(Clearwisdom.net) I deeply felt Dafa's power and Master's compassionate arrangement and care in the past year of assisting Master. Please allow me to briefly share my cultivation experience.
1. Eliminating Human Attachments -- Lame Foot Restored
One afternoon in September 2008, having finished routine affairs in my two shops, I didn't have time to send righteous thought at noon. I had to hurry to a Dafa materials production site to repair a machine there. Halfway there I lost control of my motorcycle and ran against a concrete block. I was thrown off the motorcycle and my right knee was broken, and had a hole of about one inch in diameter on it. I at once realized that it was persecution from the old forces. I immediately pleaded with Master to strengthen me and completely deny the old forces' persecution. Even if I have shortcomings, I would rectify myself, and no life is worthy of persecuting me. I only walk the way Master arranges for me. Once this thought was sent, I at once heard clicking sounds from the broken bones resetting, and I knew that was Master restoring my injured leg.
The next morning, I tried to get out of bed by holding my injured leg that was badly swollen. I wanted to do the exercises with a practitioner family member. Once I moved my leg a little bit, the intense pain made me feel faint, and my heart beat quickly. I sweated from head to toe and felt nauseous, so I had to quickly lie down. There was a voice saying, "You need one hundred days to recover from a bone injury." I know that the old forces took advantage of my attachment to doing things to harm my human body, so as not to let me do the three things. I knew I must deny it firmly, denying all the old forces' arrangements. I stayed in bed, listening to and reciting the Fa. I could often feel Falun whirling in my leg and sensed several times that Master treated my leg. I once felt that my hurt leg was pulled forcibly, as if by someone being there, during a noon nap. It was so painful that I woke up. Then I found that no one was in my room. I knew that Master had just treated my last channel and collateral, but as I was in fear of pain, I lost a good chance and even if I could walk after that, I would always be lame.
I searched inside and found that I had a strong attachment to my appearance. I pleaded with Master, "It doesn't matter whether or not I look good. But if a Dafa disciple becomes disabled it will make it difficult to validate the Fa. I will not be afraid of pain and I must recover to a normal physical state so as to validate the Fa." I then imagined my normal way of walking and corrected my wrong gesture. Step by step, actually, I not only corrected my wrong way of walking, but also my human mindset and ego.
Gradually the pain in my leg diminished and I could walk normally.
2. Setting Up a Fa-study Group and Finding a Former Fellow Practitioner
Lucky for me, I became acquainted with the Fa in 1996. I was a business person, and eager to do Dafa things. I took charge of distributing informational materials. Since the persecution started on July 20, 1999, I thought it to be my responsibility to provide materials for other practitioners. I studied hard about computer and printing technology. I also produced materials by myself and coordinated the local materials production. Producing and coordinating materials for a long time caused me to unconsciously develop an attachment to doing things. This made me neglect the importance of Fa study and sending righteous thoughts. I didn't realize this until I had the accident and searched within myself. I found my problem, especially after I read experience sharing articles and then paid more attention to studying the Fa and cultivating myself.
A fellow practitioner once talked me into editing and printing materials continuously for two nights without any Fa study, but all the produced materials had to be discarded. I then made up my mind that after finishing my morning exercises and sending righteous thoughts together with practitioners worldwide, I would study three chapters of Zhuan Falun without exception, regardless of the circumstances. Once I had done all those things, I would then do other things. I insisted on doing things this way for more than six months, and Master gave me many insights. I gradually formed the habit of searching inside and achieved maximum results with half the effort.
Once I acquired the habit of searching inside, all the troubles I encountered in life--work, cultivation, coordination, and materials production--were solved, and it seemed that nothing could block me. The magic and happiness of searching inside made me deeply experience the boundless power of Dafa.
