(Minghui.org) Esteemed Master, and fellow practitioners:
I am a Swiss Falun Dafa practitioner. My mother began to cultivate in Dafa when I was two years old. I studied the Fa with her. As I recall, when I attended elementary school we set up a regular schedule that included studying the Fa, doing the exercises, and sending forth righteous thoughts. Given my mother’s help and thanks to Master Li’s (Falun Dafa’s founder) compassion, I grew up in a cultivator’s environment and could internalize the precious Fa principles.
But, sadly, I was influenced by society’s big dye vat, an insincere heart, and lacking steadfastness in my cultivation, so I slacked off as I grew older. I stopped listening to my mother, no longer studied the Fa regularly, and no longer did the exercises regularly. Although I never stopped practicing Dafa completely, when recalling my teenage years, I must admit that I never cultivated solidly.
More and more did I get influenced by bad substances from pop culture, movies, TV series, and other negative content from the internet. I think that all that put up a wall or blocked me from doing serious cultivation. This made it difficult to study the Fa, do the exercises, and send righteous thoughts.
I met my friend and present husband when I was a child. He also grew up in a Dafa environment, but he stopped practicing in Dafa. However, it is good that he knows and believes in Dafa and the Dafa principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. I believe that such precious principles are helping us build a good relationship. Because of that we know how to be good people, are aware of the principle of loyalty, and the importance of looking inward, which allowed us to live in harmony. However, in the early days of our relationship, I was not that serious about cultivating.
Remembering My Heart’s Desire: Cultivating Until Returning to my OriginI am truly fortunate to have been born into a family where many practice Falun Dafa, I also lived in an environment where many of our friends either knew of or practiced Falun Dafa. It has been about two years since I read the Fa more and did the exercises. There was one time when I thought about how I came back to studying the Fa. I wish to share my reasoning with you.
Despite neglecting serious cultivation, I never forgot about the principles of and my faith in Falun Dafa. Maybe Master helped me come back to serious and diligent cultivation. He must have seen the times and moments when I wished in my heart to be more determined about my cultivation.
Recalling those times when I talked with Falun Dafa practitioners there were moments that helped awaken and remember my heart’s desire, and why I’m in this world.
For example, I recall an incident at the Kung Fu boot camp in Sweden. I was talking with another student who also practiced Falun Dafa. He spoke to me about cultivation issues. I admitted that I was involved in issues that should not be done by a practitioner. I reasoned that I was not serious about cultivation at the time. He admitted to also being involved in things that had nothing to do with cultivation. However, he was trying to return to cultivation a step at a time and wanted to align himself with the Fa.
This discussion and recalling my own experiences, helped me realize that it was important to return one step at a time if one found it difficult to return to cultivation, or become more diligent. Sometimes one feels overwhelmed when one wants to change from one day to the next. That’s why I think it is okay to take small steps and improve one step at a time – making it better as one goes and lacking the strength to let go of attachments and desires all at once. This experience will allow the Fa to give us the strength and wisdom to do better in the future.
Besides, I recall a discussion I had with my father-in-law’s brother who also practices Falun Dafa. He helped me understand that cultivation is my most sincere wish. He told me what cultivating in Dafa means to him. Given this and other talks with practitioners helped me clear my foggy mind, all of which blinded me and bound me increasingly more to the material world.
Also, the help extended by my family was very valuable. Unfortunately, one does not always listen and will instead take the words and opinions of other people outside the family circle to heart. However, I believe that the righteous thoughts of my family members also were helpful to get rid of negative substances, the ones that interfere with my ability to cultivate diligently.
These experiences showed me the power of Falun Dafa practitioners’ words and actions. I recall a video that tells of an ancient story – exactly where we came from and how we descended to this world with other deities. It reminded us that we vowed to help Master in the Fa-rectification and save all sentient beings. There is a section that asked us to help those that got lost in desires and show them the way back home. The video is called: The Eternal Story.
I want to thank Master and fellow practitioners for their mercy and for helping me remember my way. Also, it helped that my mother and her husband talked to me about cultivation.
These conversations were sometimes uncomfortable for me. I did not want to hear about the things I had done wrong, and I feared being reminded that there was not much time left. Although, I understand that it was not easy for the two of them to bring up these issues. But, today I understand that I needed this wake-up call.
One night I was very scared. I thought that my mother had told me that there was not much time left for being serious about cultivation. As I recalled I was told to expect a thunderstorm that evening. I was rather worried that time was running out because I had wasted it. There were tears covering my face. I was certain that I must use my time well and no longer waste any time. I believed that wasting time was not good, and I should not panic. The hammer blow and wake-up call awakened me through this experience.
It has been two years since I got married. I believe that this was also an important step that helped me to return to diligent cultivation. The more I study the Fa and read about traditions and laws left by the divinities for human beings, the better did I understand the importance of the attitude and relationship between a husband and wife. I believe that marriage was an important step in my life. Our life became peaceful, harmonious, and upright.
