(Minghui.org) I’d like to share with you the amazing changes I’ve experienced in my cultivation after I began memorizing the Falun Dafa teachings.
About eighteen months ago, I started to memorize Zhuan Falun with another practitioner over the Internet. Every morning I read a lecture in Zhuan Falun with other practitioners and then we do the standing exercises. I then go home and recite the Fa with her. Later, we added 45 minutes in the evening.
I’ve experienced many challenges while reciting the Fa. I’ve had to overcome interference from thought karma, physical fatigue, and sleepiness. Nevertheless, it has given me a chance to temper my will, especially on Tuesday nights since I have a class after work and I get home very late. I feel tired and sleepy, and I do not want to go online to recite the Fa. Remembering that the other practitioner is waiting for me, I quietly repeat what Master taught, “When it's difficult to endure, you can endure it. When it's impossible to do, you can do it.” (Lecture Nine, Zhuan Falun). As long as I encourage myself to go online and start reciting the Fa my tiredness soon disappears.
The key to reciting the Fa is to keep doing it. We all understand that Dafa is precious in that it cultivates our main consciousness. So when reciting the Fa it’s important to be clear-minded and it should be our main consciousness that obtains the Fa.
When we recite the Fa as a group, we do not rush through it. We do it sentence by sentence, and paragraph by paragraph. I feel more and more that it’s important to recite the Fa accurately.
I remember when we were reciting the section on “Jealousy” I kept replacing “practitioner” with “cultivator” and replacing “cultivator” with “practitioner”. In the past when I recited the Fa by myself, I thought that “cultivator” and “practitioner” had similar meanings, and so long as I got the meaning right, it wasn’t a big deal if I didn’t get the exact word. I would move on to the next paragraph.
Now, I do it differently. I compare every word I recite with the original Chinese text until I’ve accurately memorized them. When I’m able to accurately recite the paragraphs I feel the power of the Fa, and the Buddha nature deep within me is once again awakened. I had the same experience when I began practicing! It’s as Master said, “When one's Buddha-nature emerges, it will shake the World of Ten Directions.” (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun)
I feel ashamed because sometimes I get too attached to my understanding and judge others by my standard. I was often quick to see others’ shortcomings, and sometimes even looked down on them. I understand that underlining all these is my attachment of jealousy. I told myself I should focus on looking more at their strengths.
It’s my personal understanding that Master rectifies the universe and saves us by giving us Zhuan Falun - the great law of the universe. I should recite the Fa exactly as written in the precious Fa book, with no compromise. It is also a test for my faith in Master and the Fa. I should not doubt the wordings or punctuation. I should not mix them with my ordinary human way of thinking and expression. The mistakes I make in reciting the Fa are very often my human way of thinking and may exactly be the parts that are inconsistent with the Fa. When I recite the Fa with no mistakes, the Fa corrects my deviated thinking habits and even the microscopic levels of my thoughts.
How do I recite the punctuation then? I incorporate the meaning of the punctuation as I understand it to the sentence that I’m memorizing. For example, in the section “The Issue of Treating Illness” (Lecture Seven, Zhuan Falun), in talking about the “hand-grabbing method” Master says: “Why don’t you try it and show me! ” (Lecture Seven, Zhuan Falun) First, I thought it was a period on the end, but when I took another look I could see it is an exclamation mark. Then I had this exclamation mark appear in my mind while emphasizing the tone in order to express the meaning of the exclamation mark. When I incorporated the meaning of the exclamation mark into the sentence, I could feel the power of the Fa. This sentence is deeply embedded in my mind.
When reciting the Fa, it is important to focus and recite every single word and to have every word appear in your mind. When my main consciousness is reciting the Fa accurately with a clear mind in this dimension, all of my bodies in the other dimensions, including their corresponding cosmic bodies, are also reciting the Fa with me. They are also being rectified by Dafa.
