(Clearwisdom.net) After my son got married, I treated my daughter-in-law as my own daughter. I held the notion of only giving and not seeking any return in my role as their parent. I thought that if I maintained this noble attitude, the relationship with my daughter-in-law would be fine and everyone in the family would get along. The old forces seized this attachment to the enjoyment of family happiness, increased it, and eventually made me experience grief to an extent that I had never imagined. I endured humiliation as I felt the pain penetrate deep into my heart and bones. Because I'm a practitioner, they argued to the point that divorce was discussed. My daughter-in-law also said some disrespectful words about Dafa. I didn't cultivate well and caused her to create karma. Teacher saw that I did not enlighten, so he used what my daughter-in-law said to help me enlighten. She said, "Mother, you pay a lot of attention to detail, but you don't have great aspirations." In the end, she expelled me from their home and made me tend to my grandchild in my own home, but I still did not enlighten. After returning home, I had more time to study the Fa, share with practitioners and read "Minghui Weekly" often. Thinking back now, I am very ashamed of myself. I don't know how much concern I caused Teacher in my muddleheaded state. --Excerpt from this paper
Greetings, Teacher!
Greetings, Fellow Practitioners!
It is such an honor to be able to participate in the Fifth Internet Experience Sharing Conference for Practitioners in China. I thought that because I hadn't cultivated well there was nothing appropriate for me to write about, but I realized that writing a sharing paper is not about validating myself, it is to validate the wonders of cultivation. I have gained so much from the Fa, especially after letting go of each attachment through cultivation. I have the feeling of relaxation, happiness, and the inner joys of the heart, and I feel light from the lack of notions weighing me down. It's as if stringing together a cluster of glittering, translucent pearls. This is my joyful cultivation path. After realizing this, I willingly started to write.
From a young age, I was timid and afraid of trouble. I was introverted and afraid of hurting others in speech or action. I would rather suffer losses to maintain the peace, and I often turned even the tiniest of matters into complex situations. This caused me to live a tiring and difficult life. I was extremely terrified of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), because it had persecuted my family. It was as if I was even afraid of a falling leaf hitting my head. I had poor health since I was young and very strong feelings of sentimentality. A life of misery caused me to become deeply depressed. All of these things became obstacles on my cultivation path.
After beginning cultivation, I didn't really understand the Fa, so my thoughts formed the notion that cultivation was suffering. I held a strong attachment that I would forever escape from suffering and all my illnesses would disappear through cultivation. I carried sentimentality and other bad notions while I studied the Fa and practiced the exercises. I was in this semi-cultivation state and wasted time from 1997 to 2004. During that period, Teacher tried to give me hints numerous times, but I didn't enlighten. Even when I did enlighten, I didn't act according to the Fa requirements. This allowed the old forces to take advantage of my loopholes and to bring me tribulations, illnesses, and family conflicts one after another.
After my son got married, I treated my daughter-in-law as my own daughter. I held the notion of only giving and not seeking any return in my role as their parent. I thought that if I maintained this noble attitude, that the relationship with my daughter-in-law would be fine and our family life would be harmonious. The old forces seized this attachment to the enjoyment of family happiness, increased it, and eventually made me experience grief to an extent that I had never imagined. I endured humiliation even as the pain penetrated deep into my heart and bones. Because I'm a practitioner, they argued to the point that divorce was discussed. My daughter-in-law also said some disrespectful words about Dafa. I didn't cultivate well and caused her to create karma. Teacher saw that I did not enlighten, so he used my daughter-in-law's words to help me enlighten. She said, "Mother, you pay a lot of attention to detail, but you don't have great aspirations." In the end, she expelled me from their home and made me tend to my grandchild in my own home, but I still did not enlighten. After returning home, I had more time to study the Fa, share with practitioners and read "Minghui Weekly" often. Thinking back now, I am very ashamed of myself. I don't know how much worry I caused Teacher in my muddleheaded state.
After returning home, I studied two lectures of Zhuan Falun every day. Teacher pointed out to me that cultivation was not for curing illnesses and strengthening the human body; cultivation was serious. I told Teacher that I finally understood, that I wanted to cultivate! When I had this thought, all of my illnesses disappeared. While studying the Fa, I learned,
"As a practitioner, if you assimilate yourself to this characteristic you are one that has attained the Tao--it's just such a simple principle."(Zhuan Falun, Lecture One).
