Shared at 2003 Germany Falun Dafa Conference
(Clearwisdom.net) Greetings Master! Greetings fellow practitioners!
I am a practitioner from Sweden. I have once before given an experience-sharing paper and that was already 5?years ago. I have often felt that what I have to say cannot benefit other practitioners much since my understandings are very simple. When I read the sharing from other fellow practitioners on Minghui net, all of them are written so well and express so much, and therefore I feel that I have not much to offer compared to them. But today I still would like to express my understanding and share with you all.
My husband and I had the greatest opportunity to meet our compassionate Master in 1995. However, it took us nearly 3 years before we even began to understand the true essence of cultivation. I shared with you back then my abrupt awakening from the long sleep and my shock of finding out that I had not even begun my cultivation. That was when I finally understood that I was very slow.
When the persecution started in 1999, it also took some efforts for us to understand and take the steps to become true Fa rectification disciples. Again we were not very quick in understanding what to do so it took us some months to figure out that clarifying the truth has nothing to do with politics. We finally understood that only compassion could have made the practitioners take their steps to appeal and clarify the truth in China, nothing else. Since then we too have taken the steps, one after the other.
A few years back when we finally understood how important it was to reach all the people and all the nations, I started to travel to other countries with some practitioners or sometimes even alone. My husband also went with me whenever he could. Since then I have been almost constantly on the road. I have learned to spread the Fa, hold press conferences, to meet with important politicians and with the media. During this period I have worked with many different practitioners, both Chinese and westerners, both in larger numbers and sometimes with very few. Today I would like to share my learning experiences from Dafa work and from cooperating with other practitioners.
One of my basic xinxing problems has always been my lack of patience. I am critical, critical of others and of myself, which manifests as intolerance. Often my observation of the situation in question might be correct, but since I am using my critical human side it is not very righteous. Of course I know about this for a along time, but it seems as I could not get rid of it. About a year ago my husband and I were in Hong Kong when the rally of article 23 was happening. We went to the Swedish Embassy to let them know the facts. Before we went in I thought it would be better if my husband talked since he looked more Swedish than I.
While my husband talked I thought he was leaving out valuable information so I started to get uneasy and irritated. In the end I cut him short and spoke about what I thought was important. As soon as we got out I began to bombard my husband with criticism. Then he said sadly that it might be so that he is not very good at talking, but what I was doing right at that moment was not very righteous. He pointed out that the test was not over when we left the meeting. At that moment, because of my negativity I was sabotaging whatever efforts we had made there. This incident left a deep impression on me. Now I constantly remind myself to be righteous in all situations. I am not always successful in that, but I have become quicker in recognizing them and stop the evil short whenever it shows up. I have learned that no matter how justified my criticism might be, it is always wrong if it passes judgment on others. Therefore I realize that when we point out things to each other, or see things that others need to improve, we need to do it in an upright and righteous manner.
Just recently in Cyprus, we successfully launched a lawsuit against another human rights criminal. As soon as we found out about this criminal going to Cyprus, my husband and I began looking for tickets. Then one practitioner called and asked us if we knew about it. I of course thought she was going since she has worked on the lawsuits before, but she said she could not go and therefore someone else needed to work on the lawsuit and at that moment there was no one else but me who could do it. I felt that I could not manage since I felt I was not capable of this task. I had never done this before and even in college law studies were my most difficult subject areas.
Of course I am a Dafa disciple, and if no one else can, then I have to. But I hoped someone more capable would come along. We tried to find tickets, but they were impossible to find. The next day came and we still did not have any tickets. In the early afternoon we gave up and felt that we were not meant to go. As soon as we gave up, my husband was called by someone at his workplace who asked for help with a very urgent job the next day. Right after he agreed, the Swiss practitioners informed us that they might be able to buy the tickets for us from Switzerland. When we heard this we felt something was not right! My husband called his work back and said that they needed to find someone else for the job, but it was impossible. So I decided that I should go, even if I was alone. However, late in the afternoon they still hadn't managed to find a ticket. By then my husband and I were sure that the evil was trying to stop us from going. We decided that no matter what, we must go. Then the ticket was available for me and then somehow a miracle happened and they found someone else who could work for him, and finally there was also a ticket ready for him. By then we knew that all these difficulties were created because we had not been firm enough. In the end we put our trust in Master and Dafa and of course all things worked out well.
We were altogether 10 practitioners from 8 different countries. As always in the beginning it seemed as if things were unclear, but as time passed everything was as it should be. All the practitioners did what they could to make things work.
Two younger practitioners stayed behind to do more follow-up. They themselves did not feel they had done very well. But for me, I remember that Master only looks at our hearts and not at the results, and therefore I would like to tell them that Master has seen their hearts and that was more then enough. They stayed on to give more chances to the people of Cyprus, and isn't that remarkable?
I have overcome some of my human notions and limits. As Dafa practitioners we do not have any limits of what we can do. Also I would like to express my deep gratitude for having had the chance to work with all the practitioners from different countries and different backgrounds. If we can remember that all of us are doing Dafa work selflessly and do it to save sentient beings, then it is not very difficult to have a deep respect for each other. After all, Master arranges things perfectly for us and we only need to bring our pure hearts with us and follow the righteous path.
I would like to end my sharing by expressing my deepest gratitude to Master and to all of you. It is a truly greatest honor to work with all of you during this unprecedented and historic period.
