Hello, respected Master, hello, my fellow practitioners:
I am a practitioner from Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. I obtained the Fa after the April 25 event. Thanks for Master's great compassion that arranged my cultivation during the period of rectifying Fa. Looking back at my short time of cultivation in Dafa, I feel so fortunate and thankful that I cannot express it in words. Now I'd like to share my brief experience with you.
1. The beginning of obtaining Fa (Law & Principals of the universe)
The first time I heard of Falun Gong was from the news about the April 25 Event in 1999. In August 1999, there was a new employee at my restaurant who was from China, a Falun Gong practitioner. Feeling curious, I asked her what was Falun Gong? What she said left me the impression that it was a good Qigong practice that can make a person truly healthy. The next day, I went to another city for a business trip, and happened to find the book Zhuan Falun in a bookstore. As I read the book, all my heart and body was attracted by it. I spent one day and finished the whole book. I thought: "It is such a good book, why didn't I find it earlier?" I wanted to learn Falun Gong immediately, but another thought made me hesitate: "Can I meet the requirement that the book says? The principle that 'You won't fight back when you're beaten or sworn at,' seemed too high for me. It was also impossible for me, a businessman, to give up all fame, gain and feelings." I put aside the book and fell into deep thoughts. However, there was a strong power attracting me to read the book again. I read it twice. This time, what Master said in the book awoke me: "The more one gains, the more one infringes upon others. One will get things one does not deserve. This person will be attached to fame and profit, thus losing de."(Zhuan Falun, English Version P30) I suddenly realized what a dangerous condition I was in because of my attachment to fame, gain and feeling. It would be too late if I could not awaken. So I decided to cultivate Falun Dafa.
I came cross two big tests of xiao ye (eliminating Karma) in a very short period of time after I obtained Fa. One was allergic asthma, which lasted three days. Another was heart disease. It almost shook my confidence at the end of three weeks. I thought: "I will go to hospital if it won't pass tomorrow." But on the next day, everything had gone; I became a new healthy person. I regret that I did not hold a solid belief in Dafa.
2. Passing tests
My first test of cultivation came from my family. I have been a faithful son to my parents and a responsible husband to my wife. I am also the host of the whole family. But my decision to cultivate was opposed by the whole family, including my parents, my wife, and my parents-in-law. My wife said: "We have just earned some money and can lead a good life. Why do you have to practice this Falun Gong that the government banned?" While my father told me of the current situation in China, he tried to persuade me to understand the times. When these arguments did not work, they started to abuse and beat me. They said: " You are so selfish! You only want to be a Buddha and don't care if we live or die." My mother, who was in China, often called me in tears. It felt so hard to pass this test. During the silent endurance, I used to feel weak sometimes thinking: "Why is this test is so hard to pass? Can I pass it?" Through studying the Fa, I understood that it was my tribulation or the test of feelings; I should give it up sooner or later. But it was still hard to pass. Finally, one day, my father asked me to make a clear choice between Dafa and my parents. My parents-in-law also threatened to break off their relationship with me. Contradictions and sadness were filling in my heart. My father decided to curse Teacher, and this made me very determined. I said sternly: "Do not curse my Master any more, I'm determined to cultivate this Dafa!" I should not do things or say something against my conscience; I should be a real Dafa practitioner! Of course, my parent's feelings were hurt, but I had no choice. They will understand some day in the future that what I did was the best for them. From then on, they did not bother me much nor curse Teacher again. From the "Transformation of Karma"(P146), I understand that they were helping me to upgrade my xinxing and I also got the transformation of Karma. Master said: "because whoever has acquired the karma feels uncomfortable. It is guaranteed to be this way."(P160) I should thank them. I continuously told them Dafa is the righteous Fa and the principle of "Good is rewarded with good, and evil with evil," as well as persuading them to read Minghui Net. At the same time, I tried my best to do my business and housework so as to change their misunderstanding of Dafa.
At that time, my heart was very calm; I knew I passed this test with my righteous thought. Dafa was changing me and confirming my confidence in cultivation.
Another test for me was insisting on practicing Dafa. I could not do the double lotus though I suffered a lot and tried many methods. During the studying of Fa, I realized that I have looked on the outside. This was my own tribulation and I must pass it myself. When my legs were painful again, Master's words appeared in my mind: "If you ask for an illness, it will come inside your body. "(P217) The more I thought about the pain, the more severe the pain would be, so I tried not to care about it. As a result, the pain really reduced. For the purpose of Hongfa, I persisted in doing practice outside, no matter how cold it was. Sometimes, I felt so very lonely that I wanted to stop practicing; sometimes, I did not have enough confidence. In winter, I was also afraid of the cold weather. Sometimes, I thought: " Am I being laughed at while practicing on such a cold day?" Master said when he taught the Fa of Xuanguan Shewei: "Everyone knows that in addition to this xinxing standard, a practitioner's gong is cultivated through suffering numerous lifelong tribulations and experiencing difficult environments. It is therefore extremely precious."(P182) I realized that this was my fear of hardships. What I suffered was far away from what Mater said: "endure the toughest hardships of all."(P375) From then on, I took the practicing outside as a good opportunity to endure hardship and get rid of the attachment of fear. I have been persisting in practicing outdoors by myself in all seasons of the year.
