(Minghui.org) Greetings, esteemed Master and fellow practitioners!
It has been 19 years since I started practicing Falun Dafa. While cultivating, I realized that I could follow the progress of Fa-rectification only if I truly cultivate, be clear about the Fa principles, eliminate human attachments, and cultivate steadfastly.
Studying the Fa has become a vital part of my life. Thus, the Fa principles have become one with me. Everything that I face, am part of, and am surrounded by, including my family, work environment, Fa study group, Fa-rectification projects, and much more, helps me eliminate human attachments and remove human notions. I realize that only by following the Fa principles can I cultivate, improve, and become enlightened.
Master said,
“Amidst challenges, or when things can’t be resolved, people are always trying to think of some tactic to use. But there is no shortcut...” (“Fa Teaching Given at the 2010 New York Fa Conference” from Teaching the Fa at the Conference XI)
Attachments to Fear and Fame
I have been very timid since childhood, an indication that I had the attachment to fear. This has lessened since I obtained the Fa, but this factor was not fully eliminated. You might get a kick out of it, but I fear driving, riding a bike, and am afraid of heights.
I am an assistant of a Fa-study group. In order to help older practitioners participate in a Fa-rectification project, I drive them to San Francisco to clarify the truth. In reality, I am always nervous when I drive and frequently visualize car crashes or other problems. I realize that this is interference, so I send righteous thoughts to eliminate it. Fellow practitioners encourage me and also send forth righteous thoughts.
Before cultivation, I was attached to fame, gain, and human emotions. I was a model worker at a hospital and the municipal level, so people considered me a strong woman. I continued to work even when there was blood in my urine. I was on 60 pills a day so I could maintain my work schedule. My kidney function returned to normal after I started practicing Falun Dafa. I have not taken another pill in 19 years.
Master said,
“Thus, what people consider good for a person is to fulfill more self-interest among everyday people, thereby living a better life. To the great enlightened beings, this person is worse off.” (Zhuan Falun)
On the surface, it was an attachment of fear, but in reality I also held the attachments to fame, self-interest, and human emotions. These things were attacking me. If one cultivates and eliminates the attachment to fame, self-interest, and human emotion, the person’s dimensional field will be completely cleansed. In cultivation, practitioners are repeatedly tested on whether they truly have let go of an attachment before they can rise to higher levels.
When Shen Yun was performing in San Francisco, the food preparation group asked another practitioner to reserve hotel rooms for us. I did not check out the hotel location beforehand, as we were busy. Around midnight that first day, I was driving back to the hotel with some practitioners in my car. It was raining. I realized that the hotel was on top of a hill, and my fear of heights immediately surfaced. My fellow practitioners sent forth righteous thoughts to eliminate my fear of heights.
Master said,
Should you have fear,it will seize upon youIf thoughts are righteous,evil will collapseThe cultivator’s mindis loaded with FaSend righteous thoughts,and rotten demons explodeGods walk the earth,validating the Fa (“What's to Fear” from Hong Yin, Vol. II)
Process of Giving up Attachments
Dafa purifies me, and fellow practitioners continue to help me in my cultivation. It has been ten years since I started driving and working with older practitioners. We distribute Dafa truth-clarification materials, validate the Fa, and promote Shen Yun. We have left footprints in the mountains and roads.
Although driving a car in itself is a simple thing, it involves cultivation to remove attachments to self-interest. It has become a habit for practitioners to ride with me, including young men. Sometimes I thought about the young people who can drive–why couldn't they drive and invite others to ride with them? Some of the older practitioners cannot drive but offer to pay for gas. It has become a test for me, because my heart was moved by self-interest. I had always thought that I did not care about money. Then, why was my heart moved? Master’s Fa appeared in my mind:
Cultivation is not hard,It’s attachments that are hard to part with.When will you sever those many attachments?All know the sea of hardship has no shore.If your will is not firm,The hurdles are like mountains.How will you transcend this mortal life?” (“Severing” from Hong Yin, Vol. II)
I learned that cultivation at every level is the process of giving up attachments.
Achieving Real Improvement
When looking inward, one must be clear on the Fa principles in order to achieve real improvement.
Master said,
“Right in the thick of this complicated ordinary people’s environment you’re clearheaded, you get shortchanged while you know full well what’s happening, and when other folks compromise your best interests you don’t fight tooth and nail like they do, and you’re taken advantage of while all kinds of things try to drag your character down. In a grueling environment like this you temper your will, you improve your character, and here, with all kinds of bad thoughts from ordinary people preying on you, you manage to come out of it detached.” (Zhuan Falun)
We are here because of a predestined relationship, and together we save sentient beings–this is absolutely wonderful. When assimilating to the Fa principles at this level of the universe, I feel my body becoming lighter! Walking on the path toward Godhood is such a blessing!
When my thoughts were righteous, I saw a flash of golden light shine on my car. This was amazing! Different thoughts lead to different results!
Master gave me another chance to get rid of the attachment to self-interest. When I looked inward, I found that hidden behind my attachment to money was resentment. The karma at this level was disintegrated when I eliminated my attachment.
It is tempting to want an easy and comfortable life in San Francisco with its pleasant climate and environment. Those older practitioners I work with are the ones who help me overcome my attachments to comfort. They would call before the weekend to schedule weekend activities. Therefore, when I have things of my own to take care of, I do them in the evenings so I can free up my weekend.
Changing the Environment
For ten years, we have driven to San Francisco to clarify the truth and promote Shen Yun.
When ticket sales were not doing well, no matter what we tried, I realized that there was interference from other dimensions. I decided that we should send forth righteous thoughts.
