Walking the Path of Cultivation Since Childhood

(Minghui.org)Greetings, benevolent Master! Greetings, fellow practitioners!

I am a young Dafa practitioner currently in my 20s. I began cultivating Falun Dafa as a child. When I was 10 years old, due to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) brutal persecution of Falun Dafa, our family was forced to leave Beijing and move to London. In this democratic and free country, we have continued our firm belief in Dafa.

Growing up under the guidance of the Fa, I was blessed with a happy childhood and grew into a young adult practitioner. What Master and Dafa have bestowed upon me is truly beyond measure. I feel that being able to assimilate to the Fa teachings and become a particle of Dafa is an immense blessing and brings eternal glory for a being.

I believe that after going through tens of millions of years waiting for Dafa through countless reincarnations, I was fortunate enough to obtain the Fa in this lifetime, fulfill my historic vow and embark on the path of returning to my heavenly home. This was only possible through Master’s immense compassion and benevolent arrangement.

I felt deeply saddened when the CCP used media outlets under its control to shamelessly slander and attack Master, Falun Dafa, and Dafa projects such as Shen Yun Performing Arts. Master has taught Dafa without charging a penny and has guided us to become good people by following the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, thus becoming people who contribute positively to society. Hundreds of millions of people have benefited both physically and mentally from the belief, so why does such a vicious and horrible defamation arise? In the face of this turmoil, I would like to share my own cultivation experiences to show the greatness of Falun Dafa.

Becoming a Student of Outstanding Character

I began my cultivation in Dafa together with my mother when I was very young. Every day, I was immersed in the teachings, and my life was peaceful and fulfilling. However, when I was seven years old, my mother—a lawyer—was unlawfully detained for two years in the Beijing Women’s Forced Labor Camp. During those two years, without my mother and without the guidance of Dafa, I lost interest in study and became obsessed with watching television. My obsession with TV caused my father to dismantle our television three times.

When I was 10 years old, plainclothes police rented a flat across from our home and monitored our front door 24/7. As a result, we fled from China to the United Kingdom. At that time, my English was very poor, and my language grades were low. Because of the language barrier, I found it difficult to fit in and make friends. As a result, I began spending time on the internet.

At that time, I had just started middle school. Because I was constantly exposed to the internet, I unconsciously absorbed many negative influences, ideas, and concepts.

Master taught us:

“A person is like a container, and he is whatever he contains. All of what a person sees with the eyes and hears with the ears are: violence, lust, power struggles in literary works, struggles for profit in the practical world, money worship, other manifestations of demon-nature, and so on. With his head filled with these, this kind of person is truly a bad person, no matter what he appears to be. ...” (“Melt Into the Fa,” Essentials For Further Advancement)

As I spent more and more time online, my simple and compassionate nature became increasingly complicated. As my attachments and obsessions grew stronger and stronger, I became short-tempered and easily angered. Gradually, I drifted away from Dafa.

When I was in Grade 10, it was time to start preparing for core secondary school qualifications taken by UK students aged 14 to 16 (GCSEs). At the time, my academic results and attitude toward studying were far from ideal. GCSE results are very important—not only are they required when applying for high school and university, but some employers also look at GCSE results.

Because of this, I was extremely nervous. Every day after school, I studied from afternoon into the evening, without a break. However, I was mostly copying notes from textbooks into a notebook rather than actually absorbing the knowledge, let alone applying concepts and formulas to solve more complex problems. The enormous academic pressure, combined with my unsatisfactory results and my insatiable pursuit of fame and monetary gain, left me feeling exhausted every day. My heart would often race with anxiety, and I would break out in a cold sweat.

At this low point in my life, I suddenly recalled cultivation. When I felt I had lost everything, I realized that I had not studied the Fa or done Dafa exercises for a long time. I found that when I listened to Master’s lectures and Dafa music I would feel calm, and was no longer wallowing in the pain of chasing fame and gain. Gradually, I began to study the Fa every day and eventually found more efficient studying methods.

Master said,

“... for a [Falun Gong] student who is a school student, your natural duty is to study well, since you are a student.“If you always think about getting into college, getting into college, and yet you don’t study well, how can you get into college? You don’t need to think about getting into college all the time. Wouldn’t it be a waste of energy if you couldn’t get into one? Don’t think about getting into college, just work hard to study well, and that’s enough. When you have done well with your studies, college or graduate school will come along, right? … ”(“Teaching the Fa and Answering Questions in Guangzhou,” Explaining the Teachings of Zhuan Falun).

I realized that the reason I felt such pain and anxiety was not because I disliked studying or because of the intense pressure of exams. It was because I was scared that doing poorly would affect my future career and hold back my pursuit of fame and gain. Once I realized this, I began to actively eliminate those pursuits and attachments of the false self in the ordinary human world. I continued to study the teachings, do the exercises, and cultivate my xinxing daily. I also did more exam questions and studied past papers. Gradually, I found that my memory improved, and my efficiency and ability to concentrate became better and better. Naturally, my scores improved.

