Learning to Cherish the Path Arranged by Master

(Minghui.org) Greetings, esteemed Master! Greetings, fellow practitioners!

On the occasion of this Fa Conference in Japan, I would like to share my cultivation experiences. Kindly correct me if there’s any room for improvement.

While Diligently Seeking a Master, I Found Dafa

After starting university, I began searching for books and resources that could answer my questions regarding the true purpose of life. One day, I came across a book, which recounted the true story of a scientific expedition, led by leading experts from the Royal Society of Great Britain, who traveled to India to study metaphysics and human supernatural abilities. There, a meditator told them that the purpose of life is to cultivate. Ultimately, some members of the team gave up their worldly desires and remained in India to pursue cultivation. I was stunned by this answer! I knew I had to practice cultivation, but who had the ability to guide me on the path of true cultivation? I began reading about cultivation in Tibet, determined to find a master who could guide me.

I learned more about cultivation through reading online sources and books, but the method of cultivating remained a mystery. My heart was in pain, yet I had no one to confide in. I even visited a temple, knelt before a Tathagata Buddha statue, and prayed to meet a true master who could take me to Tibet and guide me in cultivation practice. I kept begging, “Master, where are you? Please guide me on the path to true cultivation. I can endure any hardship, even going without food or drink. I only wish to meet you and receive your guidance.”

Despite my inner helplessness and pain, I remained steadfast in my belief that my master was out there, listening to my pleas even as he knew I was searching for him. I just needed to wait for the right moment to meet my true master.

At one point, I felt it was pointless to pursue my university studies and decided to drop out. However, upon reaching the final step of obtaining the principal’s signature, I failed to obtain it, and finally decided to continue my studies while searching for my cultivation path.

I came across an article one day on social media titled “You’ve Lost Your Chance If You Don’t Read Zhuan Falun in This Life.” I felt that this could be the cultivation method I had been searching for and asked the person who shared the article for information about the practice.

The person sent me a link to the Zhuan Falun e-book and told me about the Falun Dafa (also called Falun Gong) exercises. Reading Zhuan Falun was an awe-inspiring revelation. The book was incredibly profound and covered content I had never heard of before. I immediately inquired about nearby practice sites. After finding one, I visited it the morning of May 3, 2016. Fellow practitioners at the exercise site taught me the exercises and I participated in group Fa study.

Two weeks later, I started reading the book Fa Teaching at the 2016 New York Fa Conference, and was crying uncontrollably while reading. That night, I dreamed I was transported to the top floor of a towering castle where I met three people. They led me through a beautiful area, then a room where a photo of Master was enshrined. They also showed me a list of contracts that had my name clearly written alongside others. Upon waking, I reminded myself to cultivate diligently and fulfill my sacred vow.

Through Fa study, I quickly realized that Dafa disciples have to do the three things well. Yet I did not know how to send forth righteous thoughts or clarify the truth. Determined to catch up, I quickly participated in the ongoing activity of collecting signatures in support of suing Jiang Zemin, former head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) who initiated the persecution of Falun Dafa in China. I helped those who wanted to study the Fa, and learned how to send forth righteous thoughts.

One day while sending forth righteous thoughts, I opened my eyes and was surprised to see red words on the wall in front of me. The characters were in Chinese, with Japanese hiragana etched below. The words appeared before me for a while, but I could not read them as I did not understand either language. I later realized this was a sign that I would be traveling to Japan.

After a while, I was offered the position of coordinator at a new practice site. Through discussions with fellow practitioners, I came to realize that besides personal cultivation, one should also take into consideration the collective improvement of everyone.

One day, my father suggested that I try working in Japan for three years before returning home. However, I had settled into an ideal living routine and firmly refused. I later had a dream where my younger brother was shouting at me, “Elder sister, what are you doing? Hurry up and go to Japan!” He even took my hand and led me onto a train bound for Japan. After waking, I recalled the Chinese characters and hiragana I saw while sending forth righteous thoughts. Was Master telling me to go to Japan? Still unsure, I thought, “I will only follow Master’s arrangements. If this is not arranged by Master, the application procedure will not go through.”

