(Clearwisdom.net) Learning and studying Falun Dafa was the turning point in my life. I changed from being immature to mature through Fa study, memorizing and reciting the Fa and diligent cultivation. Bathed in the Fa light and believing in Teacher and the Fa I am returning to my original true self. Many miracles happened along the way. I want to tell Teacher about them and share with practitioners in the hope that we can improve and elevate ourselves.
Teacher, Please Wait for Me
I began to practice Falun Gong in 2004. Before that my wife and I worked as laborers throughout China. We always hoped to find the true meaning of life, so we studied Buddhism. When we realized that the temples were not a pure land and monks were intriguing against each other, we felt lost. Once we befriended Falun Gong practitioner "A" and we held hope again. He talked about Falun Gong and the Dharma-ending period. He shared his enlightenment to the Fa principles. What he told us appeared to be similar to my own train of thoughts. I worried because practitioners were coming closer to consummation and I felt that a substance pressed on my body, which prevented me from learning Falun Gong. I pinned all my hope on A and hoped that he would offer me salvation after he reached consummation. Later, a practitioner loaned me a collection of articles called "Reference to Some Buddhist Figures." I begged, "Teacher, wait for me! Please give me one year because I want to reach consummation with other practitioners."
When listening to Teacher's nine lectures the next day, my third eye opened. I saw many Faluns, big and small, arising from the Falun Emblem in the book. They were all spinning. I could also see Teacher's Law Body arising out of the exercise movement illustrations and explanations. Ever since then, I clarified the truth to my friends and relatives and did the three things requested by Teacher.
Every day I would go to Practitioner A's home where I would meet several fellow practitioners. During the sharing I saw their righteous belief and righteous action as well as their selflessness. They treated me patiently and would point out what I did not do well, all of which benefited me a great deal. I recited the Fa every day and formed one body with other practitioners, so that we were able to share with each other. I tried to do the three things, just as Teacher asked of practitioners. My health improved remarkably and my body expanded by leaps and bounds.
Tempering Xinxing and Turning Bad Things into Good Things
Conflicts at home became common place. My wife always sang a different tune. Her aunt suggested that I teach her a lesson from time to time. I followed the principles of "Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance" and did not fight back when punched or insulted. However, my thoughts were not clean and I always wanted to teach her a lesson. In the past she listened to what I said. Sometimes I lost my temper. I failed to endure and felt very bad afterwards. While I knew this situation was helping me get rid of karma, I failed to let go of human notions when facing these tests.
My friends and family members all said that I was too involved with Falun Dafa. Therefore, they tried to interfere with me on a daily basis. My mother sat in bed and cried. She could not fall asleep because she worried about me. At the time I was not immersed in the Fa, so I hurt my mother's feelings. I realized that I should clarify the facts about Falun Gong and the persecution and turn bad things into good things. It took a while before I let go of my pre-conceived notions and clarified the facts to those who maligned Falun Dafa.
Every morning I sold goods at the market. At noon I operated a small canteen for schoolchildren. I had to buy and cook all the food. Before I practiced Falun Dafa I was in poor health. After practicing the exercises all my illnesses disappeared. My family members, friends and relatives all witnessed the beauty of Dafa and learned the truth.
The morning market was a good environment in which to temper myself. I sent forth righteous thoughts and persuaded people to do the "three withdrawals" -- withdrawal from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the Youth League and the Young Pioneers. I met all kinds of people. Some claimed that they had paid for the goods, some wanted to return the goods they bought several months ago and thought now that they were too expensive. Some bought goods somewhere else and wanted to return them to me and others refused to pay what they owed me. One day my pushcart touched a bicycle. The owner of the bike swore at me. I looked within and thought, "Maybe I owed him from a prior life. Otherwise he would not rage like that." Many people at the market knew each other. Some defended me and said that I was too honest. A lay Buddhist said, "You Falun Gong people are really very tolerant. We can't reach this goal."
