(Clearwisdom.net) June 7, 2009 was the first anniversary of my obtaining Dafa. For me, the past year has been a year of rebirth, and I have experienced tremendous changes both physically and mentally. Thank you Master!
My mother (a fellow practitioner) said, "If a Dafa disciple does not read the Minghui website (Chinese version of Clearwisdom.net), it is quite difficult for that individual to cultivate diligently because he/she would not have an environment where fellow practitioners can 'Let each and every thing be measured against the Fa.'" ("Solid Cultivation" from Hong Yin) I used to browse everyday websites daily, and I only occasionally read the Minghui website. But now I go to the Minghui website every day, and I have learned a lot from reading the sharings written by fellow practitioners. I also realized that Master occasionally gives us hints by commenting on practitioners' articles, and this has enabled me to find many of my hidden attachments. On this very special day, I would like to share my cultivation experience with fellow practitioners.
Letting Go of Jealousy
At the beginning, when I read about jealousy in "Lecture Seven" of Zhuan Falun, I felt that I had never been a jealous person. And I felt that as a new Dafa disciple, I was doing pretty well in terms of saving sentient beings. Since July of last year, I have clarified the facts to people face to face and persuaded more than 150 people to quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its associated organizations, including my former classmates, colleagues, friends and some strangers. I once persuaded five people to quit the CCP in one day. However, when I was reading an article about how a practitioner made some breakthroughs in saving sentient beings, written by a new practitioner who obtained the Fa at roughly the same time as me, I had a feeling of uneasiness. It was just like what Master pointed out in Zhuan Falun,
"...so if someone is doing well, instead of feeling happy for him or her, people's minds will feel uneasy."
One day when my mother told me that she had persuaded six people to quit the CCP that day, I also felt jealous immediately, wondering about how she could save so many people. I was deeply shocked by my strong jealousy. When I realized it, I immediately eliminated this dirty attachment with righteous thoughts. Later, my mother told me that she persuaded another two people to quit the CCP that evening, I felt truly happy for her in my heart and for those who were saved by learning the truth. I felt that some bad elements in me had been eliminated. I also had a deeper understanding of Master' words,
"I use various means to expose your deeply-concealed attachments and get rid of them." ("Digging out the Roots" from Essentials for Further Advancement)
Clarifying the Facts to Sentient Beings Who are Waiting to be Saved
When I do the three things, Master always gives me wisdom and encourages me to be more diligent. Last year, I once failed to persuade a few friends to quit the CCP, and I was feeling a bit unhappy. But while I was taking a taxi home, I managed to persuade the taxi driver to quit the CCP, and this gave me great encouragement. When I was about to get out of the taxi, the driver told me that he had previously met an older practitioner and was deeply impressed with how young she looked for her age. Suddenly I understood something, that every sentient being who is waiting to be saved is like a potted flower, and we, who have predestined relationships with them, are watering them. The fact that we have the opportunity to water them right before they blossom is because many other fellow practitioners have watered them before us. They may blossom early or later, but the result is the same - they have learned the truth and they will have a beautiful future awaiting them.
"Let Each and Every Thing be Measured Against the Fa"
After reading sharings written by many fellow practitioners, I gained a deep understanding of Master's verse, "When disciples have ample righteous thoughts Master has the power to turn back the tide" and the importance of our (Dafa disciples) cultivating as one, "without any energy channels or acupuncture points." I noticed that my mother had developed attachments to showing-off and doing certain things when she distributed truth-clarifying materials. Other practitioners had told her that she had been seen by the surveillance monitors. So I shared with my mother that although she held righteous thoughts when she heard about it, what she did afterwards - removing the materials, was actually "asking" the evil to come and search for them. As Dafa disciples, we should do as Master told us in his poem entitled "Nothing Kept" (Hong Yin):
"In life, nothing sought,
In death, regretting naught;
Washing away all wrong thought,
Buddhahood, with less
adversity, is wrought."
My mother then further strengthened her righteous thoughts, and the false scene of persecution disappeared under the power of righteous thoughts.
When my mother distributed materials, she always sent forth righteous thoughts, asking Falun to "pass" the truth-materials to those who have predestined relationships with the Fa, from relatives to relatives and from friends to friends. She also covered herself up so that the evil would not see her. I learned to do this from my mother and at the same time I reminded her that we should send forth righteous thoughts when persuading people to quit the CCP. I said that we must not only think that the monitors would stop working. Instead, we should treat them as sentient beings as well and tell them, "The position is decided by oneself" ("Untitled" from Hong Yin II). We must tell them that their function is to monitor bad people, and if they fail to position themselves properly, then Dafa has mighty power as well as compassion.
Letting Go of Various Attachments
What I feel most deeply is that while we are saving sentient beings, we are also letting go of many of our own attachments. For example, one time after I talked to a person about the bad things the CCP did in history, he said he felt that I held much "hatred" in me. I had never thought I had any hatred. This incident reminded me that even when we talk about the evil deeds of the CCP, we should still keep a peaceful and calm mind.
On another occasion, when I became impatient with a person who was telling me that he agreed with the CCP in advocating reformism, I kept cutting in to stop him. Then Master gave me a hint through that person's month that I held a strong fighting mentality when clarifying the facts. It encouraged me to strengthen my righteous thoughts and at the same time reminded me that if we want to eliminate human notions and behaviors, then we must fundamentally change our conventional ways of thinking.
As I was writing this sharing, I found that I had a mentality of showing off my eloquence and aptitude for writing. I had a strong tendency to validate myself and had attachments to prophecies and metaphysics. When I clarified the facts, I thought it would be easier to talk to the person if I bought something from him/her first. I also held an attachment to time, always hoping that I was the person who did the last watering before the pot of flowers blossoms. When I was writing this sharing, strangely, the characters for "materials" turned into those for "figures," because I always counted the numbers of those who quit the party. Master was reminding me to let go of the attachment to figures.
Whenever I became aware of the bad attachments that I still have, I experienced symptoms such as belching or other cleansing symptoms. Master was helping me understand,
"Once you upgrade your xinxing, your body will undergo a great change. Upon xinxing improvement, the matter in your body is guaranteed to transform." (Zhuan Falun)
Eleven years ago, I had the predestined relationship to obtain the book Zhuan Falun, but in the following ten years, I wasted much time studying fortune-telling and metaphysics. I never expected that it would take me ten years to enter the gate of Dafa cultivation. Master has been looking after me all along, picking me up from hell, cleansing the bad karma from me and enabling me to feel the beauty of Dafa from my parents, and at the very last moment, enabling me to obtain Dafa - which one only comes across once in millions of years. Master has also arranged a suitable cultivation environment for me.
The above is just a bit of my cultivation experience. If there is anything improper due to limitations in my cultivation level, please kindly point them out.