My application to work in Japan went through smoothly, and I embarked on an arduous, yet incredibly precious, cultivation journey in a completely new environment.

Establishing a Practice Site with Fellow Practitioners

I settled in Kumamoto, Kyushu, after arriving in Japan. I felt quite lost because there were no Falun Dafa practitioners there, and I could only do the three things online, in contrast to the environment I had before. One day, I resolved to visit the nearest practice site based on information from the ja.falundafa.org website. By the time I arrived, it was dark and the site was deserted. I asked around and learned that practitioners did not meet regularly at the practice site. I returned home late that night after failing to meet any fellow practitioners. I eventually started practicing alone in a nearby park and studied the Fa online with a group of Vietnamese practitioners living in Japan.

There are many practice sites in Vietnam, where practitioners can participate in morning, noon, and evening exercises daily. I wanted to create more daily exercise practice sites in Japan. Working with fellow practitioners, we created a group to coordinate group Fa study and share our experiences. We established social media platforms to connect with Vietnamese practitioners in Japan. We also established a platform for information exchange, allowing Vietnamese practitioners from all over the world to quickly connect and integrate with fellow practitioners when they come to Japan. The community of Vietnamese practitioners in Japan currently continues to grow.

One day, while on my way to take the Japanese Language Proficiency Test, I saw a group of people practicing what appeared to be the second set of exercises. I also saw a banner with the Chinese characters “Falun Gong” written on it. Overjoyed, I immediately got off the bus and walked closer. Sure enough, I had found some fellow practitioners! I felt incredibly happy, like a parched person who had finally found a source of water. From then on, I exercised at this practice site every weekend. I would then go with everyone and take the bus to a truth-clarification booth, where we collected signatures for the lawsuit against Jiang Zemin. Afterward, we would take the bus back again, chatting along the way. When it was my turn to speak, I found myself unable to say a word. I kept crying, as the joy of finally meeting fellow practitioners was beyond words. I had longed for this moment ever since coming to Japan!

I visited the Kanto region in order to renew my visa and found more practitioners there. I worked with fellow practitioners to establish a practice site, where we encourage everyone to practice at the site daily.

With Master’s blessing and the righteous thoughts of fellow practitioners, our practice site was allowed to display a banner introducing Dafa. As the site matured, we began receiving members from various countries, including China, Japan, South Korea, and Vietnam.

I applied to register our practice site on the official Falun Dafa website. Soon after, practitioners from Minghui.org contacted us and published an article introducing our new practice site. To date, many practitioners have found us through this resource.

We begin practicing at 4:20 a.m. Japan time and practice the second set of exercises for an hour. After finishing the first through fifth sets, we send forth righteous thoughts before studying the Fa together. We continue to persevere, rain or shine, as the park has sheltered areas that allow us to still practice despite the rain. On weekends, to introduce Dafa to the general public and to facilitate participation by other practitioners, some practitioners have arranged to practice at a later time.

Interested people passing by our practice site have asked us to tell them more. Some have even taken the initiative to join in, while others have taken photos. Regular visitors to the park know we practice Falun Gong. In particular, a police officer who is a patrol leader from our area often visits us as he passes by our practice site. When we first met, this officer gave me his business card and said I could contact him if the CCP organized any disturbances against us. He linked me up with the authorities in charge of granting approval to distribute materials outside the park. He accepted the copies of Zhuan Falun and Falun Gong that I gave him and often dropped by to inquire about our activities. He once said that if given the opportunity, he would ask us to teach him Falun Gong.

I find my current job the best place to validate the Fa. My life and cultivation are the best situation I could ask for.

Cherishing the Environment at My Workplace

I learned a profound lesson from my time in Kumamoto. At that time, I was not effectively validating the Fa in my workplace and was completely skeptical about learning Japanese, believing it to be a waste of time that would interfere with my projects and daily cultivation. Despite working in Japan, I limited my interactions to my Vietnamese co-workers, lived among Vietnamese people and worked on Dafa projects with Vietnamese practitioners. Although people saw me as a kind and responsible worker, I failed to integrate into ordinary Japanese society.

