(Clearwisdom.net)
Within the blink of an eye, four years have passed since I began my cultivation in Dafa. Through cultivating my xinxing, and passing tests over the past four years, I have gradually become more determined and mature in the Fa. I am very grateful to Master and fellow practitioners in Ireland for these achievements. I would like to share with you my experiences in cultivation practice.
1. Improving Xinxing, Enlightening to the Tao and Doing Actual Cultivation
I had an irritable temper before practicing cultivation. After I started practicing cultivation, I was able to restrain myself. I no longer lost my temper. I thought Dafa was really magical. However, as I proceeded with cultivation I found the attachment of anger must be cultivated layer by layer. Just because I no longer lost my temper, the attachment was not necessarily totally eliminated. The attachment may lay hidden. The reason I had not lost my temper could have been because my heart was not touched deeply enough to be moved.
I had a good relationship with a fellow practitioner. One day, we got into a conflict about something trivial and lost our temper with each other. She ran out of my house. I thought I was being good to her, and that she had treated me unjustly. Because I had never been reprimanded by another, I felt it was unfair when she pointed her finger at me and made accusations. Later when I saw her again, I was reluctant to talk to her. I knew that I was still upset and unable to control myself.
Through studying the Fa I was able to calm down and cultivate my heart. Putting importance on her opinion of me was nothing other than human sentiment. It was also a reflection of my attachment to myself. If I had really wanted to help her, I should have been compassionate instead of angry. Later, when she encountered a tribulation, I put myself in her position, and I tried to think from her perspective. I shared my understandings with her using the Fa's principles. To help her pass her tribulation, I supported her using righteous thoughts. After the conflict was resolved, she said she was very thankful for my help during her tribulation. She said that she could feel the compassion of a cultivator. This brought me to tears. I want to thank Master for his following teaching,
"You should always be benevolent and kind to others, and consider others when doing anything. Whenever you encounter a problem, you should first consider whether others can put up with this matter or if it will hurt anyone. In doing so, there will not be any problems." ("Upgrading Xinxing," Lecture Four, Zhuan Falun)
Two fellow practitioners pointed out to me some time ago that I was narrow-minded. I was reluctant to agree with this. For a time, I tried to look inward. During Fa study I suddenly became aware that Master was giving me a hint to the way in which I could become tolerant. The great Tao is extremely simple and easy. Actually, many principles in cultivation are interlinked. I realized that when I can think of others first, and when I can keep myself from disagreeing immediately and stating my opinions when encountering conflicts, I will no longer be narrow-minded. When I can look inward unconditionally, I can definitely find attachments. When I can put into practice what I have enlightened to, improvement in my xinxing will be achieved.
Recently I have placed more importance on Fa study. Sometimes I study for hours. My understanding is that everything here is for the Fa. For non-practitioners, everything is an illusion. Everything that happens and exists are to allow Dafa disciples a forum to enlighten to the Tao and cultivate their hearts. Six months ago, I thought the Fa study group environment wasn't very good. For whatever reason, I regarded it as a waste of my time to attend the Fa study group. In actuality, this was an illusion to divert my attention from the group environment. I suddenly realised that the group study environment was left to us by Master. I was being selfish by demanding something from the group environment for my personal improvement. If the group environment was not good enough and I added nothing to sustain or improve the environment, I was also being selfish. Actually, it was only a demonic illusion that had me feeling the environment was good or not good enough. Only after I broke away from the old cosmos' principles, was I able to gain a clear understanding about the illusions. I eliminated the thought karma involving gain and loss and returned to the group environment. I found that everyone was very diligent and the overall environment was getting better and better.
2. Participating in the Divine Land Marching Band, Fulfilling a Prehistoric Vow
I was predestined to go to France for the initial training of the European Divine Land Marching Band. I saw many practitioners diligently practicing musical instruments. Most practitioners had never played a musical instrument before. Many people could not read music or even numbered musical notations. However, in the end they played pretty well. Strengthened by Master, we performed successfully when our marching band of one hundred and sixty members marched on the streets of Paris's Chinatown. Many people applauded. There are no words to describe my gratitude to Master for this impressive debut.
