(Clearwisdom.net) I began practicing Falun Dafa when I was in the fourth grade. At that time, my grandmother was very sick and a practitioner asked her to practice Falun Gong. She said that Falun Gong could cure illnesses and keep one fit.
The rest of my family soon started to practice Falun Gong, one after another. At the start, I only read the book Zhuan Falun and tried to be a good person as required by the book. Gradually I required myself to cultivate to Dafa's standard. Through studying the Fa and cultivating my xinxing, I recovered from small but troublesome conditions such as congenital bad breath, lip cracking in the spring and autumn, and stomachaches after breakfast. Even my gray hair turned black. I witnessed the miracles Dafa created and also came to know the principle of "gain without pursuit."
Though I didn't understand the Fa deeply, I managed to require myself to be ready to be a good person at any time according to Master's requirements. I didn't hit back when hit or swear back when sworn at. I was happy to help people. When I came across xinxing tests, I would remember that I was a young Dafa disciple and thus be strict with myself. One weekend, I suddenly had a high fever. I was not afraid in my heart. I knew that Master was dissolving karma for me. The fever lasted over one day, and my mom started to worry. She asked me to have an injection because she thought I had only studied the Fa a little and had not started to practice the exercises yet. But my heart was not moved. I knew that Master was dissolving karma for me and I would get better soon. My mom saw that I was very determined to not go see the doctor. She then didn't say anything more, and let me have a good sleep. When I woke up, my temperature was back to normal. I quickly told my mom and she was very happy as well. She asked me to thank Master. When I picked up the book Zhuan Falun and opened to the page with Master's photo, wanting to say "Thank you Master," I saw Master smiling at me. After that, I became more determined in my belief in Dafa and wanted to become a genuine disciple.
1. Clarifying the Facts of Falun Gong with My Mom
After the persecution began in 1999, facing the widespread lies, slander, and rumors, I didn't know what I should do for some time. But in my heart I never wavered in my belief that Falun Dafa was good. Later I realized that as a Dafa disciple, I should step out to validate the Fa and speak out when Dafa was slandered. Even an ordinary person with a conscience would do this.
Beginning in the year 2000, I started to go out to distribute Falun Gong materials with my mom. I was in middle school at the time. We didn't have many materials and couldn't get them often. Practitioners from other areas sent them to us. On the weekends or whenever I had a day off, I would go out to distribute materials with my mom. Sometimes we would put up or hang up banners that told people the facts about Falun Gong. Though we didn't have many materials, we did the job very seriously. I used to be very timid and afraid of the dark, and I didn't go out alone at night. But when I needed to go out to validate the Fa and save sentient beings, I was no longer afraid of the dark. I didn't know where I got this courage from.
When I really stepped out, I found that I was not afraid at all. In fact my righteous thoughts were very strong. I realized that Master was strengthening my righteous thoughts when He saw that I had the heart to save sentient beings. When distributing materials, in my heart I thought that I was doing the most righteous thing in the universe and no other factor was worthy of testing us or interfering with us and that Master had the final say.
Sometimes when distributing the materials, I would have a little friction with my mom and that would make both of us feel uncomfortable. I realized that it was interference from another dimension. The two of us were one body and the evil was trying to divide us. I shouldn't let it succeed. That was not the time to argue. I kept calm in my heart until we finished distributing the materials. Sometimes we did not arrive home until 1:00 or 2:00 a.m. I didn't feel tired at all, though we had been walking for 5 or 6 hours. Instead I felt very happy that sentient beings would be saved when they read our materials.
2. Cultivation in Boarding School
I boarded at school when I entered high school. I only went home once a month. It was very inconvenient for me to study the Fa at school. We only had a large copy of Zhuan Falun. For security reasons, I didn't bring it to school. I didn't have any MP3 recordings either. So I didn't study the Fa at school. I only studied the Fa once a month for one day when I was at home. Because I didn't study the Fa sufficiently, I felt my righteous thoughts were not strong when doing things. Master mentions the importance of studying the Fa in his lectures again and again. I knew studying the Fa was important. I became very anxious. What should I do? I then hand-wrote Zhuan Falun in a small booklet and brought the booklet to school. One time, a practitioner came to visit us, and my mom mentioned the situation to her. Then she brought me a brand new small copy of Zhuan Falun. I was so happy. I could study the Fa like before again. Thank you to this fellow practitioner and thank you Master. I realized that Master saw my heart to learn the Fa and led the practitioner to find a way for me. This small book stayed with me until I entered university, when I didn't need the small version any longer due to the change in the environment. I have been studying the Fa consistently, not missing even one day.
At university we had much more free time and didn't have as much homework as in high school. Many students started to spend a lot of time on the Internet, playing computer games or reading novels. But I didn't relax. I knew that I was a Dafa practitioner and should set a higher standard for myself at all times. Sometimes all the students in my dormitory went to the Internet bar together. They wanted me to go with them. I refused, though there was a lot of temptation there. I thought that because I was a Dafa practitioner, I shouldn't act the same way as they did. So I stayed at the dormitory by myself studying the Fa. Because I didn't drift with the current and behaved according to a higher standard, my roommates respected me very much after a long period of staying together. This laid a good foundation for me to clarify the truth to them. I told them the facts about Falun Dafa and the staged self-immolation incident.
