(Clearwisdom.net) In the past, I thought that only the most noteworthy cultivation stories were worth writing about. In fact, the act of writing out an ordinary cultivation experience, whether it is published or not, is in and of itself a process of improvement. I also understand that I must have the heart of "experience sharing" to properly understand another's cultivation experience. Previously, I read cultivation experiences from the standpoint of "judgment." I still find that this attitude exists among other practitioners I know.
The following are some of my cultivation experiences.
1. Discovering Falun Dafa
In August 1998, my wife was very sick, so I took her to a Falun Dafa exercise site with the intention of giving it a try. Because of this experience, I too started practicing Falun Dafa. I was very excited when I read Zhuan Falun (1) for the first time. I read "Lunyu" eagerly and with a happy heart. I wanted to read through the book in a single pass. The idea of cultivating for the rest of my life became rooted in my mind.
I also wanted my friends and relatives to learn the goodness of the practice. In October of that same year, I acquired several copies of Zhuan Falun and delivered them to my brothers in my hometown.
On July 22, 1999, all of the TV stations were attacking Dafa with fabricated lies. At that time, my wife was frightened and wanted me to give up practicing. I didn't believe anything the stations were reporting. I focused my thoughts on Teacher: First, Teacher taught us to be good people. Is this wrong? Second, the media fabricated the story that Teacher collected money. Did Teacher ever ask a single penny from us? Third, my wife hadn't been able to rise from her sick bed due to back surgery. The first night she practiced the exercises, she could walk again and eventually was once again able to care for herself. These were my experiences and my witness. That afternoon, I went to the exercise site as usual, but they were all blocked, and some practitioners were arrested at home.
The next morning, I was the first one to get to the office. I collected all the newspaper articles attacking Dafa. For a while, if I noticed articles slandering Dafa, I would gather them up and not let my co-workers see them. Although in my mind, as of yet I did not have the concept of "clarifying the truth," and while I could not prevent my co-workers from watching TV or reading the newspaper, I didn't want them to see the lies attacking Dafa. This was indeed a natural response from my heart.
During the past few years, none of my co-workers has ever said anything against Dafa in front of me.
2. Validating Dafa
Since Jiang's regime began persecuting Dafa, I have been practicing alone at home without any contact with other practitioners. Through analyzing the lies in the newspapers and on TV, I knew from indirect sources that our cultivators should "take the Fa as our teacher." Some practitioners went to Beijing to appeal. On the night of June 25, 2000, while practicing, I had a strong thought to call the former assistant of our practice site. I made contact with her. Fortunately I had recently read Teacher's new articles, "Towards Consummation" and "The Knowing Heart." I couldn't sleep that night. The debate between my human and cultivated side played out repeatedly in my mind. Finally, my cultivated side won over my human side. On June 27, I stepped on the path to validate Dafa in Beijing.
I was detained at the Tiananmen Police Station because I went to Tiananmen Square to validate Dafa, as were many others. One batch of practitioners left, and another batch of Dafa practitioners would come in. I was in the first batch to arrive that day and I was taken to the Chengdu City Liaison Office in Beijing that evening. I had the whole day to study the Fa, do the exercises and share experiences with other practitioners held there. The scene was magnificent and sacred during the group meditation. The entire police station remained still. Everyone, including the police, was very quiet and respectful while they went about their work. The female police officers even addressed us as "Dafa practitioners." The feeling we experienced there can only be understood by the practitioners who experienced it.
On the train back to Chengdu City, a practitioner sitting across from me talked about her understanding of Dafa and Teacher saving sentient beings with compassion. She was concerned that I might not fully understand her, so she spoke to me with her whole heart and with tears in her eyes. When I thought of Teacher's immense compassion in saving all sentient beings, I knew that we were so fortunate to be Dafa practitioners. The feelings of gratitude and joy could not be described with words, only with tears streaming down my face.
Before that event, I was busy with my work and with caring for my sick wife (she had stopped practicing before the persecution began). I didn't participate in any Fa conferences or communicate with other practitioners. I didn't know what level I had achieved, thinking that I practiced quite well. After I met with the practitioner on the train, I knew how mistaken I was. The Fa-principles that I had enlightened to were actually very shallow and my level was very low. I was determined under any and all circumstances to overcome my deficiencies and "steadfastly cultivate Dafa, the will unflinching." ("True Nature Revealed," Hong Yin II).
After I returned from Beijing, while completing my police record, the local policeman asked me: "What do you think of having gone to Beijing this time?" I said: "After I arrived in Beijing, I understood that I should firmly practice Falun Dafa." This came from the bottom of my heart. Hearing these words, he didn't ask me any more questions. I told him about the magnificent scene of Dafa practitioners doing group study and exercising in the Tiananmen Police Station. I just wanted to let him know how good Falun Dafa was, that many people were practicing, and that many practitioners were illegally detained at the police station every day.
