By an American practitioner

(Clearwisdom.net)

Before I started to practice Falun Dafa, I had been practicing various martial arts for many years. Many of the martial arts I practiced belong to both internal and external cultivation. I had a very strong attachment to competitiveness and I always wished that my martial arts were better than those of others. For many years I suffered from horrible dreams. Often these dreams were so vivid that I actually felt like I was awake in my dreams. These dreams were mostly about other beings wanting to fight with me. They would search me out and hunt me down until I was forced to confront them. I never could understand why I had these dreams and why they came so frequently. These dreams were very disturbing and frightening. I had awakened from many of them extremely terrified and truly feeling that these beings were trying to kill me.

It wasn't until I read Zhuan Falun that I finally understood why I was having these horrible dreams. As Master mentions, it is possible that when someone practices martial arts other beings may search him out to try and match skills with him. This can take place in dreams where they will really come to kill the person. After Master explained why this happens I immediately understood that I had to give up the attachment to competitiveness and to martial arts. Since then I have never had those types of dreams again.

Immediately after I read Falun Gong and Zhuan Falun I knew that this was what I had been searching for my entire life. So many questions I have had for so long were answered. It was as if a ton of bricks had been lifted off my back. Despite this I still had questions in mind about Master and his capabilities. Even with these horrible thoughts Master still had compassion for me. I kept wondering in my mind whether or not Master had any power and if he could do the things he said he could. A few weeks after having read the books and having started doing the exercises I experienced guanding for the first time in my life. It was an amazing experience that to me seemed miraculous. It happened one night while I was sleeping. I woke up with the sensation of a warm current that slowly got stronger and stronger. This episode must have lasted for several minutes. However, even after this experience I still doubted Master and thought in my mind that maybe this occurrence had nothing to do with Master. Even with these thoughts, Master again showed me compassion. A few weeks after that again in the middle of the night I was awakened by a strange sensation that could only be described as the sensation of electricity running through my body, however this time it was different from the last. This time I knew that it was Master that was in my room showing me his true power. He put so much energy into me that I could not bear it and asked him to stop. Immediately I knew that Master was answering my question so that I would have no further doubts in my mind.

Because I benefited so much from Falun Dafa, I wanted to share it with others. The first people I talked to about Dafa were my friends and family. I told them how positive Dafa had been in my life and how I thought that it could benefit them tremendously as well. I told them that this book had answered all the questions that I had been carrying with me for so long. While doing this I learned very quickly that if my mind contained doubts about Dafa while I was speaking to them, then the results were not good. Master says "if all a person wants is the well-being of others and if this is without the slightest personal motivation or personal understanding, what he says will move the listener to tears." ("Clearheaded" in Essentials for Further Advancement) I found that the clearer my mind was when I talked with them about Dafa, the better results I had. Furthermore, if the slightest doubt came to my mind about Dafa or the slightest thought of insecurity surfaced about what the other person may think about me, then the outcome would not be as good. I began to realize how important solid righteous thoughts are when we are talking to people about Dafa.

At an experience sharing conference in Orlando, Florida, I read for the first time Master Li's lecture at the Great Lakes of North America. After that I immediately understood how important truth clarifying work was. I decided that I would start to get involved in any way that I could to clarify the truth to as many people as possible. One of the first things I became involved in was working with other practitioners to inform politicians in my area about the truth of the persecution of Dafa practitioners in China. When I first started to do this type of work I was very hesitant and intimidated. I had no experience with politicians or with any political associations. How was I supposed to do my job that I had no experience doing? With these thoughts in my mind I wondered if I was the right person for this job. All sorts of doubts surfaced in my mind. Then I said to myself, "If not me, who will do this work?" I thought, "How can I let my fears and doubts stop me from standing up for Dafa and for fellow practitioners? As a practitioner, how could I not break through these barriers?" I have seen many Dafa practitioners undertake many tasks and jobs that they had no experience doing, and I am often impressed with how well these practitioners do them.

With this in mind I left my doubts behind and began contacting several local officials. In the beginning I was quite successful. With very little preconceived notions about what I was supposed to do or how I was supposed to do it, I just did it. I gave no concern over whether or not I would be successful. I just went out to clarify the truth and whatever was going to happen would happen. However, after some time passed, I began noticing that I wasn't as successful as I was in the beginning. All sorts of difficulties arose and I wasn't sure why. I started to think about what changed from the way I previously did things. It became clear to me that when I placed phone calls or talked to people I started to expect things to go a certain way. I had all sorts of preconceived notions about what was supposed to take place. I would also frequently run through in my mind about what I was going to say and do. I also started becoming attached to obtaining some type of result like receiving a proclamation or resolution. My mind didn't have these attachments and intentions in the beginning. When I worked on ridding my mind of these things I started getting good results again.

Since I have become a practitioner I have become aware how benevolent Master Li is. When I started participating in Hong Fa (introducing Dafa to the public) and truth clarifying activities this became very evident to me. From the first time I started with these activities I knew something about them was very special. After each and every event I would experience significant increases in my energy levels and whenever I practiced after the event the energy would feel tremendous. I understood that Master was pushing me along so that I could keep up with Fa-rectification even on a very microscopic level. Master was even more compassionate to his disciples when he allowed us to participate in Sending Forth Righteous thoughts. Ever since the first time I started sending forth righteous thoughts it has made the speed of my cultivation become faster and faster. I can feel Master transforming my body at a tremendously fast pace. The most amazing thing has been that even when I have not passed certain tribulations or have not maintained my xinxing very well he is still pushing me to higher levels. Master is even compassionate enough to continue to raise us up even when we are doing poorly in our cultivation. How can I let Him down when he is being so compassionate to me? I know many practitioners do not feel the transformations in their bodies taking place but I can tell you that they are real and they are extremely powerful. Each cultivator, as Master says, has his or her own circumstances and I am fortunate enough to be sensitive to these changes in my body. I also feel fortunate that I can share these experiences with you.

I have come to realize that our cultivation is a testament to the cosmos to how magnificent Master's Fa is. The entire cosmos is watching this event unfold. The more truthful we become the more the beings in the cosmos are amazed; the more compassionate we become the more the beings in the cosmos are astonished; the more forbearing we become the more the beings in the cosmos are left in awe. Master has allowed us to take part in Fa-rectification. How can we not meet the standard? How can we not put everything we have into being the best Fa-rectification disciples that we can be? I ask all my fellow Dafa disciples to be diligent and prove to the entire cosmos that this is the highest and most righteous Fa. "Achieve Consummation and follow the teacher back." (Predestined to Return to the Sacred Fruit Status)

Thank you Master and thank you fellow Dafa disciples!

Posting date: 2/25/2002
Original article date: 2/24/2002
Category: Cultivation Experiences
Chinese version available at http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2002/2/21/25422.html

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