(Clearwisdom.net) I began practicing Falun Dafa in 1993. Here, I'd like to report my cultivation progress to Master and share my experience with fellow practitioners.
1. Obtaining the Fa through a Predestined Relationship with Master
When I was a child, I often heard stories about Gods, Buddhas, and monks' cultivation. After experiencing conflicts while playing with other kids, poor health, and abuse from my father, I felt tired and bitter, and thought that it may be better to become a monk.
Right after that thought appeared, I saw my beating heart hanging in the sky and sparkling. Since then, I have had a recurrent dream: A Daoist or a monk would lead me, while I ran with my feet in the air, through many famous mountains, temples, and monasteries where I would see many people practicing cultivation. Whenever I passed by a place, I knelt down at the door and begged to be admitted, but the doors were always closed. I often asked myself: Who could save me? After I started practicing Falun Dafa, all the doors of the temples in my dream remained open.
In the 1960s, I went to see a nun for my illness. She lived close to the White Pagoda Temple, and I asked her why nobody lived in such a beautiful temple. She laughed and then said to me seriously with her finger pointing to the temple gate, "You used to belong in there."
In 1992, my eldest brother-in-law suffered from an abdominal adhesion, for which the hospital had no cure. At the same time, one of my sisters also suffered from a congenital heart disease, and her life was in danger. Our family searched everywhere for cures. At one time, someone referred my eldest sister to a living immortal, who was believed to be able to cure any illness. When she found this person and told him the situation, he said, "Everything is fine now, you can go back." She left with some doubt, but when she came back home, both our brother-in-law and our sister were really cured--it was magical.
When I went to my eldest sister's home one day, the living immortal came to her home. My eyes met his as he entered the room, my whole body shook, and my mind went blank. He was tall and shining with light, and I immediately felt that he was part of our family. He was our respectful Master. He was the person that I had been looking for all my life.
Master introduced the Fa teaching classes to us, and I attended His lectures twice. When Zhuan Falun was first published and the books were scarce, Master gave me a copy of the book himself. Although I did not have much education, I read the book day and night. The memory of this predestined experience with Master is forever in my heart, and it has always given me the encouragement to be diligent on my cultivation path.
2. My Body Cleansed through Practice
I used to be very weak and had many illnesses, including stomach disease, kidney disease, and chronic headaches. I had tried many kinds of treatment, but nothing helped. After I began practicing Falun Dafa, Master cleaned up my body. All of these illnesses disappeared, and I became a strong man.
Once, I had been doing Fa-rectification work continuously for four nights without any sleep. When I came back home in the morning after the fourth night, I thought about resting. However, my wife told me that it was time to collect the potatoes in the field, so I went ahead and did that. Then, 10 tons of coal bricks we had purchased arrived, and I put them away in the shed. I worked all day. When I finally sat down on the chair and rested at about 10:00 p.m., I reminded myself that I could not go to sleep because I had Dafa work to do that night. I ate, took a short nap and left the house by midnight. When I was returning home early in the morning, my bike went so fast, it felt like a flying arrow. My body felt light and very comfortable.
Compared to the way I used to be before I became a practitioner, I am a new person. All of the people who witnessed my transformation have commented that Falun Dafa is miraculous.
3. Master Giving Hints on My Karmic Retribution
My father treated his children badly without reason. He picked on us even when we showed filial piety, gave him money, or bought him things. I used to feel it was unfair and resented him.
After I started practicing Dafa, I understood the principles of karmic retribution and the predestined relationships from previous lives. However, when I tried to change the situation with my father, there wasn't much effect. I still complained in my heart. Master must have seen it and gave me hints in my dreams. I saw myself wearing a golden robe with armor, while sitting on a chair with a red whip in my hand. A beautiful horse was before me. An elderly servant in his 60s knelt down to form a step. I stood up, walked over and stepped on him. Then he stood up with a shiver and handed me the reins. I galloped away for about 10 yards and turned around. The servant stood in the wind with a sad look, waving at me. When I looked carefully, I was shocked: He was my father.
