(Minghui.org) An article published on the Minghui website recently asked every practitioner how Falun Dafa has changed her/him. I thought about this question seriously and realized that Falun Dafa has changed me greatly and given me a new life. I am a university student, 23 years of age. I began my practice of Falun Dafa in January 2013.
Falun Dafa has opened my eyes. I understand now the ups and downs in life. I see changes in the world with clearer vision. I am no longer obsessed with the love of another, nor does it cause me to shed tears. Dafa has blessed me and given me wisdom. I won a State-level scholarship. I have become optimistic and happy, and I get along well with my classmates. No longer am I concerned with personal gain or loss. I do the work that my classmates don't want to do. Dafa has taught me to be good according to the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.
My classmates notice, and appreciate, my good character. Dafa has increased my forbearance and I can handle with compassion what I was not previously able to tolerate. Dafa has also improved my health. I no longer suffer from arrhythmia, calcium deficiency, or migraine headaches. I don't have the need to see doctors. I have cultivated away jealousy and become happy rather than indignant for others who are doing better than I.
1. The Story of My Mother
My mother started to practice Falun Dafa with one of my relatives in 1997. She knew that Dafa teaches people to be good but didn't realize the higher principles. However, she did experience the goodness of Dafa. One night she had a high fever and blisters on her lips. She knew that Master was purifying her body, and the next day she recovered. Later, due to a move, she lost her daily contact with that relative and gave up her cultivation.
My mother returned to her practice later, when I was preparing for the university entrance exams in 2011. She started to think about Dafa again, and then the relative who first introduced her to Dafa came for a visit and they discussed cultivation again. Master arranges everything for practitioners.
We used to have a lot of cockroaches in our house. They are unpleasant and unsanitary, so my mother would kill them. After practicing Falun Dafa, we know from the Fa that, “For practitioners, we have set the strict requirement that they cannot kill lives.” (Zhuan Falun)
My mother didn't want to kill the cockroaches anymore, but then she heard my father talking about using a bug killer to get rid of them. My mom spoke gently to the cockroaches: “Please go away and remember 'Falun Dafa is good and Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.' Master will arrange a good place for you. You are lives and I don't want you to die in my home.” Mom was pleasantly surprised when she discovered a few days later that the cockroaches were gone. My mother was no longer concerned about cockroaches in our home, or having to kill them.
2. I Practiced Truthfulness in High School
When my mother resumed her practice, she told me many stories about cultivation. They were miraculous cultivation stories of how Dafa teaches people to be good and how much Master has sacrificed in saving us. She also told me about the CCP's ruthless persecution of Dafa practitioners. I listened to her attentively. After that, I started to read Zhuan Falun and behave according to the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.
I came to know that the purpose of life is to return to one's true self and that everyone's life has been pre-arranged. So during the university entrance exams I put “Truthfulness” into practice. I was never very good with math and failed many math tests in the past. A male classmate who sat next to me in the math entrance exam winked at me and said, “I will tell you the answers after I finish the multiple choice.” I said to him with a smile: “No need, I can manage myself.” He was a bit surprised. I guess he knew I wasn't good at math and assumed I couldn't pass without his help, especially in the university entrance exams.”
This was a test, but I passed it because I had kept my xinxing and stayed truthful. As a matter of fact my overall score was better than any of the previous mock entrance exams. Though my math score was low, I did very well on other subjects. When selecting universities, I just followed the course of nature and was not picky. I knew that everything had been arranged. Wherever I attended school, the classmates I would meet would have a good predestined relationship with me.
3. Getting Rid of the Pursuit for Fame
I was the top student in my major when I entered the university. I remained at the top of my class after the final exams in the first semester. Having entered the university as the top student, I thought it only natural, that I was still ranked No. 1. Then I was told that I was now No. 2, because the method for ranking was different and included the participation of sports. I hadn't started cultivation yet but I remembered Master's words.
Master said in Zhuan Falun:
“We therefore believe in following the course of nature. Sometimes, you think that something should be yours, and others also tell you that it is yours. Actually, it is not. You may believe that it is yours, but in the end it is not yours. Through this, it can be seen whether you can give it up. If you cannot let it go, it is an attachment. This method must be used to get rid of your attachment to self-interest. This is the issue.”
So I told myself I shouldn't be moved and should accept it calmly. After I started Falun Dafa practice, I realized that it was for me to let go of the pursuit of self-interest and fame, jealousy, and being afraid of losing face.
4. Letting Go of Qing
In high school I had a huge crush on a boy. Then I fell in love with him for three years. I was very attached to the idea of having a loving relationship. I yearned for romantic love and thought that love could last forever as long as both people were faithful to each other, and not enticed by money or power. This crush is the reason I did not practice Falun Dafa with my mother at that time.
After I began practicing Falun Dafa, I told him the facts about Falun Dafa and the persecution to dissolve his misunderstandings and hoped that he could distinguish good and bad. He made no comment. When I mentioned Falun Dafa to him again a year later, he said he had to break up with me, because I was too kind and would not make a good living in society. He said we were very different people, and it would not work. Essentially he felt we would not get along. I was surprised at his reaction and that he slandered Falun Dafa several times. The boy I loved didn't acknowledge Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and deserted me. I was devastated.