A few words came to mind: "Simplify the complex matters." This is a piece of the Fa that Teacher revealed to me according to my state at that time. No one knows me better than Teacher! This truth allowed me to understand how to simplify things in my cultivation. I relaxed. After that, I studied "My Version of a 'Stick Wake-up'" and other recent articles by Teacher. I suddenly enlightened. Saving sentient beings is my prehistoric vow. It is my mission in this life.
Teacher made me aware that I should clarify the truth face to face. I took a week to read many truth clarification materials, but actually getting started was a very difficult step forward. At this time, my mind was firm. I decided to start with my sister. I trembled as I held the phone. I had yet to speak and my heart was already beating faster. What if...? As soon as I had this thought, I quickly overrode it and thought: "Simplify the complex matters. I have to save her no matter what." As it turned out, she accepted my words! She was previously an old Marxist, and it was a miracle that she and her whole family agreed to quit the CCP so easily. It was Teacher, who saw my heart for saving sentient beings, that helped make my first time urging others to quit the CCP go so well.
Soon after, I made phone calls to different people. Most of them quit the CCP and very few refused to accept the facts. This increased my confidence immensely. I called all the relatives I could. I began to visit friends, fellow villagers, and colleagues at their homes. Afterwards, I went to clarify the truth to people at the market. Others usually think of me as a gentle and credible person, so with the compassionate thoughts of saving people, plus, most importantly, Teacher's arrangements, most people quit the CCP when I urged them to.
The process of truth clarification is a part of cultivation. My fear gradually decreased, my heart became more steady, and I was able to confidently face those who didn't understand what I was doing. On one occasion, my sister called to tell me to stop clarifying the truth to a certain person. She said that the person was saying bad things about me, which was hurting my sister's self-respect. She asked me if I still wanted my self-respect!? I calmly told her that the person's life was more important than my self-respect. My sister was touched, and now she even helps me urge others to quit the CCP. It was really as if, "The Buddha-light illuminates everywhere and rectifies all abnormalities." (Zhuan Falun, Lecture Three).
When clarifying the truth face to face, some people don't accept the truth and even mock me. If this occurs, I do as Teacher said. I look inward, try to find my impure thoughts, find which words were said poorly, and figure out how to do it better next time. My mind is filled with thoughts of how to save others, and I have no time or space for distress. I don't even feel any misery.
Teacher has now created a very good cultivation environment for me, and I will cherish this opportunity. I have increased my Fa study, repeatedly read Teacher's lectures at various locations, and began to memorize Zhuan Falun. I would like to emphasize that memorizing the Fa really helps to upgrade one's level. Studying the Fa is to understand the Fa and to use the Fa to guide our cultivation. When memorizing the Fa, every character enters the eyes, every sentence enters the mind, and even the punctuation needs to be viewed clearly. For me, memorizing the Fa is a process of looking inward and a process of cultivating. When I encounter a problem, the Fa I have memorized often flashes in my mind so that I can always remember Teacher's Fa.
In the past I thought that cultivation was suffering. After my husband became seriously ill, I felt more strongly that way, even though I was able to withstand it. One day, I suddenly remembered:
"When the Fa is right, the universe will be right. Life will flourish, heaven and earth will be stable, and the Fa will exist forever." ("When the Fa is Right," from Essentials for Further Advancement)
I enlightened to the fact that since I was practicing the Fa of the universe, my own universe should be flourishing with life!
"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)
With this thought, my husband's sickness quickly disappeared. My world was thus filled with life.
When the Olympic torch passed through our area, my employer had people monitor me. I immediately thought of Teacher's words, "When a problem arises, it provides an opportunity for clarifying the truth." ("Teaching the Fa in Canada, 2006"). I brought truth clarification flyers and CDs along with me to clarify the truth to my supervisor. He listened carefully, accepted the materials, and said that he would never do such a thing again. I also clarified the truth to two of the young people who were sent to monitor me. One of them even quit the CCP. I thus followed Teacher's requirements and turned a bad thing into a good thing.
