My Cultivation Experience as an Online Class Host

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

I began practicing Falun Dafa almost 7 years ago while I was away at school. At the end of 2020, I was invited to join a new project that involved hosting an online Falun Dafa class for people stuck at home during the pandemic lockdown.

In every class, there is a host and a class assistant. We work as a team to deliver a flawless, value-packed experience for participants. People from all over North America and other parts of the world can join us for an hour and a half. The class consists of a slide show presentation to introduce Falun Dafa, Master’s exercise instruction video, and then we conclude the class by opening up the floor for Q&A. Participants can share their experiences and ask any questions they may have. Personally, I find the Q&A to be both engaging and inspiring. I get to address any reticence people may have about Falun Dafa. I delicately untie these knots for them, and always strive to do so in a way that makes them even more enthusiastic about Dafa. This is my one chance to let them see how amazing and beautiful Dafa is. I speak from my heart so that they can feel the compassionate energy that Master and Dafa have given us. The joy I get from the Q&A is unmatched.

One day I was prepping before the class started, with the camera and microphone turned off, or so I thought. I was rehearsing my lines with my audio on! The audience heard everything I said. Immediately the class assistant, who is also the project lead, phoned me to turn it off. His tone was very serious. A few people left the class because of it. This was a wake-up call for me.

Besides that technical error, I felt I had done a decent job presenting. However, the class assistant shared with me how I really needed to make a change. The quality of my presentations was inadequate and unprofessional. This humbled me. His words made me realize that I needed to take this seriously and change my heart. I could also tell that he wanted to see me do well in this role. He knew I could do better, and I’m so grateful he was bold enough to say what needed to be said, in a compassionate and truthful way.

He encouraged me to join another class and take notes from that host to improve my own presentation. I did this and felt so ashamed that I allowed my standard to be so low. I was moved by the positive energy this host carried, and how prepared and well-spoken she was.

Next, I was asked to make a presentation of my own. Before this I had used another practitioner’s script. Now, I had to write my own script and put my heart into it. The next time I presented, my heart shone through. I felt a massive difference. I was more enthusiastic, connected to Dafa, I spoke clearly and delivered a more powerful message. It flowed from within. The audience definitely responded more positively as well and was moved by Dafa. I had a major enlightenment. Master has always encouraged us to blaze our own trail. How could I think that delivering someone else’s presentation would be good enough?

Every now and then I revisit my script and update it or make changes—it's a living document, and it changes as I change. From now on I will always put in my own effort. We can’t copy others, not in our cultivation, nor in our truth clarification efforts. Master has entrusted us with our sentient beings. The way I understand it is that we will connect with certain people in specific ways. For example, if certain people are predestined with me, if I am not being authentic or sincere in my efforts, their hearts won’t be moved. The wisdom of Dafa won’t shine through. Perhaps they needed to hear it from us, due to predestined factors. Yet here I was giving another host’s presentation, and so they were being cut short.

I encouraged my father-in-law, my wife, and one of my employees to join the class. My wife supports Dafa but has never done the exercises or joined a class like this. My father-in-law woke up last year to how corrupt the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) is and realizes that Dafa is a good practice. My employee respects me and said she wanted to learn more about this practice than I do. All three of them happened to register for the same class time.

On this particular Wednesday evening, I certainly felt the pressure. I went to my office earlier than usual to prepare and read the Fa. I spent a lot of time getting my heart in the right place and fortifying my righteous thoughts. The class assistant’s neighbor registered for the same time slot. I felt a profound sense of responsibility for these people. I felt so honored too, that such important people to us were joining the class.

Before the class began, I sincerely asked Master to help strengthen me so that they could be saved. After the presentation, the Q&A was lively and full of engagement. I received a text from my wife saying that the class was excellent and that she was very impressed. She and her dad did the exercises together. My employee also told me she felt so happy that she could learn about Dafa and wanted her husband to learn it too. My mother-in-law even watched some of the presentations. In fact, the energy at my in-laws’ home changed. I believe Master and Dafa purified them.

In what other circumstance could these people get such a positive experience with Dafa? I am so thankful to Master for giving us all such a precious opportunity. I had another major enlightenment from this. I realized that I needed to treat every webinar like this. I realized that even if I don’t personally know the audience registrants, I am responsible for them, and Master is entrusting me with them. I must do my very best, every time.

When I am presenting, I always try to connect with the audience in a personal way. I share my own story and share what my experiences were. I tell them how Dafa melted away my anxiety and depression. I even share some of my early concerns and difficulties I had when I first took up cultivation. I will then tell them that regardless of my initial thoughts and challenges, I am forever blessed for having broken through them. I assure them that it is a process, but they will be better for it. I find this to be a powerful tool, because in my mind these people already have a predestined relationship with me and so we are long-lost friends or family. They get to know me on a personal level and can tangibly feel the transformation Dafa has brought me.

Identifying My Attachments

A growing trend that began occurring with the team was that we fixated on the number of people who register for every class, especially those we host. We had a group sharing about getting attached to the numbers. This helped me see that I was secretly competing to have the highest number and that I was attached to the number of people who showed up. I changed my mind about this so that when I host the class, I focus everything I’ve got on the people who are there. I try to no longer get dejected when the number is less than I expected. I always try to look within when the number is lower than usual to fix whatever attitude or notion is unfit within me. I do believe that my cultivation state plays a part in this. We have to keep ourselves in a good cultivation state and have the Fa in our hearts so that the registrants are less likely to be interfered with and miss out on their predestined opportunity.

