(Minghui.org) Greetings revered Master! Greetings fellow practitioners!
I feel very honored to be here among Falun Dafa practitioners. I wish to tell everyone through my own experiences that Falun Dafa is Good and Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is Good. These are not just words—they are true.
I arrived in Vancouver, Canada on April 25, 2003, and met my wife at the end of 2009. Before I met her I often saw elderly practitioners on the sidewalk or in other public areas, and they handed me information about Falun Dafa and the persecution.
One day I received a USB drive. I showed it to my roommate and we opened it. The file was a film called “False Fire.” The film logically analyzed the “Self Immolation” incident on Tiananmen Square. A thought took root in my mind after I watched the film: Falun Dafa is being slandered. I had just come out of China, and my mind was filled with CCP (Chinese Communist Party) propaganda, Party culture, fear, and lies. After my roommate and I watched the film our hearts were clear, but we did not dare to discuss it or delve deeper into this topic.
I met my wife at the end of 2009. She practiced Falun Dafa, but she did not mention it. She gave me two Shen Yun tickets and I thus learned that she was a practitioner.
I was brought up by my grandmother. She practiced Buddhism, and every morning after washing up, she would first burn incense and kowtow to the Bodhisattvas and Buddha Tathagata before eating and starting the day. She also kowtowed to the Bodhisattvas and Buddha Tathagata before going to bed. She did this every day. My grandmother said that the Bodhisattvas and Buddha Tathagata would protect me, and that I had to respect them. Because I grew up surrounded by the CCP’s atheism I thought my grandmother was superstitious.
After I watched Shen Yun, I was intrigued and wanted to learn more about Falun Dafa. I began to read Zhuan Falun. After I read it a few times, I did not understand why the CCP slandered Falun Dafa. What I discovered was that this book taught people to be good. This made me want to learn why the CCP persecutes Falun Dafa.
I learned about the Minghui website from my wife. I read the many reports about the persecution. There were also phone numbers belonging to prison guards, prison chiefs, and their families. I bought two phone cards and called each number. What greatly surprised me was that all the numbers were real. Another important point was, who reported these numbers to the Minghui website? At the time, I thought that they must be good people with consciences who worked in China’s various legal systems. Due to their consciences, they reported the numbers to people overseas.
That meant the CCP was really persecuting Falun Dafa, or else they would not have such reactions when I phoned them, nor would there be all these phone numbers and addresses. I thus became clear about the persecution. I believed that Falun Dafa taught people the principles of how to be a good person. Since no harm came from practicing it, it could purify one’s heart and soul and strengthen the body, so I was very supportive of my wife’s practicing it.
A Turning Point in My Life
After we married, my wife and I had two children. However, our marriage became strained because our personalities, formed by our respective family backgrounds, clashed strongly. On top of that, I did not have any wish to cultivate, yet my wife always urged me to read the Fa with her, hoping that I would practice. I was very reluctant.
In 2017, I experienced the biggest tribulation of my life, yet it was also a turning point. At the time, the conflicts I had with my wife became increasingly intense. She even moved out a couple of times, and it seemed as though our marriage was about to end. Seeing my pitiable children and sensing my parent’s disappointment, I felt hopeless.
I faced the prospects of a shattered future every day and felt like I was living in a blur. I felt that the purpose of my existence was to disappoint others. One day, when I was feeling utterly hopeless, I cried aloud and I asked myself how my life came to this. A part of the Fa I read before suddenly appeared in my mind. Everything was happening because of what I owed from previous lifetimes. I let down my parents, my wife, and my children. They have a predestined relationship with me, yet I was not able to truly be a good person. I let everyone down.
I wept whenever I thought of this. I knew that I had no reason to give up. If I gave up, it would not be compassionate. Giving up before I had paid back what I owed was not something I should do.
From then on, the thought to truly begin cultivating entered my mind. I would start anew and pay for my sins, and truly be compassionate to the people around me. I would not have any regrets or remorse. With that, I began to try and cultivate, and slowly began walking my cultivation path.
