(Clearwisdom.net) I consider myself fortunate to have started practicing Falun Gong in November 1996. I would like to share some of my cultivation experiences.
1. Getting to Know Falun Gong
Prior to beginning the practice, I was a middle management executive at a large company. One night, I had a dream that I fell into a huge hole. I wondered how I could get out of it, and I was awakened from fear. A month later I was demoted - transferred into another department as an adviser. I did not know what I had done wrong and was unhappy. To release my mental stress, my wife and I began to take a daily walk at a park after dinner.
One day at the park, I saw three of my co-workers on their way somewhere. They all had books in their hands. I asked where they were going. They told me that they were on their way to Falun Gong practice. One loaned me Zhuan Falun. When I read the book, I realized that it was no ordinary book. Reading the book made me understand many things I've always wanted to know but couldn't find find answers to. I then started cultivation in Falun Dafa.
Master said in Zhuan Falun,
“There’s a law in this universe, called “a person doesn’t gain anything if he doesn’t lose”—to gain, you have to lose, and if you don’t lose you’ll be made to lose.”
Even though I lost my management position, I gained many things that ordinary people could never have. During fourteen years of cultivation, the hyperplasia of the prostate, rheumatoid arthritis, tachycardia, low blood pressure and other ailments I had earlier suffered all disappeared. I am now in my 70's, but people think I am in my 50's.
I study the Fa, practice the exercises and send forth righteous thoughts. Beginning in 2007, I started memorizing Zhuan Falun and now have recited the book from memory twelve times. It took me nine months to memorize the book the first time. Now, it only takes me three months to work my way through it. After I have recite the book once or twice, I read Master’s other lectures and articles again, and then return to reciting Zhuan Falun again. Master said,
“Pay attention: no matter how busy you are, you cannot neglect Fa-study. This is what fundamentally assures that you move toward Consummation and do Dafa work well.” (“To All Students at the Nordic Fa Conference” from Essentials for Further Advancement II)
I study the Fa three to five hours each day. Dafa has become a part of my life.
2. Cultivating in the Fa and Getting Rid of Fear
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) started the persecution of Falun Gong on July 20, 1999. I often wondered why the regime would ban such a good practice. Later I understood the reason from reading,
“… a few people with ulterior motives in the Central Committee of the CCP using their power to initiate a comprehensive, vicious suppression of Dafa and Dafa disciples. They have arrested people, beaten people, sent people to labor camps, sentenced people to jail, and destroyed the books; they have used the army, the police, secret agents, and diplomatic means; and they have used all radio stations, television stations, and the press to spread lies and carry out the persecution in a villainous fashion. Its overwhelming magnitude seems to threaten to bring down the heavens, while their evilness has spread throughout the entire world. With degenerate notions, the old forces arranged this for the purpose of "examining" Dafa in a destructive manner.” (“In Reference to a Prophecy” in Essentials for Further Advancement II)
Another practitioner told me that every practitioner should step forward and tell people the facts about Falun Gong. He gave me a poster and asked me to put it up. I bought a bottle of glue and while it was still daylight, I found a good location for the poster to be put up at night. That night, I went and put the poster on the wall when I was sure that no one was around. As soon as I was done, a person with a bike came over. I was scared, walked away in a rush, and remained nervous even after I got home.
Walking in the streets, I frequently saw advertisements on poles and walls. I thought about posting banners or flyers reading “Falun Dafa is good! Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good!” to help more people know the facts. I started writing posters during the day and posting them at night, but it was inefficient. I then tried to carve words on plastic boards and to stamp them onto paper to make posters. I not only generated enough supplies for myself to post, but also for a few other practitioners. I continued making posters for a couple of months, until we had a materials site at my area.
One day, I put up several posters in a park and then walked to the docks where they ship cars. I put posters under the cars' windshield wipers and even on a police car. The police car occupants noticed my actions. I quickly walked across the street and just then, a taxi showed up. I got in the taxi and left the scene. It seemed that the taxi was arranged to help me avoid danger.
3. Speaking With People Face to Face
Since the beginning of the 2005 movement of quitting the Chinese Communist Party and its affiliated organizations to rescue people, I speak with people and let them know the facts about Falun Dafa. As Dafa practitioners, we must do the three things Master requires, to fulfill our prehistoric vows and offer more people salvation. Each day I stay calm, smile at people, send righteous thoughts and greet everyone. I would start a normal conversation and then bring up the topic of quitting the CCP.
One day, an older man greeted me. I did not know him, but thought he might be a person that Master had arranged for me to meet. I chatted with him. Our conversation told me that he was retired, but continued working a different job to make a living. He complained of the huge societal gap between rich and poor, of most civilians' low standard of living, and mentioned the happenings of more natural disasters than before. I asked him whether or not he was a Party member. He said that he used to be a member of the Communist Youth League. I told him that more disasters would come, but he could be safe if he quit that CCP organization. “I quit” he said, “as long as I can be safe.”
I ran into another old man at a bus station. Getting off the bus, he was carrying a 30-pound bag of peanuts and walked with difficulty. I came over, helped him with his bag on my bike and chatted with him. He told me that he was 81 and was a Party member. I told him how to quit the Party to save his life. He agreed and quit the Party. I accompanied him to his daughter’s home and chatted with his daughter, who was in her 50s and used to be a member of the Communist Youth League. His daughter also gladly quit the Communist Youth League.
The day went smoothly. In less than three hours, more than twenty people had quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations.
Conducting face-to-face truth clarification enabled me to meet all kinds of people, especially those whose minds had been deeply poisoned by the CCP culture. The conversation was often unpleasant. I would look inward, treat them with compassion and hope that another Dafa practitioner might come along to offer them salvation.
4. Continuing to Break Through to Offer More People Salvation
Master said,
“Gather up and rescue the beings that you are to save! Have righteous thoughts and righteous actions, dissolve all hindrances, and spread the facts widely. Divine beings are among men." ("To the European Fa Conference in Stockholm", 2005)
As of 2010 I had expanded my efforts by enlarging the area I traveled in order to reach out to more people. As a result, more people were convinced to quit the CCP and its organizations.
Once I met an old man, with whom I biked side by side. I praised his good health and ability to go biking at such an age. He was proud of his health and said, “My health is okay. I often ride as exercise.” I commented, “It is important to keep healthy so that you would neither suffer nor pay medical bills. Medicine is very expensive these days.” He agreed and said, “I just want to be healthy and safe.” I asked him if he was a Party member. “I was, but I did not pay the dues for several years and I don’t consider myself a member.” I told him of the Party's evil acts and asked him to quit the Party to be safe. He quit the Party and thanked me what I had done for him.
I have become more mature after years of cultivation, and I will continue doing the three things, utilizing all the time that I have. Please point it out if there is anything incorrect.
