(Clearwisdom.net) Back in November 1994, I met a 40 year-old businessman who practiced Falun Gong for only a month. He shared with me his brief encounter with Falun Gong. I asked him what he felt Falun Gong was about. He thought for a while and said, "I can't really remember. Something like to be a good person. One thing that was sure was that no drinking or smoking was allowed." Then I asked him why he gave up the practice. He said, "Well, it said in the book that one cannot drink or smoke when you practice Falun Dafa. Although I had my doubts, I had to believe that it was true." Once he started the morning practice, every time he drank alcohol, his stomach got upset. It didn't bother him if he drank anything else. Since his job was public relations, he had to frequently attend banquets where he was expected to drink alcohol and he found it difficult to avoid. So he decided to give up practicing Falun Gong. Then he said to me, "You seem to be interested in it. Let me give you the book of Falun Gong (Revised Edition)." I still feel sorry for him whenever I think about it. Master Li said in "Why One Cannot See" from Essentials for Further Advancement, "Seeing is believing; no seeing, no believing. This is the view of an inferior person.... Enlightening comes before seeing. Cultivate your mind and eliminate your karma. Once your original nature comes forth you will be able to see." We can see that from the man's experience: even if miracles have happened to you, if you do not enlighten to it, you will still miss the opportunity. Although the book looked plain to me, I was riveted by what it had to say. Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance had a tremendous impact on me. I made up my mind that I would cultivate this righteous way all my life. Before this, I had spent about six months in various Qigong schools and temples, and read Buddhist and Taoist scriptures. Although I experienced some amazing things that I had aspired to achieve, they still seemed superficial to me and I gradually lost interest in them. It was at this time that I came across the Falun Dafa book, Zhuan Falun. I was very excited when I first read it and decided to learn more about it because it appeared to be something very hard to come by. As I read Zhuan Falun again and again, I experienced many changes in myself. I started to have a better attitude towards my job, I did not lie anymore, I became more and more tolerant and patient, and I put other people's needs before my own. When others infringed upon my interests, I could face it calmly. I used to have so much tension with my parents that I walked out on them after a big fight. The more I read Zhuan Falun, the more I realized that I shouldn't have done that to my parents. My prejudice towards them just disappeared afterwards. In addition, my attitude towards people around me was changing for the better. When I realized the tremendous impact Falun Dafa had on me, I was shocked. All of a sudden, I understood what it meant by "the righteous way". In November 1996, I decided to formally take up Falun Dafa. I tried to imitate the diagrams in the book to teach myself the exercises. I felt very strong energy through me when I finished the first set of exercises "Buddha Showing a Thousand Hands", and as soon as I started "Holding the Wheel In Front of the Head" of the second set of exercises "The Falun Standing Stance", I could feel a huge mass of energy travel from in front of my forehead to my lower abdomen. It felt like a round heated plate and it spun right away, radiating energy outwards. Then my whole body jolted, especially around my shoulders, back and upper arms. I could see my cotton shirt pushed up about an inch high. Since I have read Zhuan Falun, I knew it was Master Li who had implanted the Falun on me and the Falun was cleansing my body. But I never expected that it would be this strong. I could feel the energy around my lower abdomen for the following week. The weather was turning cold then, but my abdomen felt so warm. It was also heartwarming to realize that Master Li had taken me as a disciple. I didn't have access to Master Li's articles at that time. It was only later that I read "Seeking Discipleship With Teacher" from Essentials for Further Advancement, "Dafa is being spread far and wide. Those who hear about it are looking for it. Those who have obtained it are delighted with it. The number of cultivators is increasing daily and becoming countless. Nonetheless, most of the self-learners have the intention of formally seeking discipleship with Teacher, for they are concerned that they might not have received the genuine teachings if they have not seen Teacher in person. This is actually due to a shallow understanding of the Fa. My teaching Dafa widely is to offer salvation to all. Whoever learns it is my disciple. Not following old rituals and conventions, I ignore superficial formalities and only look at one's heart. If you do not genuinely cultivate yourself, what use has formally acknowledging me as "Teacher"? A person who truly cultivates will gain things naturally without pursuing them. All of the gong and Fa lie in the book, and one will naturally obtain them by reading Dafa. Those who learn it will change automatically, and they will already be in the Dao when they read the book over and over again. Teacher will certainly have Law Bodies (fashen) safeguarding them quietly. With perseverance, they will certainly achieve Righteous Attainment in the future." Given my own experience, I knew exactly what Master Li was talking about.
Early 1997, I went to a friend's home to hear her mother talk about group practice. When she heard that I taught myself to do the exercises by the diagrams in the book, she took me to a contact person nearby who corrected my movements. When I was doing the exercises of The Great Heavenly Circuit there, I felt doing the exercises was effortless and automatic. My body felt as if it was covered with fine and intense energy about half an inch thick, which was moving slowly along the surface of my body. My hands were immersed in it and were floating at the same time. When the contact person found out that I didn't have all the Dafa materials, she gave me a set, some of which were her last remaining copy. She gave me a copy of Zhuan Falun because she was worried that the one I had might have mistakes because it was a pirated copy. When I paid her, I found the amount she charged me was lower than those marked on the materials. I insisted on paying the regular price. She explained that it was a wholesale price and that practitioners would never make a profit by selling the materials. I said that at least she should charge me for the shipment for them. Then she told me that it was another practitioner who bought them and left the materials because of the volume of people there. It was for the convenience of the new practitioners. Towards the end of the summer of 1998, one evening, I was reading Zhuan Falun at home when all of a sudden, many of the characters in the book turned into Falun. It was like shiny ripples blown by a breeze or fireworks blossoming, except that the shining parts were the Falun. It lasted for quite a while and happened many times afterwards. Master Li wrote in his article "Broad and Immense" from Essentials for Further Advancement, "The principles of Falun Dafa can provide guidance for anyone's cultivation practice, including for one's religious beliefs. This is the principle of the universe, the true Fa that has never been taught. People in the past were not allowed to know this universe's principle (the Buddha Fa). It transcends all academic theories and moral principles of human society from ancient times to this day. What was taught by religions and what people experienced in the past were only superficialities and shallow phenomena. Its broad and immense, profound inner meaning can only manifest itself to, and be experienced and understood by, practitioners who are at different levels of true cultivation. Only then can one truly see what the Fa is." Every Falun Dafa practitioner has a different understanding of the Fa principles at different stages and different levels of his or her cultivation. What I have written about are my limited understandings in the early days of my cultivation. Kindly point out anything that is inappropriate. I hope this article is useful for those who have never had a chance to get to know Falun Dafa or get to know Falun Dafa well. Kind-hearted people, please do not let this historic opportunity pass you by.
