My 2 year road of Dafa cultivation

Greetings Master, greetings fellow practitioners.

I'm a Belgian practitioner who obtained the Fa in mid-2013, 2 years ago. I am fortunate to have a good cultivation environment, as my father, mother and older sister also cultivate Dafa.

Since I first knew about Falun Dafa, I felt it was good but I didn't really think further about the human body, life and the universe and lived a rather ordinary life. I was 16 when my parents and sister obtained the Fa. I enjoyed going out with friends, drinking, smoking, playing video games – just leading a rather ordinary life, not thinking about anything like cultivation or why we are here.

Obtaining the Fa
Suddenly, in my mid 20’s a lot of thoughts about Falun Gong and life came to my mind. I felt deeply in my heart that I had to study Zhuan Falun. I started to talk with my parents more about Falun Dafa. We read Zhuan Falun and did the exercises together and I suddenly understood a lot, and many things I read sounded familiar. I suddenly had a feeling deep in my heart about cultivation, the ancients, the universe and the purpose of life.

Master mentioned in the 2014 Fa Teaching on World Falun Dafa Day: "There are also some people who learned some truths through Dafa; prior to this, they had no idea about religion, faith, or cultivation. Through Dafa they learned about Gods, Buddhas, and cultivation."

One of the first times I did the sitting meditation in full lotus position I experienced a light in my forehead that was changing colour, like Master mentions in the audio lectures. This supernormal experience had a profound impact on me. From that point on I could never have the same view about life on this planet as before. I quit going to parties, drinking, smoking, and discarded many off these attachments. I even sold my television and video games console, which I used to spend lots of time on before I started practising.

During that same week, I was in the bathroom and almost fainted. I had to lay down for a moment; I felt like I was going to pass out. A very uncomfortable feeling spread over my body and I started to cough uncontrollably. It felt like a wasp was stuck inside my throat. I kept on coughing and coughing until I was coughing blood, but I was not afraid at that moment, and had the feeling these were all good things. I was relieved afterwards, and felt very energetic for the rest of day.

Master mentioned in Zhuan Falun, lecture 2: "So if you truly practice Falun Dafa, you will, starting today, have reactions when you truly set your attachments aside.”

The importance of being at the Chinese tourist sites as a westerner
I can’t speak Chinese, but I use an audio device that plays truth clarification information and hand out leaflets to Chinese tourists. One time I played the device to a small group of tourists. Most were scared and ran away, but an elderly man stayed and listened to the whole thing about the facts of the persecution and organ harvesting. In the end he sincerely thanked me and wiped away a few tears.

I felt very sad for these people, being deceived like that by their own leaders, and I had a really strong feeling I had to be there every week to help them. So, I talked to my boss and arranged to take every Wednesday off and work Saturday morning instead. That meant I could send righteous thoughts and exercises in front of the Chinese embassy on Wednesday morning, and then be at the quit the CCP activity on Wednesday afternoon and Saturday afternoon.

One day, a fellow Chinese practitioner and I were following a group of around 10 Chinese tourists. Due to their being poisoned by the CCP’s lies and their fear, they were quite negative but we persisted in playing the audio and kept following them, whilst focusing on keeping compassionate thoughts. They were gradually changing and becoming more open-minded. We followed them to their bus and let them listen to the audio recording for around 30 minutes. In the end most of this group quit the party and were thankful to us. All these cases where the results were quite positive occurred when I managed to maintain this special feeling of compassion in my heart.

Unfortunately, I’m not yet able to have such a compassionate heart all the time. Lately, I focus more on having a compassionate heart and clear mind, not only at our activities but also at home or when I talk to people at my workplace or elsewhere. I focus on cultivating an immense heart, not that little one of mine.

I also want to share that it is good as a Westerner to be at the tourist sites, as many of the Chinese tourists are shocked when they see a Westerner handing out materials and playing the audio recording with these strong, positive words about Falun Gong. It is also good to send forth righteous thoughts when Chinese practitioners talk to Chinese people, and to let them see that western people also practice Falun Gong.

