Treasuring Cultivation Opportunities and Being Kind Towards Other Practitioners

I am a fairly simple person. In the past I practiced other forms of qigong, had my third eye opened, and was able to see images from other dimensions. Early in 1996, on the recommendation of a friend I read the book Zhuan Falun. At that time I was unable to comprehend this book because of the interference posed by all the other forms of qigong I had practiced in the past. I was not yet destined to embrace Falun Gong. One day as I was sitting idly on the sofa, I suddenly thought-- "I want to read the book." For a second time I picked up the book Zhuan Falun, but still I could not understand it and again lost another chance. On one occasion as I was practicing a qiqong I had learned in the past I heard a voice telling me: "You can not come within the bounds of Master Li's (energy) field." Since then I started to re-think about qiqong.

Prior to that occasion I had kept in contact with friends from my former qigong practice group, and I had also continued to practice other forms of qigong. Not only had my health not improved, but the cirrhosis of the liver that I lived with started to get worse. I had been to China to seek help from renowned medical practitioners and had used many expensive drugs to no avail. At one point I heard that in Switzerland there was a type of special extract, which was claimed to be very effective. I went to Switzerland and spent 20,000 Australian dollars for an injection of this drug, but its effectiveness lasted only three months. During those times, I regularly spent several thousand dollars a year on drugs but my conditions showed no signs of improvement. Just when I felt there was no hope, a friend that practiced Falun Gong told me that practicing Falun Gong would be the most effective way to change my condition. One night, the thought came to my mind that I wished to cultivate in Falun Dafa. I put Master Li's book in front of me, closed my eyes and started to meditate. Through my third eye, I could see the image of Master's picture in the book rise slowly out of the page. Since that moment, my belief has been firm. I started to practice cultivation, albeit not very diligently.

One day in August of 1999, during my meditation I saw the book Essentials for Further Advancement, but I couldn't quite see it clearly, as my vision was blurred. I was thinking that my cultivation had been going along fine and wondered why Master still thought that I was not diligent enough in my cultivation.

Something happened a few days later: My brother who had been in Vietnam suddenly died in a car accident. With this shock my mother's illness got even worse. She felt intense grief and suffering and expressed that she wished she could be released from her misery sooner. But it was something that no one could really help her with. Through a series of events, I found that I could still not let go of many attachments. In September 2000, on the evening when I went out to do hongfa for the first time I received a call from my mother's caretaker. She told me that she had witnessed my mother's soul departing peacefully. Since then, I started to become more diligent; I became aware that at the same time as I do personal cultivation, I also have come to help Master in Fa-rectification. I can't afford to lose this precious opportunity -- an opportunity that is hard to come by in a million years. I needed to do my utmost to ensure that I did well in whatever I am supposed to do.

We need to treasure this opportunity to cultivate and treasure this precious environment in which we can cultivate. Earlier this year, in May, during a celebration dinner to celebrate the Tenth Anniversary of Falun Dafa, because of disagreements over trivial matters among some of the organizers, the proceedings of the evening were on the verge of being disrupted. Seeing what was happening, I stepped in and soon the differences were ironed out. Similar incidents occurred during Zhang-Cui-Ying's Exhibition. Some said that I was an expert at dealing with these conflicts, but I don't quite agree with that. Instead I think it is a matter of approaching things with a righteous mind. After all there is an enormous difference between doing Dafa-related work and work in our everyday human society. Doing Dafa-related work is part of our cultivation. In many situations things turn out very differently if we take an attitude of appreciating others instead of one of criticizing other practitioners' efforts. Every practitioner possesses good and bad qualities; we should do more to explore and bring out the good qualities in people, and whenever there is a problem we should first look within ourselves. In this way we will more easily get things done and done well. At the same time we need to rectify, in a timely manner, our own thoughts and behavior. Every day I look back at the things I have done during the day. If I discover anything that I have not carried out according to Dafa, I immediately correct myself. Practicing cultivation is indeed something very serious and therefore we must be very strict with ourselves.

The reason we Dafa disciples of the Fa-rectification period can advance quickly in our cultivation is because our efforts and our Master's efforts in Fa-rectification are closely related. Validating the Fa, clarifying the truth, spreading the Fa and saving sentient beings are all things we need to do. During those times when I totally immerse myself in doing these things, I can feel that I am progressing, and being enlightened to, that much more from Fa study. I know this is Master helping me. This is because the progress in our cultivation is closely tied to the efforts we make in Fa-rectification. I have experienced in a very profound way why Master had said that it was necessary that Dafa work be carried out by Dafa disciples and that we needed to treasure and utilize well the time we have now, as this time was reserved for us disciples. During this time DuriDuddbefore us it is apparent that every minute and every second is extremely precious. Everything that I am and everything that I own in this world is precisely in preparation for Dafa. The time to put myself to use is now or never. If we do not seize this opportunity and linger on until Fa-rectification reaches this human world, we will not have the opportunity to make up for it. Now is the best time to make use of ourselves and our potential. We will not have a chance for regrets in the future.

Please kindly point out any errors in my understanding.

A Melbourne Practitioner.