[International Online Fahui] Letting Go of Self, and Doing Well in Cultivation and Truth-Clarification

(Minghui.org) Greetings, Master! Greetings, fellow practitioners!

I moved to Japan with my parents when I was young and have been cultivating in Falun Dafa for nearly ten years, after we settled in our adopted country. I would like to share the following cultivation experience with fellow practitioners. Please kindly point out anything improper in the sharing.

Cultivation Experience as a School Boy

My father began Dafa cultivation when I was very young, but I somehow missed the opportunity to practice cultivation until I read the book Zhuan Falun when I was in grade six in primary school. I found the book very different from others and easy to understand.

In fact, I wasn’t doing very well in primary school, and my scores were less than satisfactory, especially in Chinese language studies, because I was focusing on improving my Japanese language skills. After I started cultivating in Dafa, I made rapid progress in my studies, and just a few months later, I got full marks in the first exam of Chinese after I moved up to high school.

I also became much healthier. In the past, I always suffered rhinitis in winter, and had to take heaps of Chinese medicine for several months each time. However, after I started cultivation in Dafa, rhinitis stopped bothering me and I no longer needed to take medication. In addition, the terrible carsickness that had bothered me since childhood also disappeared.

I had a dream when I was in my second year in high school. In the dream, I was clarifying the truth somewhere and there were many tall buildings by the roadside. I came to a tightly-guarded tower, which looked like a government office building of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Two police officers blocked my way. I thought: “There are still many people in the building. I must save them.” I walked into the building with no fear. In retrospect, it could be a test to see if I was brave enough to step forward to clarify the truth when the CCP mobilized the entire state apparatus to persecute Falun Gong.

Another experience I had was when I was still in primary school. There was a very sturdy and aggressive girl in our class. She bullied me sometimes even though I’m a boy.

Once in my dream, we were taking an exam and she was sitting right in front of me. As she was writing, she accidentally knocked her eraser off the table. I picked it up and handed it back to her. To my surprise, instead of being grateful, she swore at me. I didn’t get angry, just smiled at her and gave her the eraser.

After I woke up, I realized that Master was helping me understand the principle of “as a practitioner one should not fight back when being punched or insulted.” (Lecture Four, Zhuan Falun). I really felt the power of Dafa, and the girl never bullied me again.

Through cultivation, I learned how to treat others and realized that many notions people hold in today’s society are wrong. Once in our moral education class, the teacher asked us, “If you have a conflict with your parents, for instance, if they refuse to buy what you ask for, what would you do?” Almost everyone in the class said they would argue with their parents and make sure they get what they want. I didn’t say anything.

The teacher then asked my opinion. “I would not argue with my parents, but calmly explain why I want to have it,” I said, “After all, it’s my parents who are paying. If they still refuse to buy what I ask for, so be it.” My classmates were very surprised by what I said. Our teacher murmured quietly, “With a child like you, parents would have no worries.”

There was a program on puberty behavior in our school curriculum, which included quotes from experts, saying it was normal for teens this age to be rebellious against parents. Under such guidance, many of my classmates had a rather tense relationship with their parents and often ran into conflicts with them.

Improving Xinxing in Clarifying the Truth Face to Face

I went to participate in a truth-clarification event in September 2017 in Tokyo, where an international medical conference was being held. Many doctors and medical researchers from around the world attended the conference. Local practitioners rented a booth at the venue, and there were also practitioners distributing flyers outside the venue. Some of them traveled from Taiwan to help. The effect was very good.

Our booth was set up in a corridor, where constant streams of conference attendees were coming and going all the time.

I saw a Chinese gentleman and walked up to clarify the truth to him. He didn’t say anything, just listened and kept walking. As there were many people in the corridor, I walked with him while clarifying the truth to him. When we almost came to the end of the corridor, he suddenly turned around and pushed me hard on the shoulder. I was caught unaware and staggered back a few steps. He also said something very unpleasant before he turned and left.

I felt rather embarrassed by what happened in a public place with so many people coming and going, and almost burst into tears. I then remembered Master’s teaching.