Master asks us to cultivate ourselves into people who think nothing about themselves and always think of others first, "...so as to attain the righteous Enlightenment of selflessness and altruism." ("Non-Omission in Buddha-Nature" from Essentials for Further Advancement) Many fellow practitioners close by with their own businesses are too occupied doing their business, and some pay too much attention to their family life, fall into the trap of wanting recognition and profit, or become emotional and can't pull themselves out. Some can't overcome illness karma, or are in fear of going out to validate the Fa. They are in a half-cultivated state. They are my precious fellow practitioners, and I have the responsibility to wake them up. We should cultivate, improve ourselves, and return to our real home together. I decided to set up a Fa-study group in my home.
Following conversations with nearby practitioners, a Fa-study group was established with four to five people participating. Practitioners who are doing business have limited time during the day, so we could only study the Fa at night. We did this for two weeks and eventually no one came. They had left the group for too long, and there was too much interference from their egos and attachments. I searched inside and found that I had the attachment of losing face, and hoped more people would join, and I didn't want to be alone. How could I let my human attachments mix with serious cultivation? I knew there was nothing wrong with studying the Fa together, as this is the cultivation form Master tells us to use. As the Fa-study group was set up in my home, it was my responsibility to maintain it. Even if only I was there, I should retain it. I then sent righteous thoughts to weed out all interference from evil factors to our Fa-study group.
Together with a nearby coordinator, we went out to discuss this issue with fellow practitioners one by one and kindly pointed out that if we cannot cultivate according to the Fa, we might bring trouble onto ourselves. We must fulfill our prehistoric vows, gradually leave the human existence behind, catch up with Master's Fa-rectification process, and do the three things well. I also told them of my enlightenment about paying attention to Fa study after my accident. Practitioners were touched and rejoined our Fa-study group.
I once went to the provincial capital to buy raw materials at a time when two practitioners were arrested while clarifying the truth to people. Traffic was heavy, and I couldn't return on time to take part in Fa study. I called an older practitioner and asked him to take care of the group Fa study. To my surprise, this practitioner told all the others who came to the Fa study to go home. He had listened to his non-practitioner wife's persuasion to stop group Fa study during a tense period. The practitioners said that whether or not we come to group Fa-study depends on whether we feel fearful. I answered without hesitation that studying the Fa together is doing things according to Dafa's requirements. We have nothing to fear so long we walk the right path. Fellow practitioners said nothing, and all of them came back to take part in group Fa-study.
A practitioner once brought her 19-year-old mentally ill daughter to the Fa-study group and asked us to send righteous thought for her. After Fa-study, the daughter went to Master's picture and said with her hands in the Heshi gesture, "I want to follow Master to go back home, and I want to rescue sentient beings." She then said to us, "My mother doesn't pay attention to what she says and told everyone that I am mentally ill. I have no illness. I want to cultivate and follow Master to go home."
After they left, all practitioners said, "As Master teaches us, if a person is mentally ill she cannot be brought into group Fa study. We shouldn't bring any negative influences to Dafa." I searched inside and communicated with practitioners what Master said in Zhuan Falun,
"...it is not an illness in my view. Psychosis occurs when a person's Main Consciousness becomes too weak."
Now when we come up against something like this, it is for all of us to think it over. There is nothing wrong with protecting Dafa, but according to my understanding, the daughter has followed her mother to study the Fa and do the exercises since her childhood. Later on she was not so diligent in cultivation, due to school study. As her mother also paid much attention to self-interest, she asked her daughter to work after the daughter graduated from middle school. The mother actually didn't take good care of the little disciple. We are now in the last period of Fa-rectification, and time is limited. The child's clear side wants to follow the Fa-rectification process and return home with Master. We should treat her as if she were our own child. We can't shun her and close the door on her. We don't have the right. We searched inside as a whole body and found our own shortcomings.
The next day, several coordinators communicated with her mother who has cultivated for a long time. We all thought that when a child is not in the right state, a mother should first search inside, mind her speech, let go of self-interest, and take good care of the little disciple. Once we had an agreement, the daughter often came to our group to study the Fa and understood the Fa quickly. She improved quickly and recovered to a normal state. She is now doing the three things diligently.