After getting married, a practitioner and I agreed to do the exercises together. She usually attends the Dafa practice and Fa study group at my mother’s on Fridays. She lives close to my place, which made it easier to meet regularly. In the beginning, we did the exercises one day on the weekend outdoors. Doing the exercises with another practitioner was very helpful. Doing the exercises with her helped me let go of my attachment to selfishness.
In the past, I wanted to do everything by myself. I believed that I just needed to be strong enough, which would help me to be diligent. However, this was rather difficult for me as I had problems with discipline, planning, distractions, and getting up in the morning. I realized that being together with fellow practitioners and reading the Fa in a group environment was rather helpful and precious for practitioners. One makes sure that everyone helps each other to be diligent and helps pass tribulations as one body.
With time the practitioner and I met more often. We read the Fa and sent righteous thoughts. If possible, we met every workday morning, read the Fa, and if time permitted we did the exercises. This practitioner helped me keep up our schedule, as she came every morning to my house. This helped me not to give in to my desire to sleep and comfort. We generally start our day by reading the Fa, having breakfast, and then doing the exercises. I used to resist doing the exercises and would get dizzy. In practicing regularly, and having breakfast first, it got easier. Besides we could share thoughts during our breakfast, and talk about our attachments and experiences.
Once in a while, we sent righteous thoughts to eliminate desires and interference. However, there were times when we did not stick to our program. As soon as we realized that we were slacking off, we would meet to share cultivation experiences, reschedule our program, and remind ourselves of our goals. Afterward, things usually got better.
Our small exercise group helped me a lot. By regularly taking time for cultivation my thoughts became more genuine, and the Fa gave me the strength to become even more determined. In the past, I experienced lots of problems, such as getting tired and falling asleep when studying the Fa. I would fight the fatigue, get up, and get into muscularly strenuous positions to stay awake. Over time, my situation improved, and nowadays I feel even less inclined to get tired when studying the Fa.
There are times when I read the Fa with my mother or sister on the phone. I realize that by doing that we help each other to study diligently and immerse ourselves more and more into the Fa.
Going forward I want to improve so that I can read the Fa and do the exercises on my own – even when I am alone. I want to be less dependent on others, and also have enough strength to help others to study the Fa and do the exercises. There are times when I read the Fa with my husband. He even approached me and asked me to meditate with him. Thus, he supports my efforts.
Generally, he shows quite some understanding when I am involved in issues pertaining to Dafa. I also can talk openly with him about my attachments, and experiences, as he knows Zhuan Falun and understands me. I did not dare to do this in the past. But, he told me at one time that I could discuss the issue with him, which I did. I am very grateful that I can express myself freely at home, and thus bounce off on him.
I also am glad that my husband gave up smoking when the fellow practitioner stopped by on a regular basis. I believe that Master and our cultivation environment helped him do that.
I also want to eliminate my desire to sleep and enjoy comfort – getting up earlier in the morning. However, I’m not quite there yet. Besides, I want to become more disciplined and plan my time better. However, I am aware that I can’t force myself to do this all at once. As I understand, Master gave us this cultivation form that we can cultivate alongside fellow practitioners as one body. Thus, we can elevate, and help each other pass tribulations.
My personal experience helped me realize how helpful it is when practitioners support each other, and I am very grateful for that. However, I want to be strong and improve quickly. I had a hint when a short time ago the house of my fellow practitioner with whom I practice in the morning was on fire. This was a wake-up call for me, telling me that I should not grow dependent on others.
An attachment of mine is movies, TV series, social media, and the generalconsumption report on the internet. Unfortunately, I still waste a lot of time concerning these issues. There are days when I spend several hours a day watching and consuming videos and irrelevant and petty information. They are often emotion-loaded, bad information, as well as bring out lust and immoral content. I often feel bad and lose a lot of time. As a result, I also neglect the things I should accomplish in everyday life. Thus, given my unreliability, I also do not leave a good impression on ordinary people and am not good support for Fa-rectification projects that I am involved in. Although I read the Fa with my fellow practitioner in the morning during the week, I think it acts like a damper when I consume the content afterward, and it drags me down over and over again.
I talked to my mother about it, who said that it was as if stepping on the gas and the brake at the same time when driving a car. I understand that it is a bad habit and that there is probably a bad substance behind it that sucks up my energy and greatly interferes with me being sincere and doing the things I am supposed to do well.
From what I can tell, this is also mainly the cause of my sleep problems. I have been sleeping 10 to 12 hours a lot lately, and I am not up to par after getting up. Master taught us in his lecture regarding a practitioner’s question:
Disciple: Are the thoughts and personality that were formed in us over the course of time old-force arrangements? If it creates significant interference for one’s Fa-study, how is one to fully break free?