Master said,

“Someone says, “If someone kicks me while I’m walking down the street and no one around knows me, I can tolerate it.” I say that this is not good enough. Perhaps in the future you may be slapped in the face a couple of times, and you will lose face in front of someone whom you least want to see it. It is to see how you will deal with this issue and whether you can endure it. If you can tolerate it and yet it preys on your mind, it is still not good enough.” (Lecture Nine, Zhuan Falun)

I kept repeating Master’s words in my heart as I gradually calmed down and continued with truth-clarification. In fact, most people I talked to responded quite positively. One doctor and his wife were very keen to know more about the persecution of Falun Gong. Since he was an ophthalmologist, I told them about the forced organ harvesting, especially in reference to removing the corneas of Falun Gong practitioners for transplant. They showed deep sympathy towards Dafa practitioners and signed the petition from Doctors Against Forced Organ Harvesting (DAFOH) to the UN General Secretary. The truth-clarification event was very successful, and by the last day of the conference, several hundred attendees had signed the petition in support of Falun Gong.

Joining the Media to Continue Truth-Clarification

I began to work in a bank after I graduated from the university. My work schedule was not very demanding and rather regular. However, there was much socializing, with dinner parties and all kinds of gatherings. When I got back home, I had to prepare for the next day’s work. By and by I found it hard to keep up with my own cultivation, let along doing truth-clarification.

A fellow practitioner working for the Epoch Times called me in December 2020, asking if I would like to become a full-time employee with the newspaper. I remembered Master once said,

“There are so many things you have to do. You have to do your ordinary job and do it well, you have to manage your family’s affairs, and as Dafa disciples you need to make time for Fa-study and exercises; you also need to clarify the truth, as well as participate in Dafa projects, such as The Epoch Times. So, if clarifying the truth and the task of running a Dafa-disciple media entity could be rolled into one, wouldn’t that help resolve the time constraints that you face? And it would also be resolving the issue of making a living and having a job in ordinary society. What’s not to like about it? I think that this is now imperative.” (“Fa Teaching Given at the Epoch Times Meeting,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. X)

I thought, we Dafa disciples have come to the human world to assist Master in Fa-rectification rather than trying to live a good life or going after fame and name.

My family also encouraged me to join the Epoch Times. So I decided to quit my job and commit myself to the media work.

When I first started, I was mainly involved in translation and editing, which fit my skills very well. However, along with the changing situation around the world, the requirements for our media also took a big change. Since the 2020 U.S. presidential election, the Epoch Times in Japan has seen some rapid development, with the readership increasing several fold, and the headquarters also asked us to have our own reporters to report local news. Consequently, I changed my role from a translator to a reporter. Although I didn’t show any anxiety on the surface, I felt very uneasy inside, as I was holding much fear about talking with strangers as a reporter.

Master said,

“How can you increase gong simply by practicing the exercises a bit longer while your arms are sore from being raised and your legs are tired from standing? How can you increase gong with only a few more hours of exercise? That only serves to transform one’s benti, but it still needs to be reinforced with energy. The exercises do not help raise your level. Tempering the will is the key to truly raising your level.” (Lecture Four, Zhuan Falun)

I started to look within and to dig deep to find the root cause of my fear of talking to strangers. I found my attachment to face-saving, self-protection, comfort, etc. With these attachments, I was worried that people I talk with might not be on the same page as me or be nice to me, and that I might not get what I want.

Master mentioned in Zhuan Falun that fear is also a form of attachment. Since it is an attachment, I should let go of it, and this is an opportunity.

In early March, a fellow practitioner made an appointment with a representative who is very concerned with human rights. However, my colleague could not make it due to unexpected circumstances, so with no hesitation I stepped in to help out, even though I still felt rather uneasy inside.

Firstly, I had never been to the region of the representative’s office and knew very little about the place. Also, I had never heard of this representative, and I would be going on my own for the interview. I was worried about doing something improper, etiquette-wise, resulting in a negative impression of our media. I had been working with the Epoch Times for barely a month by then and was a complete amateur in conducting interviews. I then thought: Since I was asked to do the interview, the person I was meeting must be someone with predestined relationship with me.

Master said,

“If you could see things for what they are, you would discover that, in your cultivation, whatever setting you are in, whatever social class you’re a part of, whatever status you have, whatever “coincidental” things you have done, or whatever your “luck” may be—all of this which is part of your path—was brought about by your vow, and nothing is by chance.” (“Fa Teaching Given at the 2014 San Francisco Fa Conference”)

The interview went very well and I could feel the extraordinary sense of justice in the representative. He also mentioned the suffering of Falun Dafa practitioners, as well as the forced organ harvesting. Such open support of Falun Dafa practitioners is rarely seen amongst Japanese representatives due to the extensive infiltration by the CCP. We had a photo taken together at the end of the very pleasant interview.

