(Minghui.org) Greetings venerable Master! Greetings fellow practitioners!
I’m a student from Taoyuan. My grandmother, father and mother started practicing Falun Dafa before I was born. I practiced Falun Dafa with my parents, and I’ve practiced for 25 years. On my cultivation journey I witnessed Master’s compassion, and how wonderful Falun Dafa is.
A Low Point
I attended various Dafa activities and conferences when I was a child and did the three things my parents asked me to do. After I entered middle school, I often studied until midnight due to the heavy workload, so I rarely did the three things. However my academic scores went down, not up. My relationship with my parents became intense. I often argued with them and lost my temper.
This went on for nearly a year. When I woke up one morning, I sat up and said that I wanted to study the Fa. I realized my knowing side woke up. I read Master’s lecture, “Teachings at the Conference in Switzerland”
Master said,
“I’ve given my utmost concern not just to you, but to all lives. I have almost depleted everything of mine for all lives.”
“But do you know how many things of mine are incorporated into what you obtain? (Applause) Of course, I don’t want to talk about these things that concern me. I just want to tell you that you should cherish this undertaking that your master is carrying out! You have to do well in cultivation. Don’t miss this chance.”
I wept and realized how precious it was that I was born into a family of practitioners and I was also a practitioner. The reason I could be an excellent student was due to Master’s guidance. I treated people and did things with a positive attitude. I was very thankful to Master and determined to cultivate myself well so as to be worthy of Master’s careful arrangements for me. Because I put cultivation as my first priority, my relationship with my parents and my academic performance got back on the right track.
After I began attending university several practitioners invited me to attend the young practitioner summer camp. I agreed, but was hesitant. I realized that my negative attitude wasn’t correct. It was a Dafa activity and an environment in which we could discuss our cultivation experiences. Why wasn’t I willing to attend?
I looked within to see why I hesitated. I felt I hesitated to attend summer camp because I didn’t study the Fa and practice the exercises enough and rarely participated in activities to clarify the truth to people. So before the camp began, I urged myself to study the Fa and do the exercises more.
Master may have see my heart and wish to change, and I saw Master’s hints when I studied the Fa. I found my deeply rooted attachments. There were many reports about sexual harassment in the media. This reminded me of the sexual harassment I came across in my middle school years. I felt uncomfortable and wondered why this happened to me. One day I read the following paragraph of Master’s Fa.
Master said,
“Though your age may be advanced, you will be made to, so that you may improve and achieve Consummation, think about distressing things like the years of hardship that you may have suffered in the past. It could happen even when you do nothing more than just sit on your bed. You will be made to feel angry as you sit there, so angry that you can’t stand it, after which you will realize: “Hey, I’m a cultivator. I shouldn’t be angry like this.” It is to eliminate your attachment.” (Teachings at the Conference in the Western U.S.)
I realized there must be something that I needed to improve on.
This process of looking within lasted for several months, and I wrote a diary on my cell phone. For a period of time I was sad and disappointed with myself that I was not able to pull myself away from society’s big dye vat. I understood that only Dafa could lead me out of the pain and bitterness.
I studied the Fa and looked within every day. I found that I had strong vanity and pursuit of fame and personal interest. I liked to follow society’s deviated fashion trends and felt good if men noticed me. When I realized this was my attachment, I threw away those deviated fashion clothes and the letters and notes.
When my cell phone stopped working, I knew it was a hint that I should let go of all the burdens and move forward. I felt heavy-hearted and couldn’t breathe sometimes. Thanks to Master’s compassion and encouragement, I was able to elevate myself. Finally I became calm and light-hearted.
I became a sales person to sell Shen Yun products to audience members in theatres when Shen Yun came to my city. I felt it was an easy task because I just introduced the products, its design and price to them.
But one problem came up. I needed to wear high heels because I was short. I needed to help the buyers try on scarfs and decorative products. My feet hurt after I stood for hours—especially during the evening shows, my legs and feet felt excruciatingly painful and I had trouble walking. When the show started and the audience went inside the theater, I removed my shoes to ease the pain.
After Shen Yun finished performaning in my city, the practitioners had a sharing. One practitioner said that our stall sometimes looked messy and the practitioners put their high heels near the walkway and didn’t hide them. Although they didn’t mention me, I looked within. I found that I had an attachment to seeking comfort and didn’t regard the pain as eliminating karma. I was not serious about this project. In contrast, Shen Yun performers are elegant and always behave properly. Through their behavior people can see how wonderful Falun Dafa and Shen Yun are. I saw my gap. I needed to improve my xinxing and be worthy of being someone who promotes items related to Shen Yun.
Since then, I put up with the pain in my feet while wearing high heels. I no longer need to take off my shoes, and I can walk despite the pain. The discomfort disappeared.
I am studying for a Master’s degree in Speech Therapy, and I just finished the internship. I was very busy during the internship. I had to write reports and do research after work. For one year, I only slept 3 or 4 hours every day.
I often dosed off when I studied the Fa and did the three things superficially. I was not able to cope with any pressure. I didn’t regard myself as a practitioner when facing difficulties at work. I had a special patient. His case was complicated. I didn’t have experience with this situation and didn’t prepare well. I was afraid of making mistakes and didn’t try some new methods. My supervisor got angry and scolded me. I felt wronged and had negative thoughts about her. When talking to other classmates, I always told them of this incident and felt resentful. I wanted them to sympathize with me.
When I complained to my mom she reminded me that I should cultivate my speech and shouldn’t talk badly about someone behind their back. I should look within to see where I could improve. I calmed down and looked within. Indeed I didn’t do well enough so she got angry. My mistake showed that I wasn’t serious about treating the patient. I should try my best to avoid making this mistake again. I had the attachment of listening to praise and I didn’t want to be criticized. I shouldn’t be moved whether I was wronged or criticized. Even if I was wronged, I should still look within.
Sometimes we meet patients or family members who are emotional or irrational. How to keep good relationship with patients and their family members is an important issue. One patient and his family member made things difficult in every possible way for my colleague. They even argued at one point. The colleague came to me and complained after they left. I comforted her and asked her to think from the perspective of the patient. I said, “These patients suffer from their illnesses on a long term basis. Their family members look after them and bear a lot of pressure. They must be very sad so they behave badly.” My colleague calmed down and thanked me for reminding her to think from their perspective. Some colleagues said that I always guided them to look at issues from different angles and open up their hearts.
When the internship finished, my supervisor said I improved and I handled the patients very well. Hearing her praise, I felt happy and warm in my heart. I witnessed the beauty and amazing power of Falun Dafa, which not only guided me to step out of confusion and the low points in my life, but also benefited the people around me and made them happy.
I had a dream when I was little. In my dream Master wore a yellow kasaya (a Buddhist robe). I was a little fairy, followed Master and flew in the sky. During my 25 years of cultivation, I stumbled, quit cultivation and lost my way. Master compassionately led me back to cultivation again and again. My dream has been always vivid in my memory. This is encouragement and reminder from Master reminds me not to forget my vows and the seriousness and preciousness of being a Falun Dafa practitioner.
These are my cultivation experiences. Please kindly point out anything inappropriate.
Thank you Master! Thank you practitioners!