The process of clarifying the facts was also a process of self-improvement and getting rid of attachments. Sometimes I had the heart of fear and eagerness for success. Then I didn't achieve good results when clarifying the facts. People wouldn't accept it and I then wanted to step back. When I didn't have the heart of fear or eagerness to succeed and when my heart was pure, only thinking of saving people, I normally could achieve good results and the other parties would readily accept the facts. There were altogether eight people including me in my room. Six people ended up quitting the CCP. Some of them accepted the truth about Dafa and often recited, "Falun Dafa is good." There was a big change in our dormitory. We got along very well and they seldom caught colds. Some of them felt strange about the fact that as soon as they went home, they would catch cold, and that after they came back to school, they would recover. I knew it was because the righteous field in our dormitory rectified all abnormalities.
In the cultivation process, I often came across xinxing tests. In the first year at university, each class was asked to collect the names of students who had joined the Youth League and encouraged those who were not members to join in. In our class, except for some students who lost their membership certificates and had to re-apply, I was the only person who was not a member (actually previously I was a member but I made a statement on-line and withdrew from it). The secretary of the Youth League then targeted me. He came to talk to me when he had time and tried to force me to join. He claimed that I would damage the reputation of the class if I didn't join. He said to me, "In other classes all the students are members. In our class it is only you who is not. So you must join in." Because I had the fear of losing face and also I felt uncomfortable when people targeted me, I knew that it was a test and that I should definitely pass it. I didn't give in. The secretary came to talk to me for several days. I told him firmly that I wouldn't join no matter how much he persuaded me. As soon as he realized that it was almost impossible to get me to join, he gave up. And he didn't talk about it any more from then on. I realized that when our righteous thoughts are strong enough and when our hearts don't move, the evil in other dimensions can't do anything to us. On the human level, we end up stopping them or changing them. Regrettably, I didn't clarify the facts to him.
3. Establish the Right Relationship between Work and Cultivation
I found a job soon after I graduated from university. As I was not clear about the relationship between work and cultivation, I separated cultivation from work. During the day I only thought of doing my job well and forgot that as a Dafa disciple, I assumed a great responsibility and a mission. I didn't study the Fa much at night either.
In this new work environment, everything felt new. I felt everything was not as easy as at university (now I know that this was a time for me to improve my xinxing but I didn't grasp the opportunity). I shared a room with a colleague. I didn't have a good impression of her, so I developed some notions, thinking that she had been there for such a long time and I was a newcomer, so I was very careful around her and afraid of this and that. I didn't negate these thoughts at the time. I tried to avoid her when I studied the Fa and practiced the exercises. When she was there, I put away my book and studied the Fa again when she went out. Later I was able to study the Fa when she was there, but I was not able to study the Fa with a pure mind. I only pursued the quantity of Fa-studying, not the quality. Gradually I relaxed and fostered human attachments. After work I often went shopping. I couldn't guarantee the time for Fa study and didn't send forth righteous thoughts a lot. When I told people the facts about Falun Gong, I felt that I couldn't achieve good results. Furthermore, because of my fear, which was taken advantage of by demons, I was reported to my boss for clarifying the facts. My boss asked me not to do this in the future. Though I kept clarifying the facts to my colleagues, the results were still not very good. Now I realize that I didn't deal with the matter with righteous thoughts and didn't send forth righteous thoughts to clear out the evil elements in other dimensions, and that doing Dafa work with a human heart will not work.
Later on things became much more complex and relationships between colleagues became very intense. Though I did a good job, my salary was the lowest among employees at my office. Because I didn't study the Fa a lot and didn't look at things from the Fa's perspective, I kept looking for a reason from the human perspective. How could I solve the problem? Looking back, I found that I was surrounded by layers and layers of human attachments that had covered up my original nature. Then my company was affected by the global economic crisis and laid off many employees. My boss dismissed me with the excuse that I had clarified the facts to my colleagues about Falun Gong. I was so upset at the time. I was struggling and felt ashamed of myself when thinking of Dafa and Master. I realized that because I didn't do well, so many people lost the opportunity to hear the truth. I passively put up with all of this after going home, and worried about how to find a job, and didn't look at things with righteous thoughts. As a result I was persecuted. I was held at a detention center for half a year. After I was released, I was able to cultivate again.
Now I realize that the work environment is also an environment for me to cultivate in. Everything in this world is created for the Fa. Nothing we come across is accidental. When a conflict happens, it is crucial to look within oneself and to find out which attachment is being targeted. When we have learned to look within and adjust our mentality, the environment will change accordingly. Of course elements from other dimensions will interfere with us, but we cannot put up with them passively. We should send out strong righteous thoughts and completely negate the arrangement of the old forces. We should walk on the path that Master has arranged for us.
At this last stage of cultivation, let us study the Fa well and walk our cultivation path well and not relax. Let us help Master to rectify the Fa and save sentient beings and fulfill our prehistoric vows!
