(Clearwisdom.net)

Greetings, Teacher! Greetings, fellow practitioners!

I learned about Falun Dafa and became a practitioner in Mainland China. Back then, although I had obtained the Fa, I did not strictly cultivate my xinxing according to the requirements of a practitioner. Although I diligently attended the group morning exercises in the park every day, I did not pay much attention to improving xinxing. At the time I just wanted to be a kind hearted person and felt that the Fa was very good and very righteous, but I failed to cultivate myself in a rational manner and in accordance with the Fa's requirements. It wasn't until after the persecution began that I realized the importance of studying the Fa. I still remember the grand group exercise scenes when Dafa was spreading in China before the persecution. Every morning so many practitioners were practicing in the parks or along the streets. Some practitioners were meditating together at 8 p.m. in the evenings. During that period I didn't cultivate diligently, since I did not know to treasure the precious opportunity. I was only able to do the sitting meditation in the single lotus position with one knee sticking up high. It wasn't until the day of the 2000 San Francisco Fa Conference that for the first time I was able to meditate in the double lotus position. I will never forget that day - the day I first saw Teacher and it was also my birthday. It was the day I was reborn.

On April 25, 1999, before I left China, I happened to pass by the Zhongnanhai (China's national appeal's office in Beijing) back door and personally witnessed a peaceful appeal and the pure heart of practitioners when faced with unfair treatment. Today, I cherish the touching moment when so many practitioners gathered and practiced together in China. I have realized there is a different cultivation environment during the Fa-rectification period and that Dafa has different requirements for practitioners during this period. I also deeply appreciate the greatness of Dafa and Teacher. In the following, I would like to share some cultivation experiences.

In all the teachings, including the most recent writings, Teacher has taught us how to handle one's personal life well while cultivating oneself, and thus our cultivation is reflected in daily life and work. In my cultivation I have experienced numerous stumbling blocks, some were more intense especially after my son was born. Our cultivation is a Great Way that has no form. This grand Fa enables us to cultivate in ordinary society and from that, improve ourselves. For practitioners, everything in daily life is an opportunity to cultivate and raise our levels. It is not an easy task to cultivate ourselves well and balance all aspects of our daily life well while at the same time carry out the tasks of clarifying the truth saving sentient beings and validating the Fa.

I often came across xinxing tests in daily life. Every time I felt unhappy or disturbed, I knew I was conflicting with the Fa of the universe and that my attachments were exposed. There were several times when I felt my colleagues were jealous of me or looked down on me. I tried to ignore the feeling but when a conflict came along, if it didn't provoke, it didn't count, and usually the conflict became intensified and provoked my attachment to competing. The more uncomfortable I felt, the more intense the conflict. Although it did not affect my work on Dafa projects, in the end I forced myself to study the Fa more diligently to eliminate the hidden bad elements in me. It may sound easy but the process is actually very hard. When I really gave up the attachment, I found everything changed. The situation was not what I thought at the beginning. My colleagues got along well with me again. I think I have a strong desire to feel superior to others, to compete, to resent other's successes and to show off. I experienced similar situations many times and eliminated some hidden attachments that I was not aware of.

When our son was borne, he became an important part of the cultivation of my wife and I. The state of our cultivation often manifested in our child's life; sometimes it was quite evident. Once I quarreled with my wife over some trifles. When I picked up my son from school in the evening, I found that he had bruised his face at school, and it almost hurt his eyes. My wife and I realized immediately that we had xinxing problems. Once we realized it, the bruise on my son's face disappeared very quickly. After that, we noticed that similar situations occurred several times. Each time we had a xinxing problem my son would exhibit some form of sickness karma, which might last as long as a week. Sometimes I had to take a day off from work to take care of him. This pattern occurred many times. On the other hand, when we cultivated well, my son was well. I realized my son was shouldering karma for us when we lapsed in cultivation. My wife and I became very diligent in cultivating ourselves and made corrections right away when we realized things were not right; otherwise we would be fearful of the unknown things that might happen to him.