I also participated in the Flower Float Festival parade in the Netherlands. The training was held in an indoor gym. We did the exercises together, the band trained together and we shared our experiences with one another. For this event even more practitioners participated. We rehearsed "Falun Dafa is Good," "Fa Drum and Fa Horns Shaking Ten Directions," and "Ode to Joy." I was very tired after several hours of rehearsal. It was very hot in the gym. It took a lot of air and strength to play the instrument, yet at the same time I needed to pay attention and stay in formation while we were moving around. Looking back, I think if I had not been a Dafa disciple, and I had not been strengthened by the field of righteous thoughts, such a highly intensive training could have made me fall flat. As time went on, I no longer got tired and became more and more vivacious while performing. My righteous thoughts were becoming stronger and stronger. When I rested, my muscles were aching and my whole body felt like it was surrounded by a ball of fire. However, when we did the performance the next day, I no longer felt any pain.
On the day of the performance, I sent out righteous thoughts to strengthen every song I played, and to have the instrument sing out with the best tone to save people. Every time I noticed the audience applauding and clapping and following the rhythm of our songs, or when I saw Chinese people awaken, I felt how glorious it was to be a member of this group. I did not feel tired while I was marching. At the end, I felt very light as if I was floating on a cloud. When we reached our destination, I was still marching and did not want to stop. Actually, we had marched for two and a half hours that day. That evening, a practitioner shared what she saw in another dimension. She explained that many disciples appeared as gods. They had made a vow to Master to validate the Fa in the form of the Divine Land Marching Band at a specific time and place to save sentient beings. Upon learning this, many practitioners were moved to tears. That is why we are here, to fulfil our pledges and complete our historic missions.
In this way I came to cherish every activity involving the Divine Land Marching Band. After every activity, I feel that my righteous thoughts are more steadfast. The sentient beings that have a predestined relationship with me are waiting for me to awaken them and to save them. I will definitely fulfil my vow.
3. Cultivate While Doing Media Work, Putting Fa Study as First Priority
I have worked for the Sound of Hope Radio for some time. As a beginner, I worked with other practitioners, but now I am able to make some simple news reports independently. In the process of working at the station, I have gradually realised the importance of the media. At the beginning, I thought that my writing ability was weak, and so I lacked confidence. I want to thank Master for his mercy in allowing fellow practitioners to give me hints that helped me improve. They also found opportunities for me to write news reports. At the beginning, the only reason I helped others was because I wanted to do my part, and not let others down. I broke through this mentality with encouragement from fellow practitioners.
After a period of tempering, my confidence improved. I am now very willing to validate the Fa in the form of media work and I am improving. During the cultivation process of doing media work, I often made errors. After a period of time, I realised that the problem was not with the actual news recording, but that my xinxing needed to improve. Superficially, others would say that I was not careful enough, etc. When I looked inward, I was making errors because I was not studying the Fa enough. Dafa disciples are doing things using supernormal abilities. If we do not study the Fa enough, where can our righteous thoughts and wisdom come from? I felt ashamed that I had not done better when I read this paragraph of the Fa,
"Breakthroughs will occur if you keep up your Fa-study. Only by studying the Fa well can you validate the Fa, and only by studying the Fa well can you do better. Many practitioners have found themselves able to think about things that they didn't know how to do before in a more creative, comprehensive way thanks to Fa-study, and they are able to do anything with great proficiency. That is what comes about when you study the Fa well. Now I'm not saying that you have not cultivated well. I am talking about a Fa principle. Read the book more, study the Fa more, and you are sure to gain wisdom. " ("Fa Teaching at the 2007 New York Fa Conference")
Master has told us many times to study the Fa, study the Fa and study the Fa well. Only the Fa can give us the wisdom to save sentient beings using the media. So I will do what Master has asked of us. Mature Fa Rectification Dafa disciples are all steadfastly doing the three things well. I am going to be steadfast as well.
Thank you everyone!
