(Clearwisdom.net) Greetings Teacher! Greetings fellow practitioners! My name is Chen Guofeng, a practitioner from Ilan. Today I will share with everyone my cultivation experiences of the last five years. If there is anything inappropriate, please kindly correct me.
I happily first encountered Falun Dafa in October 1999 and from then on I said good-bye to my life as an ignorant individual. Teacher said,
"...each Dafa disciple is taking his own path, and each Dafa disciple needs to have the opportunity to take his own path."
("Teaching the Fa at the Washington, D.C. Fa Conference" (July 22, 2002))
Looking back on these years of validating the Fa, I can discuss it from the following two points:
Taking advantage of my position as a dentist to participate in Fa-rectification activities abroad
I am a dentist with my own clinic. This circumstance gives me many advantages to clarify the truth. I'm often invited to give speeches at various schools, government offices, enterprises, and cable TV stations. I usually start by talking about issues of life, and physical and mental health, and then bring out the wide spread of Falun Dafa and the truth of the persecution. In the beginning I only spoke without props, though later I learned to use computer graphics and movies to assist my presentations, which became even more vivid and effective as a result.In addition, I have also posted Falun Dafa flyers and posters both inside and outside my office. Many patients would read them while waiting, and would ask me about Falun Gong. It is a very good way of clarifying the truth. For example, the head of the education bureau of the county is an old patient of mine. I was able to help him eliminate his misunderstanding about Falun Dafa by clarifying the truth to him after his dental treatment. During my free time I'm able to write mailing materials or use my computer to send Falun Dafa information to other practitioners. I realized that merely being a dentist is not my purpose, and the real purpose of my being a dentist is to validate Dafa and clarify the truth through my work.
Because I see patients by appointment, I can easily arrange time to close down the clinic and join Falun Dafa activities. Actually, participating in these activities itself is improves my cultivation. It is always a great opportunity for me to see my shortcomings when I'm with fellow practitioners during the process of signing up for activities, or participating in or leading group activities. For example, previously, whenever I planned the details of how I was to travel and where to live, my selfishness and attachments came forth. I used the excuse that I could not close down my clinic for over a week and so could only to participate in short-term activities. In the year before last I broke through this attachment when I went to both Russia and Iceland for 17 days to send forth-righteous thoughts in close proximity to Jiang.
Since then, I have made an effort to become less selfish and focus on what Falun Dafa needs. Through the journey of Fa-rectification, many activities need practitioners from different countries to cooperate and support each other. So, I often take advantage of my work situation to promote Falun Dafa abroad. I traveled as far as the US, Europe, Australia and other countries in Asia and was able to join many of their group exercises, Fa conferences, parades and truth-clarification in tourist spots. I remembered Teacher's teaching that we should do a good job at work in ordinary society and be a good person wherever we are. So whenever there was a Dafa activity I would work overtime before and after, making sure that my absence would not affect my patients. The whole process is also a reflection of my cultivation level and of whether or not I have demonstrated righteous thoughts and righteous actions during the course of dealing with things. I have discovered, though, from all of these experiences that Dafa practitioners are one whole body, and every practitioner is like a particle; if one particle is not pure enough and has loopholes, then the strength of the whole will weaken; only when all the particles are in their highest purity can we form a whole indestructible body like diamond.
Using various methods to clarify the truth and improving through coordination and cooperation with others
In recent years I have learned many ways to clarify the truth, such as participating in talk shows, sending faxes, e-mails and news; writing and revising articles for Dafa websites, being a guest speaker for radio broadcasts and participating in truth-clarification TV productions. The whole purpose of using these methods is to offer salvation to sentient beings. In the process of doing all these things, many of my human attachments have surfaced. For example, if I have done well and when things are going smoothly, my attachment of zealotry will show, and so will my mentality of showing off. When there are difficulties, I feel frustrated and want to run away. Furthermore, whenever I get into a conflict with fellow practitioners, I always blame others first.Teacher has said,
"There's something you must pay attention to: you are validating the Fa, not validating yourselves. A Dafa disciple's responsibility is to validate the Fa. Validating the Fa is cultivation, and what you remove in the cultivation process is none other than the attachment to self; you can't, instead, go and exacerbate the problem of validating oneself, even if you do it unwittingly."
