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[International Online Fahui] Master’s Compassionate Protection on My Cultivation Path

June 21, 2021 |   By a Falun Dafa practitioner in New Jersey, U.S.A.

(Minghui.org) Greetings, revered Master!

Greetings, fellow practitioners!

I am honored to have the opportunity to submit this cultivation experience sharing. Every experience sharing conference is precious, especially in this final moment of the Fa rectification. I would like to share some snippets of my cultivation over the past ten years.

From Doubt to Righteous Belief, from an Everyday Person to a Cultivator

Looking back at my cultivation of ten some years, it is a path of establishing my righteous conviction in Master [Master Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Dafa] and Dafa. From disbelief at the beginning, to perceptual half-belief and half-disbelief, to enlightenment on Fa principles, then to deeper perceptual enlightenment, and then to further clear discernment of the Fa principles, I have been constantly elevating in the process and built up more and more steadfast faith in Master and Dafa, step by step.

I was fortunate to come across the book Zhuan Falun (the main text of Falun Dafa) in 1995, but I put it down after reading only a few pages because it was a book that taught people to be good. My mind was preoccupied with thoughts of making money at that time. I felt that everyone was trying to make money by all means, and who would want to teach people to be good.

I had a chance to come across Zhuan Falun again after I moved out of China. While I was reading the entire book for the first time, my mind was full of the bad thoughts instilled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which incurred bad interference. I unconsciously became drowsy while reading, no matter what posture I used when I read, be it sitting, kneeling, standing, or walking. However, the interference made me cherish Dafa: it was interesting that I was prevented from reading the book, which made me want to read it more.

Perhaps because of this thought, I felt that Master cleansed my body when I read Zhuan Falun the second time. My stomach problem of more than ten years was quickly cured. Later I saw dazzling light through my celestial eye during meditation, leading me to a sensual realization that Dafa might be the true Fa.

The time was in early 2004 when I began to practice Dafa. The majority of Chinese people had a bad attitude towards Dafa due to the CCP’s lies and propaganda against Dafa. Most of my friends and colleagues around me looked at me differently when they found out I was practicing Dafa. I did waver in my heart. I called a trustworthy veteran practitioner in private and asked him how he thought of Master. He did not answer me directly, but said to me: you only need to see if what Master taught is reasonable and if [Dafa’s principles of] Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance are righteous; if you acknowledge them, you just follow these principles in every aspect of your life.

His words woke me up. I said to myself: Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance are righteous principles. My parents taught me not to do any bad things since I was a child so that one’s heart could be at ease and one is not afraid of ghosts knocking on the door at midnight. If I could truly follow Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, I would have peace of mind for sure. Great! I would continue to practice Dafa.

I didn't quite know that this was a righteous thought back then. But once this thought emerged, Dafa showed its miraculous power again. After I’d studied Dafa for six months, while I was meditating one day, I suddenly felt something spinning in my belly, and the feeling was very obvious. I immediately realized: Falun was real! Master had given me the Falun! At that moment, I was so shocked that I couldn’t hold back my tears. For a long time after that, I could feel Falun spinning when I meditated or was in a tranquil state. I thanked Master for using this method to eliminate the concepts and the factors that were blocking me from believing in the Fa!

After practicing Dafa for more than a year, I joined the staff of The Epoch Times newspaper. The editor-in-chief at that time was very strict with us new practitioners in studying the Fa. We had group Fa study twice a week. After studying the Fa, we did not talk about the project, but shared our understanding on the Fa. I slowly understood what cultivation was during those days, and I was grateful for this opportunity to understand Dafa more deeply.

I also gradually understood why I encountered Dafa. Master said, “Returning to tradition puts you on the path to Heaven”. (“Creating Anew,” Hong Yin V) Even though my parents could not have known this sacred opportunity, they taught me the plain and traditional code of conduct which unknowingly laid the foundation of traditional values in me. It was this foundation that allowed me to seize the opportunity to attain the Fa that Master had elaborately arranged for me in the midst of this complicated environment. Therefore, I paid great attention to teaching traditional culture to my children. They are now young practitioners and study the Fa every day.

Physical Tribulations Enhanced My Faith

I experienced serious sickness karma about three years into the practice. In the early hours of one morning, I woke up from a deep sleep with unbearable back pain. It lasted from about 4:00 a.m. until about 4:00 p.m. without interruption. I realized afterwards that this was the interference from the old forces, but Master also used it to show me a miracle.

The pain was so sudden and intense that I began to lose consciousness. I didn’t know much about what the old forces were, but I was very alert. I told myself that I should not lose consciousness, so I quickly woke up my family members and asked them to send forth righteous thoughts for me. They also immediately called other practitioners to help send forth righteous thoughts.

