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From a New Practitioner of Six Months: The Light of Life By a Falun Dafa practitioner from China (Clearwisdom.net) I have only been practicing Falun Dafa for a little
over six months. My wife, a fellow practitioner, encouraged me several times to
share with fellow practitioners how I got on the path of cultivation and how I
have changed since I took up the practice. Honestly, I am so new that I do not
have amazing experiences like the veteran practitioners do, nor do I have
touching cultivation stories to tell. As my wife continued to encourage me, I
was moved. Perhaps in my wife's eyes, that I changed from being dissolute to a
practitioner is more precious than gold. So, I decided to write down my
experience to share with all the new practitioners so we can encourage each other. I was born in a poor peasant family in Liaoning Province. Because we were
poor, I had to leave my hometown with my wife right after we got married in
order to make a living. After we worked very hard for a few years and paid off
all our debts, we had a little money left, so we went to Beijing to do business
and made some more money after several more years. Then, we moved back to the
city near our hometown and opened a store. In the days that followed, I spent a lot of time playing Mahjong, drinking,
and going to nightclubs. I was a simple, honest peasant's son, but I changed
beyond recognition. I was not a normal human being anymore. My outgoing,
trustworthy personality had won the respect of all my friends. They regarded me
as their "Big Brother". But then I turned to a life that was totally
insane. I spent half of my time away from my home, walking around drunk. Early in 1999 my wife learned about Falun Dafa. By then she was emotionally
and physically exhausted. After she read Zhuan Falun once, she started
cultivation. Then on July 20, things changed. My wife was shocked. Was it a
mistake to practice Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance? In those days, she
suffered a lot. Every time she saw programs defaming Falun Dafa on TV, she wept.
Although she had not practiced for a long time, she had benefited so much from
it. She was heartbroken. But then she calmed down and began participating in activities to validate
Dafa. On January 1, 2001, of the lunar calendar, she went out with another
practitioner to distribute truth clarification material and was abducted by the
police. One month later, she walked out of the detention center with righteous
thoughts and the strengthening of Master. (I also spent money to get my former
classmates to help her.) One year later, her brother was also sentenced to three
years for distributing truth clarification materials. He is now being held in the Shenyang Jail No.20 Ward. For the past few years, I had been wandering around just outside the door of Falun
Dafa and spending hours playing mahjong on dinner tables. My wife kept talking
to me about the beauty of Falun Dafa and the extraordinariness of Falun Dafa,
but I just would not listen. One night in April of this year, I came home half
drunk in the middle of the night after playing Mahjong. My wife was reading
Master's lecture "Teaching the Fa at the 2004 Western USA Fa Conference."
She asked me to read a paragraph. I read it out loud while half drunk. When I
read the part where a student asked the teacher how to understand the word
"Bei," the teacher answered, "Let me endow you with two sentences: 'Without 'nothing,' it is a
human feeling. If it is a human feeling, then it's not bei (compassion).'" I was shaken. These two sentences expressed such profound meanings in such
ordinary words. It is not something even a philosopher or theorist could come up
with. I admired Teacher right away. With my wife by my side, I finished reading
the lecture. Although there were still Fa principles that I did not understand,
I was captivated by their profoundness. I said to my wife, "I want to
practice Falun Gong, too. Tomorrow I want to read Zhuan Falun." The next day when I opened Zhuan Falun, the first thing I read was the
section entitled "Genuinely Guiding People Toward Higher Levels." Who
wouldn't want to go to a high level? With a thought of following Master to go to
a high level, I finished reading Zhuan Falun. As Master pointed out, I
felt that it was a book to teach people to be good. After the second and third
time, I realized that it was a book guiding people in their cultivation. After
reading it for the fourth and fifth time, the Buddha Law awakened me, a heart
that had been covered in dust for so long. In the following month, I read the
book six times, and I have also read all of Teacher's lectures. I had tears in
my eyes when I was reading them. Many of my questions were answered. I realized
the meaning of life and the value of life. I came to more deeply understand the
inner meaning of returning to one's original self. I was deeply impressed with the profoundness of the Fa principles. I regret
the years that I wasted and that I almost missed the Fa. I feel lucky to have
obtained the Fa. I am excited that I have found the light of life. I promised
myself that I would continue to cultivate Dafa and guide my behavior with
Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, to keep myself pure and elevated and to be
a true good person. I wrote on the wall "Be Sincere and Diligent" to
remind myself. In fact, as soon as I entered the realm of Dafa, I felt Teacher's mercy.