During tribulations, I always remembered that I was a practitioner and that we are not concerned with the losses and gains of this world. Therefore, I turned bad things into good things. Teacher said,
"If you can actually do it, you will indeed find: 'After passing the shady willow trees, there will be bright flowers and another village ahead!'" (Zhuan Falun)
Memorizing and Reciting the Fa Helped Me to Let Go of Human Notions
I persisted in memorizing and reciting the Fa when I was walking or at work. I was able to look inward when encountering problems. Fellow practitioners claimed that reciting the Fa was established by practitioners who wanted to be diligent before July 20, 1999 (when the persecution started). At that time memorizing and reciting the Fa was very popular in Changchun City. Many diligent practitioners could recite the Fa. I thought that by memorizing the Fa I could close the gap between veteran practitioners and myself within one year.
I began with memorizing and reciting Hong Yin. Every morning I clarified the facts to my customers at the market with wisdom. When there were no customers, I recited the Fa or sent forth righteous thoughts. When riding a bike or walking I recited the Fa. Sometimes I forgot the sections I had already learned by heart so I had to memorize them again. When memorizing and reciting the Fa I sometimes was faced with thought karma interference. Therefore, I could not calm down and sometime I felt dizzy. However, I continued to memorize and recite the Fa. After I finished reciting Hong Yin, I was very rational and sober-minded.
Then, I memorized Hong Yin II. One early morning I went to the market and began to recite "Plum Blossoms." When reciting "Longing for plum blossoms to return" I was in tears. I enlightened that the sentient being in different dimensions are all expecting their Gods and Kings not to get lost in the human world. Teacher also holds the same hope. After having memorized Hong Yin II, I understood a great number of Fa principles, but was still at the stage of perceptually understanding the Fa. Next I began to memorize and recite "Recent Articles." By then, I began to elevate from the Fa principles, understood my mission, responsibilities and the urgency of saving sentient beings, as well as the importance of sending forth righteous thoughts.
I still remember my first experience sharing conference. Every practitioner looked within. When it was my turn, I talked about my righteous thoughts and righteous actions and how many people withdrew from the CCP and its subordinate organizations because of my truth clarification. I also talked about persevering in clarifying the truth nobly and righteously. My fellow practitioners suggested that I performed better than them and I felt rather pleased. After we left the conference, a practitioner reminded me, "When everyone says that you are doing well, you need to be careful not to let demons take advantage of it. You must study the Fa a lot." On returning home I found my attachments of complacency, seeking fame and to self. In recalling Teacher's suffering for us, I cried and began to recite Zhuan Falun. I set higher standards for myself since I had learned about the seriousness of cultivation.
I studied one lecture of Zhuan Falun a day and then would memorize it paragraph by paragraph. I had a lot of thought karma interference. I felt uncomfortable, sleepy and wanted to give up. I understood that this thought was not mine, so I recited the Fa even more diligently. At the market, whenever there were no customers I would memorize the recent articles, including "My Version of a 'Stick Wake-up'." It took 21 days to memorize this article and three months to memorize Zhuan Falun. When memorizing Zhuan Falun for the second time I could use my supernormal powers. My son's computer was very noisy and interfered with my Fa study. I thought to silence the computer and my son thought there was something wrong with his computer. When he sent it for repair he was told that it was beyond repair. After he returned, the computer was back to normal. When I memorized the recent article "Enlightenment," my son turned the speaker very loud. I was a bit angry, so I thought that I must look inward. If the speaker was too loud I could use my energy field to block the sound. Thereafter, I could hear only the sound of my reciting the Fa. Dafa was rooted deeply in my heart and it was as solid as rock.
The process of memorizing and reciting the Fa was also cultivation. I let go of the attachments to fame and gain, seeking comfort, lust and the warped factors that were forced upon me. Teacher arranged for me to join a group Fa study and share my experiences with fellow practitioners. Every practitioner recited the Fa and we helped each other and elevated together. When sharing with fellow practitioners I often talked about practitioners who were not diligent and talked about their shortcomings. Then I asked myself, "If you are so good then why don't you make truth-clarification materials, do the most sacred thing and walk the path arranged by Teacher?"