("Teaching the Fa at the Meeting with Asia-Pacific Students")
Attachment to work and competition has made me turn this magnificent Falun Dafa work into the work of ordinary people, nitpicking and haggling over successes and failures. I've forgotten to raise my integrity through these tribulations; instead, I have totally overlooked the true meaning of cultivation. Even though there have been many deep lessons over the years, still I often forget them and make the same mistakes again.
A few years ago I started to coordinate a reading group, but soon I began to take on more and more work as a coordinator. At first I was only a local coordinator, planning out details of activities, and forwarding massages and materials. Then, later on I began to work as a coordinator of various projects. Naturally, there were more things to be coordinated and discussed at meetings. Of course, through these discussions, we were able to draw on our collective wisdom and share our ideas so as to perfect our plans and enrich the content of our activities. However, my constant problem was that I was too stubborn to give up my own ideas and always thought that my ways were the best; the other suggestions were insignificant. Such attachments have caused unnecessary loss to Falun Dafa. Not only was I unable to be "open and generous," I could not even "consider others first." I held an unchallengeable authoritative manner and totally behaved with the same mentality as ordinary people. Later, if it proved that my idea worked very well, I would then feel very pleased with myself, which added another attachment.
After working as a coordinator for a while, I developed a mentality of believing that I was "better than all the other practitioners." I always wanting to be the first to do things and refused to listen to suggestions. When we realize that we have made a mistake, we can always fix it; therefore, in addition to understanding what Teacher said about putting ourselves among practitioners, I also realized that I was put in the position to coordinate projects because I was too selfish, and that I should make use of these opportunities by offering my service to others, so that I could to let go of this attachment.
"There is no fame, self-interest, or official titles in Dafa, but only cultivation practice." ("A Heavy Blow" -- Essentials for Further Advancement)
Now I would like to talk about some of my recent problems. Although I did not do well, I hope by sharing these problems it will help other practitioners and perhaps the whole body.
1. Unsteady in Fa-study and neglecting the exercises in pursuit of comfort
I did not lay a solid foundation in the early stage of cultivation when we should let go of recognition, profit and emotions. This has caused interference with my Fa-rectification work. For example, I'm still attached to sentimentality towards family members and friends, and because of this, I can't be fair-minded in doing things; I still can't treat anything we come across with righteous thoughts in relation to food, men and women and other needs of ordinary people; I still crave for greatness and success in disregard of the actual conditions, and as a result, I sometimes pay unilateral attention to form regardless of the substance. When tracing these problems to their source, it all comes down to the fact that I did not pay enough attention to Fa-study. Whether in group' Fa-study or in the daily reading I scheduled for myself, I mixed in a pursuing mentality of wanting to find more profound connotations while reading the Fa.
I've recently stumbled in my studies. I do daily Falun Dafa work and do not have enough energy left to study the Fa. After I looked within myself, I discovered that the reason I could not focus on Fa-study with a calm mind was because I have become complacent. I believed that I knew the book very well, that I had even memorized what Teacher said on which page, and that there weren't any higher meanings any more. All this came down to my wrong attitude towards Fa-study, which was reflected in my pursuit for meaning and connotation in Fa-study. I then changed my mindset. Now, every time I read the Fa, I read it as if it is the first time I read the Fa. I study the Fa respectfully just as if Teacher were in front of me. From the time I had this realization, it was just like what Teacher said,
"After passing the shady willow trees, there will be flowers and another village ahead" (Zhuan Falun, last lecture).
Teacher said,
"Your righteous thoughts and everything you accomplish come from the Fa, so no matter how busy you are, don't neglect Fa-study."
("Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Philadelphia, U.S.A.")
So, I promise from now on, no matter how busy I am with Falun Dafa work and clarifying the truth, I will never lower my standards regarding Fa-study, and will keep a peaceful mind.
I often use an excuse to comfort myself for not doing the exercises, such as, "I was too busy clarifying the truth yesterday and that's why I'm unable to get up in the morning." By and by, not getting up in the morning for the exercises became routine. I knew that I was using work for Falun Dafa as a cover-up for my pursuit of comfort. Every day I worked hard and looked like I was doing so voluntarily, but because I neglected Fa-study and doing the exercises, I felt I had less energy than before, and in the evenings I couldn't help dropping off to sleep. I only focused on clarifying the truth and neglected doing the exercises. On the surface, I volunteered to do many things, yet I deviated from the fundamental basics of cultivation. It was like a spinning-top that has lost its direction; even a gear with teeth that spins orderly is better!
2. Unable to correctly deal with sickness tribulation by not using Dafa to judge things
Over the years I had almost no sickness tribulations. Regarding fellow practitioners' sickness tribulations, I've always found myself having a lot to say on the basis of Falun Dafa. Yet, there was a lack of compassion for fellow practitioners on my part. Sometimes I even took an on-looker's attitude with plain indifference. However, a few months ago my neck suddenly became very stiff. I laid in bed for two days, unable to move, just like a wooden statue. Whenever I moved my neck, I felt a strong pain. In the beginning I used hot compresses and temporarily felt better. Even when I realized that I should never have stopped studying the Fa and doing the exercises, I still held on to the mentality of wanting relief. Then I realized that it was the evil's interference. Because I had sent forth righteous thoughts with the emotion of a fighting mentality and fear, I was unable to pass this tribulation properly. Actually, Teacher has already told us,
"Over the past year, students' own karma, inadequate understanding of the Fa, inability to let go of attachments amidst tribulations, inability to deal with things using righteous thoughts amidst painful trials, and so on, are the main reasons behind evil's escalation of the persecution, and are the true fundamental excuses that the evil has used to damage the Fa."
("Eliminating Your Last Attachment(s)" in Essentials for Further Advancement II)
Now, even though I'm beginning to be able to accept others' opinions, during discussions, when we are in need of compromises, my old habits still come out. Most of those stem from pursuit of immediate success. I fail to look at the issue as a whole and tend to focus only on a small portion of the whole matter, being unable to see the forest for the trees. I have failed to clarify the truth comprehensively. For example, I often believe that one job is more important than another, and neglect other things that could complement it. I have also unwittingly made divisions between the local area and overseas, between North America and Taiwan, etc., segmenting the jobs into smaller parts and looking to see which part is more important.
Once when I was meditating I suddenly realized that I must be open and honest; and this realization gave me a brand new understanding and a new meaning for cultivation: Falun Dafa frees us to open our hearts and minds and enables us to see the mountains of attachments we have. I believe that the only way to relinquish the notion of self, to set our character and ethics and attitudes right and to contemplate Fa-rectification as a whole is to study the Fa.
The above are descriptions of my own loopholes and things I haven't done well. I hope that fellow practitioners will use these as reminders and create a flawless, whole body. Right now, as the days pass by, each is one day closer to the Fa-rectification of the human world; and one less day to assist Teacher in Fa-rectification. Our time is urgent, so we must become more diligent and not slack off, or it will be too late. So, let us cherish this precious opportunity and put Falun Dafa as a first priority, everywhere and all the time.
Before I finish my paper, I will like to share with all a passage of Teacher's words,
"Your own cultivation, your own improvement, your validating the Fa amidst the evil, saving sentient beings, and steadfastly doing well going down the path that you should take are what's most important."
("Teaching and Explaining the Fa at the Metropolitan New York Fa Conference"(May 3, 2003))
Thank you, Teacher! Thank you, everyone!
August 16, 2004