Our Fa-study group operates smoothly. We cultivate, improve as a whole body and study the Fa diligently. An elderly lady who was illiterate started to read the Fa publicly and could gradually read Zhuan Falun fluently. Young practitioners started to recite the Fa. We all take reading the Fa as a very serious matter. We can't miss a single character or read any character incorrectly. Whenever I noticed a few practitioners having a difficult time overcoming something I searched inside and shared my experiences with them. Conforming with the different attachments of practitioners, I download and make various brochures from the Minghui website, such as "Getting Rid of Jealousy," "Cultivating the Heart and Severing Lust," "Walk Out of the Crisis of Sentimentality and Lust," "Getting Rid of Disease Karma," "Search inside and Cultivate Diligently," and others. We improve ourselves quickly through Fa study and searching inside. We all take advantage of being business people by distributing Shenyun DVDs and paper currency that contains Dafa and persecution messages, and spreading the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party.
We feel that we improved quickly through Fa-study together, so practitioners were eager to come. The numbers in our group increased greatly, from 4-5 to 10-20, then to almost 30 practitioners. We once went to another materials site and found a safety problem there, but the practitioners there simply didn't listen to our opinion. Back home we still couldn't calm down, and wondered why the coordinator at that site didn't listen to others and ignored the safety of others. We searched inside and found that Master reminded us to pay attention to our own safety with this incident. We had no passwords for our two computers and all the discs. There were also too many people in the Fa study group, and we had not separated the Fa-study site from the materials site, as well as other issues. With local practitioners' cooperation we separated the big group into three small groups, to make sure practitioners were able to study the Fa safely and diligently. Following the division into three small groups, three or four practitioners took the initiative to coordinate and make all things operate smoothly. Fellow practitioners became more and more mature.
3. Letting Go of Attachments to Personal Interest and Rectifying Myself
Since I began cultivation, I did not hesitate to contribute to Dafa projects financially. I therefore considered myself as not having any attachments to personal interests. However, when digging further, it seemed that all of my conflicts with others were rooted in personal interests. I have run a business for several decades, but somehow I always owed debts. After this accident, I calmed down to intensively study the Fa and began to look within. I found that my personal interests were my fundamental attachments that were taken advantage of by the old forces to persecute me financially. I am already very busy with uploading, downloading, and preparing truth-clarification materials, as well as assisting with coordination work. At the same time, I also ran two stores that occupied a lot of my time that could otherwise be used on Fa-study and doing the exercises. When I had to lay in bed and was unable to move, I began thinking that it would be a very happy thing to have functional limbs. We are Dafa disciples and Master has already given us the best. I must cherish this unprecedented cultivation opportunity.
I decided to sell one store to have more time for Fa-study and doing the exercises. I also planned to pay off all my debts. After making this decision, I reached an agreement with a buyer at 60,000 yuan, the lowest marketed price. The next day, however, he only agreed to pay 30,000 yuan. Was this a form of financial persecution or a test of my attachments to personal interest? I was not sure about it and did not know whether to close the transaction on the store. This agonizing feeling was very painful, as if I had experienced a battle of life and death. Thinking the answer could only come from Dafa books, I stayed at home and read through Zhuan Falun within one day. A decision easily came to my mind: 30,000 yuan. After selling the store, I felt relieved with more time and energy for Fa-study. Although I was still not sure about the future, I was determined to follow Dafa and Master.
After selling the busy store, I kept the other one. Surprisingly, more customers suddenly started to come compared to the past. The sales also doubled that of the previous store that I sold, while the rent was only half of the other one. Within two months, I had paid off all my debts. It was the first time in many years that I owned my own assets and the entire store of merchandise. It was also the first time that I no longer had worries about debts. From this, I came to understand in depth what Master said, "If something is not yours, you will not have it even if you fight for it." (Zhuan Falun) Only by walking on the Fa-rectification path arranged by Master can we oppose the arrangements of the old forces. I am very grateful for Master's compassion.