In the midst of the pain, these thoughts kept flashing in my head: This is to take my life; I should go to the hospital; I would be safe if I go to the hospital. The more painful and confused my brain was, the more powerful the thoughts were. However, my righteous thoughts also became stronger. Master said: “True cultivators have no illnesses, ...” (“Explaining the Fa for Falun Dafa Assistants in Changchun,” Explaining the Content of Falun Dafa) I was not sick! If I was not sick, why would I go to the hospital!

My human mind and my divine mind battled this way for twelve hours. By about 4:00 p.m., the pain suddenly stopped, though it was unbearable one second ago. I felt that my body was at ease.

This experience helped me to have a deeper understanding about the old forces. Only the corrupted gods from the old cosmos, the old forces, could do such a thing: they made one faint from the pain so that one’s main consciousness loses control of one’s own body. They attempted to utilize practitioners’ karma to the extreme and kill them.

I also understood how much a group’s righteous thoughts could help practitioners suffering sickness karma. I believe that the righteous thoughts from the practitioners at The Epoch Times alleviated the persecution from the evil against me and kept me from passing out completely, so that my righteous thoughts had the chance to step in.

Of course, my greatest gain from this ordeal was that I came to understand what righteous faith is and what Master’s omnipotence is. After I sustained my portion of suffering under righteousness, Master instantly removed the rest of the karma. I really experienced a miracle!

Since then, with more Fa study, the Fa principles became clearer, and my faith in Master and Dafa became stronger and stronger. I was able to share with other practitioners on the Fa with clearer understanding.

I experienced another life and death incident when I had practiced Dafa for about six years. One night around 11:00 p.m., I went to fix a newspaper box for The Epoch Times on the side of a road. There were no cars on the street, so I parked my car directly next to the newspaper box.

Right after I got out of the car and closed the door behind me, I saw a car swinging towards me. A thought came to me that moment: “Is this a prank?” The car rushed toward me. A second thought flashed: “This is not a joke.” The car hit me. My third thought was: I was knocked down. The next thought was: “I’m fine!” I subconsciously wanted to get up from the ground, and suddenly felt back pain. My thought still was: “I must be fine, I am a practitioner.” With this thought, I stood up at once. Not only was I not scared, but I was very happy that I had eliminated a big piece of karma this time.

This process took only two or three seconds. I reacted subconsciously without time to think much. The driver was a Westerner. He stopped his car about 20 yards away and walked toward me. I smelled strong alcohol. He asked me if I was okay and if I wanted to go to the hospital. I told him that I was fine. I took the opportunity to tell him about Dafa, and he said he would learn more about Dafa. I said that if I was not a practitioner, it would have been a big accident that night. And if I called the police, he might end up in jail. 

After I went home, I found that my pants had a big tear at the hip and a wheel mark was clearly imprinted on one pant leg from the ankle to the thigh. I suddenly began to shake badly with an inexplicable fear.

I realized that the accident was to take my life! At that time, my car was right behind me, blocking my way to escape. I was knocked directly to the ground, then the car ran over my leg. It was impossible for me to survive, but I was unharmed! Master helped me to repay a debt of life!

This accident made me realize what it meant to be a practitioner, what righteous faith was, and what “the Buddha's boundless grace” was at my cultivation level!

How Practitioners Face the Pandemic

When the outbreak of the CCP virus (the virus that causes COVID-19) started in February 2020, I thought, like many fellow practitioners, that this might be the beginning of the great elimination. As practitioners, the plague would not affect us or attack us.

The virus broke out widely in the United States by mid March 2020, and the number of cases increased from a few hundred in early March to more than 200,000 in just three weeks. With New York and New Jersey hit the worst, it really felt like the pandemic was happening all around us. But I still felt like it was unrelated to practitioners at that time.

Master's new article “Stay Rational” was published on March 20, 2020. After reading it, I felt at ease but also vaguely uneasy. I was reassured because Master said, 

“But a pandemic like the current Chinese Communist Virus (or “Wuhan Virus”) comes with a purpose behind it, and it has targets. It is here to weed out members of the Party and those who have sided with it.” (“Stay Rational”) 

I felt uneasy because Master also said,

“Any Dafa disciples who have not been diligent, or who are prone to acting in extreme ways, should immediately straighten themselves out, and sincerely study the Fa and work on themselves, for you are at great risk.” (“Stay Rational”) 

Looking at myself, although my faith in Master and Dafa is unshakable, I clearly knew my cultivation state. I had all kinds of attachments: competitiveness, jealousy, resentment, lust, inability to accept critical remarks, and seeking comfort, etc. I could list so many of them that I often felt numb when facing them. Recently, it had become the norm to get distracted and sleepy during Fa study. I was also aware that this state was not right. I’d tried several ways to break through, but to no avail.