Not long after, I went to the material processing site to print the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party. Every morning I went to the market and had to stock up as well. At around 9 o'clock I studied the Fa and processed truth-clarification materials in the afternoon. In the evening I did the exercises and recited the Fa. I felt a bit sleepy, but there were still dozens of articles I had not memorized yet. I set strict requirements for myself. Therefore, after sending forth righteous thoughts at midnight I would do the exercises and recite the recent articles by looking at the titles of the articles. When I was reciting the Fa I would add one thought, "This is the Law of the universe so it's not allowed to add or leave out one character." In believing in Teacher and the Fa, I was on my knees in front of Teacher's portrait when memorizing and reciting the Fa. Slowly, I could recite the Fa without looking at the titles. I had memorized dozens of short articles, Hong Yin and Hong Yin II more than a thousand times and was able to recite them backwards.
Reciting the Fa is also cultivation and assimilating into the Fa. I looked ten years younger than my real age. A lot of my customers said that I was the best person in the world. Wherever I went, I validated the Fa. In reciting and assimilating into the Fa I eliminated my attachments, cultivated my heart and mind, and let go of desires. My family had become harmonious. Reciting and assimilating into the Fa made me believe in Teacher and the Fa even more firmly.
Doing the Three Things Well with Righteous Thoughts
Because of diligent cultivation I rationally understood the Fa. When I met the requirements of the Fa at my level, Teacher arranged for me to work at a truth-clarification materials processing site. The coordinator, Practitioner "B" told me that there was no water or heater. Once inside I could not leave for one day.
Two fellow practitioners at the processing site had a conflict because they did not look within. We had several printers but could not print the Nine Commentaries. On my first day, the coordinator asked me to learn how to repair a printer from a knowledgeable practitioner. After sharing I learned that the environment was problematic. The printer that had just been fixed would jam paper or cause a computer error. The practitioner with technical knowhow said that we should fix it ourselves. However, Practitioner C said nothing was wrong with the printer. It was simply too cold and the color jets would not work properly when the temperature was too low.
B went back home and only C and I remained. I had to go to the market in the early morning so we could study the Fa at 9:00 a.m. and print the Nine Commentaries at noon. We sent forth righteous thoughts once every hour. Through Fa study and sharing, C improved her understanding on the Fa principles very quickly and learned to look within. The printers worked smoothly and we recited Hong Yin when printing and binding the Nine Commentaries. We looked at every thought and every action and took sending forth righteous thoughts as our magic weapon. We negated all interference by the old forces at our processing site.
Since it was very cold, the printers took some time to start and the drum would not move. It only worked after the electric stove was turned on. Water in the house turned into ice. I used my supernormal powers to communicate with all the Fa instruments in the house and asked them to assimilate into the Fa. When we recited the Fa we allowed the Fa objects to listen, so their righteous thoughts would help them assimilate to Dafa. The result was very good. We were able to print with three printers at the same time and the printing speed was much faster than ever before.
When I was not at the processing site, C would encounter different problems. Either the computer would not cooperate or there were lines on our printed materials. When I saw the lines I told the computer that this impeded our work. When she printed the second copy it was very clean. In our sharing she understood that we must use righteous thoughts before we could witness the wonders of Dafa.
Teacher said,
"Dafa disciples are to do the three things well and steadily, and not be swayed in any human way. I hope that the Dafa disciples will, by way of godly righteous thoughts, walk the last leg of their journey well. " ("Disintegrate Completely All the Meddling Deities in the Three Realms that Have a Hand in Interfering with Fa-Rectification")
While reciting the Fa I was immersed in the Fa, I met the requirements of Dafa. The Fa is capable of doing everything. We reinstalled an obsolete printer. When I communicated with the printer with righteous and divine thoughts, "I chose you again so you must operate smoothly to assimilate to Dafa" it began to print. It printed very clean copies of the Nine Commentaries. I told all practitioners about our experience with the printer.
One month later, the spring on the drum locker broke. I looked within and found that when I was not immersed in the Fa, attachments of complacency as well as showing off would reappear. They were taken advantage of by the old forces.