Having missed the opportunity to pick up Japanese, I felt powerless, unable to clarify the truth to ordinary people and I felt guilt toward all sentient beings in Japan. I realized my mistake only after completing my three-year assignment in Kumamoto and hastily worked to correct it after moving to a new workplace in the Kanto region.

I was surrounded by Japanese people at my new workplace, so I had to learn Japanese. This was no coincidence, and Master arranged for a gradual immersion at each workplace so I could integrate into Japanese society and cultivate among ordinary people.

At my first workplace in Kanagawa, my colleagues taught me Japanese and helped me adjust to my new job. My job, as a caregiver in a nursing home, required great patience and involved hard labor, but I enjoyed it and picked up the ropes quickly. As I practice Falun Dafa, I accomplished the physical tasks easily without effort. My colleagues on the other hand often complain of back and leg pain, as well as exhaustion. Falun Dafa is truly extraordinary.

That Christmas, I prepared a Christmas dress and performed a Vietnamese-language song about a mother teaching her child the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. I prepared the music, translated the lyrics into Japanese, printed them out, and distributed them to the elderly residents so they could understand what I was singing. The residents were deeply moved. One even cried for a long time afterwards.

This was my first time orchestrating a performance for a large group. Master guided me on the best way to present the program so that it could resonate with Japanese people.

Two years later, I moved to work at a nursing home in Chiba. Besides working diligently, I proactively engaged the people around me. My Japanese dramatically improved, allowing me to easily communicate with fellow Japanese practitioners as we worked together to validate Dafa. I also clarified the truth at work and that Christmas, put on a waist drum performance at the Chiba nursing home. I carefully chose each waist drum score, so that the performance would showcase the beauty of Dafa and expose the truth about the persecution. Before and after the performance, I played pictures and videos on the nursing home’s large TV screen to explain the significance of the waist drum and its involvement in Falun Gong parades worldwide. This made the show more engaging and easier for people to understand the truth. My performance left a deep impression on the staff and residents. Many people clapped along, and some even joined me on stage to dance to the Falun Dafa music. My manager praised the performance as fantastic.

A year later, I moved to my current location in Tokyo, thanks to Master’s arrangement. Having polished my Japanese language and work skills at two previous nursing homes, I had the skills to fit into my new workplace. Through conversations, I quickly integrated myself. Everyone was friendly and respected me despite me being a foreigner. My superiors soon entrusted me with the same duties performed by the main Japanese staff, praised my responsibility, and even admitted that I was able to perform better than some of my Japanese colleagues.

I met a friendly vocal music teacher at the nursing home who often approached me to chat. We exchanged contact information and when she told me she admired my cheerfulness, I told her Falun Dafa was responsible for this. I gave her Dafa materials and shared that I often performed waist drums at events. Afterward, she invited me to perform for the elderly residents, gathering the elderly around me so they could watch my performance. They applauded and clapped along to the beat.

Once, she even asked me to teach Falun Dafa to the clients during their lunch break. I led the residents and staff through the first to fifth set of exercise movements, and everyone followed diligently while listening to the exercise music. Afterward, I played a video showcasing some of Shen Yun’s performances on the big TV screen for the elderly clients to watch.

Due to our busy schedule and lack of staff, such opportunities to clarify the truth are rare. However, with Master’s help, I was able to successfully introduce Falun Dafa to the clients during these opportunities. I also brought Minghui newspapers to the workplace and gave them out to the residents who could read.

During the nursing home’s annual celebration this year, the nursing home found me a kimono, the vocal music teacher did my makeup, and other staff members prepared the sound equipment. With their help, I completed waist drum performances for staff and residents from the first to third floors of the nursing home. About a hundred people gathered and listened to Dafa music amid the lively atmosphere.

One day, a magazine advertising Shen Yun performances appeared at work. I had never seen such a magazine before and had no idea who delivered it. Seizing the opportunity, I invited a fellow nurse to join me and my husband in watching the performance. She readily agreed and suggested inviting another nurse to join us. The two Japanese nurses bought tickets, and the four of us went to watch the Shen Yun performance. One nurse who lived near my practice site had read Falun Gong books and had visited the practice site at my suggestion. She often shared with fellow staff how her body had felt purified after practicing Falun Gong for the first time at the practice site.

