(Clearwisdom.net) I'm a new practitioner, and I'm so grateful to Teacher for saving me. The only thing that I can do to return Teacher's most profound benevolence is to do well in what a Dafa disciple is supposed to do. I feel fortunate that I'm one of the many new practitioners who have obtained the Fa during this crucial time. I know that if we do well, we also can be called "Dafa disciples in the Fa-rectification period." New practitioners should understand clearly what this crucial time means for us. Since I want to be a Dafa disciple in the Fa-rectification period, I try to do the three things diligently. I'd like to share my experiences and thoughts below.
I. Obtaining the Fa
I had a chance to learn about Dafa through the song "Be Saved." When I first heard it, I felt this was a purifying, peaceful and divine song. So I asked my then boyfriend (he is a veteran practitioner and is now my husband and fellow practitioner) what song it was. He told me it was "Be Saved." At that time, I didn't really understand the lyrics. I just felt that it was a very comforting song. Later I gradually understood the lyrics - the misery of life and how hard Teacher is trying to save us. I started practicing Dafa. Looking back, I missed three chances to obtain the Fa. I feel regretful, but fortunate at the same time. Thanks to Teacher, I finally grasped this never-to-occur-again opportunity. I'm also thankful to my husband, who brought Dafa to me.
II. Cultivating Genuinely
For a new practitioner like me, the first issue I had to face was crossing my legs during meditation. At first, I could only do single-legged meditation for about 5 minutes. Gradually, I could cross both legs and could sit in meditation for over an hour. I know that for new practitioners, our individual cultivation is combined with Fa-validation, so we need to cultivate more diligently. Only then can our bodies be transformed as fast as possible.
Before I obtained the Fa, due to my illness, I was a bad tempered person. After I studied Zhuan Falun, I learned to be nice to everyone, including my family members and co-workers. My xinxing improved. Over time I also got rid of some of my attachments with fellow practitioners' help or Teacher's hints. For a period of time, I lost a lot of hair. I thought this was caused by some illness. Other practitioners told me that this was caused by purification. Later I realized that this was indeed purification, so I stopped thinking about it. I had a dream one night. In my dream, my mother asked me why I lost so much hair. I told her that it was just purification. Then I asked a practitioner whether I had cancer. I talked to the practitioner about this dream. I realized that I didn't really let go of my fear of disease. That's why I was tested in my dream. I finally let go of my attachment. Just like Teacher said in Zhuan Falun:
"But normally when a problem arises, if it does not irritate a person psychologically, it does not count or is useless and cannot make him or her improve."
"As long as you upgrade your xinxing, you can overcome them. Unless you, yourself do not want to do so, you can make it, provided you want to overcome them. Therefore, from now on when you come across a conflict you should not consider it a coincidence. This is because when a conflict occurs, it will take place unexpectedly. But that is not a coincidence--it is for improving your xinxing. As long as you treat yourself as a practitioner, you can handle it properly."
Teacher taught us everything. But I sometimes couldn't follow Dafa's teaching. That's because when karma came, it was like a force squeezing into my mind. I could hardly control myself and could not hold to our xinxing requirements. But when it was over and I read Zhuan Falun, I could feel that I had made some progress.
Since we had formed many notions previously, whenever we do anything, the first things that come to mind are those notions. I realized this problem and knew that human nature should be pure and genuine. However, the warped notions are distorting our thinking. As practitioners, if we use the Fa to guide ourselves in everything, we can then truly distinguish what is righteous from evil, and good from bad.
Presently, every morning, I listen to one chapter of Teacher's lectures. After work, I would read the corresponding chapter in Zhuan Falun. When I read Zhuan Falun, I remember Teacher's lessons from the morning's listening. This way, I could immerse myself in the Fa. Every time I read Zhuan Falun, there are places I felt that I have never read before. When I passed one test and read Zhuan Falun, Fa principles of a different level would be presented to me. Sometimes I wish the reading would never end.
When I first started to practice the exercises, I was not so used to the schedule. Gradually, I would wake up when it was practice time. Lately, due to my laziness, I either missed the practice time or the time to send forth righteous thoughts. I quickly realized that this was interference, so I sent forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the interference. I also looked inward for my own problems. The energy field formed by morning exercises are righteous and strong and can correct all the bad factors. Sometimes my thoughts were corrected when I didn't realize it. My legs hurt a lot while I was in sitting meditation. This was partly due to standing for so long during the first 4 exercises. But mainly it was because the strong energy field helped to eliminate my karma. The morning group exercise is also an effective way to eradicate the evil factors.
Teacher told us to pay attention to sending forth righteous thoughts. I realized that even if new practitioners' energy is not very strong, as we continue to study the Fa and stride forward diligently, our pure hearts and our righteous thoughts can also play a role. One time I clarified the truth to my grandmother. Just as I began, she started to cough and couldn't listen to me. I immediately sent forth righteous thoughts. Later that day when I studied the Fa, I hiccuped continuously and couldn't concentrate. I realized that this was a kind of interference and sent forth righteous thoughts to eliminate it.
When I clarified the truth to friends, I often found it hard to start. I tried looking inward for the reason. Maybe I'm not so familiar with The Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party and Disintegrating Communist Party Culture. On the other hand, the evil factors tried to control Beijing tightly since it's a political center. When I grew up in Beijing, I heard about the Tiananmen massacre on June 4th and was really scared. People are intimidated by the CCP's iron-tight control. They dare not speak up and only discussed their thoughts among themselves. I realized more and more that as a central place, there are a lot of evil factors in Beijing. Every time I sent forth righteous thoughts, I would think about eliminating the evil factors in Beijing.
The above are some of my experiences. I'm a new practitioner. If there is something improper, I hope that fellow practitioners will kindly point it out.