On the GCSE exams two years later, I made the highest scores in multiple subjects. I, who had once been really weak in English and poor at my studies, earned the top grade in English Literature, English Language, Mathematics, Triple Sciences, and History.

After persisting in truly cultivating Dafa, improving my xinxing, and focusing on study itself rather than chasing illusions of fame and gain, I moved on to A Levels where only three subjects are required. I did five and earned four A*s (the top grade) and one A. My dissertation research project was a truth-clarification documentary I filmed myself.

It showed the personal experiences of myself and the young fellow practitioners around me, including the CCP’s cruel persecution of young Dafa disciples. When the parents of young Dafa disciples in China are taken away by the police for practicing Dafa, how are these helpless children to survive in such a cruel society? I showed this documentary to my teachers and friends, and they were all deeply moved. I also added it to my LinkedIn profile page, and one person contacted me to say that she was so moved by the documentary that she cried.

During my sixth-form years, the COVID-19 pandemic struck, and many universities delayed their offer process. Under Master’s compassionate arrangement, after finishing sixth form, I successfully enrolled in one of the world’s top universities, The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), to study BSc Economics. At university, I did several internships in Investment Banking and Quantitative Trading. After graduation, under Master’s compassionate arrangement, I joined a Hedge Fund as an Investment Analyst.

I discovered that once I stopped chasing fame and gain, the suffering of never being satisfied dissolved along with it. Desire is a bottomless pit. The pursuit of empty fame and fleeting profit can never bring true satisfaction—it only draws one in ever deeper. Lost in the pursuit of fame and gain, one forgets the true purpose of coming to this world. Using a Chinese idiom, it’s like flowers in a mirror or the reflection of the moon in water—it all comes to nothing —how sad.

After realizing how important cultivation is to my life I gave up these attachments, and simply concentrated on doing the proper work a student should do, I gained many unexpected opportunities and results. But at these times I was not excited; instead, I was very calm because they were all Master’s arrangements and encouragement.

Experiences of Sending Forth Righteous Thoughts

Regarding sending forth righteous thoughts, Master has told us:

“Let me put it this way: Dafa disciples need to do three things well on their way to Consummation, right? And sending forth righteous thoughts is one of those things. If it’s that important, why can’t you do it well?! Why do you think of it as such a simple thing and not take it seriously? You do know how important it is. Besides, if you don’t do one of the three things well, then what?” (Teachings at the Conference in Los Angeles)

I came to realize that failing to do well at sending righteous thoughts means failing to fulfill my mission as a Dafa practitioner, and that reflects not taking cultivation and saving people seriously enough. I also found that when I slacked off in sending righteous thoughts, it would open the door for interference, and I would fall into a state of not being diligent and in low spirits. However, when I sent righteous thoughts regularly, my cultivation state was more diligent. I have had many wondrous experiences with sending righteous thoughts, and here I would like to share several of them, in the hope of encouraging others to be diligent together.

When Master’s article “The Ordeals Our Spiritual Discipline Faces” was published, I would send righteous thoughts whenever I had a free moment, often sending righteous thoughts silently on my way to work or while on public transport. Back then, when I recited the righteous thoughts formula, every word felt like a thunderbolt.

Master taught us:

“Righteous Thoughts

They surge like thunderbolts to cosmic heightsRoaring with colossal power, reaching beyond the heavensThey sweep across the cosmos, no crevice left untouchedEliminating at once all that’s degenerate and deviant”(Hong Yin IV)

For a period of time, while sending righteous thoughts, I felt that my hands and head were separated by a vast distance spanning from the highest sky to the ground. Sometimes I would see a giant Buddha statue in a place that looked like an ancient temple.

One time when sending righteous thoughts, I saw myself rapidly breaking through one level after another—heaven upon heaven, one cosmos after another, one layer of particles after another—at tremendous speed that made me feel nervous. 

Once, I dreamed that the Fa had rectified the human world. Practitioners were kneeling before Master. Master pointed toward my mother, and I began to feel nervous, afraid that I would fail to succeed in cultivation, with my heart uneasy and restless. Then, Master pointed toward me, and in an instant my heart became incomparably calm. All human emotions and thoughts vanished in a flash, and I was utterly tranquil. Later, I saw that we had already returned to the heavens, and were kneeling before Master as he taught the Fa.

Cultivation is like a boat sailing against the current: if it does not advance, it falls back. I realized that I must do everything I can and cultivate diligently as I did at the beginning. I found that, besides sending righteous thoughts regularly, reciting and copying the Fa was also very helpful in elevating my cultivation state.