I took fellow practitioners to the Chinese Embassy in San Francisco at 5:30 a.m. to send forth righteous thoughts. It took me over two hours on the freeway, after which I went to work. Then, more fellow practitioners joined this effort for over one and a half months.
Over the years, we have clarified the truth in Chinatown and promoted the Nine Commentaries, quitting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and Shen Yun.
All of our efforts to cleanse and change the environment made me deeply appreciate the importance of retaining the essence of the Fa when studying the Fa, the power of looking inward, and eliminating all human notions.
Becoming Upright Through Assimilation to Fa Principles
At the end of this year's Shen Yun performance, we experienced some xinxing conflicts. The coordinator forgot to schedule transportation to return the kitchen equipment. I thought we could get together with another project and transport the equipment back to San Francisco. This incident turned out to be a real cultivation test.
First, I came on a little strong when negotiating with another project. During the following group Fa study, a practitioner pointed out that Party culture was too ingrained in me and that I was arrogant and had an attachment to showing off. Everyone was talking about me and how I still had an ordinary person’s mindset. This really got on my nerves.
Master said,
“As I mentioned before, when you speak to others with your own goals in mind, wanting to change or persuade them, no matter how reasonable your words are, other people will have a hard time completely accepting them. Nor can the words move people’s hearts.” (Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Switzerland)
I realized that, on the surface, I was arranging sending righteous thoughts for the Shen Yun project. However, given the poor planning and a strong intention on my part to force others to do my bidding, I also am one of the coordinators who insists that they are in the right. This attachment was hidden by the excuse of not doing things for oneself. It is a fatal weakness in cultivation.
Master said,
“Why? Let me tell you: It’s actually because the words you say contain all of your thoughts. Your sentences have complicated thoughts included in them, such as your human emotions and desires, and even those many attachments of yours. That makes your words not so powerful and rather diluted. Also, people often look at things from their own viewpoints when they say things to others, and those might not conform to the Fa of the universe. So in this respect they lack the power of Truth.” (Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Switzerland)
I felt that Master's words were aimed at me. I realized that I was approaching things from my own angle and not from others’ point of view.
Talking loudly is a behavior of Party culture. I personally did not think that I had a mentality of showing off, but others disagreed. I learned through Fa study that my heart was not pure and that the substance showing off did exist in my field. Thus, I made a greater effort to send forth righteous thoughts to disintegrate my mentality of arrogance, showing off, and Party culture, as I wanted to dissolve and eradicate the substances at the microscopic level.
During our group Fa study sharing, I looked inward and discussed what I found with fellow practitioners. I sincerely appreciated their kind help and tolerance of my language and behavior. I understand that only in a group cultivation environment can one upgrade one’s xinxing and obtain a higher understanding of the Fa principles.
Master said,
“... only by emphasizing xinxing cultivation can your gong increase and your level be upgraded.” (Zhuan Falun)
I understood from Master's Fa that only by assimilating to the Fa principles can one become upright.
Clarifying the Truth at Tourist Attractions
Since 2013, I have been clarifying the truth at tourist spots in addition to working full time. In studying the Fa well, I understood by 2014 the urgency of saving sentient beings and the race against time. Saving sentient beings is the mission and responsibility of Dafa disciples!
Tourist buses arrive at Stanford University every morning between six and eight o'clock. This is such a precious opportunity to clarify the truth to tourists from mainland China! Seven days a week, I go to the Stanford campus before going to work. I have done this for three years.
This is also a good cultivation opportunity. I talked to a tour guide who seemed to understand the truth about Dafa but disagreed when it came to quitting the CCP.
A practitioner told me that I was rushing too much and should not have touched that particular issue. Then, we noticed a young practitioner conversing with the guide. At the end, the guide said that he understood the truth. Afterward, I looked inward and found that I appeared assertive and impatient. This behavior creates a problem when clarifying the truth. My impatience is a manifestation of the combative Party culture.
Master said,
“The purer and simpler they are, the more they conform to the principles of that level of the universe. The words you speak then can instantly pierce people’s hearts, strike the depths of people’s thoughts, and strike the more microscopic part of their existences. Now isn’t that going to be powerful?! So if you can become tranquil, that ability signifies that you have reached a certain realm.” (Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Switzerland)
We complement one another if we cooperate. If we are not consistent, the evil will take advantage of the gap in another dimension. However, by cooperating, we destroy the the evil elements that separate us. We then rise in our cultivation level.
When I saw the guide again, he shook my hand and called me auntie.
We usually do a little sharing based on the Fa after the tourists are gone. More practitioners have joined the effort at this tourist attraction: Initially there were only about four, and now there are up to 15. The tourist buses usually stop for about 25 minutes.
Master said,
“...none of that was outside of selfishness. But what I want you to do is to truly, purely, and unselfishly Consummate with the real righteous Fa and righteous Enlightenment—only then can you achieve eternal non-extinction.” (Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Switzerland)
I deeply appreciate that whether in clarifying the truth or doing coordination work, one must always let go of self and arrogance. Some attachments were brought with us from previous lives. Cultivating in the Fa is to let Dafa mend the past path I walked. Let us dissolve into the Fa and not pay attention to trivial things that could create eternal sorrow and regret.
In true cultivation, one must learn the principles of the Fa when studying the Fa, one step at a time. One should cultivate steadily. Everything a practitioner does is something that needs to be done, and it is wrong if one does not do well. As it says in Zhuan Falun, "Cultivation depends on one’s own efforts, while the transformation of gong is done by one’s master."
Fa rectification is approaching the end. Let us work and improve together, and let each of us truly find our own cultivation path, cooperate with Master's arrangements, assist Master in rectifying the Fa, save innumerable sentient beings, and fulfill our vows.
(Presented at the 2016 San Francisco Falun Dafa Cultivation Experience Sharing Conference)
