(Minghui.org) Greetings respected Master! Greetings fellow practitioners!I started reading Zhuan Falun (Falun Dafa’s main book) at the end of March 1999. Master’s teachings answered many questions I had, and I was overjoyed beyond words.
For three years, I suffered neck and back injuries from a car accident. I consulted all sorts of doctors, but none could help me. I was so weak that I couldn t even lift a three-year-old child. I thought there was no hope for me. However, just three weeks after I started reading Zhuan Falun, I suddenly realized that my pain was gone. I understood that Master purified my body. Many other health issues I had also disappeared. I felt immensely grateful for Master’s grace. My pain was resolved and I hadn’t even started practicing the exercises. It wasn’t until the end of April 1999, around April 25th, that I began doing the exercises with practitioners in Oakland. Seeing my profound physical and mental changes, my wife decided to begin practicing.
I was very diligent. I read the teachings and practiced the exercises every day. Sometimes, after the children had gone to sleep and it was already late, my wife and I did all five exercises. By the time we finished practicing, it was around 2 a.m. I remember my wife and I jokingly asked each other, “So, is the practice we just did consider yesterday’s or today’s?”
Back then, the activity I enjoyed the most was introducing Falun Dafa to others. We and the other practitioners organized classes to teach the exercises. Every month, we held workshops at the libraries in our cities. We also conducted classes in various places, such as schools and nursing homes. The number of participants varied; sometimes, there were few, and other times there were many. Occasionally, we might have only one or two participants, while during peak times, a single session could have over thirty or forty attendees. I always thought: If even one person came, it was worth the effort.
Soon after I began practicing the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began persecuting Falun Dafa. I didn’t know what to do until more than a year later, when Master met practitioners for the first time since the persecution began, and gave a lecture in San Francisco in 2000. It was also the first time I saw Master in person. Tears streamed down my face.
After meeting with Master, the coordinators in the Bay Area began organizing activities to clarify the truth. We went to New York to protest against former CCP head Jiang, then we went to Chicago, Texas, and Canada. We even went to Europe twice to petition the United Nations to help end the persecution.
Wherever I went, I carried a backpack filled with truth-clarification materials. Each time I picked it up, it felt like I was about to go off to battle and had just slung a sword over my back—as though I were soldier in ancient times. But now we use truth-clarification materials instead of swords. Looking down at my young children, I was reluctant to leave. After I was gone for an extended period, my oldest daughter saw me and said, “Did you get shorter?” I was gone so long, she had grown taller.
Looking back at the early stages of my cultivation, I was more diligent than I was later.
Walking out of Laziness
On our cultivation path we are at times more diligent and sometimes we relax. However, I slacked off for long periods and I wasted the precious time Master gave us to save people. A few years after I began practicing I became relatively lazy in my cultivation. It was because, despite organizing many classes to teach the exercises and having many people come to learn, only a few began truly practicing. I felt disappointed and wasn’t as proactive in introducing Falun Dafa.
Although I continued to do the three things Master asked us to do, I gradually relaxed. I became careless in studying the Fa and doing the exercises. I lost the sense of urgency to save people and instead began thinking the persecution would end soon. I didn’t know how to be diligent again. Fortunately, no matter the circumstances, I always put Dafa first. That’s why I actively participate in the annual group truth-clarification events, including the activities on April 25th, May 13th, and July 20th, and parades and truth-clarification events.
Master said,
“Cultivation… There’s a saying, and it’s one I’ve shared with you before: “Cultivate with the heart you once had, and success is certain.”” (“Fa Teaching on World Falun Dafa Day,” Collected Fa Teaching, Vol. XII)
Master also said,
“The reason many people didn’t succeed in their cultivation was because they weren’t able to make it through over the long haul. They might have felt lonely or bored, or they might have become so familiar with something or have grown so accustomed to something that they didn’t want to do it anymore. Anything can cause a person to become lax.” (“Fa Teaching on World Falun Dafa Day,” Collected Fa Teaching, Vol. XII)
I doubted whether I could attain enlightenment. I’ve recently wondered about my cultivation state. I feel I’m far behind compared to when I first began practicing. How can I become that diligent again?
I can’t seem to hurry no matter what I do.
Even though I haven’t been making significant progress, Master has always taken care of me and guided me. Master used various situations, such as my participation in different projects or activities, to show me my many attachments. I’d like to share two examples.
Nothing in Cultivation Is Minor
My family and I stopped at a hamburger restaurant to buy some food. After placing the order, we received a bag of burgers and returned to our car to eat. When we opened the bag, we found two extra burgers inside. We considered returning them, but we already touched them so they probably couldn’t be resold. We also considered giving them money, but that would involve waiting in line, and we weren’t sure if they would accept it. We decided to let it go. However, after we drove a short distance, I had to brake suddenly, causing two hamburgers to fall out of the bag to the floor. We immediately realized that we shouldn’t take advantage of others, even over something so minor.
The Attachment to Spicy Food
I used to avoid eating spicy food. However, when I was involved in the Shen Yun backstage logistics for buses, the food we were given was usually spicy. I complained about it for years. Two years ago, I finally had a realization from the perspective of cultivation. I wondered why this kept happening. I realized that it might be related to my attachment to being afraid of eating spicy food. So, I forced myself to eat whatever food I was given.