When my son was small, I often thought to myself, "He is a little Dafa disciple. I will let him be guided by Dafa later, but no need to rush now." Every night after dinner, I would go to work, leaving him with my wife and my parents. I didn't do much housework either. It was fine at the beginning--my son would exercise and read with us and he was fond of looking at the Falun emblem and Teacher's photo. However, this didn't last long and problems emerged. As he grew older, we noticed that because of a lack of communication with others he was slow in his ability to speak and he loved to say "no." My wife and I began to pay more attention to our own conduct so as to create a better cultivation environment at home. We also tried to guide him with principles of the Fa. The most important thing, of course, was to do well ourselves, and to be good parents, who care about our child and guide him gently instead of concentrating only on reading the Fa and letting the child play all by himself. Sometimes we even lost our tempers when we disciplined our child. It was indeed a xinxing problem.

When we tried to do our roles well in the family, everything slowly changed. We found that my son became more understanding, and no longer said "no" a lot. He became more active too. Now he likes Dafa songs very much, and loves to go out with us to clarify the truth about Dafa. He has also memorized some poems in Hong Yin. Sometimes he would sing "Falun Dafa Is Good" in public places. There is still much more improvement to do for my wife and I. We are both very busy. But we are very clear about one point: "Our son is a little Dafa disciple. If there is any problem with any of us, it means there is a problem in our cultivation environment at home. In other words, it means that we have an omission in our personal cultivation."

I feel that as cultivators we need to do well in our daily lives, including work, family and society as well as harmonize our daily routines with Dafa's work. We should not go to extremes. In fact, keeping a balance between these is a process of cultivation in which we let go of our attachments. Once there was a design project in my company that I wished to take the lead on. So I poured lots of effort into it. I even worked extra hours some days. Though the results of my work won the approval of all concerned parties, when looking retrospectively, I found there was a strong attachment to fame behind my pursuit. I felt that I did quite well in certain respects, yet I thought I should reach a certain level of high standard in my work, and therefore spent too much time and energy on it. Considering the huge amount of work to do in Fa rectification, the extra time I spent on the project was really a waste. And that waste was caused by my attachments. I had always believed that I didn't have strong attachments to fame or a show off mentality. However, this time when I tried to "do well," I went far beyond the standard of a practitioner's "doing well" in ordinary society. I tried to do well because I considered myself "able." The deeply hidden attachment to fame was seen in the process. From this I learned that a practitioner should do well in ordinary society, yet he can't go too far, because he knows what the priority is, i.e. personal cultivation, clarifying the truth, validating the Fa, and saving sentient beings. To manage our own time well is also a part of our personal cultivation. We can find attachments in everything we do. We should follow Teacher's arrangements, negate the old forces, and let go of those attachments.

In his lessons, Teacher told us our unique way of cultivation and state of cultivation. Exactly because we still have human thoughts, we are able to cultivate in the human world, to save sentient beings in human society, to get rid of our human attachments in the process and to walk on the path to Godhood. I can often detect my human attachments and see how the attachments were removed again and again. Sometimes I felt the progress of Fa-rectification was moving forward at such a rapid speed that a specific period was over before I was able to get rid of my attachment, and the same attachment would surface again later. Sometimes when I was in a tribulation, I thought other practitioners didn't understand me. When I calmed down to think it over, I found it was always because I was not considerate of others and other projects, or what I did was not accommodating or appropriate. It was because of this and other undetected attachments and interference that created the resistance. When I did things well, it was always because I had a calm mind and less human notions. It's especially true when we do Dafa projects, such as spreading the Nine Commentaries, and encouraging people to quit the Party, which can save people and allow us to cultivate ourselves in a way aligned to ordinary society.

I participated in a project making phone calls to China. I also contacted VIPs and media before each rally. I am not good at giving spontaneous speeches. However, I felt that we need more people to do so. Sometimes I did well in calling people and sometimes not as well. At first, I was easily affected by ordinary people. I would be thinking it's better to say something this way or that way. Sometimes I was encouraged, and other times I felt depressed. Over time, I realized that I was just a particle in the Fa. How we presented the truth was not the most important factor. What's more important is our mind; whether we are validating ourselves or validating Dafa. When I let go of myself, I got better results. What actually worked was the power of the Fa of all practitioners as a whole and all the righteous factors besides our own righteous and good thoughts. I no longer felt nervous when making phone calls. I was able to talk more smoothly and wasn't easily affected by unfavorable responses.

