Shared at the 2004 Canada Falun Dafa Conference
(Clearwisdom.net) I am a Korean practitioner and I obtained the Fa (1) two years and eight months ago in Toronto.
At the beginning of my cultivation I was confused about my path. Being a Korean practitioner amidst Chinese and Western practitioners, I often felt isolated and lonely. Although many times I was touched by practitioners and what they were doing, as well as being in the environment of practitioners, I still had a feeling of being different and separate from the rest. This continued until I learned to truly look inside myself and I realized that my feelings of loneliness and isolation were a product of my inner state and not the result of the people around me.
The purpose of my coming to Canada was to study English and to get a job abroad. I had a big attachment to learning English, and didn't attempt to make any Korean friends. I would instead choose to spend time with other nationalities in order to improve my English skills. At the same time, I didn't have confidence in my English and it was really hard to share with other practitioners. I also found I was getting too caught up in myself and my own personal issues, and as a result I missed a lot of chances to improve my xinxing (2). On top of this, I was spending a lot of time viewing myself as being different because of my nationality.
Along the way however, as I began to grow and mature in my cultivation, I started to realize that we are all cultivators of Dafa and we have an even greater mission of saving sentient beings. Language is the tool of communication in this world and it doesn't matter which nationality, situations or hardships we face. We have different missions and predestined relationships, so everyone's circumstance is different.
After I realized this I was able to walk my path much better. The more attachments I was able to give up the more I could assimilate to the teachings and principles of Dafa. After that I was able to pay more attention to the Korean community and found more opportunities to clarify the truth and establish a positive relationship with the Korean community in Toronto. I would like to share my experiences in clarifying the truth to the Korean community.
Koreatimes, the biggest newspaper in the Korean community in Toronto, did a report on Falun Gong in the newspaper; it ran a full-page article about the practice. This year I invited a Korean reporter to a Chinese New Years party hosted by Falun Gong practitioners. At that time she wasn't available, so the vice-president of the newspaper, who was interested in Falun Gong, came instead of the reporter. One day he asked me if he could write an article about Falun Gong and interview Korean practitioners. After Koreatimes published the article about Falun Gong, we received many phone calls. Seven new people attended the Korean group book study and learned the exercises and most of them are continuing to practice. Even though I hadn't really made a lot of effort, I truly felt that Teacher had opened the door widely in the Fa rectification period, and that the current is moving faster and faster as it breaks through to this outermost surface layer.
We also had a big group of practitioners attend the June 5th Christie Pits Park events to help clarify the truth to the estimated 10,000 attendees. The spring festival is the biggest event in the Korean community in Toronto. Last year another practitioner tried to rent a booth, but was refused. The reason was that the Chinese government banned Falun Gong and they didn't want to upset any economical or political ties with China. This year when we went to rent the booth, the organizer welcomed us to do so and when we introduced Falun Gong to him he was very pleased about it. But the evil is everywhere and there was some interference. A few days before the festival, the organizer of the festival phoned me and told me his story. The Korean government in Toronto had threatened him and asked him to remove the Falun Gong activity from the festival.
According to one of the organizers, the Korean government asked all the Korean embassies abroad to not offer support to any Falun Gong activities because of pressure from the Chinese government. They were supposed to donate $2,000 towards the festival and threatened to withhold the money if they kept the Falun Gong activity in the event. The organizer was very angry about their attitude. He told the government, "This is not a political festival but a community event. Toronto is a multi-cultural city and we've decided that having Falun Gong in this event is not wrong!" He refused their request. He positioned himself very well. I was so glad to see that ordinary people are becoming more rational and awakening even more.
This year the festival had its largest turnout ever. An estimated 10,000 people visited the event and the weather was so beautiful, as if arranged by Master while the truth was clarified to the wonderful people in the Korean community. Some people said that they came to the festival because Falun Gong was there. The first Monday after the festival, at the Christie Pits Park exercise site, six new people came to learn the exercises and there are still more coming to learn every week. The hongfa (3) was very effective and powerful because we worked together as one body. When I asked for help with this activity all the practitioners were pleased to come, and everything went smoothly. I really felt that I just needed to do what I am supposed to do, and Master arranges everything. Many people who don't know the truth about Falun Gong are just waiting for us to clarify the truth to them.
I would also like to share another understanding that I've enlightened to:
We can only depend on the Fa that Master taught.
I found one of my biggest attachments one day while I was talking with a practitioner. That is, I depend on others too much. What people think about me makes me either happy or sad. Not because I can't meet the standard of a Dafa practitioner, but because I rely on other people's opinion too much.
The day before, when the practitioner pointed out a lot of my character flaws such as panicking, over-cautiousness, indecisiveness, and depending on others too much, it bothered me a lot. I thought about it almost all day. Sometime later I asked myself why it bothered me so much.
Also, when I do Dafa work and in my cultivation, I was accustomed to relying on others and on my human notions because of lack of my own righteous thoughts.
I realized that I cared too much about what people said about me and what they thought of me. It controlled me a lot. I found that when the practitioner mentioned my shortcomings I wouldn't directly admit to it, but I thought perhaps it was true. So it bothered me a lot. I really thanked the practitioner for pointing out my shortcomings and it enabled me to find my attachments and gave me a chance to improve myself.
Now I know that I just need to follow the universe's characteristic of "Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance" and the Fa that Master has taught. We can't always rely on Master to change things for us, without striving to follow these principles.
I'm often reminded of Teacher's words from "Determination" in Essentials for Further Advancement:
"With Teacher here, you are full of confidence. Without Teacher here, you have no interest in cultivation, as though you cultivate yourself for Teacher and have taken up this path out of some interest. ... Cultivation is your own affair, and nobody else can do it for you. The teacher can only tell you the laws and principles on the surface."
I haven't seen Master lecture on the Fa in person, but I always feel that Master is with me.
Thank you so much, Master!
I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank all the practitioners in Toronto. I've learned a lot from you. Thank you so much!
The above is just my own personal understanding; please point out anything improper.
Notes
(1) Fa: Law and principles; the teachings of Falun Dafa. "To obtain the Fa" refers to learning Falun Dafa and beginning the practice.
(2) xinxing: mind-heart nature; moral character.
(3) hongfa: an activity organized to promote Falun Dafa.
