Experiencing Beginning Cultivation in Falun Dafa and Being Steadfast

(Minghui.org) I began practicing Falun Dafa in April 2015. I was truly grateful for Master not giving up on me, a person riddled with karma. Master cleansed me and took me on the path of returning to my true home.

Master opened up my wisdom after I began practicing Dafa. The process of my obtaining the Fa has become clearer and clearer, with each scene flashing into my mind.

Challenging the Chinese Communist Party’s Propaganda

After more than 10 years of being indoctrinated by the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) atheistic education, which began in elementary school, I believed that the CCP was great and glorious and that the People’s Liberation Army was the people’s army. However, the Tiananmen Square Massacre on June 4, 1989, destroyed these notions. I was puzzled why the people’s army would point their guns at the people and open fire. My belief in communism crumbled.

The CCP began to persecute Falun Dafa in July 1999. A friend, who worked in a bank, said to me angrily that her manager talked with her colleagues who practiced Falun Dafa, for the purpose of forcibly having them give up their belief. In the end, she said, “What kind of thing is this [the CCP]? It wants to control heaven, earth, and even people’s thoughts.”

I echoed her words by saying, “Yes, what the CCP says and does is basically unreliable. The June four massacre is a bloody lesson.” Aren’t they [Falun Dafa practitioners] a group of people doing exercises? So why does the CCP want to persecute them?

One of my friends who worked in the provincial government said, “Think about it. The number of people who practice Falun Dafa is too great, and has exceeded the number of CCP’s members. Would it [the CCP] allow them to continue like this?” I thought this Party is too evil.

Learning the Truth

One day, someone on the internet sent me an app, saying that it contained a lot of helpful information. It was a website called Dynaweb [Enterprise Content Management System]. Since then, I have used this website to break through the Internet blockade, and I have come to understand more about how the CCP deceives people with its lies and propaganda.

After browsing the Minghui website, I learned that the Tiananmen Square self-immolation incident was a hoax, orchestrated by former CCP leader, Jiang Zemin, in an attempt to incite hatred against Falun Dafa, in the same way the CCP created the false narrative of 1,400 death cases, from practicing Falun Dafa. I also came to understand that Falun Dafa teaches people to cultivate themselves and look for kindness. Also, the cultivation practice has spread throughout the world. The only place it is subjected to persecution is China.

When I came across cases of practitioners in China being subjected to the persecution, I was in shock! It felt as if I had tears covering my face when reading the articles. What touched and shocked me the most was: What kind of people Falun Dafa practitioners are!

In today’s society, morality has been corrupt to such an extent that people are willing to do anything to fight for benefits and satisfy their personal desires. Yet there is a group of people who, for upholding their belief, would not give up their righteous faith even when they are subjected to such cruel persecution, and remain unmoved even when their own lives and the lives of their families are threatened!

I believed that such a group of people would be the cornerstone of China’s future moral recovery. This was what I wanted. I wanted to be a part of this group.

A Righteous Fa Is Hard to Obtain

It was probably because Master saw my wish, that He began to do some leg work for my obtaining the Fa in the future. Master laid some foundations for this to happen level by level, and I came to understand this after I started practicing Dafa.

When I was a child, I often looked at the stars in the sky. I thought that there must be many more stars in the sky and the sky used to be brighter than it is now. I often asked my mother where I came from. She joked by saying that I was picked up from a trash can. I didn’t like to hear this. When I grew up, I always had a question in my mind: Did we really evolve from monkeys?

I woke up one morning in 2010, feeling unsteady and leaning to one side. I went to the hospital immediately and was informed that I suffered a stroke. I recovered in a week after treatment. Since then, I have been worried that it might recur again, because my father died of a stroke, and each recurrence was more severe than the last.

I heard from a close friend, who said that he had a friend who was a retired Chinese doctor and practiced Falun Dafa. His name was Mr. Jun, and acupuncture was his specialty. I was delighted. I wanted to meet this person and ask him to help me by using acupuncture.

It was probably in 2013 that I got connected with Mr. Jun. I told him about my situation. He said, “Take it easy! For us to meet each other is our predestined relationship.”

When he did acupuncture, I asked him, “In order to get rid of this disease of mine, how about if I also practice Dafa?” He didn’t respond.

I told him that I wanted to go to so-and-so Buddhist College to cultivate for a couple of years one day in April 2015. He introduced Dafa to me immediately, and said, “You have good inborn quality and enlightenment quality. You are suitable for practicing Dafa.” For the entire afternoon, I’d listened to him share his experience of practicing Dafa, which was well represented. That day, I felt there was something big happening in my life. I made up my mind to practice Dafa and believed that I was going to change into someone different than I used to be.

I obtained a copy of Zhuan Falun, the main book of Falun Dafa, and finally began practicing Falun Dafa.