Under the current financial crisis, many stores near mine have a difficult time, especially because we are not in a good location. However, my store has many customers and it has been doing well. This is because I eliminated the attachment to personal interests, asking only for a fair price while guaranteeing the quality and being considerate of my customers. In addition, most of my customers have heard the truth of Dafa in the past, so their knowing sides are grateful to Dafa. I understand all of this is provided by Master for me to validate the Fa. From this experience, I realized that only by eliminating attachments to personal interests can we oppose the financial persecution imposed by the old forces. Only by doing that can we witness the miracles of Dafa.
By rectifying ourselves and letting go of the attachments to fear and jealousy, we can do better in saving sentient beings. Whenever we do inventory of the store, it often indicates that some merchandise is missing. One worker sometimes put money in her pocket or recorded less sales to split the difference with other co-workers. I was often not present at the store, but whenever she did such things, I was always able to detect it. Therefore, I was very upset and often scolded her. This situation lasted a long time. One day, our inventory indicated some things were missing again and I suspected that she was responsible. Upon asking her, she could barely answer me, and her face was turning red. This made me very angry and I decided to fire her. I suppressed my anger and after coming back, called a practitioner, "I decided to fire a worker since the store is missing some merchandise again." That practitioner asked me to calm down and look within, "Your store often misses things. That means you need to look within and cannot just simply judge by this superficial appearance."
After thinking about these words, I knew that I should look within. Meanwhile however, I was not convinced, "Apparently she [the worker] stole it. How can I look within?" Seeing a copy of Zhengjian Weekly on the table, I picked it up and started to read it. I was touched by an article in which a practitioner found a reason for his detainment at a labor camp which was because of human notions--fear of being persecuted someday--when doing the three things. If one is afraid of illness, he or she will be sick. Similar things happen when one is afraid of being persecuted. In Zhuan Falun, Master said,
"He cannot eat or sleep well; he fears losing self-interest even in dreams, and he will go all out for personal gain."
I was just one of those people. When you are afraid of material loss, you are actually seeking material loss. From the sharing article on Zhengjian Weekly, I realized that when you have the attachment of suspicion or fear, you are actually pursuing those things.
Feeling angry is the manifestation of hatred towards others because of the loss of personal interests. Feeling upset with others is actually an attachment to jealousy. It's just like what is said in Zhuan Falun, "In the book Investiture of the Gods, Shen Gongbao found Jiang Ziya to be both old and incompetent." I examined many of my attachments to really get rid of them, including jealousy, attachment to personal interest, hatred, suspicion, fear, pursuit and many others. After a painful process of severing, Master helped me remove the substance of these attachments. Gradually, I began treating all employees with compassion. Regardless of the sales performance, I am grateful to them for their hard work. I often talk with them while smiling and often tell them stories ranging from the wonderfulness of Dafa, divine stories, to those that good is rewarded with good. I sometimes also help them with transporting merchandise, which is something I didn't do in the past. I used to think that since I paid them, they should do all the work. When running into conflicts with them, I always look within to examine myself unconditionally instead of complaining or blaming them. My employees and I one day realized that I had not been angry for a long time. In fact, after I eliminated my human notions, there was hardly anything that triggered my anger.
The workers in my store are paid the highest among employees who are in the same line of work in my area. My store is filled with laughter and they enjoy the relaxed working environment. All of the employees have started to read Zhuan Falun, and some have started reading it a second time.
I know that I have done rather poorly compared to the requirements of Dafa. Nonetheless, the determination of my faith in Dafa and Master is unshakable. In the future, I will remain diligent in cultivation and constantly rectify myself. By walking steadily on the Fa-rectification path, I will continually improve and become mature as a Dafa disciple.