3. Helping Master in the Human World
There were no Falun Gong practice sites in the two provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba when I obtained the Fa. Practitioners from Toronto and other cities came here promoting Dafa and shared their experiences four times. This not only helped me a lot, it also attracted the attention of the local media. They put Dafa books and videotapes in the libraries and bookstores so that people could know about Dafa in different ways. However, building up long time practice sites to promote Dafa still needed solid and consistent work. I realized that I was the only person to take this responsibility in all the two provinces.
At the beginning, I did not know how to promote Fa and tell the truth to the people around me. I just kept talking to my friends; sometimes I was so excited I was moved to tears, while the listeners were indifferent. Later on, they even avoided me when walking on the streets. Due to the negative influence of the evil, some local Chinese community leaders came to talk with me. I was ashamed of China. No one paid any attention to me when I went to the media because there were too few practitioners in the local area. When distributing newspapers, collecting signatures and visiting MPs, the only other practitioner thought I was involved in politics and never came out again. Some old members of the Chinese community came to my restaurant to harass me and asked my father to post anti-Falun Gong material from the Chinese Consulate in my restaurant. The consulate passed word to me that they did not want me to practice Falun Gong. Mai Ping, the Chinese Ambassador, canceled ten large meals in my restaurant, and the Chinese consulate stopped holding their usual banquets there. Instigated by the Chinese Consulate, even the Secure Bureau of Canada brought pressure on me. I felt like "Hundreds of tribulations are falling down." I remembered the words of Master: "how will you practice cultivation if you do not have any worries or troubles?"(P161) Master taught us in Rationality: "Validate the Fa with reason, clarify the truth with wisdom, spread the Fa and offer people salvation with benevolence--this is establishing the mighty virtue of an enlightened being." I realized that this was a good chance to test and upgrade my xinxing, so I was determined to pass it. In my restaurant, I hung posters telling the truth about Dafa, as well as pictures and newspapers both in Chinese and English. Because my restaurant faces the main street, I also put the posters in the windows. I distributed Dafa truth materials and the videotape of "Self-Immolation" to grocery stores, restaurants, barbershops, cafes, student associations, churches, & traveling agencies. I recommended newspapers to publish articles about Falun Gong. I went to the mall to do the practice at a certain time that was advertised on the TV. A couple of people even came to learn. Gradually, some of them decided to do cultivation practice.
I developed two other big cities, Saskatoon and Winnipeg, the same way. I spent two days every week going to these cities; travel time for one is three hours one-way, and the other is six hours. I also held workshops in these cities. In Regina and Saskatoon, there were 30 to 40 people who came to participate, and in Winnipeg more than 60 people took part in it. Most of these beginners had lots of questions about the crackdown in China, the self-immolation, politics and religion. So every time, I brought Dafa materials, posters and videotapes to explain the true situation of Dafa to them. Gradually, their questions cleared up. After learning the five sets of exercises, they still wanted to practice, so I suggested to them to study the Fa. We study Dafa before practice every week. All of them bought the books and started to study the Fa seriously. Now every city has more than ten new practitioners. Some people could not persist, but at least they know the truth of Dafa and they will tell their relatives and friends. Maybe this will become the seeds for their further cultivation.
There were many touching stories during contact with these new practitioners. In Winnipeg, a western practitioner's Tianmu opened. She has no doubt about Dafa and decided not to go to church again. In Saskatoon, a Chinese female student came to learn Dafa under much pressure. Now she has given up a different kind of Qigong that she used to practice and has determined to be a real Dafa practitioner.
Once, while we were studying Fa, a western lady drew me aside when we read "Buddha-Nature" and told me that she had open Tianmu for a long time, and she often heard some voice from the scene she saw. It said, "You have the Buddha-nature." She did not understand what Buddha-nature meant. Now she finally found it in Zhuan Falun, and she was so exited.
Master said in the lecture at the Great-Lakes Conference: "So when we're clarifying the truth, we're eliminating some people's evil thoughts towards Dafa. Haven't we saved them at least when it comes to this? Since in the process of your clarifying the facts there are people who obtain the Fa, not only is that sin of theirs eliminated, but at the same time you will have also saved them." I feel real happy that these people who had a predestined relationship have now obtained the Fa.
At the time when I was promoting Dafa to these cities, I also paid attention to introduce Dafa and the truth of Dafa to the municipal administrations and MPs so that they could understand Dafa and give their support. January 13, 2001 was Falun Dafa Day in Regina. During the process of holding Falun Dafa Week in Saskatoon, the Chinese Consulate interfered by sending a letter to the municipal congress. The local newspaper Star Phoenix published this letter openly and one congressman stated his point of view about Falun Dafa Week. In spite of the interference of the Chinese Consulate, the Municipal Congress finally approved Falun Dafa Week (April 23 to April 29). These proclamations pushed the Fa spreading forward in these cities.
Compared with fellow practitioners in China, I always feel that what I do is so little. As a Dafa practitioner during the cultivation of Fa rectification I will study the Fa intensively, get rid of more human mentalities, and follow Master closely in the process of rectifying the Fa.
Thank you, Master! Thank you all.
