(Clearwisdom.net)
Greeting, Master!
I am a male practitioner, and I began to practice Dafa in October of 1998. I was 20 years old at the time, and eleven years have passed by while I have been cultivating myself and assisting Master in Fa rectification. With the opportunity of the Sixth Internet Experience Sharing for Practitioners in China, I'd like to share my experiences, thoughts and feelings over the past few years.
Happiness from Cultivation
At the beginning of October 1998, I was a freshman in college. One day I saw dozens of students and teachers doing qigong exercises. When I got closer, I found out that it was Falun Gong. I asked the teacher in charge of the exercise site for a copy of the book Zhuan Falun.
I read more than half of the book in one sitting and was deeply moved by the Fa principles. The Fa principles in the book solved all kinds of puzzles that I had run into throughout my life. I knew that everything in the book was true, although there were some Fa principles that I could not fully comprehend. On the night of the day that I got the book, I felt that Master was cleaning up all kinds of interference in other dimensions for me as well as bad things on my body. I was so excited, with tears in my eyes. I knew that Master had given me a new life.
After that, I studied the Fa and cultivated myself with fellow practitioners, and lived a very regular life. I practiced the exercises every day and participated in group study at night. We sat together reading the Fa and sharing our experiences. It was a happy and enriching time. Since I had more free time, I spent two hours every day reading the Fa. I could not put down the books and always wanted to read more. I listened to the Fa with a Walkman while walking. I felt that I was blessed with the majestic compassion of the Buddha Fa, which cleaned up all kinds of dirty spots on my body and mind. I was always full of happiness. Master, I came to cultivate the Fa, and my life exists for the Fa. Other than that, my life would have no meaning.
Life on campus was simple, and I tried to use the principle of Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance to guide my life. Since I understood the principles, I did not feel unhappy even when I had to do more work than others. My classmates liked me and knew that I was a kind person. They understood that practitioners are good people who are strict with themselves.
Once at a meeting after the persecution began, our professor asked if any students in our class practiced Falun Gong. Nobody gave me away.
When the persecution began on July 20, 1999, I was on summer break at home. I saw the evil attack Dafa on TV and felt sad. That nonsense could not mislead me, as I knew that Dafa is good. I just wanted to keep studying the Fa. I worried that the Dafa books might be confiscated in school, so I wanted to copy Zhuan Falun by hand. I bought a thick notebook and started to copy it. Every character was neat and tidy. I spent days and nights copying and was able to finish it by the end of summer.
Copying the book helped me to understand the Fa principles more deeply. After school resumed, I no longer had a group practice to attend. I used lunch break and found an empty classroom to do the exercises. I kept doing it this way until I graduated.
Obtaining the Fa and being able to cultivate was a huge blessing in my life. Such an opportunity brings a practitioner great joy.
Passing Tests Well During Cultivation
Since I am a young and single practitioner, the test of lust showed up strongly. I used to think that looking for a spouse is a normal thing to do since I am still living in ordinary society. I even dreamed of romance and indulged myself in that regard.
At the beginning of my cultivation, my attachment of lust was tested many times during dreams, and this was difficult to resist. I was not able to handle myself as a practitioner and woke up with regrets. I told Master again and again in my heart that I must get rid of this dirty thing of lust, that it did not belong to me.
After that, I kept studying the Fa. Whenever I read the section about the demon of lust, I read it a few more times. During each time of sending forth righteous thoughts, I added the thought of "eliminating the dirty desire of lust." I vowed in front of Master's picture a few times that I must pass the test of lust. During daily life, I also kept reminding myself to respect women and to resist bad thoughts. After experiencing painful tests time and again, and reflection afterwards, the attachment to lust became weaker and weaker. I was able to pass most of the tests well.
During recent years, my family has pushed me to find a girlfriend and get married. Each time I went back home for vacation, I always just agreed with them verbally. Now, I am over 30 years old and they have started to push me harder. I feel the pressure, but I don't think I should just casually find someone. Marriage would affect my eliminating my desire of lust completely, clarifying the truth and my predestined relationships. I thought that I should let it go and take it naturally. There are so many people who need me to save them and there is not enough time. An unsuitable marriage would bring a lot of interference to my cultivation and doing the three things.
So I just superficially took their pushing but put all of my efforts into doing the three things that practitioners need to do. After I let it go, the attitudes of my family changed as well. I no longer felt loneliness, and the pressure was resolved as well.