However, the relationship between my wife and I did not improve, and actually got worse. Then, in 2018, we attended the 2018 New York Fa Conference. Our trip there was not smooth and was full of trials. Because I had not made thorough preparations and forgot to fill out a form online, we were stuck at the U.S. border security for over two hours. My wife was very angry, so much so that she attracted the attention of the airport workers and made our situation very awkward.
Now, I know that it was not her fault; it was something I had to face in my cultivation. I felt it was to see whether or not I deserved to attend the Fa Conference. I had to overcome the tribulation to prove myself worthy of obtaining Dafa. In the end, I steadfastly held the thought that I must attend the Fa Conference, and would not turn back, no matter what happened. Before this, I never participated in any of the major local Falun Dafa events. This was the first time I traveled out of Canada to attend an international Fa Conference, the first time I would attend a rally, group exercises, parade, and large-scale character formation.
When I sat in the auditorium and heard Master teaching the Fa, I could not stop my tears. I felt that everything Master said was right, and that Master was saying these things to me. There was no way for me to express my gratitude.
When I returned home from the Fa Conference, images of the parade, the Dafa music, and of all the Dafa disciples wearing yellow played in my head over and over again. My tears kept flowing.
Master Genuinely Guides Me
The day after I returned from the Fa Conference, my stomach felt kind of uncomfortable. I went to the washroom and didn’t think anything of it. Later, when I was meditating, a miracle occurred. In the past, it was hard for me to sit in the single lotus position. When we did the group exercises at the Fa Conference, it was very painful for me to sit in the single lotus position. Yet that day, I could immediately sit in the double lotus position, and I could straighten my back. It did not hurt or feel difficult at all. Rather, it felt very relaxing and comfortable. I did not enlighten to the fact that my body was being purified. I only thought that I could do the double lotus position because I had seen Master.
It wasn’t until that afternoon that I gradually realized what happened, and I understood that a major change was occurring in my life. When I sent righteous thoughts, as soon as I closed my eyes, I saw a cloud surrounded by indigo lightning. The lightning danced among the clouds, and then rushed directly towards me. I hurriedly tried to see where I was and to find my hands and feet, but I could not see any part of my body, it was as if all I had left was an eye. The cloud was already in front of me, and I watched as it opened and caught me. I swam towards the center of the cloud, swam deeper into the tunnel. Then I came out of the trance state. It felt as though a long time had passed, but I realized that the time for sending righteous thoughts was not over yet.
It was very wondrous, and I eagerly went to my wife’s room, wanting to tell her what happened. As soon as I opened her door, the plastic bag hanging behind the door smiled at me. I thought, how can a plastic bag have expressions? It seemed as though the plastic bag heard me, and it made a face at me in response. I wondered again, can a plastic bag really move on its own and know what I’m thinking? It heard me again, and used soundless telepathy to say to me, “You don’t believe it? Fine, I’ll come down and dance for you.” It jumped down from the door and turned in a circle in front of me, playfully made a face, then jumped back onto the door. I rubbed my eyes and wanted to get a good look at exactly what was happening, but the plastic bag no longer moved.
I hadn’t had the chance to tell my wife about the celestial eye tunnel yet, and now this plastic bag was talking to me and moving. I didn’t have time to think, as everything was happening so quickly. I slowly sat down on the edge of the bed, about to tell her about everything I saw, but suddenly I saw that the crystal knob on the drawer in front of me had the indigo lightning I saw this morning within it. I wanted to get a closer look at the light inside, and with that thought, both the room and my body disappeared, and the knob came before me, as if it knew what I was thinking. I saw that there were clouds, mountains, and cities inside of it. The vision soon ended.
I understood that Master purified my body and opened my celestial eye. Master opened my celestial eye at the level of Wisdom Eyesight, which was why the plastic bag greeted me. I also came to understand how soundless telepathy manifested, and how mind-intent worked.
That night, I could not fall asleep. Everything Master said was real and undeniable. I later clearly understood the parts of Fa where Master talked about how He guided disciples, the processes of guiding disciples, and some situations that might occur. I slowly came to understand what fellow practitioners meant when they said, “Master is taking care of me.” It is all so true. Afterwards, I truly started to mature in understanding the Fa and I started to truly cultivate.