None of the things I was worried about prior to the interview happened, and the outcome was much better than I could have imagined. I clearly realized that all those worries were simply interference from my own attachments. The successful interview boosted my confidence and largely reduced the fear I had earlier.

I have since formed a very good relationship with this representative. I called him and had another interview with him after the attack on the printing plant of the Epoch Times in Hong Kong. He was furious over the thuggish attack and said that the incident should never have happened.

He later told me, “It was truly miraculous. When you called me, I was watching the very video about the attack!” He also told me when he was making a public speech on the street that morning, someone walked up to him and said, “I read a report about you in the Epoch Times. You have a very strong sense of justice. Keep it up!” The representative was deeply touched and would like to thank the Epoch Times to report on his commitment to human rights issues. As he was speaking, I also felt a warm current running in my heart, and felt very happy for the righteous choice he made for himself.

Letting Go of the Attachment to Saving Face

Things are all linked with one another in Dafa cultivation. After my first interview with the representative, my supervisor asked if I would prepare to be an on-camera reporter. I was very scared of the idea at the time and didn’t accept the role right away. I kept a distance from the idea of being on camera, mostly due to fear, and an attachment to saving face. Besides, I wasn’t sure about my appearance, either. Lack of confidence in myself had always been a bother for me.

My face is relatively red in color, but in Japan, people’s complexion tends to be more pale. In fact, I was even ridiculed sometimes as a school boy for my unusually red face. Even though my face became less red after I started cultivation, it still remained a weak spot in my heart. I remembered reading a sharing from a Korean fellow practitioner about how he overcame all kinds of hurdles and became an excellent media presenter. I thought, if other practitioners can do it, then I have no excuse not to give it a go.

Master said,

“Cultivation must take place through tribulations so as to test whether you can part with and care less about different kinds of human qing and desires. If you are attached to these things, you will not succeed in cultivation.” (Lecture Four, Zhuan Falun)

I was determined to let go of my worries and attachments. Still, for a while, my mind did not calm down, as I was unsure about being an on-camera reporter, and worried about the viewers not liking me. Another thought then came to my mind. I would do whatever it takes to meet the requirement of a Dafa practitioner.

I remember Master mentioned in Zhuan Falun that when a factory manager talked about workers who practice Falun Dafa, he said:

“Since studying Falun Dafa, these workers have been coming to work early and going home late. They work very diligently and will do any assignment their supervisor gives. They also no longer compete for personal gain.” (Lecture Four, Zhuan Falun)

I thought, shouldn’t I cooperate with the project supervisor? To dig even deeper, I realized that behind the so-called concern “what if everyday people don’t like me” was the hidden attachment of self-protection. I made up my mind to give it a go regardless of what others say, including my former classmates who used to mock me for my red face. I suddenly felt light-hearted, and all those worries disappeared. I felt that I had ascended beyond those attachments, and the elements behind the attachments could no longer reach me. Soon after, I did my first on-camera report.

Fellow practitioners told me that it was well received by the local Japanese people, and no one made any negative comments about my appearance. Instead, many said it was good to see a young face full of energy on the screen, very honest and amiable. Such comments came as a total surprise to me. Since then, I have no longer held any attachment to my appearance, and have become much more self-confident in my work. I’m truly grateful to Master for giving me the opportunity to let go of some stubborn attachments I had held for many years.

Conclusion

Whenever I reflect upon my cultivation, my heart fills with immense gratitude to Master, under whose protection I have overcome one test after another, and improved both my xinxing and my capability.

I always remember Master’s words:

“When it’s difficult to endure, you can endure it. When it’s impossible to do, you can do it.” (Lecture Nine, Zhuan Falun)

I remember these words when facing big problems or when I find it hard to overcome a xinxing test. For someone like me who has an introverted personality, face-to-face truth-clarification was the hardest, and I was confronted with all kinds of tests in the process. However, with firm faith in Master and Dafa and strong righteous thoughts I walked on my path diligently and achieved one success after another in doing what I was least good at.

I’m extremely fortunate to have come across Dafa and become involved in projects to save sentient beings. I’m determined to do well the three things and do even better in media work according to Master’s requirement.

I would like to end my sharing with one of Master’s poems in Hong Yin II for mutual encouragement.

“Discarding Attachments

You may talk cultivationBut you have to discard the attachmentsthat you hold deep insideWhat’s given up is not oneselfBut instead the folly of delusion”(Hong Yin Volume II)

Thank you, Master! Thank you, fellow practitioners!