While sitting on the tram on our way home after watching Shen Yun, the nurse told my husband how my positivity had changed everyone’s attitude at the nursing home. She had been angry with a staff member that day, but after I came to greet her, she suddenly reconsidered her decision to lose her temper and found herself not wanting to stay angry anymore. She said everyone looked upon me fondly, like their daughter or granddaughter.

Hearing this, I started reflecting on my own behavior. I’d recently encountered some unpleasant things at work and became less positive than when I had first arrived. The positive energy of Falun Dafa practitioners can greatly improve an ordinary person’s environment. If I fail to cultivate myself well and instead allow myself to be affected by ordinary society, not only will I fail to improve my surroundings, but I will also accept the negative influences myself, and fall in cultivation levels.

Cherishing My Relationship With My Husband and Parents-In-Law

My husband is a fellow practitioner from South Korea. After we got married, our cultivation environment saw much improvement, and we worked together to convince my parents-in-law of the goodness of Dafa. My father-in-law suffers from poor health and our previous attempts to invite my parents-in-law to see Shen Yun were unsuccessful. My mother-in-law believed in a monk who preached the CCP’s rhetoric. This hindered our efforts to clarify the truth to the couple. Moreover, I could not speak Korean, so how could I help my parents-in-law understand the truth? One day, a practitioner shared in an experience sharing group for Vietnamese practitioners about traveling to South Korea and seeing Shen Yun. I quickly invited my parents to visit South Korea, to see Shen Yun and to meet my in-laws. Since my parents were traveling with a tour group, it would be difficult for them to find a separate time to meet. The most convenient way for both parties to meet each other was at a Shen Yun performance. So, my parents-in-law agreed to go see Shen Yun so they could meet my parents.

My husband and I took time off from work, bought Shen Yun tickets, and booked our flights, but my visa could not be processed in time. As I was unable to fly to Korea, we asked my mother-in-law to invite her sister (my aunt-in-law, who had also previously refused to see Shen Yun) to attend the performance in my place. Since my parents would be present, my aunt-in-law agreed.

Before and after the Shen Yun performance, I studied the Fa and sent forth righteous thoughts, praying for everyone to enjoy the show and understand the truth. That day, my parents, in-laws, and aunt-in-law had an enjoyable experience watching Shen Yun. My mother-in-law praised the performance, my father-in-law applauded, and my aunt-in-law said, “I thank God for allowing me to see such a wonderful performance! It’s truly authentic and pure.” My parents also said they were moved after seeing the show. My parents’ trip to South Korea enabled my in-laws to see Shen Yun, and this significant act of salvation will secure them a bright future.

My husband had a dream afterward. He saw people celebrating with a banquet at an ancient Korean palace. His parents had placed themselves before Master, offering tributes.

A month later, my parents-in-law, having heard rumors that a major earthquake and tsunami would strike Japan, insisted we return to South Korea. We agreed, seeing this as an opportunity to introduce Falun Gong to my father-in-law. On arriving in South Korea, we diligently strengthened our righteous thoughts and sought opportunities to invite him to learn the practice.

One day, while we were sending forth righteous thoughts in the living room, my mother-in-law said to us, “Teach your father the exercise movements of Falun Gong, don’t just sit there and meditate.” We invited my father-in-law to practice with us, and my mother-in-law joined in too.

We spent a week in Korea, which was insufficient to teach them the full five sets of exercises. But my husband bought some Dafa books and gave them to my father-in-law to read.

When I first visited my husband’s family in South Korea, my mother-in-law’s younger brother’s wife (who is also Vietnamese) quietly told me, “You must have cultivated well in your past life to marry into this family.” Since an ordinary person unexpectedly said this, I believe it must be true. Coincidentally, I am sharing my experiences with everyone on the day of my first wedding anniversary, making me cherish the bond I have with my husband and his family even more.

Thank you, benevolent Master. Thank you, fellow practitioners.

(Selected article presented at the 2025 Fa Conference in Japan)