The house where our materials processing site was located was to be sold and we were given three days to move out. Teacher had hinted that we should have printing sites spring up everywhere. However, my fellow practitioners thought that it was safer at this location. This idea was taken advantage of by the old forces. I looked within for the mentality of total reliance and found that I still had a fearful mentality. I was afraid that processing the materials at home would affect my well-being and safety. I eliminated this notion instantly.
I suffered a lot of hardship when processing truth-clarification materials. At midnight every day I would send forth righteous thoughts, then recite the Fa. When it was still dark I would go to the market to sell my goods and then I would go straight to the processing site. In winter my hands and feet were very painful because of the cold weather. The water I drank usually had ice in it. I returned home when it was dark.
Family Material Processing Sites Are Blooming
I enlightened that cultivation in human society was the environment for Fa-rectification period Dafa practitioners. In this environment it would be possible to step aways from humanness, have non-practitioners see the demeanor of practitioners, clarify the truth and leave a path for later generations to follow.
My home materials processing site was up and running. I could print and bind 150 to 200 copies of the Nine Commentaries per week. Sometimes I also printed Zhuan Falun and Teacher's lectures. Since I did not have much housework, except cooking and doing some dishes, I had time to print the Nine Commentaries. My wife and son both supported me. Practitioner C came to my home once a week to bind the books.
Practitioners told me that outside the shops in the market, there were police watching and there were also CCTV monitoring systems. A few days earlier, practitioners were arrested at that location. While selling goods in the market that morning the fear mentality emerged. I imagined being arrested and beaten up. I thought "Is this you? Aren't you afraid?" My answer was no. I finished up earlier than usual and went to the shops that sold my products and sent forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the evil factors. I looked within and decided that I still had the attachments of reliance and seeking comfort. This was selfish and belonged to the old universe. On arriving at the shops, I saw that there were a dozen or so security guards doing their morning drills. I sent forth righteous thoughts for more than one hour and recited Teacher's recent article "Eliminating the Evil" three times. When the shops opened at 9:00 a.m. I went to the shops feeling no fear.
On another occasion when my wife answered the door, two policemen forced their way into our home. At the time I was binding the Nine Commentaries. I welcomed them and offered them seats. At the same time I sent forth the righteous thoughts to make sure that they could not see anything. Under the compassionate care of Teacher, the two police officers left. Through all these tests I witnessed the miracles of Dafa.
Before the Olympic torch passed through our area, people from the neighborhood committee and the police from the local police station searched all houses of practitioners. Practitioner C was scared since there was a lot of equipment at my home. I totally negated the evil factors and held one thought: every piece of equipment in the house was a Fa instrument and was shining in other dimensions, and Teacher was right beside me. Therefore, no one could touch me.
Teacher said,
"No matter how much I say, you still have to walk the path of cultivation yourselves. To walk this path well and progress to its end--nothing is more extraordinary. I say that because during the journey you will have hardships, tests of every sort, unforeseen ordeals, and you will have unexpected interference from all kinds of attachments and emotion. The interference will come from family, society, good friends, and even fellow cultivators. And along with this there is interference from changes in the state of human society and from human notions that were formed in society. All of those things can drag you back to being like an ordinary person. But if you can break through all of it, you can advance towards godhood. " ("Teaching the Fa at the Western U.S. International Fa Conference ")
In reciting the Fa I realized that I had limited tolerance. Therefore, I was determined to do well. Every thought and every action of mine should be in line with the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. I also realized that I had a very strong mentality of accomplishing a task, the attachment of validating myself, as well as selfishness. During my cultivation, I set a high standard for myself and tried to position myself from within the Fa. Therefore, I did what Teacher asked us to do. I thought only of saving sentient beings. I realized that my coming to this world was to honor the grand vows I had made before history. We are cultivating in the human world and diligent cultivation has formed a mechanism. I would always check for my shortcomings, believe in every word of Teacher and assimilate into the Fa.
I was born in the countryside and have very limited schooling. This sharing is to encourage practitioners who still dare not to step forward. Wake up and do not fall behind in the progress of the Fa-rectification. Teacher said,
"Don't give up on practitioners who do not share the same views or ideas, for they are all my disciples. " ("To the France Fa Conference")