Promoting Shen Yun
I already saw Shen Yun before I started cultivating, and I was very excited to help with Shen Yun now that I knew that Shen Yun was about saving people through telling the story of Falun Gong, restoring mankind’s moral standard, and leaving a true culture. It was a few months after I obtained the Fa that we started the promotion and at that time I was mainly focusing on putting flyers in mailboxes. I understood even further the importance of doing well in one’s personal cultivation and having faith in Master and the Fa. I had this strong concern in my heart about the people of the world all being lost and suffering unknowingly, just like myself only half a year before I obtained the Fa. Due to me having a good foundation from doing the exercises, sending righteous thoughts and Fa study in the morning before doing promotional work, everything went more smoothly. I was light hearted, and had more opportunities to talk to people while riding my bike to distribute flyers. Many people said positive things.

During this year’s Shen Yun promotion, I felt in a better state than when I was promoting Shen Yun for the first time in 2014. I greatly felt the importance of not forcing myself when doing anything and to keep a righteous mind when experiencing any tribulation like being tired from work or bad weather conditions.

I also got the opportunity to talk to people in several clubs and shopping malls. For instance, in the last week of the promotion I had the opportunity to go to a club to introduce the beauty of Shen Yun. I left together to go to the club with a fellow practitioner and we had plenty of time, but the traffic was terrible. The practitioner that joined me told me to keep righteous and firmly believe Master will give a chance for these people to hear about Shen Yun. After around 5 minutes the traffic eased up. We arrived there a little late but when we entered the restaurant and talked to the reception they told us the club members had not arrived yet. They themselves found it strange because the club members were rarely late. I still have a lot to learn in promoting Shen Yun, but I want to thank Master and fellow practitioners for the experience in helping with this activity in my 2 years of cultivation.

Not relaxing my standard, even right after busy periods like Shen Yun
A few days after Shen Yun was over, we continued the activity at the Chinese embassy we did every Wednesday. The weather was really horrible that day, and my father, me, and three other practitioners that usually attend were there clarifying truth and sending forth righteous thoughts. That day I could not keep my mind stable. Everything was all wet and cold, and I had doubts about what I was actually doing there: we just finished Shen Yun, wouldn’t I be better off at home, maybe this is extreme behaviour? The embassy police must think we are crazy, sitting in the cold and rain. I experienced a very strange, confusing moment for some minutes and didn’t really see the point of everything we were doing, letting my mind run wild. But I repelled it and those thoughts became weaker after a few minutes.

Whilst sending forth righteous thoughts that day I experienced something different from other times. It was really cold and everything was muddy, wet and dirty but I suddenly felt like I was sitting in a park of beautiful flowers with a warm feeling and many beings around me. I was in a wonderful place, feeling very comfortable, even the pain in my hands from the cold became less. I really didn’t want to open my eyes and see this muddy dirty ground and world again after finishing sending forth righteous thoughts, but we had to continue the activity. I knew this was Master encouraging me to just keep going, not relax my standard and join every activity I can, even when I’m not feeling like it. Also the police told my father they really admire how we are standing and sitting there for such a long time and that our rallies are the most peaceful they’ve worked on.

A few Belgian practitioners organized a morning exercise session on Sonant. We exercised for 2 hours, starting at 3.50 until 5.50, then after we’d send forth righteous thoughts before getting ready for work. I did this for a few months. However, lately I am starting to miss a day sometimes, doing only the meditation or the standing exercises and Fa study after I finish work. I really regret slacking off, I always felt so lighthearted at work after exercising in the morning, and Fa study after I finished work also became so much easier to concentrate, like reading in an eggshell. So I want to share this in order to pick the morning exercise up again and not practice on and off.

I will try to prioritize Fa-study and exercises even more. I shall stop practising on and off, and on my free days commit to always go and let more people know the truth and be saved!

Dafa disciples in mainland China are going through the most severe persecution. That is how serious this affair is. I really cannot let comfort take over, even if I like it.

The above is my personal experience. Please kindly point it out if I said anything inappropriate.

Thank you Master, thank you fellow practitioners.