In addition to reciting the Fa with the group, I also make use of my spare time like when I’m walking or taking the subway to and from work, etc., to review the Fa that I just recited that morning. I review one sentence repeatedly until no mistake is made before I move on to the next sentence. I’ve noticed that my human thoughts and attachments are becoming weaker, and my heart is not as easily affected when things happen.
Take impatience as an example. Often the subway train is delayed. Sometimes I’m impatient. After I focus on reciting the Fa while waiting for the train, the time spent waiting becomes meaningful. Gradually the delay seems to have nothing to do with me. When my heart is no longer affected, the subway train is not delayed as often as it used to be.
After I formed the habit of reciting the Fa whenever I had free time, my human thoughts have become weaker and my mind is now clearer. I seem to be better able to look inside.
One day, I needed to take an express bus to work at a courthouse in a different location. The moment I stepped out of the subway, I saw the express bus I needed. I walked faster but just when I was about to step onto the bus, the driver closed the door and drove away. In the past, I would have been upset. However, at that moment the first thought that came to my mind was: I needed to look inside to see whether I said or did anything not in line with the Fa. Because I kept my mind busy in reciting the Fa, so I was not affected when the driver ignored me and drove away.
I looked around and noticed a Chinese man standing beside me. Obviously, he had also missed the express bus, and he seemed frustrated. I told him that the next bus would come shortly. At that moment, the bus arrived. However, it was not an express bus but an all-stop bus, which normally takes twice as long. But then a thought occurred to me: this man must have a predestined relationship with me. Master is giving me the opportunity to clarify the truth to him!
Enlightened to this arrangement, I followed the man onto the bus and sat beside him. I started a conversation with him. When I clarified the truth, he readily agreed to quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The moment I was done, the bus arrived at my stop. If we had taken the express bus there wouldn’t have been enough time to clarify the truth to him. Seeing I was getting off, the man shook my hand and kept saying, “Thank you!”. As I thought about it, I realized it was because my mind was reciting the Fa that my heart was not affected. What if I missed the opportunity arranged by Master in noticing this man and did not clarify the truth to him? I would very much regret it. I did a heshi to Master and continued reciting the Fa.
It's been over a dozen years since I started to use opportunities at work or in my daily life to clarify the truth to people. I’ve experienced some fundamental changes since I started to recite the Fa with the group. Before that, my daily work and life took up most of my time and doing the three things was just a small part of my daily life. Now it seems that the three things take up most of my time, and my daily work and life revolve around the three things.
I use every opportunity, no matter whether someone comes to my door to canvass for a political candidate, or to fix my water tank, delivers something, or asks for directions—the real reason we encounter them is for us Dafa disciples to clarify the truth to them and save them. The people around us may live in confusion, but we as Dafa disciples should never feel confused since we shoulder this grand mission that Master has given us.
In the early stages of the 2019 Shen Yun promotion, I focused my efforts on group ticket sales. Four groups bought over 200 tickets, but they were all under $150. In the beginning, I did not see a problem and I thought we also needed to sell these tickets. But then one group called and asked to buy eight $130 tickets. When I checked the website I noticed that the $150 and the $130 tickets were nearly sold out. This group refused to purchase the $195 or $120 tickets, since they did not want to hear any complaints from their clients about the discrepancy in prices. Eight sentient beings were on the waiting list to buy tickets, but they wouldn’t agree to a higher or lower ticket price. This problem seemed to have no solution and it occurred to me that there must be some issue with my cultivation. What was it?
When I examined myself, I realized that I did not bother to look at what was needed most in terms of the overall situation and focus my efforts there. I focused on group tickets since to me group tickets are easier to sell. My efforts were separated from the overall requirements. Just like archery, our main goal is to hit the middle of the target, but I was aiming for the side.
Three weeks before the Toronto Shen Yun shows I decided to learn from an experienced practitioner who had been approaching mainstream society. This practitioner’s long-term commitment touched my heart. She said we needed to form one body by letting go of self. I felt Master was using this practitioner’s words to enlighten me.