There were also many tests at work. In May of 2007, I started to work at a start-up software company. My technology skills were much better than those of my colleagues. One colleague, trying to save face, argued with me or loudly criticized me. When other colleagues were around, I felt like I was losing face. At last, I said angrily, "I don't want to have anything to do with you, I will go do my own things." I forgot that I was a practitioner and the conflict kept growing. I actually realized that this was my test, but when the anger came, I lost control.
Later, I watched Master's video, "Fa-Teaching Given to the Australian Practitioners." Master's every sentence shook me. Especially when he talked about how to handle the relationship between practitioners, I looked within myself and felt really guilty. Afterwards, whenever I discussed things with my colleague, I always lowered my voice and gently asked him in a soft tone. When he criticized me loudly in front of other people, I no longer argued with him, even when I was right. Instead, I kindly explained things clearly. After some time, he felt sorry for criticizing me loudly and accepted my kindness. The conflict was resolved and the relationship between us has become harmonious.
Before I began practicing Dafa, when I was about 18 or 19 years old, I had suffered some interference and persecution from demons in other dimensions and people practicing evil cultivation. After I practiced Dafa, Master cleaned them up for me. Later when I was not very diligent, I was frequently interfered with while sending forth righteous thoughts or exercising. I had other thoughts in my mind and was not able to calm down. After some time, the evil took advantage of this loophole and the persecution against me became bad. The evil sent out bad energy and even affected people around me. Then I started concentrating and sending righteous thoughts to eliminate these evil factors. Besides the four regular times for sending forth righteous thoughts, I also added two more, one on the way to work and one during a break at work. While walking, I also kept up righteous thoughts to eliminate the evil.
I started to do two hours of exercises twice a day, at 3:50 a.m. and 9:50 p.m.. After I kept up the high frequency of sending righteous thoughts and exercise for more than a year, the evil was gradually eliminated. After I started practicing Dafa, Master has always protect me and given me hints. I am not able to repay Master in this lifetime, and the only thing I can do is to do the three things. By doing them well, I can be worthy of Master's salvation. During the past 10 years, without Master's protection, I could not have managed to make it through. Master supported me at every step.
I would like to remind practitioners who do not pay attention to sending forth righteous thoughts, and those who do so without clear minds or with other thoughts, to keep clear minds while sending forth righteous thoughts. Those who are skeptical about its effectiveness should also pay more attention to it, since it is indeed very powerful. I personally experienced that Dafa books, self-printed or purchased, all have mighty power. Energy from the evil can penetrate other materials but not Dafa books. Master said that there are different levels of Buddhas, Daos and gods inside the book. So I'd like to remind fellow practitioners to respect all Dafa books.
Diligently Making Truth-Clarifying Materials and Doing Technical Support for Our Local Area
After July 20, 1999, when the persecution began, practitioners at our exercise site rarely contacted other practitioners. Occasionally I heard from some practitioners about the Minghui/Clearwisdom website and accessing the Internet through proxy technology. I started to go to Internet cafes in my spare time to research related technology. Then I was able to do most of the downloading from the Internet, printing materials and Master's articles, which is natural, given that I am a computer major.
From the early times of using three softwares to break through the Internet blockage, reading the Minghui website, group mailing truth-clarifying emails to building web pages about Falun Gong, I have come a long way. Going to an Internet cafe cost a lot of money and I did not have much as a student. The instructor of our exercise site was a school teacher. After she bought a computer and connected it to the Internet, I often went to her home to download things and print materials. With the computer and printer, our local practitioners could read Master's articles on time and also print some truth-clarifying materials to distribute. During these years, the local practitioners were able to solve their technical problems through learning from each other. We bought computers, connected them to the Internet safely, and printed materials and burned VCD's.
At the end of 2002, I had started working and had money to buy a notebook computer. I started to learn how to make truth-clarifying VCD's. After I grasped proxy technology, I started to download videos from the Minghui website. When I saw good articles, I collected them. I also collected information on persecution cases from our local area. I compiled all of them and made some flash art along with it. I also put the software that breaks through the Internet and some e-books and images onto the same disc.
Every disc contained a lot of rich content, which had the power to break through people's barriers. When they watched it, it helped to change their hearts. I also developed a small piece of software so that the disc could be watched on computers and VCD players alike. During the past six years, I have made seven to eight kinds of mother discs for our truth-clarifying effort. Every disc was repeatedly improved more than a dozen times to enrich its content. It was time consuming to learn new technologies, collect materials, and compile, produce and burn discs. I often worked very late at night. With my firm belief in Dafa and the urgency of saving sentient beings, I walked my path smoothly.