With the same Fa, the inner meanings revealed through reciting differ from those revealed through reading: when I recite the Fa, almost every sentence reveals a vast inner meaning that had never been revealed previously. For example, once while reciting and copying Zhuan Falun, just as I recited the book’s title, I was suddenly enlightened to the understanding that “Zhuan Falun” is the very process of Master’s Fa-rectification.

This is how I recite and copy the Fa: for a given sentence of the Fa, I first read it with concentration three times, by which point I have nearly memorized it, then I recite the sentence twice, and then copy it into a clean and empty notebook. I learned to never pursue speed but should earnestly study it and assimilate the Fa.

Fulfilling My Historic Vow and Assisting Master in Saving Sentient Beings

From last year’s Shen Yun promotion season to this year’s Shen Yun performances, I was fortunate to take part in more Dafa projects related to Shen Yun. This year, in addition to the usual ticket promotion and sales and doing light boarding at the theater, I also joined in translating audience feedback and ordering meals for Shen Yun performers.

I came to realize that, in doing Dafa projects, the most important thing is to maintain a diligent cultivation state—only then is one a cultivator doing Dafa projects, and only then can one negate interference. When I was diligent, even if translating late at night, I was full of energy and not the least bit sleepy or tired, because I knew that a divine body is not limited by the material space of ordinary people.

When I was not diligent, the later I worked into the night, the less I wanted to translate. Human notions would surface, I would glance at the clock and think how late it was, and I would desperately want to sleep,worrying that staying up late would be bad for my skin.

Master said:

“... how well you cultivate yourselves determines your power to save people …” (“2018 NTD and Epoch Times Fa Conference,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. XV)

When ordering meals for the Shen Yun artists, I would always confirm and place the order weeks in advance to avoid complications. When ordering takeout for them, I would create a word doc listing several Chinese and Western restaurants, making sure that the dishes I recommended included both meat dishes and vegetarian options for those who don’t like meat. I also noted details such as price, calories, and whether a dish was spicy or not. Shen Yun is the Dafa project with the greatest power to save people, and I feel deeply honored to have had the opportunity to take part in it. Through these experiences I realized that to do well, one must be diligent in cultivation and have strong righteous thoughts.

Once, just after finishing promoting Shen Yun at a shopping center, I was about to leave when something suddenly came to my mind. So I stayed to discuss it with a fellow practitioner. About half an hour later, a woman passing by suddenly noticed us and was very excited. It turned out she had wanted to buy Shen Yun tickets for several years, but for various reasons, had never managed to do so.

She quickly phoned her family to come, and they bought several tickets. At one point she said to me, “Whichever seats you recommend, I’ll buy—I trust you.” This may seem like a small thing, but it has stayed in my heart ever since. I was very moved, because I knew it was no coincidence; Master brought a predestined person to us.

I have an ordinary job during weekdays and have always fallen short when it comes to clarifying the truth. Recently I have worked hard to maintain a state of cultivation as I did in the beginning. I studied the Fa a great deal, and as a result, my cultivation state and my understanding of Fa-rectification underwent a great change. I realized that practitioners must fulfill their vows and seize the time to save sentient beings, and I began to feel anxious about how far short I had fallen in clarifying the truth.

So I began to do more truth-clarification work by handing out leaflets at tourist attractions. At first, I was reluctant mainly because on previous occasions many Chinese tourists, deceived by the CCP’s lies, would mostly glare at us coldly. It made me feel that each time I went I was just going to be subjected to ill treatment.

On one occasion, I was handing out flyers on the street for two hours without giving out a single one, and felt all the effort was for nothing. But now my perspective has changed: I feel that whether or not they accept a flyer, we must give them this opportunity. Moreover, if one cultivates well and has strong righteous thoughts, every glance and every word carries compassionate energy, and one can eliminate the evil beings controlling ordinary people. So I needed to look seriously at why I was not able to hand out any flyers.

After changing my way of thinking, each time I went to a truth-clarification site, seeing the righteous ordinary people who understood the truth and the remarkable fellow practitioners moved me deeply. I remember one time it was over 30°C in London—simply scorching. Many fellow practitioners came that day, and everyone handed out flyers or did the exercises under the blazing sun without a single complaint. Two people passed us and took a flyer from my hand. A little while later, they came back and very earnestly signed the petition. Looking at their faces, I was deeply moved.

I hope that we can all live up to Master’s expectations and the hopes of sentient beings, live up to our own true wishes, refuse to be deluded by the false appearances of the mortal world, live up to the magnificent title of Dafa disciples of the Fa-rectification period, and walk unwaveringly on the path to divinity!

My personal level is limited. If there is anything not in line with the Fa, please compassionately point it out.

With deepest gratitude, I bow to revered Master!

(Presented at the 2026 European Fa Conference)