I took a day off so I could visit some foundations and luxury homes with her. I asked whether I needed to do some research in order to prepare. She said that she had everything prepared. Having no idea who we would visit or where we were going, I felt a little uncomfortable. Then words, “pursuit is an attachment” came to my mind. I thought, isn’t this a great opportunity to eliminate my attachment of pursuit when I have no idea where we’re going? Isn't this a great opportunity for me to cooperate with a fellow practitioner? When I enlightened to this understanding I was very willing and happy to simply cooperate with her.
Two weeks before Toronto Shen Yun shows I came across a list of “The Top Ten Richest People in Canada”. I felt this wasn’t accidental. At the same time, I was also hesitant: wasn‘t it too late to start contacting them now? I emailed the list to the coordinator, who said, “Please start contacting them immediately.” I felt encouraged.
Almost immediately I found the contact info for one of the people on the list, Ms. S. I told the coordinator that I would call her the following morning. It was noon on Sunday, and time to send forth righteous thoughts. After sending righteous thoughts, I told myself that time is too precious. I’m not going to wait until tomorrow, I’m going to call this number now. Because it was a Sunday, I knew that usually no one would be in the office, but at least I would find out whether the number was valid. When I called it went to voicemail, so I was sure this was the correct number to reach Ms. S. Then I thought I should call back and leave a message rather than wait until the next morning.
I called a second time and miraculously a gentleman answered. What a pleasant surprise! I calmed down and said, “I know today is Sunday. If my call is interfering with your Sunday schedule, I sincerely apologize. I would like to send Ms. S an invitation but I don’t have her contact info.” The gentleman seemed very understanding, and he gave me Ms. S’s executive assistant’s email as well as his own and asked me to copy the invitation to him so that he could help me follow up with her assistant.
While I was thinking about how to write the invitation letter, a friend called me for something unrelated. He offered to review the invitation letter for me. He pointed out that the correct way to address a person like Ms. S is, “Your Honor.” He also asked us to pay attention to the tone of the letter and other details.
After discussing with the coordinator, we decided to follow my friend’s suggestion. I spoke to the coordinator who said he would type out the letter on special paper. The coordinator would then give me the printed letter on Monday morning so that I could go in person to deliver it to the office, which was only a 15-minute walk from my workplace.
But that day I was scheduled for a full-day trial. When I got the printed letter from the coordinator, I ran back to the court, holding the letter close to my heart. I heard the lawyers persuading the judge to remand the trial, since they had just received some new disclosures and they needed to review them before the trial began. This new development gave me enough time to deliver the invitation.
Holding the invitation that was filled with Dafa practitioners’ energy, I arrived at Mr. J’s office (the gentleman I spoke to on the phone). It was again a miracle, because he was in his office. It was as though he was waiting for me. His assistant later told me that usually Mr. J doesn’t come to the office at that time. Mr. J carefully read the invitation letter. I said, “It’s my great honor to invite you and your family to come and see Shen Yun.” Mr. J, who is highly respected in the performing arts community, replied, “It’s my great honor to have you come to my office and invite me to Shen Yun”.
Mr. J’s family, including his daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren all came to see Shen Yun. He told us he would also come to future shows when his schedule allowed.
I was told that when Ms. S was reading our invitation, she clicked on the Shen Yun trailer and audience reviews link in the email and commented that she really liked Shen Yun’s colors and costumes. She apologized that she could not make it due to a conflict with her schedule. Her office staff told me, “This is a good start, you should continue to invite her, and invite her much sooner next time.
Master has paved the way for us to bring Shen Yun to the mainstream society—all we have to do is walk our path. I will require myself to continue diligently reciting the Fa, cultivating solidly, and following Master’s teachings to cooperate as one body to bring Shen Yun to mainstream society.
Thank you, Master! Thank you, fellow practitioners!
(Presented at the 2019 Canada Fa Conference)