(Minghui.org) Esteemed Master and fellow practitioners!
I would like to share some of my personal understandings of cultivation.
At work, whenever my colleagues were on sick or annual leave, my supervisor would ask me to cover for them. The work needed to be done, so I was the logical choice. I did not like such arrangements, for I had already been assigned a lot of work by my supervisor. Despite feeling unhappy about it, I still agreed to help in the end. After reflecting on what had happened and looking inward, I realized that such an arrangement is a good thing – it helps temper my mind and body. I am a cultivator, so why should I be unhappy with my co-workers? Once I changed my mentality, my xinxing showed some improvement.
I was not able to visit my parents due to the pandemic. My mother always cried and asked me when I could come back home during our video calls. She said she missed me. I was not moved by her words. I have clarified the truth about Dafa, and shared with them the nine-character mantra. I wired money to my parents on Mother’s day, Father’s day, their birthdays, or during other festivals, and tried my best to treat them well. All of it was not led by love, but my wish to treat them with kindness. Having let go of that attachment, I felt very calm. It was all due to the power of Dafa. Without cultivation, I would not have achieved such a state. Thank you, Master!
My husband is not a practitioner, yet I often find fault with him. He is involved in sales and has to attend dinners or other events. Sometimes he would make a fuss when he returned home if he drank too much. At first I couldn’t accept it, got angry, and ignored him. Later on I realized that I should not have become so irritated with him once I looked inward. I should have taken good care of him. When my heart was filled with kindness, I started to sympathize with my husband.
He was working hard to support the family. In fact, I should also thank him for giving me the opportunity to improve myself at home.
Everything is considered in cultivation. Neglecting certain aspects in cultivation got me into trouble. I was a picky eater. Despite having practiced Dafa for more than a decade, my attachment to good food was no less. Should I regard this as just a minute, harmless attachment? At home, I’d never eat leftover food, yet my husband, an ordinary person, would.
About a month ago, suddenly my heart and stomach felt uncomfortable. My heart seemed to be physically twisted, and my stomach hurt badly. My face was pale, and I perspired. I knew that this was interference, and thus felt no fear.
Holding righteous thoughts, I called out to Master, and recited the nine-character mantra in Chinese, “Falun Dafa is good, and Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.” Then, I thought, “I am a Dafa practitioner, and I will follow my Master’s arrangement. No one else and nothing else could interfere with me. I must clear away the interference completely.”
In addition, I sent righteous thoughts. About 10 minutes later, I recovered. I think the sickness karma emerged due to my attachments. I looked inward and found many attachments that I needed to get rid of. The whole process lasted two weeks.
My stomach was bloated, and I felt really uncomfortable. I couldn’t eat, and only had a small bowl of porridge every day. I lost five kilograms.
I shared what I was going through with some fellow practitioners. I asked a few of them if they were the ones to finish the leftovers at home, and they all said yes. Through this experience, I really got rid of my attachment to good food. Now, I am the one to finish leftovers at home. Cultivation is very serious. I keep telling myself that I must always think of myself as a cultivator – for every word that I say and everything that I do.
Since I joined the group Fa study, I have felt rapid improvement in cultivation because of reading Zhuan Falun with fellow practitioners, and benefiting from their sharing of how they passed the tests to elevate xinxing.
Together, we would also read inspiring articles published on the Minghui website, and share our understanding based on cultivation. We had faced similar issues to those addressed in the articles in the past.
There were also many xinxing tests during group Fa study. For instance, some read really slowly, and some would repeatedly make mistakes by adding words that were not part of the Fa, or by omitting words while reading. Some other practitioners would then help to correct the misread part. Initially, the practitioners who read the Fa incorrectly would accept the corrections. However, over time, they started to defend themselves, and appeared to be annoyed. They would then read the word wrong again the next time. There were many such xinxing tests, to help us get rid of our impatience. When we all are able to let go of the attachments, we will all have elevated xinxing. I think cultivation is to test our will when in conflict.
