(Minghui.org) Greetings revered Master, greetings fellow practitioners!
Obtaining Dafa
I am a new practitioner, having obtained Dafa in late February of 2009. I feel very fortunate every time I think about how I encountered this precious opportunity.
I first came into contact with Dafa more than ten years ago. It was in 1995, when I was in China. A co-worker lent her book Falun Gong to me. I remember it was a thick book. I was always interested in subjects such as human science, the universe, and the like. I stayed up all night and finished reading the book. However, I did not understand qigong back then, and thought that qigong was only for ill people to improve their health. I returned the book to her rather than joining her to practice.
I remember telling her that I always followed the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, but I did not think that I needed to practice Dafa to follow them. I don't remember how I did not recognize the true content of the book. Thus I missed out on Dafa for more than ten years. Maybe it was because my predestined relationship with Dafa was not mature yet back then.
In 2009, I ran into an old classmate in Michigan, who introduced me to Dafa once again. He is a fellow practitioner and was studying for an MBA in Chicago. After taking the book Zhuan Falun home, I felt very warm and comfortable. It was a feeling that I had missed for a long time, the feeling of a lost life finding its way home. I finished reading the book for the first time and felt just like what Master described in Zhuan Falun,
"There are also people who have never practiced it, but who have pursued and pondered the truth and the meaning of human life. Once they learn our Falun Dafa, they will understand at once many questions in life that they have wished to understand but could not answer. Perhaps along with their minds being elevated, they will become very excited—this is for sure. I know that a genuine practitioner will know its weight and cherish it." (Lecture Eight)
In Zhuan Falun, Master said,
"This practitioner was not scared at that moment. All of those who have encountered these situations were not scared, although they might have been afterwards." (Lecture Three)
When I read this, I understood that Master has been protecting me all along. In 2007, I underwent surgery because I had a huge tumor weighing more than six pounds in my right kidney.
My family members and friends were worried before the surgery, and I comforted them, "Don't worry, I will be all right after we cut the tumor off." My doctor said to me, "I am being honest with you, 90% of the time, these tumors turn out to be cancer." I smiled and said, "Thank you for your honesty." I suffered a lot during the eight days in the hospital after the surgery.
By the time I left the hospital, I only weighed about 60 to 70 pounds. I was always optimistic and tolerated a lot of pain. Several weeks after my surgery, when an oncologist told me that the tumor was slightly malignant, I was scared and worried for a while, but soon got over it.
Now when I think back, I must have paid off a lot of my karma and accumulated enough virtue to obtain Dafa. My relatives and friends told me, “You are sure to have good fortune in the future after this much suffering.” I did not know that it would be the great fortune of obtaining Dafa.
During the first couple of weeks after I obtained Dafa, every morning when I woke up, I told myself, "I am a Dafa practitioner now, I am a cultivator." Master gave me a new life.
At that time I studied the Fa a lot every day. I read the books, watched Master's lecture tapes, and led young practitioner in reciting Hong Yin. I often studied the Fa until 4 or 5 o'clock every morning, and then went to bed and slept a little. I would then get up to study the Fa and do the exercises when my husband went to work.
I experienced many miraculous moments, such as anointment, seeing energy flowing upward in a spiral, golden words going into my head in a spiral shape, a floating sensation, etc. My third eye was not open, but I understood that what I saw was encouragement from Master.
The more I studied the Fa, the more urgency I felt. I shared experiences with veteran practitioners, learning how they switched from personal cultivation to Fa rectification cultivation after the persecution started. It is different for us new practitioners who obtained the Fa after the persecution, and we must do the three things well. We have to study the Fa well to catch up with Master's Fa rectification process.
Maturing in the Shen Yun Project
During this year's "Fa Teaching on World Falun Dafa Day" in New York, Master said,
"What is a ‘Dafa disciple’? Whom Master teaches are precisely you, these disciples of Dafa. You are being cleansed, being tempered to maturity, and made ready to save sentient beings. These are Dafa disciples."
Pretty soon, I started participating in Shen Yun projects, such as answering hotline phone calls, selling tickets at shopping centers, distributing Shen Yun materials in residential subdivisions, and promoting Shen Yun in community activities.
Two Amazing Experiences
After I had my baby, I did not work anymore, so I could help sell Shen Yun tickets at shopping centers during the daytime. One afternoon, I saw that there was very little foot traffic around our counter, which was unexpected since it was in a good location.
I started to send righteous thoughts in every direction, connecting our counter to the mall entrance and repelling factors in other dimensions that might be obstructing people from coming to our counter. I believed that everyone who came to the mall is a predestined being, so they should have the chance to learn about Shen Yun and buy tickets. Suddenly, the traffic around our counter surged, as if a switch had been flipped.
