(Minghui.org)
I am a Dafa practitioner from Shandong Province and a local coordinator for the truth-clarifying material production site. I have cultivated diligently for the past 12 years, believing in Master and the Fa. For the past 12 years, our material site has played a critical role in saving sentient beings and exposing the persecution.
Because of Master's protection, our work has never been disrupted. Every time I improve myself in the Fa, I can see from the higher level how strict and serious the Fa-rectification is. We cannot rely on impulse or human notions to do Dafa related work. We can only rely on solid cultivation and being responsible to the Fa, so that we can help Master rectify the Fa with determination.
Master tells us in every Fa Lecture that we must do the three things well. While participating in the work at the material site, I remained diligent in doing the three things. When I started to feel the attachment of laziness, I would remember my responsibilities, Master's compassionate salvation, and how the evil is not yet totally eliminated. This energizes me. Many times in the past, the strong sense of responsibility and mission urged me to keep going and think of my responsibilities to the Fa, the material site, and all the practitioners who relied on me. I understand that we can truly fulfill our responsibilities only if we earnestly cultivate ourselves, improve diligently within the Fa, let go of all our attachments, endure hardships, and are not afraid.
From Master's Fa lectures, we know that Dafa practitioners all have a predestined relationship. It is also our great honor to work together and help Master to rectify the Fa. I often remind myself I need to treat fellow practitioners with sincerity, keep my word, and always think of the practitioners from my heart, especially so when they are going through tribulations.
Since introducing Dafa, Master has continually told us to study the Fa well.
“I've often said that you need to study the Fa well. Whenever I've met with students at Fa conferences or in other settings, I've always said that you must make Fa-study a priority, and that no matter how busy you are you have to study the Fa.” (Touring North America to Teach the Fa)
“If you don't study the Fa well, you won't be able to do Dafa work well.” (“Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Boston,” Teaching the Fa at the Conference II)
During the brutal persecution, I truly experienced that if we did not study the Fa diligently we indeed could not do the Dafa work well and therefore not walk our path of cultivation well. To study the Fa well is fundamental for everything that Dafa practitioners do.
I knew a practitioner who had just been released from prison. Very soon after, some practitioners wanted him to participate in the material site work. I knew the practitioner who had just gotten out of prison needed to first focus on studying the Fa well, before he could do other Dafa work. He also needed caring and deep understanding from fellow practitioners. I went to visit this practitioner and shared my thoughts. I told him not to be in a hurry to do Dafa work, but to instead just study the Fa well for a while. Then I arranged for him to be in a good environment with other practitioners. I sent him all of Master's Fa lectures. I was busy with Dafa things and could not be with him often, but I still managed to visit him every week or so to see how he was doing.
That practitioner later left the area to work elsewhere. We were still able to meet a few times after he left. One day, another practitioner told me that that practitioner complained about me to him. He said I hid things from him. He said he did not want to share things with me ever again. When hearing that, my heart sank. But after a while I thought about it again and realized that I needed to look within and improve myself.
Master said,
“So what's their state of mind? It's tolerance, an extremely immense tolerance, being able to accept other beings, and being able to truly think from other beings' perspectives.” (“Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Philadelphia, U.S.A.,” Teaching the Fa at the Conference II)
In the past, Master enlightened me again and again to improve myself, but I did not always cultivate steadily. I even had conflicts with fellow practitioners a few years back. Although I no long argued with them, I still could not let go of the conflict in my heart. I knew that I had to keep improving my tolerance with everyone. Without improving in this, I could not help Master to rectify the Fa well and could not fulfill my missions. I could not have Master worry about me in this regard, so I worked on my cultivation and finally felt myself improve.
There are reasons why practitioners have conflicts. It is not to create a separation among us, but to push us to look inward and make improvements. Although the practitioner did not understand me and complained, I could not be affected by his behavior. If this practitioner needed me, I would still be there for him. Since I let go of my attachment and was not moved by this, the practitioner's attitude immediately changed. He asked other practitioners to let me know that he hoped to see me again. And, when we did meet again, all was well between us.
Once when I studied Zhuan Falun, I read:
“When you pass on the practice you shouldn’t have any thoughts about making a name for yourself, or getting something out of it—you should help them voluntarily.” (The Third Talk, Zhuan Falun)
I felt my mind was very clear. The Fa requires us to help and care for other practitioners. It is our responsibility and should be done voluntarily. It is also one aspect of our cultivation. We should not ask for anything in exchange for our kindness, or expect to be paid back. We should not be moved whether we are treated well or not.
One winter night, I went to deliver some things to the practitioners in the countryside. It got late and was dark, so I stayed for the night at the home of a fellow practitioner. This practitioner told me that there was a female practitioner in the village who was suffering with illness karma. It seemed to get worse every day. Her husband appeared to be a practitioner of Falun Gong, but was often with former practitioners who had gone astray. Her husband appeared crafty and sly. Fellow practitioners tried to convince him to stay away from those who went astray, but he would not listen. So they stopped having contact with him.