One day, because my eldest son was being disobedient, I harshly scolded him. Afterwards I did the exercises. It was during the day, and my eyes were closed.
As soon the exercise music began playing, I suddenly found myself in the cosmos. I could not see my body, and did not know where I was, or if I was standing or floating. I only felt that my entire self was an eye. An enormous hand, so large that I could not see the palm’s entire expanse, stretched from the ends of the cosmos towards me. My facial muscles suddenly froze, but my mind was clear. My face felt numb. Two fingers that were like the cosmos slowly lifted the corners of my mouth which were in an unhappy frown into a compassionate smile. I suddenly came out of the trance, and could not stop my tears from falling.
I knew that Master elevated me and told me the standards for that level, which was to be kind and compassionate. I had no way of expressing my gratitude to Master. I went to Master’s portrait and confessed my mistake and thanked him. I knew that Master was truly looking after me, and that I was a genuine practitioner.
One day a thought suddenly came to me: Fa-rectification Dafa disciples have standards. I obtained the Fa late, so I had to hurry and meet those standards and accumulate my own mighty virtue. I knew that Master was teaching me step by step how to reach the standards for being a Fa-rectification period Dafa disciple. I had to go out and participate in Dafa-related activities, validate the Fa, protest the persecution, as well as participate in Shen Yun promotion events. These were all opportunities for me to accumulate mighty virtue.
Gradually, without my even noticing it, I began walking the path of Dafa cultivation. Throughout the process of obtaining the Fa, I truly felt that Master was by my side, looking after my cultivation every step of the way. Master truly guided me as a disciple, and as long as there was something we, as disciples, can do, Master is willing to give us the best.
Appreciating Master
Thinking back to my youth, I often experienced guanding. My grandmother laid the foundation for my understanding of Buddhas, Taos, and gods. From being sent out of China by my parents after I had grown up, to getting married, to cultivating, everything that happened felt like a dream. From meeting my wife, to feeling that our marriage had come to an end, to obtaining the Fa, to Master truly taking care of me, now I see that it was all arranged by the divine and Master’s compassion in granting me salvation.
Before I started cultivating, there were times when I hated my wife and inwardly swore at her. Countless times, I wanted to give up, but in the end, the goodness in my heart always overcame the bad thoughts. After I obtained the Fa, I came to truly understand that she was like a pill that Master gave me, designed to temper me into a diamond. She forced the hateful and poisonous qualities in me to the surface, and made me see the qualities I had that belonged to the stage of elimination, and malevolence. If she had not appeared to play the role of my wife, and we lived a life of contentment, then I would truly be ruined in the human world.
I suddenly realized I should thank her. I should thank her for everything she suffered for me throughout history. Didn’t she suffer for me to help bring me to this point in history? The resentment in my heart immediately disintegrated. Instead I saw her kindness, as well as my refusal to enlighten and how disappointing my behavior was.
Master taught me how to truly be a good person. Being a good person doesn’t mean being good among humans, but being good from the origins of what makes up one’s life to the surface on the human level. Every level of an individual has to be good; only the thoughts of such a life are righteous, compassionate, and beneficial for others. Only then is a person truly a good person. When I realized this, my heart was flooded with great honor and pride. I was glad I was so lucky to obtain Dafa and saved by Master.
Master said, “And there are more in store, in fact, as you will find out later on.” (The First Talk, Zhuan Falun)
In the past, whenever I came across this line, I wasn’t sure how to understand it. Now I have truly experienced what Master gives to disciples. Because I cannot express it in words, I can only use my thoughts to convey my gratitude and reverence towards Master. I have deeply felt Master’s great compassion. Master has not merely given me salvation; Master has also allowed me to rebuild myself to a higher level. Everything is given by Master; I have not done anything. What I have done are things that I should, and are not worth mentioning, and is far from being enough to receive all that Master has given me.
May Master forgive me for my foolishness and mistakes. From now on, I will do my best to fix the shortcomings I had in the past and be a true Dafa cultivator.
Thank you Master! Thank you, fellow practitioners!
(Presented at 2023 Canada Falun Dafa Cultivation Experience Sharing Conference)
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