My mother began practicing after observing me. My mother and I studied the Fa and did the exercises every day. Within a few days, one of my friends also began practicing Dafa because of me. This friend suffered from muscular dystrophy. The muscles of the left shoulder decreased little by little, and finally, the person was thin and unrecognizable. Within a month after he started practicing in Falun Dafa, he had changed completely. His complexion had become brighter. He gained some weight and became more energetic.

Clarifying the Truth

Given continued Fa-study, I understood the responsibility and mission of being a Dafa practitioner.

Sometimes when I was on the bus, I looked at the passengers, and thought: “I have obtained the Fa, but these people don’t know where their futures lie.” I began to weep. One day, I suddenly had the urgency to help Master save people. Prior to that, I didn’t quite understand that Mr. Jun always tried to talk to people about quitting the CCP no matter the occasion. I said to him, “I finally understand why you do that.”

He replied, “With the progress of your Fa-study, your level will elevate quicker and quicker.”

The community I lived in had about 80,000 people. Mr. Jun said, “It’s a blank spot since we hadn’t covered that area with [Dafa informational] materials.” The house I lived in was newly purchased by me a few months ago. Not long after I moved in, I began practicing Dafa. Everything happens for a reason.

Since I knew how to access the internet and print materials, Mr. Jun and I set up a materials production site at my home. We began to hand out Dafa informational materials in the community that I had recently moved to. With his selfless help, I got immersed into the Fa-rectification process. Soon enough, we had distributed materials throughout the whole community.

Time flew, and I had been practicing Falun Dafa for almost a year. Then, I was illegally arrested while handing out materials in another district. I was a bit nervous when I was held in the police station. Then a thought entered my mind: I wanted to clarify the truth to the police. This seemed to be a precious opportunity for the police to learn the truth about Dafa. In addition, when my righteous thoughts were strong, Master would protect me. 

As I recalled Master’s words:

“... Disciples’ righteous thoughts are strong Master has the power to turn the tide” (“Master-Disciple Grace,” Hong Yin, Vl. II)

I sensed that I was surrounded by strong energy. With that, I completely let go of my fear and began talking to the police officers. As they interrogated me, I said, “You are breaking the law by arresting me, and I will not cooperate with you.” I told them why Jiang Zemin, former CCP leader, started the persecution of Falun Gong (also called Falun Dafa), as he was a mean and jealous person. I told them that there is no law in China that states Falun Dafa is illegal, and my actions are protected by the Constitution.

They ordered me to sign their transcript, but I refused. I was taken to a detention center that night. When people from the procuratorate came to talk to me, I clarified the truth to them, and told them that quitting the Party can ensure one’s safety. I was even able to help 16 detainees quit.

While in detention, I kept reflecting on my cultivation to see which loopholes had been seized upon to persecute me. I had a dream at night, which was the only dream I had during my detention: Getting over a test of lust. I realized I didn’t maintain my xinxing. I became clear that it was my attachment to lust that triggered the old forces to find grounds to persecute me. I said to Master in my mind, “Master, I did wrong.”

I was released on bail on the 14th day in the detention center. After I was released, and was able to look inward, I found several attachments, such as a competitive mentality, zealotry, looking down on others, showing off, not paying attention to safety, and lust. Practitioners helped me look for the root cause. As a new practitioner, they cared about me, being afraid that if I couldn’t get over this tribulation, I may stop cultivating.

I told them that while I was detained I asked myself: If the evil were to give me two choices, one was to write a guarantee statement to give up cultivation, and I could return home immediately; the other was if I were to refuse, the guillotine was right there, what would I do? I told myself that I’d stick my head into the guillotine.

At home, I studied the Fa and sent forth righteous thoughts more intensively. One day, while studying the Fa, a scene suddenly came to my mind: Master was talking to the old forces. As Master tried to have me start practicing Falun Dafa, the old forces tried to block me. In the end, the old forces had to give in, but they decided to increase my tribulations. I then understood how difficult it was for me to obtain the Fa. In order to do that, Master has laid so many foundations at each level for me.

Cultivating Myself

After I came out of the detention center, I felt that Mr. Jun had distanced himself from me. What he said to me was: For a new practitioner, it’s sufficient for one to just study the Fa and do the exercises, one doesn’t have to worry about clarifying the truth to people. I told him, “After I began cultivating, Master had me enlightened to so many heavenly secrets, which a regular teacher wouldn’t have known. It wasn’t just for me to cultivate and consummate myself, but also to assist Master in Fa-rectification and save sentient beings. 

In addition, Master said:

“... and that holds for new students too. Just cultivate steadily and solidly, and do well the three things that Dafa disciples should do.” (“Teaching the Fa at the Western U.S. International Fa Conference,” Collected Teachings Given Around the World, Vol. VII)

We had a disagreement regarding this issue. I thought that he looked down on me in everything I did. He also told other practitioners to stay away from me and have less contact with me. I was so upset after hearing this. Instead of looking inward, I developed resentment toward him.