I once called the secretary of a regional Political and Judiciary Committee who persecuted Dafa. I told him not to persecute Falun Gong. I told him the current situation overseas, about the Nine Commentaries and about quitting the CCP. He listened quietly and asked, "What should I do?" I told him more about quitting the Party and the benefits of quitting. In the end he quit the CCP. I was somewhat surprised by the result. I didn't expect the head of a 610 Office to withdraw from the party. Afterwards, I recollected the event. I felt that one factor was that I had studied the Fa and sent forth righteous thoughts before the call, and the other factor was that I was calling because it is what practitioners "should do" and I did not have pursuit. So the power of the great Fa naturally demonstrated itself and the understanding side of an ordinary person played a role. This is called "pursue nothing and gain naturally."

It's the same situation with calling VIPs in Western society. Sometimes we need to invite local officials to come to events or to write support letters to back the withdrawals from the Party. It's actually a way to clarify the truth to them and give them the opportunity to understand the Nine Commentaries, the nature of the CCP and the reasons for withdrawing from the CCP. My English is not very good, however, since other practitioners were busy with various projects, I spent more time on this project. Before making the phone calls, I first sent forth righteous thoughts. Then I told myself to keep a calm mind, with a smile on my face. As such, I was not nervous, and was quite at ease with my talk. I had no problem communicating. Whether leaving a voice message or talking face to face, I tried to keep a calm mind and not let other's attitudes affect me. Once I went to a local congressman's office to talk about the Nine Commentaries and withdrawing from the CCP. I was given thirty minutes. I prepared some materials and went to the office during my lunch break. I was short on time and didn't even have a chance to put on a tie. I was so focused on making sure that I talked to him and wasn't even thinking about my lack of command of the English language. When I finished talking to him, I asked him if he could understand me. He said, "We support you. You've spoken very well."

To ask mayors and council members to write letters to support the movement of withdrawing from the CCP is also a way to clarify the truth to VIPs and tell them about the quitting-the-CCP movement. I just did it as part of what I was supposed to do. Our skills in the human world are useful; however, what really works is the power of the Fa. In the process, we cultivate ourselves and get rid of our attachments. Once I contacted a city councilwoman who was going to write a letter to support us. Her assistant told me to come and pick up the letter at noon. I was very happy, but I kept reminding myself not be overjoyed. My attachment to happiness still welled up. When a practitioner's attachment wells up, a Dafa project will probably be interfered with. When I went to pick up the letter, I was told that, for some reason, the councilwoman had not signed it yet. I was told to wait for a further response. I immediately calmed down and was not affected by any attachment any more. Fellow practitioners helped to send forth righteous thoughts, and we finally got the letter of support that afternoon.

It's also true when clarifying the truth to people in China. At first, I would paste some pictures of the Nine Commentaries and quitting the party on professional architect websites. At that time, I thought I could use common people's techniques. I could work out some pretty designs with truth-clarifying pictures. When I was doing it, ordinary techniques didn't help much. Truth-clarification is dependent on our hearts and righteous thoughts. Being attached to our own hobbies and specialties won't help.

When I coordinate events for quitting the party on behalf of the Quit the Party Service Center, I need to be more accommodating. It is not good enough to carry out the project by myself or by the local group or by mobilizing practitioners to do it. With the current tight schedule and manpower, we must consider other practitioners and figure out how we can do this as one body. If we coordinate well, the power of one body will show. Sometimes, I find it difficult and don't want to spend much time communicating, I'd rather do it by myself without bothering others. The main reason is that I lack compassion; I didn't care or think of others as some veteran practitioners do. I didn't cooperate well with other practitioners. Some practitioners had different opinions or thoughts, but I didn't pay attention to them nor was I aware of it. I truly think that only by letting go of oneself, letting go of the notion of validating oneself, can we improve as a group.

