(Minghui.org) Greetings Master! Greetings fellow practitioners!
I come from Kaohsiung and I am very grateful to Master [Li Hongzhi] for giving me this opportunity to share my cultivation journey over the past 10 plus years. When writing this article, I felt even more that Dafa is precious. Finding Dafa and finding Master has been the most important thing in my life.
Finding the Path Back to True Self
My sister gave me a copy of Zhuan Falun in 2005. After six months, I had only skimmed over a few pages. Then I did not pick it up again. Later, I had a serious illness and suddenly thought about the miraculous effects of practicing Falun Gong, so I listened to Master’s audio lectures.
When first starting the practice, I went to do the exercises every day. However, I rarely studied the Fa, nor did I participate in Dafa activities or group study. I didn’t know what cultivation really was. One day, I had a dream in which I practiced sitting meditation with other practitioners in the morning. I began to practice earlier than some of them, but I was placed in the group of new practitioners, even in the back of the line. I woke up feeling panic in my heart, thinking this might be a hint from Master: I had fallen behind. If I do not catch up, I will not keep up with the Fa-rectification. This is, I must cultivate diligently like a lion.
Before beginning to practice, I had a family restaurant with my husband, who was not a practitioner. I was busy every day in pursuit of fame, material gain, and human emotion. After becoming a practitioner, I did not balance my time well. Although the guests in the restaurant came and went every day, I did not know how to tell them about Falun Dafa or the persecution in China. Sometimes I was worried too. I often asked myself: "If I don't the three things, am I a Dafa disciple? When can I become a genuine Dafa disciple?"
This situation continued until 2012. After operating the restaurant for more than 10 years, my husband suddenly decided to close it. I was not upset at all and was in fact quite happy, and even burst into tears of joy. I knew this was Master's compassionate arrangement. Master knew what was on my mind and took care of me. I must cherish this and become a genuine Dafa disciple.
Participating in Media Projects
After closing the restaurant, I quickly joined the marketing team of a news media outlet. Since childhood, I have been an introverted person, with no confidence and low self-esteem. I was not good at talking with others, either. Master was very benevolent, arranging another practitioner to go with me.
Neither of us was familiar with computers or had professional experience. But we both had a strong will to save people. Doing marketing was a long learning experience with ups and downs. Surprisingly, we both had good sales volumes, way beyond the expectation of our managers. From then on, I became more confident and open-minded. From this, I also learned that only by selflessly cooperating with each other can we form a whole body to save people.
Tourist Sites
I also went with this practitioner to tourist sites for a while, talking about Falun Dafa with people from mainland China. In the beginning, I was nervous and fearful because I had never done it before. Not only that, this practitioner needed to make a trip to Hong Kong, which meant I would be on my own. I felt afraid and lonely. This practitioner encouraged me to study the Fa more, saying that would help me overcome fear. During days when this practitioner was away, I was able to read one lecture of Zhuan Falun every day along with more from Master's teachings. Upon returning from Hong Kong, that practitioner was surprised that I could now help more than 20 tourists quit the communist party organizations, although I could hardly do any when she left.
I knew that Master had helped me a lot. Meanwhile, I also came to understand the importance of Fa study. By studying the Fa and cultivating myself, I would be able to do better in saving sentient beings. Since then, I have spent lots of time every day studying the Fa with that practitioner, and we keep encouraging each other.
Shen Yun Promotion
Shortly after I joined Shen Yun promotion efforts in 2016, I became a coordinator under the recommendation from another practitioner. Given my inexperience, I knew that there would be many things for me to learn. Was I good enough to be a coordinator?
With this negative thought, I encountered a challenge immediately. In the past, this practitioner always contacted a particular cultural and arts organization to introduce Shen Yun. After I became a coordinator, however, this organization changed policies and forbade promotion of external events. I took this hard, thinking that this might be related to my poor experience and insufficient righteous thoughts. Otherwise, why did this not happen to the other practitioner in the past? Am I really too incompetent for this position? More negative thoughts emerged and I thought about quitting the job. But I also knew that nothing was accidental in my cultivation and there were reasons why I became the coordinator. How could I just walk away like this?
I remembered Master's words,
“Things will work out well if you are always compassionate and good to others, thoughtful towards people, and handle whatever situations you get into with people by first pausing to consider how well your actions will go over with the other party and whether anyone will be hurt by them.” (Zhuan Falun, “The Fourth Talk”).
So I tried to think from the organization's perspective, wondering why they would do this. This organization had many concerns, including managing the facility well. Although we tried to save people, we could have caused issues for the organization. So I shared this with other practitioners. Namely, we cultivators should consider others first and plan things as if in their shoes. Once we let go of selfishness, the organization surprisingly allowed us to introduce Shen Yun a few months before the tour performance started. Looking back, I am glad that I found the attachment of evading responsibility. Also, it was hard work from other practitioners and good collaboration as one body that made this happen.