Another time when I was at our counter, I saw a business card on top of a pamphlet. I didn't recognize the name, and thought that this must belong to a predestined person. After my shift was over, I drove over to the address on the card, and it turned out to be an officer at the naval recruiting office nearby. As soon as he saw me come in, he asked, “Is that performance coming again this year?” As it turned out, he had missed it last year due to a conflict. This time, he definitely wanted to to go, and I also got the chance to talk to his colleagues and people in offices nearby. I was overwhelmed with emotion when I looked back on it—Master had meticulously arranged for this being to have a second chance to experience Shen Yun!
Working Together to Save Lives
In one weekend, our region sold 39 tickets during three promotion activities, and our site sold 16. During these activities, I truly experienced working together as one.
Although we had only three practitioners signed up at the site, many other fellow practitioners provided support behind the scenes. Some provided materials and tools for the children’s handicraft activities during the day. Some prepared wireless network cards and installed the necessary software for ticket selling, working deep into the night. Others provided tents, tables and chairs, and more prepared promotional packets about the shows. One practitioner drove from another site to my home at 9 p.m. the night before and delivered the tickets, even though she had to drive another 45 minutes to get home.
On the night before the activity, a practitioner brought the theater seating chart to me, with her daughter asleep in the car already. Early in the morning on the day of the activity, some older fellow practitioners brought over a large poster board that they had made. During the activity, a fellow practitioner not fluent in English twice came to help. She brought drinking water and provided good suggestions. There were others that helped out behind the ticket counter.
Of course, all along the way, local fellow practitioners sent righteous thoughts on the hour to support the activities. We all felt the importance of sending righteous thoughts. When we had more than two practitioners at the site, the field became very good and strong. When there were practitioners sending righteous thoughts nearby, we could tell a real difference.
One fellow practitioner at our site did not speak English. She just kept sending righteous thoughts while teaching kids to do handicrafts.
The event went very smoothly. I spent a lot time calling and communicating with practitioners to coordinate it all. Through this activity, I gained a better understanding of how hard practitioners have worked to coordinate longer term projects.
Afterward, I started getting involved in writing articles for "Touring the World with Shen Yun" and writing Shen Yun audience interview reports. Together with fellow practitioners, we contacted various businesses for Shen Yun sponsorship, went to various clubs and organizations to introduce Chinese culture and history, and to clarify the truth about Falun Gong and introduce Shen Yun.
I also got involved in clarifying the truth on the RTC platform. I have come to understand that Master arranged these opportunities to prepare me for other roles where I can do a better job of saving sentient beings.
Looking Inside and Cultivating Myself
While writing this sharing article, I re-read an article titled “Gap,” which a fellow practitioner had shared with me months ago. I came to realize that Master was giving me a hint and encouraging me to be diligent.
In a recent training organized by The Epoch Times, I came to realize how big the difference was between my sales work and that from other regions. While working on sales with local fellow practitioners, I also found many of my shortcomings.
For example, I did not give enough effort to my sales work, not preparing enough before visiting customers, not taking good visit notes, and not following up enough. I was also not persistent enough. After I had visited some businesses several times, I gave up on them. I will study and review the training material well, and improve in my sales work and in cultivation.
Since I started cultivation, I have kept in mind the idea of always looking inside. Master told us that this is a fundamental difference between practitioners and ordinary people.
However, when facing something that touched me deeply or needed more persistence, I still fell short in improving myself, using various excuses.
For example: I am still interfered with by drowsiness, I am not kind and patient toward children practitioners, and I have a tendency to show off and validate myself.
A few weeks ago, I read a sharing article called "Taking Credit for the Accomplishments of Divine Beings," and I have been working on letting go of this attachment. I also have jealousy and a competitive mentality, and do not handle criticism well.
I didn't think that I had a problem with criticism, until two practitioners pointed it out to me. I looked into my heart, and found that I did not debate it when others criticized me, but I made excuses for myself quietly. So I am very grateful for their help in pointing out my attachments.
This time, I knew that I should not again miss the opportunity to report to Master and share my cultivation experience with fellow practitioners. I have read that the process of writing the articles is a process of summarizing cultivation in the past and finding shortcomings to achieve future improvements. This resonated deeply with me. I encountered interference as I tried to write, but once I started, I realized that I had a lot to say.
The title for my sharing today is “Making the Best Use of Time for Genuine Cultivation and Saving People.” The title does not mean that I did well necessarily. This is actually a phrase that I used to remind myself, and I want to use it here to encourage fellow practitioners, as well.
We all know that Master has given us this time now after bearing a great deal on our behalf. I want to learn the Fa well with solid effort, discard my attachments, save more people and do the three things well.
For any mistakes in my above sharing, please correct me.
Thank you Master! Thank you yellow practitioners!
(Shared at the 2014 Mid-USA Falun Dafa Experience Sharing Conference)