Master: The thoughts and ideas, or the various notions that form in your brain, were all formed over time in the course of your interactions and encounters out in the world. And the older one is, the more one has amassed. In mainland China, there are more and more bad phenomena, and they are increasingly apparent. People have noted that mainland Chinese kids are startlingly different from kids overseas. Kids from the mainland know about everything and are very crafty. Indeed, bad things of every sort are coming about in that society, and there is no moral baseline for anything—be it the newspapers, the media, people’s conduct, or the things people say. The little kids’ heads there are inundated with a lot of inappropriate things, more than kids who live outside of China, and they are thus a lot more like adults in that sense.
Whatever enters a person’s mind stays there. Human beings have memory. While we call it “memory,” and it sounds like something conceptual, it is in fact something really, truly material. When people say things, or when someone explains something to you, or tries to convince you of something, “yap, yap, yap”—a steady stream [of things] pours into your head. Real substances are actually being hurled toward you. When some people get really upset and keep raising objections, they are in fact repelling all those things. Of course, what Dafa disciples do is good for people, and our speech stems from righteous thoughts, so what comes forth from our mouths when we speak are lotus flowers. By contrast, none of what forms inside ordinary people amidst society at large is very good, and upon entering one’s body those things will in fact dominate a person. People may say that it doesn’t matter what they see with their eyes, and that they can just stop looking at something if they no longer want to see it. But that’s not true. When your vision makes contact with something, that thing has entered. That’s because any thing can replicate itself in other dimensions, so the longer you look at something, the more it enters. (Fa Teaching Given at the 2010 New York Fa Conference)
I resolved with all my heart to eliminate this attachment. I started writing down my attachments, and decided to spend only half an hour a day on my smartphone during the week, and stopped watching movies or series programs on television. Now, I notice how much more productive I became, and how I was able to make better use of my time. The TV stayed off, and although I could not achieve my goal with the smartphone, since I also need it for work-related communication. I also stopped using social media and bad content. So far I have only tried it for a few days, but I will continue to improve and let go of this demon.
My sister and I experience similar problems in our daily lives, and unfortunately, given these habits, were often depressed. Therefore, my mother invited us on a week of vacation in the mountains.
I am writing my experience sharing while spending time in the mountains. Mother and I read the Fa and do the exercises. During the day we hike through nature or get involved in other nice things. In the evening we turn on the airplane mode on the cell phone. So, I can sleep without my phone, something I had done a lot lately.
At first, I had a difficult time falling asleep – I was very restless and had bad dreams. But, I noticed that it got better from day to day. It was as if a bad entity was devouring my energy by using the technical gadgets and the internet and is fighting to keep from being eliminated.
These holidays in the mountain are very uplifting and give me greater peace. I have realized that every now and then when facing problems, it is important to take time out and focus on personal cultivation. In my understanding, this is the only way to do well in everyday life, and the only way to clarify the truth about Dafa, and leave a good impression in people’s minds. Besides, I realized that good planning and concentration are of value. Thus, one will do the things one is supposed to do well when cultivating in everyday life.
When I was little, our family was a member of the Swiss Dafa practitioners group. Then, we moved to the Czech Republic for a-year-and-a-half. After we returned to Switzerland I actually had lost contact with practitioners. I also was not a very diligent practitioner. Besides, we had differences in our understanding, and my mother and her husband experienced conflicts and difficulties with the Swiss practitioners. Thus, I developed wrong thoughts against fellow practitioners.
However, later these conflicts were resolved and my mother and stepfather were accepted back into the group. I believe that this was interference by demons. I also think that given that situation we all gained new understandings and found our attachments. At some point, I thought about contacting the Swiss practitioners. I wanted to know if I could be added to the email list.
Now, I could go to information booths again. I also went several times to the Swiss Fa-study group. However, I felt a strong resistance in myself, as negative beings were probably trying to prevent me from stepping into this good and righteous environment developed by fellow practitioners. But, I noticed that they lessened over time. I could let go of interference, attachments, bad notions, and felt clearer and unhindered after I joined Fa study.
As I understand, we have great strength. As one body we can get rid of bad entities, and eliminate interference. Now, we can work on projects meant to save sentient beings. No one else but ourselves can disturb us, meaning if we are insincere and allow bad entities to enter our field, we let our attachments guide us. Therefore it is important that we always purify ourselves, elevate, and cooperate with each other.
I think that as practitioners we have to be careful in how we treat each other. I hope that we, Swiss practitioners can cooperate with each other even better, try to let go of our attachments, and cooperate well with each other.
As I see it, there are other young practitioners who find it difficult in their teens to cultivate, and are carried away by the dye vat in human society. I hope that sharingmy experience will help them as it has helped me. I hope that they also will encourage other practitioners to become more diligent. I believe that it is fine to start with small steps and do better in the future.
I also realized the preciousness and how powerful the environment of Falun Dafa practitioners is. I decided to participate more in group Fa study, do better, be part of the one body, and do well the things we are supposed to do. I thank fellow practitioners for their kind support over the years.
I want to do well on the final path and thank our esteemed Master for his compassionate saving and patient guidance of sentient beings.
Thank you, esteemed Master, and fellow practitioners.
(Presented at the 2021 Switzerland-German-Speaking Region Fa Conference)