(Clearwisdom.net) In our cultivation, we are often confronted with choices. At such times, we rely on the righteous thoughts cultivated from the Fa to make the right decisions, break through our attachments and ascend. I understand that all our blunders are the result of our attachments. So what are my attachments? My attachments are to self, to saving face, sentimentality and other notions.
I learned of Dafa in 1999. In the first few years I was persecuted and took a deviant course. In 2004, Teacher benevolently helped me to return to cultivation. Over three years have passed since then. Many things have happened over this time.
In 2004, every day, rain or shine, I rode a bike on the streets to clarify the facts about Falun Gong to people on the streets. Within a few months I had talked to many people. But because I had strong attachments, and because I was not diligent in Fa study and cultivation of my xinxing, I lacked rationality. Also, the quitting the CCP movement had not begun yet, so the content of my truth clarification was rather superficial. My subjects were mostly pedestrians, laborers, beggars, and street vendors. Nonetheless, it was my first step.
Later I began to explain the facts to people I knew. I made a list, including anyone I had known since my childhood that I could think of. Then I found ways to get their addresses and made appointments to meet them. For those that could not or were not willing to meet with me, we just talked on the phone. I used to be a very introverted person. In the beginning, when I called someone, I had to gather all my courage in order to press the buttons on the phone, as though I were going to jump off a cliff. There were those I had not seen for several decades, those with whom I had barely spoken because we were in separate classes segregated by sex, those with whom embarrassing things had occurred, and those that I had quarrels with. It also included old boyfriends I had hurt badly. They were all the people I would rather not see. To find them was not easy either. It took me a couple of months and a great deal of effort. But all I could think of was to save them, so I did not back off no matter how difficult it was.
The experiences at that time let me eliminate many of my attachments and much sentimentality, and removed many of the difficulties I had communicating with people. It paved the way for my saving people later. But because my cultivation was not solid and I did not fully appreciate the importance of studying Dafa, plus the interferences from all sorts of attachments, I was essentially doing Dafa work as an ordinary person. Although I worked very hard, the result was not that good. Sometimes I even caused negative reactions by my inappropriate ways. Less than half the people I contacted quit the CCP and its associated organizations. But the hardships tempered my will, and I matured through the hard lessons learned.
I began to understand that saving sentient beings requires the power of Dafa. We Dafa disciples cultivate by way of validating Dafa and saving people. It is not ordinary people doing Dafa work. Only if one studies Dafa well and cultivates oneself well, can one assimilate to Dafa and truly become a particle of Dafa. The power of Dafa will then reach the sentient beings through our words and conduct, thereby saving them. The actual salvation of sentient beings is done by Dafa. The more purely we cultivate in Dafa and the more we let go of our selfishness and our human attachments, the better will Dafa bring into play its power and wisdom through us, and the better will be the result of saving sentient beings.
After recognizing these, I tried even harder to study the Fa and to require myself to elevate my xinxing. Gradually I became more and more effective in telling people the facts about Dafa and urging people to quit the CCP. Now I make urging people to quit the CCP and saving people an integral part of my daily life. I can find opportunities to save people anywhere, anytime.
People who yield seats to me on the bus, waitresses in restaurants who smile at me, clerks in shops, sales people on the streets, bank tellers, taxi drivers, diners sharing a table with me, my kids' teachers, classmates, and their parents, and neighbors in my apartment building--all are subjects of my truth-clarification. I feel that Dafa brings them to me, and I have become better at seizing every opportunity. Sometimes I missed it due to momentary negligence, but I always tried to find another chance if I could.
Sometimes I could get them to quit the CCP even if I had only a few minutes. This would have been impossible for me to accomplish on my own. I would talk more if I had time, and talk less if I didn't. If there was really no time, I just gave them a DVD. I used ways that were easily acceptable to people to urge them to quit the CCP. My wisdom is increasing and my attachment to fear is diminishing. I myself have been changing to meet the needs of saving people, from an indifferent person to one that enthusiastically engages in conversation with anyone I meet so as to create an opportunity to save them.
A practitioner's every thought, or any issue that a practitioner ponders, is not a simple matter. It all has to do with saving sentient beings. I have many experiences on this. Once, I suddenly felt the need to go to the bank to ask about some matters concerning my finances, a subject I was never particularly interested in. When I was talking with the bank staff, an elderly lady cut in. I immediately sensed that she was a person that I should try to save. When I told her the facts about Falun Gong she said that she also came to the bank to find out about something, and that she now understood it was to hear the truth about Falun Gong.
I elevate my xinxing while saving sentient beings. I keep letting go of self and assimilating to Dafa. I was divorced before I learned Dafa, but when I heard that my mother-in-law was critically ill, the enlightened part of me knew that this was a chance for me to save people. My human side hesitated because of all sorts of notions. When I broke through all the human shackles with a Dafa disciple's righteous thoughts, everything became smooth sailing. I made a trip to the northwest. Not only did I save all that I should save, I also resolved many past grudges. The relationship with my former husband and his family members even got better. I am now pondering how I can save his girlfriend as well.
I recognize that if we do not break through many of our human notions, this will hamper us from saving more people. Just as Teacher said, everyone has an understanding side. All sentient beings have a side that yearns to be saved. Dafa will take care of all sentient beings that want to be saved. We can only accomplish well what Teacher wants us to do if we let go of all our preconceived human notions.
The above are my experiences and accomplishments in the past three years of cultivation in Dafa. I did not describe my mistakes and my problems, although I did stumble badly a few times because of my attachments to showing off and zealotry, and my egotism. The lessons were very painful.