Clarifying the Truth and Saving Sentient Beings Anytime, Anywhere
From 2000 to 2003, computers were expensive and I was not able to afford one, so I did some truth-clarifying work in very practical ways. At the Chinese New Year's Eve, I saw many families putting up Chinese New Year couplets around their doors. So I bought some red paper and wrote some couplets with truth-clarifying messages. At night, I rode my bike to villages and put them up at the posts on the main roads. On Chinese New Year's Day, many people went to the market and saw the couplets.
After I graduated in 2001 and began to work, I had to travel frequently between several cities. I bought several markers and always had them with me. When I saw the electricity poles, telephone booths, public walls and rocks in the park, I wrote truth-clarifying messages. We cannot put off or rely upon others to do truth-clarification. We all should do it with our own hearts, and then we can do it and do it well.
In mid-2008, with financial help from a practitioner, we bought a photosensitive seal machine and materials. After researching, we made many photosensitive seals and gave them to practitioners. These seals could be carried along and can stamp on bills quickly. It is very convenient for truth-clarification through paper currency bills.
Some practitioners were very happy to have them and thought these Fa-implements were convenient and efficient for clarifying the truth. Later, I discovered that the seals not only could stamp currency but could be used elsewhere too. I made a few seals with larger fonts so that they could be used in other places.
Let's all do the truth-clarifying work well anytime, anywhere. As long as we do it with our hearts, Master will give us the wisdom and the environment.
Distributing Thousands of Truth-Clarifying Discs at College Campuses
At the beginning of 2002, I moved to a city where I didn't know any practitioners, so I set up my own truth-clarification materials production site. With a better financial situation, I bought a computer, a DVD burner, a laser printer and a paper cutter.
Because computers and TVs are very popular in cities, I liked to produce more truth-clarifying discs to distribute. In 2003, I went to the residential buildings for school teachers to distribute discs. I went to the doors or put them into the mailboxes. When I went to visit my sister, I left the materials at every home inside her building. In order to avoid attracting attention, I carried some newspaper and advertisements in one hand, pretending as if I was distributing the advertisements. Whenever it rained at night, I told myself: this is a good opportunity for distributing truth-clarifying materials. I picked up my umbrella with a backpack on my back and left. Since there are not many people out on a rainy night and the umbrella could help cover the mailboxes, I could easily put discs into the mailboxes.
However, security at residential areas became tighter and unfamiliar faces got noticed easily. So it was no longer easy to distribute anything in the residential areas. Later, I thought that if I could get the discs to every classroom, the students could get them and the effectiveness should be good. I looked young enough to pass as a student, so it was easy for me to go in and out of the classrooms.
There are many colleges in our region, but they are spread out from each other. It took over an hour of bus rides to get from one college to another. I started sending forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the evil before I arrived there. When I arrived at a college, I first observed the buildings and found the public classrooms. Many buildings had security guards. I normally left one or two discs at every other classroom. Most of the classrooms had a security camera, so it is better not to go to many classrooms in a very short period of time. Otherwise the security camera could capture the unusual activity. I usually left home after 6 a.m. to avoid many students in the classrooms. If the time was not good, I would usually wait until lunch time or dinner time to distribute the discs.
During the past six years, I have ridden buses between campuses on many weekends. I can't remember how many buildings or classrooms I have been to. Sometimes in the winter time, when I felt lazy and did not want to go out, I reminded myself of Master's words and thought of all the sentient beings waiting to be saved. I had to bear down and keep going. On one campus, there are many buildings and they are far apart, and I had to walk a long way. Sometimes the harsh weather created difficulties. However, while walking along the empty streets and thinking of all the discs I distributed and the discs in my bags, it was a good feeling.
When the truth-clarifying discs kept showing up on the campuses and spreading amongst the students, the evil began to panic. For some time, security guards at the college gates inspected people's bags and their IDs.
In some buildings, video cameras were installed at the entrance and a security guard sat at the entrances as well. But I still went in and out as usual and did not pay any attention to them. Later, they locked down the classrooms, so it became more difficult to distribute the discs.
During the past six years, I've made over 5,000 discs. With new students admitted each year in over ten colleges, the discs have reached tens of thousands of students.
Conclusion
The meaning and the goal of my life is for practicing Dafa and assisting Master in the Fa-rectification and save sentient beings. Through 11 years of practice and Fa-rectification, I have walked my path and experienced many difficulties. There were many pains, regrets and lessons learned. In the future, I hope that I can continue to wisely and steadily do the three things well and save more sentient beings. Thus I can hand in a passed examination to Master and live up to Master's compassion and salvation.