Before I obtained the Fa, someone looked for me every day to play mahjong and to
have drinks. After I learned Dafa, no one came for me for twenty days. I was
able to read all of Teacher's lectures, which laid a solid foundation for my
understanding. From the day I read the book, my wife taught me the five sets of
exercises and I started to practice daily. After a month, my friends seemed to
think of me all of a sudden. They invited me to go out for dinners and they
offered me liquor at the dinner table. I told them that I had quit drinking and
started to cultivate and that I hoped they would understand my choice. They were
very surprised. Then they attacked me. My best friend held the glass with two
hands and demanded that I take one sip only. I was very calm, although I was a
bit embarrassed. I refused them flatly. Then he finished both drinks and started
yelling, and announced that he and the others wanted to end their relationships
with me and demanded that I returned the 5000 yuan that I borrowed from him.
Then he asked other people that I borrowed money from to demand money back from
me and told everybody that I practice Falun Gong. In his mind, practicing Falun
Gong was something to be ashamed of and could not be made public. Later, he asked a few people to stop me on the road and abduct me to one of
their houses to persuade me to stop practicing. They also came to my house.
Having failed in their attempts, they planned to take me to the brainwashing
center. Their plan was aborted. I persisted, against the pressure. As my
understanding of Dafa continued to deepen, I eliminated the interference, calmed
myself down and practiced the exercises and read every day. On May 12, I had a bad headache. I felt dizzy and vomited for hours. My wife
was afraid that I may not have righteous thoughts and asked if I wanted to go to
the hospital. I shook my head. I knew very well that Teacher was cleansing my
body. I did not think that I was sick and I was thinking that I should thank
Master Li. After seven hours, my pain subsided. The following morning, I was
fine. I experienced Teacher's mercy. I just suffered a little and I don't know
how much Master had to shoulder for me. Although this was only cleansing my
body, it also cleansed my mind, ridding it of many doubts about Dafa, and my
faith in Dafa was strengthened. Shortly after I started cultivation, my wife taught me the formula for
sending forth righteous thoughts and said that I should do it with her every
day. I did not pay much attention to it because I was so new and I did not think
that I had enough energy and potency. One night, my four-year-old daughter had a
low fever. For the whole night, she was deep in sleep and could not speak. She
did not get any better even the next morning. At 10 in the morning, my wife had
to go out, and I was looking after my daughter all by myself. She had been a
very healthy kid. Even though she had a fever once or twice before, she got well
the next day. I realized that it was not accidental and it must be the rotten
demons that were interfering. So I decided to send forth righteous thoughts and
request Master Li to strengthen me to eliminate the evil. A few minutes later, I
heard my daughter moaning. When I was done and opened my eyes, she had already
sat up on the bed and was eating some fruit by the bedside. I had tears in my
eyes. I held my daughter and pressed my hands together in heshi to thank Teacher
for his mercy. From then on, I became more diligent in sending forth righteous
thoughts to clear away the evil. As I continue to study the Fa, I become more solid and have a better
understanding of the Fa and my level is elevating. Master said, "What's most extraordinary about you is that you're able to keep up
with the Fa-rectification." (Teaching the Fa at the Great Lakes Fa
Conference in North America) and "...a Dafa disciple's cultivation is about stepping out of
humanness;..." (Teaching the Fa at the 2003 Atlanta Fa Conference). I looked for my friends that I used to spend a lot of time with and clarified
the truth to them. Some of them did not understand me at all initially, but they
gradually changed their attitude. I wrote many times to officials at prisons,
public security bureaus, courthouses, and procurators to ask them to stop the
