(Clearwisdom.net) I have been practicing Dafa for quite a few years. I'd like to share with you my experiences of obtaining the Fa, not advancing in the Fa, coming back to cultivation, validating the Fa, and saving sentient beings.
Coming Back to Cultivation from Delusion
In 1998, my husband suffered from liver cirrhosis ascites. He was hospitalized several times and didn't get any better. At that time we happened to come across Dafa and started to practice. Two months later my husband totally recovered from the fatal disease that had tortured him for five years. We experienced the extraordinary power of Dafa.
Beginning on July 20, 1999, Dafa was slandered. We were not determined in our belief in Master and the Fa and we didn't grasp the chance to improve our xinxing. We failed to step out to validate the Fa or to speak the truth about the Falun Gong. We no longer had the environment of group practice and group Fa study. Gradually we became ordinary people. As a result, our health reverted back to the ordinary people's level. In the spring and autumn of 2006, my husband had a relapse of his previous disease and passed away in less than two months. At that time I had two daughters, one of them only a bit over a year old.
My husband's death was a big test for me. I was considering whether I should return to cultivation or miss out on cultivation forever. I reconsidered my situation and thought it over for several days. Finally I decided to cultivate again. Fellow practitioners gave me Master's new articles and copies of "Minghui Weekly," which I hadn't read before. After reading through them once, I found answers to the issues that I previously didn't understand. I realized that we were Dafa practitioners in the Fa-rectification period and that Master gave us this unprecedented best and highest honor, that we were Dafa disciples to help Master to rectify the Fa, and that we were the only hope of the sentient beings to be saved.
The reason for what had happened up to this point and why my husband lost his human body was that we had walked the path the old forces had arranged for us. The old forces saw our undetermined hearts, enlarged upon this, and reinforced it, making us give up cultivation, causing us to fall and thus destroying Dafa disciples. In "Drum Tower" in Hong Yin II, Master wrote:
"At the mallet's drumming one knows to be diligent
The Fa drum rouses those lost in confusion"
This mallet's strike awakened me. I will remember Master's Fa, completely defy the arrangement of the old forces, study the Fa and cultivate myself, do well the three things, and diligently advance on the cultivation path.
My Understanding on the Different Consequences of a Single Thought
After I came back to Dafa cultivation in 2006, Minghui Weekly published the time for practitioners in China to practice the exercises at the same time. Master gave us another chance for group practice in this special circumstance. But at the start I was not able to get up on time and failed repeatedly. I realized this was demons interfering with me and not allowing me to practice. As soon as I came to this realization, I decided to break through it and pass this test. In my heart I reinforced this righteous thought again and again. I didn't put the alarm on because, first, I would affect others if I used an alarm, and second, that was equivalent to looking outward. Before I went to bed, I reinforced this thought again and again in my mind: I must get up at the right time to practice the exercises. Maybe Master saw that I had such a determined heart, because I woke up on time by myself, just as if Master had woken me up. One day when I was doing the standing stance, I felt very bad in my heart and couldn't lift up my arms. I felt I was not able to stand and wanted to lie down and rest. All of a sudden I realized that it was interference and that I should send forth righteous thoughts to get rid of evil beings, black minions, and rotten demons. Two minutes later, all the symptoms were gone. I was wet with sweat on my head and body, but I didn't stop until I had finished the exercises.
From this I enlightened that, if I had complied with the false image, didn't send forth righteous thoughts immediately, and had laid down for a rest, the result would have been unimaginable. Master said, "We have said that good or evil comes from a person's spontaneous thought, and the thought at that moment can bring about different consequences." (Zhuan Falun, Lecture Four) I thus had a further understanding of this Fa.
Let Go of Human Notions and Divine Righteous Thoughts Will Emerge
With my studying the Fa more deeply, I decided to step out to validate the Fa, save sentient beings, and fulfill my prehistoric vows. Because I lived in the countryside and in my village only I practiced Dafa, sentient beings in my village totally depended on me to be saved. At the start I was a bit afraid and was held up by human notions. I then studied the Fa more and sent forth righteous thoughts to get rid of these bad substances and human notions and to reinforce my righteous thoughts. Realizing that the reason that we distribute materials is to let people know the truth, be saved, and not be wiped out when the Fa rectifies the human world, I finally stepped out.
I started to give out materials near my home. I sent forth righteous thoughts to clear away any interference, all evil factors, dark minions, and rotten demons before I distributed materials, and I asked Master to help me. Then I walked three or four miles to other villages and gave out materials. Though I sometimes walked mountainous roads on dark nights, I was not afraid at all. Instead I felt very light because I know that Master's law body and gods that protect the Fa are watching and protecting us. As long as we do things based on the Fa principles, Master will protect us.
Get rid of human notions and a god's righteous thoughts will emerge.
The above is just a bit of my cultivation experiences. Please point out anything inappropriate. Let's share together and complete our great historical responsibility of helping Master rectify the Fa.