An Israeli Falun Dafa Practitioner’s Cultivation Path

(Minghui.org) I had a peptic ulcer that frequently bothered me, especially when I felt stressed. I underwent treatment, but it didn’t disappear completely. I also had glaucoma in my right eye and early signs of skin cancer on my face. After I began practicing Falun Dafa, all of this stopped bothering me. The skin cancer gradually began to shrink. I know that compassionate Master purified my body. Thank you, Master!

I Begin Practicing

I began practicing Falun Dafa in 2015, when I turned 78 years old. Two practitioners came to our senior club and told us about the wonderful method of self-cultivation called Falun Dafa. They showed us the exercises, and I immediately felt the flow of energy. They sent me a link by email to Falun Dafa’s main book Zhuan Falun, which seemed both profound and accessible, and I read it quickly. I wanted to buy a copy.

After I read the book and did the exercises, I told myself that this was my path. But I was confused by the fact that there were many things in the book that were not similar to Judaism, which I believed in and had already internalized. This left me with a certain split in my soul. But I gradually came to understand that Falun Dafa is the highest teaching in the world, and Dafa filled my entire being.

I heard that every person has their own destiny, but I didn’t know what mine was. Then, at a certain point, I suddenly understood that my destiny is to practice Falun Dafa and I am the happiest person in the universe because I received the Fa.

Studying the Fa in a Group

I began participating in face-to-face group Fa study. I also began reading Master’s other lectures on my own. We did the exercises together as well. The practitioners brought me a computer and installed a program for me. But I resisted for a long time and didn’t want to use the program because I had never used a computer before and I was afraid. Besides, I was used to reading alone and didn’t understand why it was preferable to read together.

But the practitioners patiently explained why and encouraged me to try. I suddenly realized I was stubborn and selfish, so I began studying the Fa with everyone online.

Master said,

“I’ll tell you a truth: The entire cultivation process for a cultivator is one of constantly giving up human attachments.” (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun)

Throughout my cultivation, the practitioners around me have shown tact, tolerance, compassion, and support. Thank you for everything—and please forgive me.

Illness Karma

I began going out with local practitioners to talk to people about the persecution in China. We collected signatures on a petition to end the persecution. I then started doing it on my own, and immediately the old forces began creating obstacles for me—or perhaps Master was testing me to see if I was steadfast.

My left lower leg began to hurt so much that I could barely move or climb the stairs to my apartment on the fourth floor (there is no elevator in the building). My son repeatedly pleaded with me to go to the hospital. He said they would give me a quick diagnosis there. But I refused. I asked him not to interfere and said that everything would be fine. I believed with all my soul that Master was beside me, and that if my thoughts were righteous, I could overcome the tests.

During that time, my awareness was not clear. I had poor control over myself, and one day I threw a bag containing my keys, phone, and wallet into the garbage bin. When I realized it, I began to recall Master’s words from the first lecture in Zhuan Falun:

“There is a principle in this universe called “no loss, no gain.” To gain, one has to lose.” (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun)

And suddenly I saw a dry, long branch lying next to the garbage bin. Using the branch, I managed to retrieve the bundle. Thank you, Master, for helping me!

Despite the intense pain in my leg, I continued going out to clarify the truth to people. I understood that this pain was an illusion. It was a test of my faith in Master, and how firm and unwavering I could be. I knew that I urgently needed to help Master save sentient beings, and nothing could stop me. Every time I returned home, I walked up the stairs again to the fourth floor. This went on for more than a month.

I had a strong desire to get rid of the pain, but I let go of that desire—instead I relied on Master and Dafa—and only then did the pain begin to recede and suddenly disappear completely. I didn’t even notice how it happened. Thank you, compassionate Master!

But the next test was already waiting for me. When I began attending activities in front of the Chinese embassy and holding signs, after just a few minutes, I felt as if my fingernails were being pulled out. The pain was very severe, and it was very hard for me to endure. This happened every time I arrived at the embassy and lasted until I returned home.

I felt that this was happening out of solidarity with the practitioners in China—meaning that I needed to experience at least a bit of the pain that they go through. And if I took part of the pain upon myself, then it might be easier for the practitioners in China. But then the same thing started happening when I went out on the street to clarify the truth, and it lasted until I returned home.

I told myself: If these are the old forces, then I won’t acknowledge them, and I won’t change my plans. But if I’m repaying karma, then it means that this is how it should be, and I will endure and continue to clarify the truth. Meanwhile, my body will be purified.

Master said,

“Because we are leading you to the righteous way, during In-Triple-World-Fa cultivation your body will be purified constantly until it is completely transformed by high-energy matter.” (Lecture Two, Zhuan Falun)

All of this went on for a very long time, but I maintained righteous thoughts and I suddenly realized that the pain had disappeared.

In 2017, I participated in the Dafa conference in New York. When I returned home, I began to have intense pain in my left hip. The pain lasted for six months. Sometimes I felt that my hip joint was about to break. But despite the intense pain, I continued going out to clarify the truth, and I managed to pass this test too—thanks to Master.

Master said,

“Right now, one important thing that needs to be attended to is the matter of how to save more sentient beings, and it is something Dafa disciples are to accomplish during their current process of achieving Consummation. This is Dafa disciples’ mission, a duty that cannot be shirked, something that they must do and must complete.” (“Fa Teaching at the 2007 New York Fa Conference,” Collected Teachings Given Around the World Volume VIII)

I spoke at our senior club about the persecution of practitioners in China, and almost everyone signed the petition. I also spoke to all the residents in the building where I live, and everyone signed the petition.