"What's important for cultivators is righteous thoughts." ("Teaching the Fa in the City of Los Angeles"). Where do righteous thoughts come from? They come from the Fa. Every time I leave home, I recite Teacher's Fa, "He is on a Providential mission in this world as well as in heaven above." ("Sage," from Essentials for Further Advancement). An overwhelming righteousness then arises spontaneously, my body is filled with energy, and my footsteps are lithe. I feel as if I have been reborn. I often praise the greatness and wonders of the Fa. In Zhuan Falun, Teacher said,
"Sakyamuni looked at him and said: 'What I asked you to do was to clean the bathtub.' The disciple understood all of a sudden, and he went and cleaned the bathtub right away." (Zhuan Falun, Lecture Seven)
After reciting this numerous times, I finally understood one day that we should just do whatever Teacher tells us to do. Teacher told us to do the three things, so we should try our best to do them well without any conditions.
Being one of Teacher's disciples means that we should unconditionally harmonize what Teacher wants. The new cosmos that Teacher created is incomparably sacred. My heart has also changed to pure beauty and pure compassion, pure like a piece of jade. My body is in the ordinary human world, but my heart is in the Fa. I discipline myself to study the Dafa books, visit Dafa websites, see Dafa disciples' works, listen to Dafa disciples' songs and music, do the three things, and continue to purify myself. There are fewer and fewer distracting thoughts in my mind, I am able to be more and more tranquil when I study the Fa, and I can enlighten to more and more of the Fa. Teacher wants us to walk our own paths, and I do whatever I can think of. Teacher let me realize that whenever you enlighten to something, He will take action for you. Teacher will aid us whenever we enlighten and take action to save sentient beings and walk the path to become a god. What are we hesitating for? What's there to be worried about?
My birthplace is also where I was exiled to and where I once worked after retirement. There are many people there that I have ties with. I called, wrote letters, and visited them in their homes, I tried every possible means to save them all. When I returned to my birthplace, I met a classmate from middle school who's now a unit leader. I told him about the "Tiananmen Square Immolation" scam. He said that it was a method of suppression. He understood the persecution against Falun Gong, but when I told him to say the nine words to save his family, he said he did not believe in that. Then I talked about divine intervention and about Jesus. He slapped his head: it was divine intervention! A few days prior he had read a story about Jesus. He let me teach him the nine words and repeated them aloud. However, he was hesitant about quitting the CCP. After a few months, I went to my birthplace again. I gave him a VCD of the Divine Performing Arts. He saw how much I cared about him and agreed to quit the CCP. I went to another classmate's home but found the front door locked. I tried again the next day and found all four sisters there. When I clarified the truth, they all accepted the information and quit the CCP. They were all waiting to be saved!
Another time, I went to my husband's cousin's home. When I was changing buses on the way there, I ran into someone I hadn't seen in over 30 years. After I clarified the truth, he left me his phone number as I got on the bus. That night I met that person's older brother. Teacher always arranges everything so magically. In the cousin's home, my husband talked about the old days with his family. I took the chance to help their nanny quit the CCP. I then talked to the cousin and his wife and they quickly decided to quit. After the meal, the cousin's wife summoned her three sons and told them to listen carefully to what I had to say. After I finished speaking, each of the sons held out both hands respectfully and accepted the amulets(1) I gave them. One of them was the president of a factory union. I told him not to do anything detrimental to Dafa. He said, "I know. Someone gave me a copy of the Fa. I am reading it right now." Teacher arranges things so well. When clarifying the truth, Teacher uses other people's words to encourage me. When I was clarifying the truth to a relative of a relative in my birthplace, he said, "You are spreading the Buddhist Fa!" After clarifying the truth to a colleague, she said, "You are saving sentient beings." I was very surprised.
On the path of cultivation, I have clearly felt Teacher, my kind father, always leading me on my way home. I am extremely happy! I understand the purpose of life. Even though I am so busy doing the three things, I feel very happy. I have become into a broadminded person who's able to think about others and live openly and righteously. I understand that one must endure hardships during cultivation. However, one will be in a tranquil state once the hardships are no longer viewed that way. I am no longer attached to time, I am not attached to anything in the ordinary human world. Once the human notions disappear, the thoughts of a god appear.
My fellow practitioners, let us all be joyful practitioners and vigorously try to catch up on the road to divinity! Thank you, magnificent Teacher! Thank you, Fellow Practitioners. Please kindly point out anything inappropriate.
Note:
(1) Amulets - In China, practitioners sometimes "clarify the truth" by giving people something small to wear or cherish, bearing a few words reminding them of the goodness of Dafa.
October 27, 2008