I used to get along very well with Mr. Jun. It was he who introduced Dafa to me. Also, every practitioner I got to know was through him. We went abroad together and we experienced a loss of about 2,400 yuan. I wondered who should bear the cost. Because it involved other people, I did not settle the debt in time, and kept dragging it on for half a year without giving Mr. Jun an explanation.

I also borrowed over $600 from him because I used up my foreign exchange quota. It was the day before I left the country. It wasn’t convenient to transfer money to him at the time, so I wanted to transfer money to him after returning back to China, but I didn’t explain my intentions to him clearly. After coming back home, I forgot about it completely. He never mentioned it to me either.

After I was released from the detention center, I rented a place where I could make materials. He was very unhappy when I delivered the materials to him. But, while we were talking, he said a lot of negative things about me. He also said that after I started practicing Dafa, I didn’t act like a practitioner, and even drank alcohol.

I was a bit upset after hearing this. I responded, “When I was drinking, you were also there. Why didn’t you try to stop me? Also, haven’t I already quit?” I tried to blame him, saying that he wasn’t punctual, nor kept his word. Plus, he was trying to distance the relationship between other practitioners and me. What did that mean? Was that a practitioner’s behavior? I challenged him loudly. My competitive mentality flared up, and we parted ways on bad terms.

When I purchased my house, I overdrew more than 300,000 yuan on my credit card to buy it, and borrowed 100,000 yuan from my sister for the down payment. I planned to sell the old house to repay the debt. Unexpectedly, there was a problem with the real estate certificate, and the overdue interest on the credit card was too high. I was harassed because I owed so much money to the bank and was forced to move to another city.

Before I left, I went to see Mr. Jun to settle the 2,400 yuan loss. He then mentioned that I had borrowed $600 from him. I said, “I’m really sorry. I forgot.” He said he didn’t believe me. I reiterated, “I really forgot. You should have reminded me earlier.” He said he’d have felt embarrassed to do that. Because I didn’t have enough money, I wrote him an IOU. Looking back, I borrowed money from him when I already owed money to purchase a house. Because of this, he wouldn’t lend me money again.

I knew everything happens for a reason. I should really look inward carefully. Why did he say that as a new practitioner, it’s good enough if one could just study the Fa and do the exercises. Wasn’t it because he saw that my cultivation state wasn’t good, and I possessed strong attachments? The mistake I made on money made him very dissatisfied with me, and so he said something bad about me.

I realized that I wasn’t serious enough in doing the three things, only went through the motions, and procrastinated. For him to ignore me, and tell other practitioners to have less contact with me, it seemed that what he did wasn’t right. But wasn’t it because I had a strong reliance on other practitioners. Whenever I ran into problems, I’d go find practitioners to discuss it with them. Wasn’t it for removing my reliance on others? So when I looked inward unconditionally, my goodness it was all my fault. He was simply helping me improve. I should really thank him.

I went to his home to sincerely apologize. I confessed, “I was wrong! All the harm I have caused you is my fault. I know I have many faults. I didn’t consider other people’s feelings when doing things and did whatever I wanted. I have a competitive mentality, speak in a sharp way, and never give in when I think I am right. Please forgive me.”

He was very happy hearing my words. He then explained to me what was on his mind back then. I responded, “These are not important at all. The main point is that through you, I learned how to truly look inward, and to truly cultivate myself. I should really thank you.”

Deep down, I had a competitive mentality, always wanted to come out on top, and was filled with vanity. When I encountered a problem, the first thing I’d think of was how I was wronged. I didn’t realize any of this and thought I was diligent. It all came down to the fact that I didn’t cultivate solidly. In my day-to-day life, I didn’t pay attention to cultivating my xinxing, nor improve myself through conflicts. On the contrary, I still held onto these attachments and didn’t want to let them go. Which meant, I didn’t take cultivation seriously enough and wasn’t responsible for myself.

As a practitioner, no matter what I run into, I should confront it and truly look inward. Especially, my competitive mentality. I did things without considering whether others could deal with it. I was self-righteous, held onto zealotry, and did not pay attention to safety. All these must be eliminated from the heart. I must abandon human notions.

Now, I can truly understand from the Fa principles that every notion was not righteous, and not my true self. If I use my true nature of compassion and great tolerance, I can understand and tolerate others, face everything, and use the Fa to measure myself. Looking inward is really a magical weapon.

The current situation has changed drastically. The CCP is struggling to survive and is on its last legs. Fa-rectification will soon be over. Fellow practitioners, please be diligent, fulfill your vows, and return home with Master.

Thank you, Master, for your compassion!