One mindset that I carry with me is that I assume that participants will become practitioners. Even if this is not the case, only Master knows. I just assume they are ready to practice so that when I deliver the presentation, I have no obstacles in my mind. It makes it exciting for me because it becomes less about me trying to convince them about Dafa, and more about me waking them up to what they have been waiting for their whole lives.

An observation I have made is that the longer I host the class, the more natural it is for me to present. Although I stick to a script, I don’t think it’s obvious that I am reading from it because I am sharing this information as if it’s with a close friend—it comes from a place of sincerity. I truly want them to feel so connected to Dafa, like I did when I first found it. I know Master is bringing predestined people to join the class. My hope is that I continue to improve the presentation quality. My other hope is that I will become even more worthy of this role and cultivate well.

This project is the most professional and fulfilling project I have been a part of. Our team is amazing, dedicated, and sincere in their efforts. We work as a team and discuss everything, especially when we have differing opinions on our direction or execution. The truth is, we need to expand this project to include more languages, more hosts, more class assistants, and more countries. This opportunity is something Master granted us during this special time. My experience thus far is that people are deeply touched by the class. The feedback from every class is so encouraging and often people don’t want to log off. They want to continue to listen and learn more, and they stick around for sometimes 20 minutes past the webinar time, asking questions. The things some registrants share demonstrate how predestined they truly are with Dafa. It is a precious thing to be able to introduce Dafa in such depth, to people who signed up of their own accord.

Illness Karma

Due to my profession, a chiropractic doctor, I sometimes find myself applying chiropractic health principles to myself. I talk about these principles every day with my patients and so sometimes when I encounter illness, karma or bodily discomfort, if I am not cultivating well or am not vigilant, I also apply this to myself.

Before I obtained the Fa, I was passionate about chiropractics and how I could improve my own health with it. I also wanted to be some big shot, changing lives in my community. After I began practicing Falun Dafa I very quickly realized that I had to discontinue getting chiropractic care myself. This was an enormous test for me, because chiropractic care restored my health before I had obtained the Fa.

I stopped getting chiropractic care altogether. However, even though I removed the physical thing, my desire to be adjusted was still there—along with my worry that I would become old and have spinal issues. Actually, all of this stemmed from a shallow degree of faith in Master, and a shallow understanding of the Fa. I have dealt with spinal discomfort since, and although I struggle with it at times, I am so grateful Master gave me this opportunity to chip away at my karma and elevate. If we do not allow discomfort to manifest, according to Master's design, and instead push it away, suppress it, and delay it with treatments, how will we eliminate karma and elevate? Under Master’s care, everything practitioners encounter is good. What counts is our discernment, commitment, and the sincerity of our hearts.

I would also like to share about some recent illness karma. Recently my wife and I purchased a home. I have also been doing very well in business. Our life seems to be coming together, in a material sense. So naturally, we began to discuss having a child. These discussions became more serious and eventually we began to try.

Although Master encourages us to conform to society and form families as one normally would, a part of me was concerned that I couldn’t handle the added stress and responsibility. I struggle at times to do the three things well already, and I know that it is my life mission to do them well. I could also sense the feeling of excitement welling up about having a family of my own. The longing for worldly things takes up space in my heart and derails me from our mission.

My wife began to have high blood pressure. This burdened her mind greatly. Although she doesn’t practice Dafa, she took it as a hint from Master. I also started to urinate blood. Immediately, I realized that my mind was not right and that I must be out of alignment with what Master requires.

My wife and I began talking about our recent bodily changes and decided that now was obviously not the right time. We both took this as a sign to hold off. I learned two things from this, and will hopefully enlighten to more. The first is that I was beginning to long for the things ordinary people long for—so I neglected my cultivation. Second, I must be attentive to the small hints that Master gives me, and not wait for more severe ones before I take action and rectify my mind. I interact with many people each day. I should be reflecting inward more when encountering friction, as these are all a mirror of my own character shortcomings. I need to truly reach the benchmark for a true practitioner and actually change myself. The Fa can break all attachments. For now, I will direct my focus on balancing my relations at home, my Dafa projects, my cultivation, and the salvation of more sentient beings.

Another thing I would like to share is a recent character flaw I discovered. I often am negative. This often manifests in subtle ways. Most notable is with my wife. I often complain to her about her. I tend to do it in a joking way, but it’s brimming with negative complaining energy. To cover up a complaint in our heart with humor makes it no less harmful. As a practitioner, our goal is to assimilate to Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, and we cannot carry these heavy negative things with us. If it bothers us, that means we are on the verge of making a breakthrough, though we have to treat it as such and rectify our thinking and rise above our human notions and emotions. I am putting in the effort to be more positive and reject the negative forces within me. They certainly are not truly me, I have simply allowed them to tag along for too long. My environment has suited them, but as I rectify my mind, they will have no business remaining. As practitioners, if we can remove this complaining mentality, compassion will arise in us. We have to make an effort to see the goodness in all people, regardless of their shortcomings.

Thank you for listening. Please kindly point out anything inappropriate.

(Presented at the 2021 Canada Falun Dafa Cultivation Experience Sharing Conference)