Even though I didn't know her well, we had met before. And since I had this knowledge about her, I felt there must be something I could do to help. I said, “Let's go and help her to send forth righteous thoughts.” So a few of us went to visit her.
All the practitioners had compassion and were sincere in wanting to help. We first shared experiences with her based on the Fa. Then we all sent forth righteous thoughts together. Later her husband mentioned that she had been having trouble for weeks with using the lotus flower palm while sending righteous thoughts, and yet today she had no trouble. He thought it was a miracle.
After we left her home, the practitioners told me that if this female practitioner's husband did not stop hanging out with the people who had gone astray, she would not be able to pass the tribulations. They felt this way because she always listened to and obeyed her husband. I told the practitioners that we had fulfilled our responsibility to her, that this was part of our cultivation. We all know that Master cherishes every being who acquires the Fa. It appeared as if we had gone to help her, but it was really Master giving that practitioner an opportunity. It was up to her whether she took this opportunity or not.
One Saturday afternoon,I went to a practitioner's home in the countryside. When I passed a village, I saw a few students gathered. I wanted to give them the Shen Yun Performing Arts DVDs. I hesitated when I saw farmers working in the field nearby. I thought they might object. Then I immediately thought of Master's Fa Lecture,
“Everything has been prepared, and all that’s missing is for you to carry it out. Yet you won’t take that step.” (“Dafa Disciples Must Study the Fa - Fa Teaching Given at the 2011 Washington DC Metro Area Fa Conference”)
So I let go of my fear and walked right up to the students. I chatted with them and then told them about the Shen Yun DVDs. They all wanted one. Soon I had given out 14 DVDs.
The students I had been chatting with were between 12 and 15 years of age. Then, two younger students that I had not noticed before asked me, “Is this related to Falun Gong?” I did not want to discourage them from watching the DVDs, so I continued to talk about the beautiful performance. Then they asked if I thought Falun Gong was good or not.
I knew the sentient beings were eager to know the truth, so I told them that Falun Gong is absolutely good. I told them Falun Gong is about Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. Then I told them, “The CCP staged the 'Tiananmen Square Self-Immolation' to give Falun Gong a bad name. Falun Gong can strengthen bodies and eliminate illness. Falun Gong teaches people to be good and is a cultivation method of the Buddha School. Falun Gong saves sentient beings. If you believe in the Fa and are good, gods and Buddhas will save you. When the great disaster comes, you will be saved.” The children all understood the truth, accepted the DVDs, and went home happy. As they walked away, I heard them repeat “Falun Gong is good” over and over.
I noticed a young female farmer nearby who had stopped her work to listen to me. After I finished, she smiled and then went back to her work.
This experience proved to me that, if we can follow Master's requirement to save people righteously, we will naturally achieve surprisingly good results
Over the past few years, I was busy at the material site, and felt I had little time for writing experience sharing articles. Later, as the workload lightened up, I had more time to write. I think as a Dafa disciple during the Fa-Rectification period, we should fully utilize our abilities to validate the Fa and save sentient beings.
The process of writing an article is also the process of improving oneself. Whether the Minghui website publishes the article or not is also a test of our xinxing. Every day when I read the Minghui articles, I noticed there were relatively fewer review articles (now there are more). Especially around May 13, World Falun Dafa Day, and New Year's every year, practitioners around the world showed their gratitude to Master in many ways. Then it looked as if there were even fewer review articles.
I didn't know much about writing and did not feel ready to write a review article. One New Year, I wrote a review article with great respect and gratitude to Master. It was published on the Minghui website. One night soon after that, I had a dream in which a voice taught me how to write articles. The voice taught me about making comments and also reviewed the most famous article regarding this topic in history. The voice also told me how to pay attention to the inner meaning of the article. The voice taught me for a very long time and was loud and clear. I listened intently and understood. After I woke up, I only remembered the word “meaning,” since the word really has very profound inner meanings. I realized the voice sounded like Master's voice and that it was Master who had taught me how to write review articles. I understood “meaning” and knew how to write review articles. Over the next year, I had published over ten review articles on the Minghui website. Some articles were republished by other media. This is all because Master gave me the wisdom.
When I study Zhuan Falun , I read Master's word,
“All that you have is that goal, that thought, but it’s really the master who takes care of it.” (The Second Talk, Zhuan Falun)
I gained a deeper understanding and realized that Master puts a lot of effort into helping practitioners to climb up step by step. I understand that if we have the sincere wish to help Master rectify the Fa, Master will grant us whatever we need.
