(Clearwisdom.net) I am a practitioner who began to learn Falun Dafa in 1998 and I am now 23 years old. On my path of cultivation practice I experienced being very diligent and being influenced by ordinary human attachments, namely reputation, self-interest, and feelings among everyday people. The entire journey has been bumpy and filled with constant troubles. However, I came through. I feel very lucky that I have kept up with the progress of Fa rectification.
Dafa has given us a lot. During my work, I set a high standard for myself. Although I didn't compete with any of my colleagues, I always got the best score. Usually I would vie for the hardest jobs. I maintained a friendly relationship with my colleagues. Of course I helped them to withdraw from the Chinese Communist Party(CCP) and its affiliated organizations. No matter how busy I was with my work, I would go to group Fa study in the evening. I never watched TV and never browsed the Internet. Sometimes my colleagues asked me, “You never go anywhere for fun after work and you don't watch TV. What do you do? If I lived like that, I really do not know if I would want to live.” I always smiled and said, “You have your happiness in life and I have mine.”
I really felt that I had a full life, and I knew my life was very meaningful. I was able to let go of anything, and it was empty in my heart. I had no false or unhealthy thoughts like everyday people had, so I always felt relaxed and happy.
Of course, I also had tests that I failed to pass. When my mother watched me like a hawk and nagged when I was not studying the Fa or doing the exercises, I felt exhausted. In circumstances like that, I would look outwards, thinking that my level was not as high as my mother's. Why did she use her standards to measure me and put a lot of pressure on me? Later, Mother admitted that she set too high a standard for me and failed to take my endurance into consideration. I also looked inward and found a lot of shortcomings and bad substances. I found that the pressure that made me out of breath actually occurred when there were problems with my thinking. Why was I unhappy when Mother asked me to study the Fa? As a matter of fact, even if she didn't made that a requirement I would be very diligent, but why did I refuse to listen to her advice? Wasn't it the psychological inversion of everyday people? Why would I get very angry or even yell if she said a few more words? Wasn't it the manifestation of demon nature? Sometimes I felt very tired and did not want to get up to do the exercises. Wasn't it the mentality of seeking comfort? However, I excused myself, saying that my level was not as high as my mother's and that my mother was too strict. Actually this thinking was not in the Fa at all. Why would I say mother's level was high and why couldn't I set higher standards for myself? What's more, I was not doing very well in clarifying the truth, since I limited it to those with whom I had a good relationship.
A few days ago, an older woman came to buy clothes from my stall. After purchasing what she wanted, she said in a very low voice, “Young lady, have you heard about withdrawing from the CCP and its affiliated organizations to keep safe?” I was astonished, because I felt ashamed for not clarifying the truth well myself. I lowered my head and told her that I was also a practitioner. She was very glad and said, “Ah, that's very good. You are a good girl! You really are a good girl!” I felt the shock in my heart, “Yes, I am very good, because I became a practitioner. I am good because I am fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to assist Teacher to rectify the Fa.”
I still remember an article published in Minghui Weekly in which a practitioner said, “A human body is hard to acquire, it's hard to be born in China, and it's difficult to come across Dafa.” However, I had managed all of them, so there was no reason for me not to be diligent and not to do the three things well.
I knew a lot of young practitioners had been buried under ordinary human attachments, namely, reputation, self-interest, and feelings among everyday people, and had forgotten the path to return home. They would be easily attached to a comfortable life, a wonderful love, and a happy family. Actually, I also suffered from such attachments and was trapped by lust, which caused me pain and was exhausting. At one stage I did not even want to cultivate anymore. It was the boundless compassion of Teacher, my firm belief in Dafa, and the selfless help from fellow practitioners that eventually brought me back to the path of cultivation practice. Through repeated Fa study, my thoughts became clearer, and I knew that lust was very filthy for a practitioner, something a practitioner must let go of. What human society takes to be truths are, from the perspective of the cosmos, inversions of truth. Lust actually appeared to confuse us and made us forget the path to return home.
When writing this sharing, I was a bit hesitant, because I felt that I did not do well. On second thought, I realized that it is a like an examination paper, so how could I not do it? If I found shortcomings, I only needed to let them go. This was one step in the process of Fa rectification, so I had to keep up.
The young practitioners used to be with the older practitioners all the time because of their young age. As a result, they were not polluted by the dye vat of human society. They were very pure. Now that they are grown up and have jobs and families, they are basically with everyday people all the time. If they are able to outshine others from the dye vat they will be worthy of Teacher's merciful and arduous salvation. We should not forget that we were brave enough to descend to the earth where we repeatedly reincarnated to establish a karmic relationship with Teacher. All this was for assisting Teacher to rectify the Fa today.
Sometimes I think about the time prior to 1999 when the young practitioners and I went to the practice site every morning. At the time, no matter how cold it was in winter, we would never put our hands down. When the persecution of Falun Gong started in July 1999, we were forced to stand still outside the classroom as punishment for being practitioners. For two weeks we were not allowed to participate in class. Worse still, we were beaten up, otherwise punished, or tortured with “Riding an Airplane.” However, we did not step back. Eventually we were expelled from school, but we did not regret our decision. When the adults at our practice site were arrested, there were only five young practitioners left behind. We still gathered together and continued to do the exercises. At the time, the oldest of us was 12 and the youngest, 8. We really felt no regret for we did not have any choice. We could only steadfastly believe in Teacher and Dafa.
However, what happened to us after we grew up? Fellow practitioners who practiced with me, it's time for us to wake up. We've been waiting for this for thousands upon thousands of years. We are Dafa practitioners who came to this world with a grand vow and are shouldering important missions. How fortunate and proud we are since we are with our Teacher in the final stage of the Dharma-Ending period and have learned the Dafa of the universe, which cannot be obtained in millions upon millions of years. We must not lose our bearings!
Because of the limitation of my level, please comment on anything that is not proper.
To end my sharing I'd like to quote one of Teacher's poems from Hong Yin, Volume II to encourage all of us to be more diligent.
“Severing
(in Yuan verse)Cultivation is not hard,
It’s attachments that are hard to part with.
When will you sever those many attachments?
All know the sea of hardship has no shore.
If your will is not firm,
The hurdles are like mountains.
How will you transcend this mortal life?January 1, 2004”