Master's article hit me hard like a heavy hammer. I knew that I had to rectify myself immediately! How? To rectify myself, I had to assimilate myself to the Fa, but my current Fa study condition would not do. So I made up my mind to study the Fa together with other practitioners every night at home. I admonished myself to read the Fa with my main consciousness, with my heart, word by word. I immediately pulled my mind back to focus on the Fa if distracted.

With Master's help, I was able to make a breakthrough little by little. I got distracted less and less and felt less and less sleepy during Fa study. Several days later, I was excited to find out that I was able to study the Fa by myself with my heart and without feeling sleepy. I was also able to correct myself to be in line with the Fa.

But another hurdle came immediately. We began to print a large quantity of special newspaper editions and magazines regarding the CCP Virus in April. All involved practitioners worked overtime. More than one million and two hundred thousand copies of the special editions were produced each week during the first two weeks of April.

However, several practitioners at the printing shop had symptoms similar to those of the CCP virus at this critical moment. We held several emergency meetings to share on this topic. Most practitioners did not believe that those practitioners with symptoms caught the CCP Virus, instead they believed that the symptoms were interference from the old forces who tried to block our effort to save people. Therefore, we put more efforts on sending forth righteous thoughts. We did not force those practitioners with symptoms to stay at home, nor did we enforce mask wearing or disinfection in the facility. We only prepared disinfectant at the entrance door for general purposes.

But the situation did not improve, instead, more practitioners developed similar symptoms. At the same time, the relevant government department suddenly sent their staff to inspect our facility. They advised us to wear masks. Practitioners reacted differently to the current situation and they passed on their opinions to me.

Some practitioners believed that these practitioners’ symptoms was interference to test practitioners’ righteous thoughts. If one’s righteous thoughts were strong enough, the test would pass quickly. Indeed, some practitioners’ symptoms disappeared in one to two days. If one’s thoughts were not strong enough and followed everyday people’s measures, one would be on the wrong path.

Some practitioners thought that not every practitioner cultivated solidly, and everyone's cultivation state was different. So we had to take measures. We had to take actions to protect practitioners’ safety. Some practitioners even suggested closing the facility for two weeks for full disinfection.

Facing this situation, I had to make a quick decision. I kept reading Master’s article “Stay Rational” over and over again. I enlightened that everyone’s cultivation state was different, and it was risky not to take measures. Furthermore, the government also suggested doing so. After consulting with the project coordinator, I told the HR department to issue the notice: fellow practitioners with symptoms must stay home to rest; everyone must wear a mask at the facility; and everyone must clean their hands with disinfectant.

Soon after the announcement came out, one practitioner told me that several practitioners could not get out of bed, implying that the rules weakened their righteous thoughts. Some fellow practitioners with symptoms were reluctant to stay at home and continued to come to work. They regarded their symptoms as interference and staying at home as acceptance of the interference.

At the same time, some practitioners became anxious when they saw many practitioners not wearing masks or disinfecting, or practitioners with symptoms still working. Some were very angry at the management level for not enforcing the rules. Some even directly questioned me: “Are you waiting for people to die before you take action?”

All these disputes put a lot of pressure on me. In addition to the extraordinary workload, I also developed a low-grade fever one day. That night, I read two lectures of Zhuan Falun in a group Fa study, then the fever subsided. But the fever relapsed the next afternoon. I read a lecture in the evening, but the fever remained. I suddenly had a thought “Did I also catch the virus?” I negated this thought the moment it came out. I was too sleepy to have enough righteous thoughts to study another lecture. I thought that a good night’s sleep would help. But the fever did not go away when I woke up the next day. To make it worse, I also vomited anything I ate and had diarrhea. The vomiting and diarrhea lasted a week, which made me really weak.

After more than ten years of practice, I naturally knew how to understand and what to do in the face of this tribulation. I kept these thoughts all the time: “I am a disciple of Master Li Hongzhi; Only Master is in charge of my arrangements, not any other being.” At the same time, I constantly repeated the auspicious phrases “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good,” or any excerpt of the Fa that I could remember. When I was a bit better, I sent forth righteous thoughts and read the Fa. I successfully passed through the tribulation in two weeks.

Through this tribulation, I deeply realized the seriousness of cultivation. I also experienced the real manifestation of Master’s words “... for you are at great risk.” (“Stay Rational”) However, by far, I still could not dig out what attachments the tribulation stemmed from. Although I passed the tribulation, I discovered that I did not truly cultivate solidly, thus my loophole was taken advantage of.

I have stumbled along the way during my more than ten years of cultivation and have arrive where I am today. No matter how well or badly I have done, I am always grateful for Master’s arrangement, and grateful to Master giving me this cultivation opportunity that only comes by in thousands of years!

Thank you, Master!Thank you, all!

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