persecution of Falun Gong. When I went to the bathhouse, I took some materials
with me and put them in all the lockers. When I went to collect accounts in
rural areas, I took CDs and truth-clarifying materials with me and left them
where many people passed by. When I went to see my relatives, I placed the
materials in all the neighbors' doorsteps. Gradually I realized the importance
of clarifying the truth and distributing truth materials. Once I made an arrangement to go with a fellow practitioner to the
countryside to distribute materials. However, the other practitioner was too
busy, so I did not get to go. I waited and waited. I thought to myself, I cannot
miss the opportunity that Master gave me to establish mighty virtue and save the
sentient beings. So, I went to look for another practitioner and we distributed
close to a thousand pieces over the next two nights in very remote villages. We
took the beauty of Dafa to them. As time went by, I gradually got to know my fellow practitioners. I felt that
they were so sincere and honest. They were so willing to help me elevate. It was
great to be with them. I realized that Falun Gong is pure and good, and that
practitioners are good people. An experience sharing conference was held in my hometown in October. Although
there were only one hundred people, they were all local contact persons and
representatives from all over the neighboring counties. I was very lucky to be
part of it. It was the first time I had seen so many practitioners together. I
was very touched. I listened to each practitioner's speech. I could feel the
solemnity and sacredness of the meeting. I heard the deep understanding of
veteran practitioners of the Fa principles and I could feel their faith and
righteous thoughts. One female practitioner was beaten while she was hung, and lost consciousness
four times when she was in the detention center. I was so amazed by her
calmness. She described what happened to her in the forced labor camp in a
matter of fact manner. I almost cried. I was surprised when one practitioner asked me to talk about my experience. I
was a little lost because I knew that there is such a gap between me and the
veteran practitioners and I don't understand the Fa principles well. But, I
picked myself up and spoke with a trembling voice. In fact, I had a lot to share
with the others, but I didn't know what to say because I was so nervous. When I
got home, I couldn't sleep the whole night. In the last six months since obtaining the Fa, I have read Zhuan Falun
24 times and all of Master's lectures 3 to 4 times each. Dafa changed my values
and my purpose in life. I now feel that I have control over my life whereas
before, I felt that I did not know the purpose of life. Master pointed out, "...it's difficult to ask someone to be a good person. It isn't to
change a person at the superficial level. He won't change himself unless his
heart has truly moved. Then, this kind of change will never be shattered by
any force." (Lecture at the Fa-Conference in Canada (Toronto, May 23, 1999)). Falun Dafa has changed me and Master Li has saved me from the old cosmos. Now
that I have seen the light of life, I can tell everyone that I will not go back
to where I was before. "All things throughout ages, like fleeting smoke and passing clouds ("Dafa Clears Up Confusion", Hongyin). Isn't this an accurate depiction of a human being's life? Having learned the
purpose of life, I decided to share my experience with all of my relatives and
friends. After I practiced for two months, my mother started the practice and a
few of my friends are also starting. My four and a half year old daughter can
recite "Lunyu" fluently and dozens of poems from Hongyin,
Master's collection of poems. My teenage son also asked to watch Master Li's
lecture videos. My wife said, now we are truly traveling the same path. I would like to appeal to all new practitioners to study the Fa more and
exchange with veteran practitioners, cleanse ourselves, deepen our
understanding, improve our xinxing and see where we are lacking. We should
measure ourselves with Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, step forward to
clarify the truth, expose the evil and save the sentient beings and become
worthy Falun Dafa practitioners. November 19, 2004 Posting date: 12/27/2004 |