When I awakened and thought about my dream, I understood everything. I owed a debt to my father, since I had caused him a lot of suffering in another life. He might have suffered in my family in several of his previous lives, so that is why in this life he feels that his children do not treat him well enough. This is just karmic retribution. Since then, I have had no complaints about him. I treat him with a practitioner's standard and hope that the Buddha's infinite grace will make a bad predestined relationship have a benevolent solution. Master let me fundamentally understand these principles.
4. Cultivating Inward and Balancing Relationships with Family
Practitioners all know that tribulations from family members are not easy to pass. This was also the case with my family. Before I started practicing Dafa, I often quarreled with my wife. Since I had a bad temper, my wife and kids were afraid of me. After I started to cultivate, the situation switched, so that my wife now often interfered with me and did not let me cultivate. Sometimes she took away and hid my Dafa books or threw away Dafa materials. She would also arrange a lot of housework for me, so that I would not have time to practice. Once she locked up my bicycle and did not allow me to use it.
At the beginning, I thought these tribulations were for me to improve my xinxing or were related to my karma. I tried to handle them without fighting or arguing back, but I still felt angry, and things were still not improving after a long time. Through studying the Fa, I enlightened that my wife might be manipulated by the old forces to interfere with me, so I should eliminate all the evil factors behind her instead of passively bearing them. I wanted to be able to practice openly in my own home.
I made up my mind to change the situation, so that my wife would no longer commit crimes against Dafa. I sent forth strong righteous thoughts to eliminate all evil factors that manipulated her and interfered with my cultivation. At the same time, I looked inward to find where I did not do well. Sometimes, I did not think of things from her standpoint, and I always felt that the things I had to do should come first. My attitude toward her was cold, and I did not have anything to say to her besides things about my cultivation. She thus felt left out, and there was no warmth at home.
Master told us:
"Under all circumstances, we must be good and kind to others, not to mention to our family members. We should treat everyone in the same way. We must be good to our parents and children and be considerate of others in all respects. Such a heart is thus unselfish, and it is a heart of kindness and benevolence." (Zhuan Falun)
Once I changed my attitude toward my wife and gradually eliminated the attachment of selfishness, my wife also really changed after a while. She reminded me to send forth righteous thoughts when I forgot. When officials from the local residential committee tried to harass me, she helped me to get rid of them. When I left home to do Dafa work, she reminded me to be careful and return home early. The atmosphere at home changed. I realized that only righteous thoughts could generate righteous actions and looking inward is the key.
5. Fulfilling Vows and Saving Sentient Beings
Every practitioner in the Fa-rectification period knows their mission to assist Master with Fa-rectification and saving sentient beings, which was our prehistoric vow. So, I wanted to let more people learn the truth about Falun Dafa.
At the beginning, I did not have any materials. When I saw Dafa posters on a wall one day, I came up with an idea to carve truth-clarification words on a rubber stamp and use that to print information on the walls. I carved "Falun Dafa is good!" and "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good!" on rubber or foam and then printed these words on the walls. Over time, I improved the technique. The effect was good.
Later, we generated truth-clarification brochures and fliers, and the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party booklets. My attachment to fear was eliminated in the process of distributing the materials. Right after I put the materials at someone's door for the first time, I encountered two policemen in front of me and two behind. I did not retreat but sent forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the evil. I reminded myself not to be scared. After my heart calmed down, I did not see any police officers anymore. I realized that this was interference. This kind of situation happened four times. Afterward, my attachment of fear was gone.
Initially, I mainly walked to the countryside to distribute the materials. Once I carried a big bag of materials. After I walked about one and a half miles from home, I thought about taking a taxi. There were always many taxis on the road, but there were none that morning. So I thought I should just go back. At that moment, a voice asked me, "Isn't this difficult? Aren't you tired? Is it worth it?" I was startled but answered immediately: "It is not difficult. I am not tired. Assisting Master with Fa-rectification is worth doing." So, I walked for over 11 hours--through the whole night. Big blood blisters developed on my heels. After I returned home, I fell asleep right away. Then I saw Master meditating with a harmonious expression, and his body was shining and sparkling. I awakened after only five minutes, but my body felt relaxed and all of my fatigue was gone, and I started to do the exercises. This was really as Master said, "Let joy be found in hardship." (Hong Yin, "Tempering the Will")
While distributing materials, I thought that I should paint truth-clarification words on the walls to let people know that Falun Dafa is good. So, I purchased a paintbrush and oil paint and painted "Falun Dafa is good!" and "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good!" on walls. The effect was good.