At first, I took a bite of the food and then drank cold water. By the second year, I could eat all sorts of spicy foods without needing water, and sometimes I even ate it without drinking water. I later learned that we often received spicy food because it’s what was donated. Sometimes it was the only food available. Sometimes, even the practitioners who prepared the food for Shen Yun hadn’t eaten yet and offered their food to those of us managing the buses. Reflecting on my past complaints, I felt ashamed and remorseful.
These cultivation opportunities taught me to consider others first and better understand fellow practitioners by viewing problems from their perspectives.
When I began practicing I thought I already let go of fame and gain and had no ego. However, my attachment to fame kept resurfacing, just like peeling the layers of an onion—one layer came off only to expose another underneath. When I thought I had eliminated specific attachments, they resurfaced. When I thought I cultivated well, I discovered impure thoughts and my selfishness was obvious.
Sometimes, I feel pretty frustrated—it seems no matter how much I cultivate, it still have attachments. Fortunately, we have the guidance of the Fa. Master said, “This is because the part of you that’s been fully cultivated—the part that has become a god—has been separated.” (Teachings at the Conference of Changchun Assistants)
I realized that my unwholesome thoughts are manifestations of attachments I haven’t yet eliminated. I also understood that the Fa-rectification hadn’t concluded yet, and our compassionate Master extended the time for us. We should continue improving, clarify the truth and save more people.
When Shen Yun first came to our area, I also contributed. At that time, I did it because Master asked us to do so. I did it simply because I followed Master’s words. However, I didn’t fully understand and hadn’t yet realized the significance of promoting Shen Yun. When I later understood the relationship between Shen Yun and saving people, I was motivated to tell people about Shen Yun.
I realized that we need to comprehend the principles of the Fa to have the motivation to cultivate diligently. Being involved in promoting Shen Yun and assisting with the logistics of Shen Yun performances also provided me with excellent opportunities and environments for cultivation. Through these experiences, I can eliminate many attachments, such as the fear of being tired, the comfort-seeking mindset for sleep, aversions to cold or spicy food, and so on.
The Urgency of Saving People
I’ve recently understood many principles that I hadn’t grasped before. I’ve also realized the continuity between what Master taught in the past and what He teaches now. I deeply understand the three things Master has asked us Dafa disciples to do to assist Master in Fa-rectification. I also realize the significance of clarifying the truth.
I’ve also come to understand the Fa principle that people’s attitude toward Dafa determines whether they can be saved.
I’ve realized that since Dafa created the universe, its nature is Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. Suppose people hold a negative attitude toward Dafa, and reject the universal principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. In that case, there won’t be a place for them in the new universe.
When I understood these principles Master taught and observed that many people are still confused, I truly felt the urgency of saving them. Especially after reading Master’s two new scriptures, “How Humankind Came To Be” and “Why Save Sentient Beings,” I felt an even stronger sense of urgency and I also felt the weight of our responsibility as Dafa disciples. We truly need to engage in extensive and comprehensive truth clarification. With this realization, I’ve understood there’s no room for complacency; we can’t afford to relax.
Moving Forward
Looking back on everything I’ve experienced from childhood to adulthood, it seems like it was all preparing me for the role I would play in assisting Master during the Fa-rectification period. The challenging living conditions during my early years helped eliminate a lot of karmic debt and fostered a strong determination. Growing up in a low-income family taught me to care for others. Experiencing the Cultural Revolution in mainland China, then moving to Hong Kong, and eventually coming to the United States through San Francisco’s complex environment, these experiences enriched my understanding of living in this human world. Attending high school in San Francisco also allowed me to learn Chinese, enabling me to read Master’s teachings later on. Being a teaching assistant during my university graduate studies helped me overcome my introverted nature and fear of speaking. By teaching for decades I honed my ability to communicate effectively and understand others’ perspectives. All of this contributes to my current ability to clarify the truth. Even the severe car accident, which brought me physical pain and suffering, allowed me to personally experience Dafa’s amazing power. My firsthand experience is a powerful testimony when I tell people about Falun Dafa.
Now, we witness the chaos in today’s society, the moral decline, and it seems there’s no hope. Many ordinary people are saying that this society is beyond redemption.
I’ve come to understand that as Dafa disciples in the San Francisco Bay Area, we are the hope for the people in this region. Therefore, we must vigorously clarify the truth so that more people can learn about Dafa and the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. We must help the world understand the truth about the Chinese Communist Party’s persecution of Falun Dafa so more people can comprehend the truth and be saved. Only when people come to know the beauty of Dafa will they have a positive attitude towards it.
Saving people is our mission, as Dafa disciples in the Fa-rectification period, and assisting Master in saving them is our responsibility. Doing well in this regard is our honor; otherwise we will have regrets. Therefore, we must be brave, diligent and assist Master in saving people; we cannot just sit home and enjoy ourselves. We can see how rapidly this society is deteriorating and becoming corrupt. If humanity continues on this path of decline, it won’t be long before there’s no place left for you to find comfort. So, fellow practitioners, let us all move forward together, and save the people we are meant to save.
Thank you Master! Thank you fellow practitioners.
(Presented at the 2023 San Francisco Fa Conference)
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