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Realizing the Importance of Genuine Cultivation

June 25, 2022 |   By a Falun Dafa practitioner in Inner Mongolia

(Minghui.org) I started to practice Falun Dafa in 2003 to heal my illnesses. I suffered from dizziness, hyperthyroidism and urethral orifice hyperplasia. All my illnesses disappeared after I started to practice Falun Dafa. 

At the beginning I thought Falun Dafa was good for curing illnesses and keeping fit. I only understood it perceptually. Gradually, I realized that Falun Dafa is a cultivation practice, but I didn’t have a clear idea of how to cultivate until two years ago. I started to understand how to cultivate myself and look within when conflicts occur. I’d like to share with you how Falun Dafa purified and elevated me. 

Learning to Cultivate Myself While in Conflicts

When the pandemic hit my area at the beginning of 2020, I didn’t want to stop my efforts to save sentient beings. I kept going out to tell people about Falun Dafa and how it’s persecuted until Chinese New Year. On the third day after Chinese New Year, I started to clarify the truth to people again.

When the residential areas were locked down in my city, each household was issued a pass for entering and exiting the residential gate. When I went to buy groceries, I took the opportunity to clarify the truth to people. 

The pandemic got worse with no end in sight. I had a list of dozens of people who had agreed to withdraw from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated organizations. I felt heavy in my heart because I wanted them to be published on the quit the CCP website as soon as possible and I couldn’t get it done. Due to the lockdown, it was not easy to see any Falun Dafa practitioners who could do the posting. The practitioner that I knew who could upload the list of names didn’t come out of her residential area to see me. She said that it was still Chinese New Year and we’d better not see each other if it was not urgent. 

I began to complain in my heart and thought to myself, “These practitioners were not in the Fa. It is Chinese New Year. The residential area is locked down, but I still came to see you. Did you think it was not urgent? One of the practitioners is even a coordinator. At the heart of it, they just want to protect themselves.”

My mind went wild after I came home. I couldn’t eat or sleep well for several days. Through studying the Fa and looking inward, I realized that I needed to improve my xinxing and increase my ability to forbear through this incident. I shouldn’t consider things from everyday people’s perspective. 

I then remembered another practitioner who could upload the list of names for me. I went to her residential area and sent forth righteous thoughts on the way. At the residential gate, four volunteers were checking everybody strictly. It seemed no one could enter without a pass. I stayed outside the gate for over an hour and didn’t find any opportunity to go in. I pleaded to Master Li (Falun Dafa’s founder) to strengthen me so that I could go inside. 

Then I went to one of the volunteers and told her, “I want to buy some things in the shop. Can you please allow me to enter?” She was a bit surprised and then said, “Ok, you can go. Please don’t stay long.” The other practitioner was very surprised when she saw me and asked how I managed to get in. I told her that Master helped me. 

After this incident, I started to review my relationship with that practitioner. I had been clarifying the truth to people with her for over ten years. I had developed sentimentality toward her and became reliant on her, so she looked down on me. That practitioner listened to all the other practitioners except me at the group Fa study and didn’t accept what I said. One practitioner arranged a meeting for us to share frankly so we could solve our problems. I refused her due to my resentment and ego. I said to her, “Anyway, she will not listen to whatever I say. It is better if I don’t say anything.” 

Later on I realized that my ego was too strong when I was with that practitioner. I thought whatever I did was correct, and that she ignored me. 

My ego also manifested strongly at home, where I always had the final say. I was not happy with my husband who was messy. He puts his clothes and socks everywhere. I followed him and disciplined him from time to time. Sometimes I shouted at him and complained rudely, “I have been neat and tidy all my life. How come I am married to a pig?” My husband didn’t argue with me but kept moving slowly. 

I realized that my ego and resentment were unkind. I unconsciously scolded other people when I talked to them. Of course they would not accept my criticism or demands for change. It doesn’t matter if I practice the exercises diligently, attend group Fa study frequently and clarify the truth to people constantly, if I don’t truly cultivate myself well.

I started to restrain myself and no longer complained about my husband. I reviewed my day before I went to sleep each night and thought about my obvious attachments. I felt ashamed of myself because I didn’t know how to genuinely cultivate until two years ago though I had practiced Falun Dafa for nearly 20 years. 

Sweetness and Bitterness of Validating the Fa

I earned a low wage before I practiced Falun Dafa. I spent almost all my money on medications. Now I am illness-free and have saved a lot on medical expenses. Whenever people praised me for my good health, I would tell them the miracles that occurred to me after I practiced Falun Dafa. 

Due to my low education (I barely finished my primary school), it was hard for me to get people to withdraw from the CCP when that phase began. Sometimes I could only persuade one person to withdraw from the CCP and its affiliated organizations after I talked to them for a whole morning. Gradually, I developed my own way to ask people to quit the CCP. Health was my main topic and I would touch on other truth-clarification topics as well, which were effective. Master and Falun Dafa unlocked my wisdom.

Since the pandemic started, some practitioners and I routinely studied the Fa three days a week and clarified the truth to people four days a week. Most people accepted the truth, but of course, there were exceptions. 

One day I was distributing truth clarification desk calendars to workers off the road. A man in his 50s came out of nowhere and shouted at me, “Falun Gong! You give out calendars everywhere.” He snatched a calendar from a worker, flipped through it and said to the workers, “You see. It mentions the Tiananmen Square self-immolation incident.” I interrupted him immediately, “It was staged. It is fake.” He took out his cell phone and threatened to take a photo of me. I covered my face with a calendar and left immediately. 

A few days later I came across that man on a bus. I got off at the next stop. But several days later I met him and his wife on the bus again. He stared at me all the way. He asked his wife to get off the bus at their stop while he followed me to the final stop. I realized that it was not accidental. I thought I’d invite him to have a meal at a restaurant if I met him again so I could clarify the truth to him and dispel his confusion. He didn’t appear again after I had this kind thought. 

I have helped every member of my extended family withdraw from the CCP and its affiliated organizations. At one family gathering, my family members took turns making speeches. When it was my turn, I told them that I was shy and didn’t have anything to say. They didn’t let me go and insisted I talk. One even reminded me, “If you don’t have anything to say, you can say Falun Dafa is good!” Later on, every time we have dinner, they asked me to tell them Falun Dafa stories, which is now a tradition at our family gatherings. 

Thank you, Master, for your mercy on us and letting me and my family members benefit from Dafa. I have failed many trials and tribulations and didn’t realize the importance of genuine cultivation until two years ago. I will certainly pay more attention to cultivating myself well. I will save more sentient beings and follow Master to my original home.