(Minghui.org) Greetings esteemed Master, and fellow practitioners.
I would like to share my cultivation experience, including saving sentient beings during the past few years.
Cultivating With the Heart I had When I First Began to Practice Falun Dafa
When I first began cultivating in Falun Dafa, after years of reading different kinds of books about spirituality and self-help, I recognized the preciousness of Falun Dafa, and of what Master had given to me. Given that realization, I can recall once looking into the mirror and saying something like, “Now that I have been blessed by Falun Dafa, I will devote myself wholeheartedly to cultivation, which requires one to be diligent regardless of the tribulations.”
The tribulations were severe during the early days. However, Master has always been by my side through family tribulations, periods of unemployment, and the solitude of working on a truth-clarification project virtually alone for over a decade. Looking back, I know that I have been able to make it through to today only because of steadfast willingness in doing the three things. However, in recent years, I have seen my will to be diligent in doing the three things weaken over time.
Master said in his recent article:
“When some people first began practicing cultivation, their hearts were very steadfast. However, there are some who, in the course of their cultivation, still have trouble letting go of the various kinds of attachments they formed over the long term, and as time goes on, some people have started slacking off; and on top of that, they get busy with work and haven’t managed their home environments well, so they have even less time to study the Fa and do the exercises; and although they occasionally participate in some group activities, they’re not able to be diligent.” (“Cultivation in Dafa Is Serious”)
With an occupation that requires extensive writing and research, which often spills over into the evenings and weekends, in addition to a busy family life, including demanding extracurricular activities for my kids, I have become less diligent in my cultivation. Master’s recent article spoke directly to me, and was a firm, yet compassionate, wake-up call. After the article was published, I read the article and discussed it with the three young practitioners in my family. We all realized that we had not been taking cultivation as seriously as we did previously. We committed to helping each other become more diligent again.
Eliminating Competitive Mentality in the Work Environment
I have maintained a good working relationship with my colleagues at work, and a solid reputation that has allowed me to successfully clarify the truth to those I work closely with when the appropriate circumstances present themselves. Understanding that the ultimate goal is to save the people that Master has arranged for me to work with, I realize that cultivating my thoughts, speech, and actions are of utmost importance.
However, it has not always been easy. I recently experienced a certain manager stealthily doing things in my cases that can potentially have the impact of undermining the cases, and causing unnecessary problems. When I am not in a good cultivation state, I have thoughts of resentment, and can feel the attachment of wanting to hit back and prove that my work is flawless, despite being intentionally undermined in some respect. Of course, when I am diligently studying the Fa and doing the exercises, I immediately take these situations as good things for elevation in cultivation, and simply clean up the situation without trying to “clear my name” and expose the manger for trying to undermine my cases.
Remembering to cultivate my xinxing at work has allowed me to maintain an environment where my colleagues listen to me with open hearts and minds when conditions arise that allow me to clarify the truth about Falun Dafa and the persecution.
Making Contemporary Music to Clarify the Truth
I have been making contemporary music for over a decade to clarify the truth to younger people, and those who listen to hip-hop music. This has been a process of cultivation and using the Fa to guide me along the way. Master, given his immense compassion, has provided Dafa disciples with various talents and abilities in order to reach and save an even broader group of sentient beings. This contemporary music project has been one that I have approached with steadfast dedication. Whenever my righteous thoughts begin to weaken from dealing with the constant social media censorship issues, limited support, and relative solitude of the project, I gain strength by remembering Master’s Fa.
Master said:
“By the time I started to teach the Fa, those Gods came down like snowflakes—it was just that many. I calculated their ages now, and from when I started to spread the Fa till now, they would be young people around twenty-five years old, many of whom really have not been saved. They were all Gods, coming down to Earth, and they scattered to all areas of the world.” (“Fa Teaching at the 2016 New York Fa Conference,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. XIV)
Knowing that a person who is able to seriously understand the truth about Falun Dafa and the persecution through my music, represents the saving of an enormous universe. This keeps me motivated to cultivate myself well, so that I can proceed on my path with diligence and effectiveness.
Of course, working on a project of this nature has required the use of social media in order to reach the intended demographic. When I haven’t been diligent, social media has caused difficulties in my cultivation as well. In order to effectively manage the distraction of social media, I have deleted social media apps from my phone. I use social media websites only when I am posting my music from my desktop computer. This way, my use of social media is limited, and used only for a very specific purpose.
Maintaining Righteous Thoughts as Natural Disaster Comes
My parent’s home was in the direct path of Hurricane Adalia. Initially, I did not think anything of it until about 24 hours prior to the hurricane’s impact. Once I realized that my parents did not plan to evacuate, and that their home was in the direct path of the hurricane, I became concerned. However, fortunately, I quickly strengthened my righteous thoughts, and considered the situation from the perspective of the Fa, rather than with human thoughts.
I thought, if this hurricane causes catastrophic damage to life and property with regard to my family, wouldn’t my efforts for saving sentient beings be severely disrupted? I knew that being called upon to manage the results of a catastrophic natural disaster severely impacting my family would certainly be the arrangements of the old forces, and not the arrangements of Master. With firm thoughts to reject the old forces’ arrangements, I resolved to let go of sentimentality, fear, and human thoughts. I asked Master to strengthen my resolve, and I sent forth righteous thoughts early on the morning of the hurricane’s initial impact. Approximately 24 hours later, I spoke with my father and mother who both said that with their strong faith, they were unharmed and there was no major property damage. In fact, my father said that it seemed as if they were in the eye of the hurricane, and divinely protected. When I got off the phone with my parents, I did Heshi, and sincerely thanked Master.
In conclusion, I still need to be diligent about cultivating myself well, and eliminating my final attachments. Particularly, I need to quickly improve with regard to unconditionally looking inward, cultivating my thoughts, cultivating my speech, and being more compassionate to my immediate family members.
I know however that by diligently studying the Fa, I can live up to what Master has said:
“Cultivate as you did in the beginning, and you are sure to succeed—this is a true saying in the cultivation community.” (“Cultivation in Dafa Is Serious”)
Thank you, Master, and fellow practitioners.
(Presented at the 2023 Washington DC Fa Conference)
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