It took four years to establish this relationship but less than four minutes to damage it. The love I had been longing for was gone in an instant. I had trouble sleeping and eating for several days after this. I was hurt badly by qing. How could I go on?
It was Falun Dafa that saved me. When I was sad, I studied the Fa and it calmed me. With the help of the Fa, I gradually let go of the qing. My ex-boyfriend came back to me once. He said that he was afraid he had hurt me and would take me back. I felt only amused. I would no longer be deceived by so called “love.” At that moment I decided to seriously practice Falun Dafa. I studied the Fa and practiced the exercises every day.
One day in my dream my ex-boyfriend came to me from far away and said, “I can be with you as long as you don't believe in Falun Dafa.” I said to him without any hesitation, “Leave me alone then.” He turned his back and left instantly. When I awoke, I knew I had been fundamentally changed. Initially I had hated him for leaving me, but as I studied the Fa more, I understood, and let go of the hatred. From an ordinary person's view, he was very good to me when we were together and sacrificed a lot for me. I shouldn't hate him in this regard and, as a practitioner, I shouldn't hate him at all. So compassion replaced hatred.
Occasionally I would hear some news about him from friends. I knew this was no accident as I had not completely let go of my attachment. So I would ask for Master's help. I said to Master in my heart, “Master, I don't want to be dragged down by qing. I want to help Master rectify the Fa and save sentient beings.”
5. Clarifying the Truth
Through Fa study, I came to know that to save sentient beings is Dafa practitioners' responsibility. So I started to tell my classmates and friends the facts about Falun Dafa from a third person's point of view. I told them why they had to quit the Party and about the special stone inscribed with the words “Heaven eliminates the Communist Party,” and the corruption of the CCP. I also told them that Falun Dafa is a Buddha's law and that practitioners cultivate Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. I told them why the CCP persecutes Falun Dafa and how they staged the Tiananmen Square Self Immolation incident, and the horrible harvesting of organs from living Falun Dafa practitioners. All my female classmates have quit the Party.
I felt Master's arrangement and protection when I clarified the truth to my friends. One day I thought of one of my good friends I had lost contact with. I was wondering how to contact her so I could clarify the truth. The next day I saw her on the street and invited her to a restaurant for dinner. I clarified the truth to her and she immediately quit the Party.
Sometimes I slacked off a bit in clarifying the truth to people. I need to study the Fa well, cultivate myself, and save more sentient beings. One night I had a vivid dream. A school student came up to me and we started to talk. I thought she must have a pre-destined relationship with me and I should tell her about Falun Dafa. We were on a busy street so I asked her to go with me somewhere quiet. Before we could talk, a security guard nearby started shouting at us, “You two stop. What are you doing here?” I couldn't imagine why he would shout at us, so I assumed it was someone else he was shouting at and continued walking. He shouted again, “Don't think I don't know about you. What are you doing here?” He ran to us. Did he know that I wanted to clarify the truth to this student? We ran in separate directions. The security guard ran toward me. When he had nearly caught up with me, my mind became blank but I shouted, “Master, help me!” Instantly a force lifted me up to the top of a mountain. I looked back at the guard who now had no way to catch me.
I reviewed this dream. Superficially I passed the test. But my righteous thoughts were not strong enough because I didn't use my superpower to stop him and I ran away when he was chasing me. When he came to me, I didn't clarify the truth to him with dignity, instead I ran away. So I had to change my human notion in this regard.
One day a practitioner gave me a cell phone that I could use to broadcast the truth to people in China. I was excited to have another tool to use to save sentient beings. Using this phone I could call people directly, broadcast pre-recorded audios, and send out picture messages. The next day I went out to make phone calls. I asked the practitioner, “Have you used this kind of phone before? Has anybody quit the Party?” She said, “Yes, several.”
That night I broadcast pre-recorded audios to people and one person quit the CCP. I was moved to tears. Master was encouraging me.
But I think that more people will quit if I call them directly. I will read more sharing articles on making truth-clarifying phone calls and then give it a try myself. Master will strengthen me, so I believe I can do this.
6. Getting Rid of Fear
One night I went out with two other practitioners. They made phone calls while I sent forth righteous thoughts nearby and wrote down pseudonyms for people who quit the Party. People passed by and I was fearful. What should we do if people heard us? One person approached us from behind. I led the practitioner making a phone call to the other side of the street. When she had the chance, she said to me, “Don't be afraid. Master's law body is watching us and the eight heavenly dragons are just above us. We are doing the most righteous thing. Good people can hear us while bad people will not hear us at all.” My fear subsided and I then had righteous thoughts.
That night Master gave me a hint in my dream. In the dream my mother and I were home having a meal together. There was a loud knock on the door. I looked out the peep hole and saw a lady, dressed in black, holding a hand gun. She was out robbing everyone in the building. I was very frightened. She then broke in with a knife and was laughing wildly. She shouted, “It has been 15 years. Give me the money.” At that time I noticed a toy gun in my hand. I raised my gun and pointed it to the woman's head and demanded, “You get out of here!” She was scared to death and ran out of my home. Then I woke up. I realized that Master was hinting at me to get rid of my fear. That woman was evil. I am a Dafa practitioner. So who should fear whom?
Dafa has changed me a lot. No words can describe Master's compassion and the greatness and purity of Dafa. Thank you, Master!
Category: Improving Oneself