My experience of validating the Fa on this trip, although I went to Beijing with many human attachments, let me know that Dafa practitioners were very fortunate and that Teacher's saving sentient beings with compassion was the greatest event we could ever hope to imagine. Therefore, this experience caused my belief in Dafa to become much firmer. With this foundation, I was able to overcome all manner of tribulations and hardships.
3. Doing the "Three Things" Well (2)
a) A serious lesson about neglecting Fa study
Teacher has been telling us that Dafa practitioners should study the Fa (3) with a pure heart. Teacher definitely stresses this aspect whenever talking about Fa study. There was an elderly practitioner in the same building where I lived. She had practiced for four years, but for some reason she didn't study the Fa well and finally stopped studying it altogether, which caused her and Dafa irreversible damage.
Her name is Ms. Jiang and she learned about Dafa in 1995. During that peaceful time, she thought she had cultivated very well. Her many difficult and complicated diseases had disappeared through practicing Falun Gong. However, after July 1999, when the Jiang regime began to persecute Falun Dafa, Ms. Jiang just practiced at home by herself and never studied the Fa. In the fall of 2000, she found that there were several beings from other dimensions following and interfering with her. Because of this, she was unable to exercise or carry on with her daily life normally. This annoyed her very much. When she was unable to endure it any longer, she discussed the matter with her family. They didn't believe in what she said and thought that "practicing Falun Gong made her go wrong" and that she was "becoming psychotic" from qigong practice. They planned to send her to the mental hospital. As a result, her situation had a negative effect on how Dafa was perceived by her family, friends and even the police in the area. In fact, her problems were caused because she neglected to study the Fa.
Ms. Jiang had so much fear of the persecution that she would not have contact with other practitioners. She wanted desperately to extricate herself from this interference and persecution from other dimensions. One evening in October 2000, she made up her mind to come to my home and ask me for help. After I heard her situation, I pointed out that not studying the Fa was absolutely wrong. At that time I didn't know the Fa principle of eliminating this interference by sending forth righteous thoughts, but I understood that there were bad things on her body. Suddenly, this idea just flashed into my mind and I felt a strong energy coming out of my body in other dimensions. At that moment, Ms. Jiang said she felt very comfortable in my home. The interference was eliminated from her body.
On May 19, 2001, at the Canadian experience sharing conference, Teacher explained sending forth righteous thoughts. I found the assistant of our former exercise site and he contacted several other fellow practitioners. We sent forth righteous thoughts and helped Ms. Jiang to eliminate the evil factors from other dimensions that were interfering with her. At the same time, Ms. Jiang believed that the beings she saw and heard in other dimensions were helping her. She had too many attachments, and her righteous thoughts were not very strong. While she was sending forth righteous thoughts, she couldn't completely eliminate the evil factors from other dimensions. When she stopped sending forth righteous thoughts, those things came back around her body and even on her body. She was attached to listening to or seeing the things in other dimension, so she was unable to study the Fa and her situation worsened. Afterwards, a practitioner and I went to see her. She avoided us and gave many excuses. After several months, I saw her on the street, where she explained that the evil persecuted her so much that "I already gave up practicing."
In Zhuan Falun Master states:
"Can you be considered a Falun Dafa disciple if you just practice these few sets of exercises every day? Not necessarily. This is because true cultivation practice must follow the requirements of the xinxing (4) standard that we have established, and you have to truly upgrade your xinxing -- then, it is true cultivation practice. If you only practice the exercises without improving xinxing and without the powerful energy that strengthens everything, it cannot be called cultivation practice; neither can we treat you as Falun Dafa disciples. If you go on like that without following the requirements of our Falun Dafa and behave yourself as usual among everyday people without upgrading your xinxing, you may still run into some other troubles though you practice the exercises. You may even claim that it is the practice of Falun Dafa that makes you go astray. This is all possible." (Zhuan Falun)
Ms. Jiang only did the exercises without studying the Fa, and she would not validate the Fa because of her attachment of fear. This caused her great misery. She was the only special case that I know of. I refer to her as a special case, because no one persecuted her openly. The police station also knew she practiced Dafa, but never asked her not to practice. However, she was persecuted by the evil factors in other dimensions. The persecution of her spirit and her body achieved the goal of causing her to give up practicing Dafa. She made an eternal mistake for herself because for a long time she didn't study the Fa. This led to her xinxing declining and her conduct deviating from Dafa.