Later, I wanted to paint larger signs, but painting by hand was too slow. So I experimented with spray paint until I got successful results. I painted "Falun Dafa is good!" and "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good!" on every building in my small town. I always sent forth righteous thoughts while painting and asked Master and the righteous Gods to help me. I sent forth righteous thoughts so that the buildings' security cameras could not catch me. The police cars had passed by me several times, but they did not notice me. I realized that when we have righteous actions with our righteous thoughts, Master and the righteous Gods are always there to protect us.
I also painted truth-clarification words in really big font on many buildings and big rocks along the roads, so that people passing by could see them from a distance. Now, within a 30-mile radius, almost all the buildings have "Falun Dafa is good!" and "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good!" painted on them. I hope all the people around my town or passing by will read and remember them.
I also clarified the truth to people face to face when the opportunities were there, such as at the family gatherings. Once, there was a big event in a relative's home. The room was filled with people, and I thought that this would be a really good opportunity to clarify the truth but did not know how to start. Right after this thought, Master helped me. A relative saw me and said, "Uncle, you practice Falun Gong, come and tell us about it." The room became quiet, and I started to clarify the truth, from Dafa benefiting one's health, to Dafa spreading around the world, to the persecution and the organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners in China and the international investigation of these crimes. Afterward, I thought that the people in the outside tent should also learn the truth. Then a relative came by and said, "Let's go to the tent," so I clarified the truth there as well. The next day, a relative said to me: "You were so brave. Do you know that there was a police chief among the relatives at the event last night? Several people were thinking about reporting you, but he stopped them." I said, "He is also a life to be saved. Since he's understood the truth, he won't do any evil things."
6. Danger Melted Away with Righteous Thoughts and Righteous Actions
After I distributed materials in a village one evening, a man pulled my bag and stopped me. Then several people came and sent me to the police station. However, they could not find any materials on me and told me to go straight home. I sent forth righteous thoughts, as I realized that they were trying to trick me and would track me down on my way home. As I left the police station, I walked at a normal speed along the road, and then hid in a corn field when I saw that nobody was behind me. A few minutes later, two motorcycles came up, and the drivers muttered that they could not find the person. After they left, I went back home safely. I realized that I had not sent forth righteous thoughts while entering the village and seeing several suspicious people. The evil caught my loophole and tried to persecute me. This was a good lesson.
On another evening, I went to a village to hang posters and saw several people following me. I had nowhere to hide, so I squatted down along a wall. It would be hard to hide under the bright moonlight. I asked Master and the righteous Gods to blind those people's eyes so that they would not see me. They passed by me and continued to walk until they reached a dead end. On their way back, their clothes touched mine, but they still did not notice me. When I was on my way home, I saw two police officers on the main road, so I detoured to small roads and hung posters along the way while sending forth righteous thoughts. When I was getting close to home, a police car was parked at an intersection, so I detoured again. I dealt with the evil the whole night and knew that Master and the righteous Gods were protecting me.
At another time, while I was to go to a village for truth-clarification work, a voice said to me, "Danger." I did not enlighten, however, and thought that I should go no matter what. I had the attachments of doing things and showing off, and the evil saw my loophole. While I was distributing materials, a dog barked, and two people came out and sent me to the police station. I immediately started to send forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the evil behind these people and disallow the evil to persecute me. I realized I had a loophole, but knew that Master and the Fa can correct me.