Working on the Nine Commentaries and quitting the party project is also a good chance to improve tolerance and upgrade xinxing. When I was doing it, I heard many different opinions. Some were positive, others sounded negative. At first, I was affected. Listening to the various comments, I was afraid to do anything. At such times, I asked myself to study the Fa more. We need strong righteous thoughts and less human notions to do Dafa work, especially for projects such as quitting the party. Sometimes, we have to carry out the project in the midst of conflicts. Once, when faced with a conflict, I looked outward and complained to my wife, "This practitioner has too many opinions. That practitioner didn't give enough support. This practitioner has strong human notions." She replied, "You always find faults in other practitioners on this project. But what I hear is all your attachments." Suddenly, I was awakened. In fact, I could see many practitioners have improved. I was ashamed when looking back on my attachments. It's easier said than done. When the next conflict comes, although I say to myself that I would not look outward, inside of me I still cannot let go. Cultivation is a process like this, repeating until we get it right. The conflict was so insignificant when looking back, however, during the conflict it's like a big rock on my chest. It would come into my mind while eating, driving or sleeping. One time, I heard a sharing from a practitioner. It seemed like he was talking to me about my shortcomings and things I needed to do and improve. So I said to the other practitioner angrily, "How did you know I didn't do anything? Just because you didn't see it doesn't mean I didn't do it?" That night I could not fall asleep, my mind was full of thoughts about this incident. I was upset for several days afterwards. This affected my Dafa work, which was not good. Why did this practitioner say this? Since I didn't do well enough, I should do less next time. All these negative thoughts occupied my mind. I had no righteous thoughts at all. I needed more courage in doing this project; probably I should do less difficult work. On second thought, I didn't care what others said. I will do what I should do... I usually impressed people with the attribute of not easily giving up in the ordinary world. After practicing Dafa, my mind cleared up and I realized I needed to improve in many things. But first and foremost was cultivation. I had such a strong attachment to fear of criticism that I didn't do a good job. This is a fact. I should try harder to communicate with others, so we can do this project together rather than working on my own to prove myself. I didn't do a good job so it affected the whole group. In addition, I can't emphasize too much on one thing and become attached to it. Even the eagerness to get things done well can cause us to unconsciously develop attachments of every day people. In cultivation, I found my mind was empty sometimes. That might be a good cultivation state. I do what I should do and not pursue the results. There is no self in my mind. The results are actually better.

In "Teaching the Fa at the Fa Conference at the U.S. Capital", Teacher said,

"Since Dafa disciples' cultivation is conducted with a format like this, this format is able to forge Dafa disciples, and it can create incredibly high future Attainment Statuses. Departing from this format or not conforming to it will obstruct your cultivation; those things are actually the products of attachments."

I understand that the Fa-rectification follows an orderly fashion. Teacher has arranged at every stage for every practitioner the quickest way to elevate their cultivation levels, and in the process practitioners validate the Fa and save sentient beings. The current big push is to comprehensively promote the Nine Commentaries and quitting the party. Whether it is in Mainland China or in western societies, as a whole body we need to give stronger support in concrete actions and righteous thoughts. It is the main theme that all current Fa-rectification projects revolve around.

On the surface it seems rather difficult to talk about the Nine Commentaries and resigning from the Communist Party when compared with telling about the beauty of Falun Dafa. Personally I feel that it was harder to clarify the truth about Falun Gong when the persecution first started. After seven years of diligent work, during the process practitioners have elevated their levels and common people have awakened to the truth, so practitioners can now proudly talk about the truth of Falun Dafa. Compared to a year ago, the current situation about resigning from the CCP has had a big effect and it can be felt in many of our local events.

For instance, at our last 'withdrawing' event, although many practitioners who were involved in other projects were not able to attend, the result of that event was the best so far. Not only did many people stop and listen to the presentations, many were taking photos and verbally supporting us. Some took the time to talk to us in more detail. There was even one journalist on site, while previously it was hard to get media involved. Although the VIPs we invited didn't show up, some of them phoned to notify us, which was unusual because previously we wouldn't hear back from them. There was actually only one week's time to prepare for that "14 million withdrawing" event. Such a time frame would have been inadequate according to everyday people's standards. The event turned out to be successful due to practitioners, including the ones who couldn't attend, treating the event with righteous thoughts. It was also because Teacher's Fa-rectification has progressed to such a state.

Compared to before, I can see that practitioners have manifested maturity in coordinating Dafa work as one body. I also feel the urgency in saving sentient beings. If our practitioners continuously enhance our righteous thoughts, use our maximum compassion to guide everyday people to resign from the CCP and reject the evil spirit of the CCP, many sentient beings will be saved by the grand compassion of Teacher and Dafa.

Please kindly point out anything inappropriate. Thank you, Teacher! Thank you, fellow practitioners!