At the same time, another practitioner asked me to help with the telephone feedback team of Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra. Telephone surveys were actually the most difficult obstacle for me to overcome since I started cultivation, and so I chose to avoid it.
I was afraid. Worried about losing face and afraid of being rejected, I had many attachments in my heart. I would find an excuse to decline joining the telephone team, but the coordinator came to me again. I thought I'd better try it this time, as there is nothing accidental in cultivation.
So I participated in the telephone feedback team. I learned a lot of valuable experiences from other practitioners and made major breakthroughs and improvements. The projects that I had participated in earlier were all face-to-face, but only voices can be heard in telephones. My heart was a bit unstable, and I think this is a human notion. It is wrong and I should negate it. What a cultivator says can touch sentient beings’ hearts. Before calling, I tried to be well prepared. I first checked the background information of the interviewees and studied a lot of Fa.
What I remembered most was the phone conversation with a particular chamber of commerce. I made several phone calls, which were either declined or could not get through. There was a branch whose phone number was not listed. I checked it online and found the mobile phone number of the branch director. I also learned online that the director had watched a Shen Yun performance before, and there was a media interview of him.
When I contacted the director, no one answered the phone. Soon he called back. Since I knew his positive attitude towards Shen Yun, I directly asked him whether it is possible to do a 30-minute presentation on the Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra. He agreed without hesitation. Looking back, I did not know where my courage came from. I realize that Master has already paved the cultivation way in front of us, and we just need to put it into action.
Belief in Master and Dafa
I was in charge of snacks for tea parties to promote Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra this year. In September, the night before a large tea party, I received an urgent phone call from my son, who was attending school in Taipei. He went to see a doctor in a hospital. The doctor said that he should do a physical examination with anesthesia, which required a parent’s signature. My husband asked me to travel immediately to Taipei, but I thought that the tea party would be held tomorrow. How can I go to Taipei?
So I comforted my husband and called my son for details. The physical exam was scheduled for a week later, so it would be fine for me to go to Taipei later in the week. I know that this xinxing test was directed at my heart, interfering with saving people and testing my sentiments for my child. Later, my son’s medical report came out. The diagnosis was a rare serious disease requiring long-term treatment. My husband cried and cried. After listening to the doctor's explanation, I told myself not to be affected. I need to face my son's situation peacefully, whether it was life or death. I also remembered Master's words,
“In spiritual practice you have to go through ordeals, and they serve to test whether you can become free of your emotions and desires and the sway they hold over you. Being attached to those things will impede your progress.” (Zhuan Falun, “The Fourth Talk”)
Later, we decided to take my son to a hospital in Southern Taiwan for diagnosis and treatment. In the process, I taught my husband and my son about practicing the exercises and reading Lunyu before going to bed every day. I continued studying three lectures of Zhuan Falun every day and sending righteous thoughts to eliminate negative notions.
The follow-up medical report came out soon afterward. The diagnosis by the Taipei hospital was incorrect. It is not that serious and can be cured by taking medicine. I was overwhelmed and knew that Master was helping me. My husband and son also believe that it was due to Master’s help. At that moment, I had a deeper understanding of believing in Master and the Fa!
Looking Within
Once while we were making tea and snacks, another practitioner said to me that she did not fully recognize the importance of what we were making. Instead of making the tea one kilogram at a time, she made it all at once and it wasn't good. Looking inside, she found that she wanted to finish the job quickly. She had an attachment to taking shortcuts and seeking quick results.
As that practitioner looked within, I also looked inward. I had a negative thought that making tea snacks is a trivial task. We had been cooking it over and over again, like making snacks of ordinary people. I did not recognize that what we do was saving people. The tea snacks failed, and my carelessness affected the whole body. I found an attachment of vanity and not paying attention to small matters, which could turn out to be large. Master said in “Fa Teaching at the 2015 West Coast Fa Conference”, “But it’s cultivation—whatever happened to being 'free of gaps' (wu-lou)? There are no little things.”
After this incident, we each looked within and encouraged each other. Not long after that, we were back on track and even developed new flavors of tea snacks. Throughout cultivation, I felt everything is the best arrangement from Master. Every test is an opportunity to dig into my deep-rooted attachments. I need to peel off the bad thoughts and attachments that were formed during many life cycles. Let us continue to transcend and achieve the requirement of the Fa.
Finally, I would like to conclude my sharing with the poem “Real Cultivation” from Hong Yin:
Cherish Zhen, Shan, Ren,And in Falun Dafa shall you succeed;Cultivate your xinxing withouta moment’s pause,To taste the wonder,so immeasurable, at Consummation.
The above are my personal understandings. Please point out anything inappropriate.
Thank you, Master! Thank you, fellow practitioners!
(Presented at the 2018 Taiwan Experience Sharing Conference)