The police officers handcuffed me to the heating pipe and interrogated me about the source of the materials. They whipped me with belts when I refused to answer them. One officer took the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party from my bag and started to read it. I sent forth righteous thoughts to let him understand the truth. After a long time, he said, "The Communist Party is bad." Then a lady walked in and said to the officers: "Falun Dafa practitioners are good people. Just let him go." I saw that another life already knew the truth and was saved; she would have a bright future. Then I realized that what I did was to save people and it was sacred, and I became more confident that I should leave the police station and continue to assist Master with Fa-rectification and saving more people.
At the same time, I started to look inward. I had the attachments of doing things and showing off. I also had the competitive mentality and did not talk to the police officers kindly but argued with them. So I corrected myself and started to tell them the facts about Falun Dafa, and about good deeds bringing good rewards and bad actions bringing karma. I refused to cooperate with them in the persecution. I was released 15 days later. After this incident, I enlightened that any single attachment could be utilized by the evil. All of our thoughts should be righteous and on the Fa, so that we can do the Dafa work well.
7. Protected by Master, Finding Happiness Amidst Hardship
During the past ten years of cultivation, I often studied the Fa and did the exercises during the day and did the Fa-rectification work at night. I returned home before dawn, and sometimes, I did not sleep for several days and nights. I felt sleepy at the beginning, but when I thought of all the things that needed to be done to save sentient beings and fulfill our vows, I was reluctant to sleep and always felt short on time. Except on the nights when it was snowing or raining, I did not stay home to sleep. I rode my bike for about 30 miles round trip every night without any days off. I experienced the cold, heat, thirst, and hunger, and had to find ways to avoid persecution. It was a truly harsh environment. But, I also felt infinite happiness amidst the hardship.
Once I was lost in a distant village after I had distributed the materials. There was nobody around, so I asked Master, "Master, I cannot find my way home, please help." Suddenly, I saw Master in the distance, and I rushed toward Him. Master led the way and I followed Him. After 40 minutes, Master disappeared. Then I saw myself on the road that I knew would lead me back home. Master led me to this road. I pressed my hands in front of my chest with excitement and tears in my eyes.
On another evening, I came to a small village with only about two dozen homes. Every family had dogs. I sent forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the interference from the evil and not let the dogs bark or bite. When I opened the door of a family's home, a dog came up to me to greet me. I left the booklet of the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party and a truth-clarification brochure and was about to step out when I saw the dog picking up the materials with its mouth and taking them inside the house. My heart became warm and I wept. The dog was a sentient being too, and it might have waited many lives for this moment. It positioned itself well. At that moment I understood the deeper meaning of saving sentient beings, as everything in this universe needs to be saved, including animals and plants.
There was another experience that I could not forget. One of my neighbors had breast cancer. She had done many bad things in her life and did not have much time left to live. I wanted her to know the truth about Falun Dafa but was afraid that she would not accept the truth-clarification materials if I gave them to her in person. So, I put three brochures in an envelope and left it in her home. She read the brochures while she was in pain, and after she read all three of them, she passed away. After a while, I saw her in my dreams. She was carrying a big bag. When she opened her bag, there were four smaller bags inside. She said to me: "Three of them were from you. Do you want them back?" I replied, "No, you can keep them." She happily took them with her. I enlightened that the three small bags were the three brochures I gave her, and she treated them as good things.
Seeing sentient beings being saved is the happiest thing for a practitioner. On my cultivation journey over the past years, except for doing housework, I have used all of my time to do the three things. My heart is fully determined on cultivation, and I temper myself in the Fa and cultivation. I do not have any human notions when doing Dafa work, and my heart is pure. Although I seldom sleep, I do not feel tired. I know that Master gives me energy and protects me. Sometimes when I fell asleep early in the morning, I saw Master smiling at me, showing his care and reluctance to wake me up. However, I immediately got up and continued to do the three things.
I have experienced many things, encountered danger, suffered hardship, had miraculous experiences and found a lot of happiness during my cultivation. I would like to remind fellow practitioners to be more diligent. Let's remember Master's teachings, fulfill our prehistoric vows, compassionately save sentient beings and reach consummation.
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