I wanted to share this lesson of not studying the Fa with other practitioners. It was effective in motivating practitioners to study the Fa and improve their xinxing. I also dared not slacken in my personal Fa study. In the beginning, my understanding of Dafa was very shallow and I was slow in my cultivation. After July 1999, I also stayed at home to practice and study the Fa off and on. I knew I needed to improve myself after I went to Tiananmen Square to validate Dafa. Because I communicated more and more with other practitioners, I gradually came to know that Dafa cultivation was the most precious thing. No matter how busy I was, I would study the Fa. Whether I was in the office or out of town, Dafa books were always with me. Sometimes it was not convenient to read the book, so I would learn the Fa by heart. In the meantime, I did everything according to the requirements of the Fa. If I enlightened to something I did wrong, I would study the Fa with a clean mind and adjust myself over time.
b) Fighting with the evil
On May 19, 2001, after Teacher talked about sending forth righteous thoughts in the Canada conference, the evil's crazy performances were reflected before my very eyes. One night, when I was sending forth righteous thoughts, the evil couldn't move me but influenced my wife instead, causing her to interfere with me. One moment she tried to push my upright hand down; another moment she pushed or pulled at my body; and next she cried and shouted. Having tried very hard, she couldn't distract me from sending forth righteous thoughts. At 5:00 a.m., when I was sending forth righteous thoughts again, my wife suddenly jumped from the bed and left the bedroom crying. I wasn't moved. After a while she fell quietly asleep on the sofa.
Before the meeting of the 16th Party Congress in 2002, a policeman came to my home. While making tea for him, I sent forth righteous thoughts. When I returned to the living room, he jumped from the sofa as if he were going to leave. However, because he had just arrived, he stayed for a while, and asked about my wife's condition then left in haste. I knew it was because the evil factors behind the police were afraid.
c) Validating Dafa with one's words and deeds
In my workplace, my boss and co-workers all understand that I am well-intentioned at all times, and have never cared for personal gain or fame. My work was always excellent. Because of these characteristics, they knew the truth about Falun Gong practitioners, which was very different from the lies fabricated by the official media. In addition, I went to Beijing to validate Dafa and asked that the appeals office investigate the persecution of the practice. Therefore all of them knew that Falun Dafa is good, and they knew I was firm in practicing Dafa.
On one occasion, I was talking with the police when my boss, who is their auditor, asked: "Practicing Falun Gong belongs to the laws governing personal belief. Why do you interfere with him?"
Before the Spring Festival of 2002, a policeman came to my place of employment to talk with me. I told him with the power of justice, "It is totally wrong that Jiang's regime suppresses Falun Gong using government institutions. The persecution of Falun Gong is absolutely the greatest tragedy of many millennia." My boss spoke up, "Yes, Falun Gong has been treated unjustly." The policeman had nothing to say in reply.
In the spring of 2002, my workplace convened a work summary meeting with all employees. Before the meeting, the leader of the supervising unit was going to give a speech. His speech included some comments about "Falun Gong issues." My boss found his speech notes and tried very hard to persuade him to delete the comments. He actually deleted them. Later on my boss talked to me about it, and I was very happy for him for having stood up for Dafa.
d) With selflessness and altruism, I am successful in what I want to do
On April 24, 2001, Teacher said: "Dafa disciples' righteous thoughts are powerful." But some practitioners viewed the things related to cultivation using human notions. In fact, it is due to not believing in oneself. I have seen this too often. I will give some examples.
In August 2001, a practitioner who had contact with me was arrested. Because of this, I couldn't obtain Teacher's new articles for some time. During this time, I carried only one thought: "Teacher, please arrange for me to come in contact with another practitioner." Soon, through another person, a practitioner contacted me and provided current articles for me to study. My thanks to Teacher cannot be expressed in words.
During the 2004 Spring Festival, I obtained Teacher's article "Teaching the Fa at the 2003 Atlanta Fa Conference." When I was reading it, I thought: "During this holiday period, if I go back to my hometown I can distribute Teacher's new article to the practitioners in my hometown." After one hour, my wife called me to let me know that tomorrow her brother was going back to my hometown. It was raining that night, but her brother said he was going back, even with the rain. The town was 50 miles from my home. Usually, her brother never drove his own car for long trips, much less when it was raining. I alone knew that this trip was for me to support Dafa.
In December 2001, I wanted a computer to make truth-clarifying materials. My wife strongly discouraged me from buying a computer. I knew she was being manipulated by evil factors. I sent forth righteous thoughts to eliminate them. Because my daughter cried and wanted a computer every day, my wife soon urged me to purchase a computer.
I often deliver Dafa materials to other practitioners, and sometimes it takes me a long time to complete a trip. I hoped to purchase a motorcycle to help in this work. My wife was against me buying one: "Your workplace is nearby. What are you going to do with a motorcycle? I know your motives." But I thought in my mind, "You are bound to buy it for me of your own accord. Because I am a Dafa practitioner and my purpose is not selfish but for saving sentient beings, it will occur." Indeed, on a Sunday, she let me take the deposit book to buy a motorcycle, and she specifically chose the lightweight, high speed model for me.
Notes
(1) The book, Zhuan Falun, comprises the principal teachings of Falun Dafa. "Lun Yu" is the statement by Master Li at the beginning of the book.
(2) The three things that Master Li has asked Dafa practitioners to do are to study the Fa, to send forth righteous thoughts and to clarify the truth about Falun Dafa and the persecution to the world's people.
(3) Fa: Law and principles; the teachings of Falun Dafa.
(4) Xinxing: mind-heart nature; moral character