Throughout the past few years, no matter what Fa-rectification related things I did, I never said or thought, “I cannot do it.” I knew my abilities were limited, but the Buddha Fa is boundless. As long as I act with a pure and sincere heart, Master will help me. Whenever I have doubt and think I can't do something, I must remind myself that that is a human notion that prevents me from improving myself within the Fa and remembering that I am a Dafa Disciple. Master has taught us many times that Dafa disciples' abilities are very powerful if we do not let human notions obstruct us. We must completely believe in Master and the Fa.
Sometimes I was very busy, so after finishing an article I would give it to another practitioner to type for me and also to provide feedback. The article was sent to the Minghui website, where the Minghui editor checked it over. After the article was published, I could see that it was modified and polished perfectly. I know that a good article is not just one persons' effort. It is no longer just my article, but a group effort. Actually, for every article created, from writing to publishing, it is a product of our collective wisdom and ability bestowed by Master--a true "team effort." It would be selfish to think it is only my work--that is not the behavior of a true Dafa disciple.
Master said,
“Some practitioners want me to check out their abilities and skills. But actually, what I think is, all of that was given by me, so there's no need to look.” (“Explaining the Fa During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference”)
If we think our ability is that of an everyday person's, even though we are doing Dafa work, we cannot do a good job. We must realize our abilities come from the Fa and are given to us by Master. Then the results will be very good. Then we have the righteous thoughts of believing in Master and the Fa and we have the divine power of the Fa to support us.
Master said,
“If Dafa disciples can manage to pool their strength together in one concerted effort, and act with extremely strong righteous thoughts, think about it, that will truly amount to divine beings being present in this world. It would be simply terrifying to the evil!” (“20th Anniversary Fa Teaching”)
Our understanding, based on the Fa, is that it is important that Dafa practitioners cooperate well together during our cultivation. Recently I have paid a lot of attention to staying humble while cooperating with fellow practitioners. If we do not have the same opinion on a matter, I can drop it and not insist on my way. I do not want to waste time arguing. Always, I try to see everything from the other practitioner's viewpoint. I achieved this only after studying the Fa and cultivating myself for many years. Master saw that I had gradually matured in this and arranged for me to participate in Dafa practitioners' projects to save sentient beings.
Sometimes while working on a project, I would need to spend a lot of time on it, sometimes doing something repeatedly. I would get impatient. Then I would immediately realize what was happening and stop my negative thoughts. I would remind myself that this is cultivation, not something of everyday people. We must follow Master and the Fa's requirements. In this way, the unrighteous thoughts left my mind.
There were times when a project was very urgent, and, in order to finish, I had to work late into the night. I was exhausted and my thinking would start to take a negative turn, wanting to just finish the project. I would again realize that this was irresponsible and would lower my cultivation standard and deceive Master. When I again had righteous thoughts, I had renewed energy. I felt Master and the righteous gods strengthening me.
When I coordinated with fellow practitioners, I often thought of the coordination displayed by the members of Shen Yun Performing Arts. Everyone performed diligently, paying close attention to the overall coordination. No one attempted to "show off," and, as a result everyone shone beautifully. From their facial expressions to their very highly-skilled movements, every performance was perfection. With good reason it is considered a world class performance with pure compassion and beauty, and audiences love it.
If even one practitioner did not give 100% and pay attention to every detail, it would negatively affect the entire performance and weaken the effect of saving the sentient beings.
The performers' coordination as a whole fully displayed their level of cultivation and their sense of responsibility in helping Master to rectify the Fa. It really enlightened us.
The Fa-rectification does not stop, nor should our cultivation. Everything we do for Dafa reflects our personal cultivation status and dedication. I remind myself always that I will stay fully focused and selfless on all projects that I participate in, now and in the future. Master wants Dafa disciples to do better and better in our coordination efforts. At the last moment of Fa-rectification, we will be worthy of Master's salvation only if we cooperate with each other, completely fulfill our responsibilities, improve together as a whole, and save sentient beings to the maximum extent.
While helping Master to rectify the Fa, I often wondered how could I put forth more effort. I understand now that all the beings in the entire universe are within Master's Fa-rectification and salvation. Everything we have, Master has bestowed upon us to establish mighty virtue for us. Without Master's Fa-rectification, our lives would already be gone.
Master said,
“One cannot go back prior to completing the entire cultivation process or if one’s cultivation fails. So by all means do not be attached in any way. With strong righteous thoughts and a calm heart, do what you are supposed to do.” (“20th Anniversary Fa Teaching”)
The closer to the end, the more critical the moments are. If we relax in our cultivation and do not walk our path righteously, we may lose the opportunity forever, to our eternal regret. My wish is to continuously cultivate myself diligently, rid myself of all my shortcomings quickly, fulfill my responsibilities inhelping Master to rectify the Fa, and be worthy of Master's compassionate salvation.
Thank you, Master! Thank you, fellow practitioners!