Before I go out to clarify the truth, I send righteous thoughts and ask Master to send me people who are predestined to hear about Falun Dafa. When I return, I thank Master, because he is saving people and we are only assisting him.

While I clarify the truth, I see how many good people there are. They sign the petition and say thank you. But there are many who refuse for various reasons. For example: “I’m in a hurry,” “It doesn’t interest me,” “I won’t sign but I’ll pray for them.” I have learned not to be offended, not to get attached to emotions, and not to judge people by their responses—but simply to be there with compassion. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always work for me.

When I go out, I choose a route that passes by banks, restaurants, bus stops, shops, cafés, parking lots, etc.—in other words, places where there are many people. When someone has already finished shopping and is putting groceries into their car, I speak with them. Or if someone is sitting in a car waiting for someone—they’re not in a hurry and they listen. Some parents allow their children to sign the petition.

For example, a man sat in a car with a child who was about eight years old. When I told him about the persecution, the father signed the petition, and the child also wanted to sign. The father asked, “Do you understand what this is about?” The child said that he understood. The father then allowed him to sign.

After I read the book How the Specter of Communism Is Ruling Our World and the book The Ultimate Goal of Communism, I was able to speak about what is happening in China with even deeper understanding.

But sometimes I still have the strong desire for people to sign the petition. For example, when there are one or two empty lines left on the page and I don’t see anyone around me on the street, and suddenly someone walks toward me, I clarify the truth to them, and inside I have the desire—I definitely want them to sign. However, I’m concerned that they won’t sign, and maybe won’t even take the flyer—and that’s what happens. I calm myself and say: “Let go of the attachment. Maybe you’ll meet them again. Where are your righteous thoughts?”

Looking Within

In the process of cultivating myself, I have found my many attachments and sentiments that I still haven’t eliminated. Some that I thought I eliminated, reappeared. For example: desire for comfort, attachment to certain foods, desire to boast, lack of compassion, and fear that arise during daily activities.

For example, I approached a car in which a woman and a young man were sitting. The moment I began to clarify the truth, the woman got out of the car, took the flyer, tore it up, and gave it back to me. In response, I gave her the insert. She tore that too, returned it to me, and said I was a missionary.

Then she went into the store and the young man stayed in the car. The window in the car was open. I was very angry about her behavior; at that moment I couldn’t handle the anger—it overcame me. I tore the already torn flyer into even smaller pieces and threw them into the car through the open window. The young man jumped out of the car and threw everything back at me.

At that moment everything became clear to me. What am I doing?! I am a Dafa practitioner! There were many cars there, and everyone was watching. I quietly gathered all of the pieces and walked away. One thought rose in my heart: I harmed the reputation of Dafa!

I walked around for a while but I didn’t approach anyone. I tried to organize my thoughts and thought only about what to do now. How should I behave after something like this? When I returned home, I kept thinking about what I did. I understood that I harmed the reputation of Dafa and I must fix it, somehow fix the situation. There was bitterness in my soul. Then I realized that I must somehow meet those people again and ask for forgiveness. But how? I turned to Master for help.

And Master helped me! The next day, when I went out again to clarify the truth, I saw the same car, and the same young man with two young women and a small child. I approached the young man and said, “Hello, I want to apologize for my behavior yesterday, and to speak with you.” One of them replied, “We don’t want to talk to you.” At that moment his mother came out of the store and I said, “Please forgive me. I ask you to listen to me, and then you can decide how to respond to what I will tell you. Please listen.”

When she heard what is happening in China, she said that she should ask me to forgive her. She signed the petition, and then her son and the two women signed as well. They understood the truth. Then her son followed me for a long time, and when I approached people, he told them: “Sign the petition; it’s important. I already signed.”

It was so wonderful that I managed to correct my actions, and so quickly. Thank you, Master!

I’ve had many amazing experiences over the years while I clarified the truth, but I cannot list them all here.

The One Body of Practitioners

When I first arrived at the national gathering with other practitioners, I felt lost. I didn’t know Hebrew and it wasn’t easy for me to read in such a large group. I couldn’t understand what I was reading. But then I realized that everyone was trying to help me. I felt the other practitioners’ compassion and energy. One practitioner pointed out my mistakes when I did the exercises, another explained something.

At that time, it was hard for me to sit on the floor in a cross-legged position. But the first time I came to the meeting, I managed to sit for a full hour during the fifth exercise, thanks to the practitioners’ energy.

Then, after some time, I was able to sit for a full hour in the half-lotus position. When I traveled to the Fa conference in New York with a group of practitioners in 2017, a practitioner who shared a room with me helped me sit in the full lotus position for one minute, and I experienced amazing happiness. I managed to sit in full lotus on my own only after 11 months. At the age of 81. All of this became possible only thanks to the powerful energy of Falun Dafa practitioners.

In conclusion, as I mentioned, at the 2017 conference I saw Master for the first time, I participated in a grand parade for the first time, and I did exercises with everyone. I was together with practitioners for so many days. We were within the Fa. It was the first time I saw such a large number of practitioners from all over the world. Truly extraordinary! I am determined to advance diligently in my cultivation, to continue helping Master to save sentient beings.

Thank you, great and compassionate Master! Thank you, fellow practitioners!