes lit up and he nodded in agreement. I could tell that he understood what I meant.
To his second question, I related a personal story. One day a tall Chinese man in Chinatown yelled at me: “I’ve seen you stand here since the morning for most of the day. Just how much is the US government paying you?” I looked at him and said: “Mister, I thank you for asking this question.” Seeing that rather than being angered, I had thanked him, he was visibly embarrassed. Then I told him, “If you want to know the answer to your question, why don’t you try this. Let’s say you give me $500 cash to get me to go home. You can try it and see if you can buy me like that.” He stood there silently for a while, and replied, “I never took any of your Falun Gong material. Now that I’ve heard you, maybe there is something different about you. Give me a copy of your material, I want to read it.”
The husband exclaimed, “That’s right! My wife didn’t get any money for going to Chinatown. Falun Gong practitioners act on their conscience, not at all like what the CCP says.” He continued, “I never thought that Falun Gong had saved me twice, once for our asylum application, and once here with the facts you tell me.” He told me that he had already quit CCP in Chinatown, then he asked for my phone number so his wife to get in touch with me. He also promised to encourage his wife to be more diligent in her cultivation.
Later the husband’s mother called me, because they lost some of the court documents. I helped her without any preconceived notions, treating her like a sentient being to be saved. After I told her about the significance of quitting the CCP, she solemnly repeated the words I had said to her: “Erase the poisonous pledge I made to the Young Pioneers to become a rightful and clear-headed Chinese person.” She also told me that she would no longer interfere with her daughter-in-law’s cultivation, and she would even encourage her.
Master’s endless compassion helped me fulfill my wish to not miss any predestined persons. I helped this new practitioner get past this difficult tribulation, and helped these precious Chinese people make the correct choice for which they risked everything to come to this dimension for.
As Fa Rectification progresses, the interference in other dimensions is being eliminated. Every seeming coincidence is an opportunity to save sentient beings. In the past I had to clarify the truth one person at a time. Now oftentimes I get to clarify the truth to my client and his entire family all at once. A man was waiting for his father to be his character witness, and seven people came in, including his family and friends. After the court hearing, I ran into them as they were waiting for their documents. I asked for Master’s reinforcement, and clarified truth to all of them. They all agreed to quit CCP and acknowledged the goodness of Dafa.
During Shen Yun season, I would take time off to promote Shen Yun. I also used the opportunity to introduce Shen Yun to the Chinese community. Once, I met a Chinese medicine doctor in court. I got him to quit the CCP and introduced Shen Yun to him. During a Shen Yun performance intermission, I ran into his entire family. He and his wife were so happy about seeing the show, saying that it far exceeded their expectations and they wanted to see next year’s performance as well.
So a sentient being looks forward to next year’s Shen Yun performance. How about us Dafa disciples? For next year’s Shen Yun, for those precious Chinese people, for those beings that came to this world with their ample faith in Dafa’s ability to save them, are we solidly cultivating ourselves? Do not miss the opportunity to save people because of our own gaps in cultivation. Cultivate with the heart we once had, and fulfill our vow.
Thank you Master, thank you everybody.
(Presented at the 2014 New York Falun Dafa Cultivation Experience Sharing Conference)