It seemed a good thing when all of the practitioners wanted to read more of the Fa during group Fa study. But it would be wrong for us to be fixated on how much we have read. I think when studying the Fa, reading aloud is not the objective, and making no mistakes in reading is not the goal either. Obtaining the Fa and understanding the meaning of the Fa are the goals. We reminded each other and corrected our mentality when reading the Fa.
Master saw that I had the attachments to comfort, fear of criticism, and fear of being humiliated, so he arranged for me to attend the nine-day Falun Dafa class. The practitioner in charge asked if I could help correct new practitioners’ movements, and I agreed. On the first day of the nine-day class, a veteran practitioner saw that my movements were not accurate and corrected me. By the end of the nine-day class, my movements had become more or less accurate.
Not only were my movements being corrected by others, by participating in the nine-day class, I was given an opportunity to improve my xinxing. Then, during the following nine-day classes, I started to correct new practitioners’ movements. At the end of the nine-day class, the new practitioners shared their experiences. A new practitioner shared that Dafa is amazing and that he lost control of his car while driving. At that moment, he shouted, “Falun Gong,” and the car stopped. He said it was amazing. There were also two young Chinese men, one said that he didn’t feel tired when he reached home, instead he felt refreshed. Another said the pimples on his face disappeared and his skin condition improved. They also bought Zhuan Falun to read. I was glad that these two people were saved.
In fact, Master has paved the way and is waiting for us, the practitioners, to do it.
Recently, I renovated my home and some of the workers were from China. I was very friendly and greeted them politely, and gave them drinks and fruit when they were working at my place. They were very grateful and said, “Sister, we feel at home at your place; you are very warm and kind.” So, I started to clarify the truth to them.
I told them that I practiced Falun Dafa. I asked if they had heard about it in China. They said they knew about it, but they were not allowed to practice it in China. I said, “I know, but the Chinese people don’t understand the truth about Dafa. I will tell you so that you can understand.”
“Do you know about the Indonesian tsunami that occurred a few years ago? Before the tsunami hit the coast, an elderly man went to the beach and told the tourists to leave as soon as possible, saying that there would be a tsunami. Some people left immediately after hearing it, while others didn’t believe it. Eventually, those who believed him and left were saved. Those who didn’t lost their lives.”
Then, I continued, “I’m telling you that Falun Dafa is a high-level practice of the Buddhist school, and the nine-character mantra has the power to save lives. You all worked so hard abroad to earn money to support your families and make them happy. Now that the pandemic is so serious, as long as you sincerely recite the nine-character mantra 'Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good,' you will be saved. It is the most important thing for you to have good health abroad to bring your hard-earned money back home safely.”
They all listened quietly. I said, “You are all good people and have a predestined relationship with Dafa. Our Master has arranged for you to come to my house to let you understand the truth.” Then, I asked, “Have you all joined the CCP and its youth organizations when you were in school?” One of them said that he was a member. I said that I would help them quit the CCP organization online using nicknames. They agreed.
I felt so happy that these lives were saved. I gave each of them an amulet with the nine-character mantra printed on it. I thanked the Master for sending these predestined people to me! Everything was done by Master, and we just needed to clarify the truth to make them understand. It is the Master who is really saving people.
When writing this article, I bowed down to the Master. I am grateful to the Master for his great mercy, for enlightening me, for allowing me to validate the Fa during the Fa-rectification of the universe, and for caring for me throughout the journey! At the same time, I would also like to thank fellow practitioners for giving me a lot of help and encouragement, allowing me to get rid of my fear. I am no longer afraid.
From now on, I will cultivate diligently, and let go of all kinds of attachments. Besides, I will try my best to do the three things well, save more predestined people, and live up to Master’s compassion to save sentient beings. If there is anything not in accordance with the Fa, fellow practitioners, please correct me.
Thank you, Master and fellow practitioners!
(Presented at the 2022 Singapore Fa Conference)