Completing my Master’s Degree Thesis During Cultivation in Fa-rectification

By a German Dafa practitioner

(Note: I wanted to write this experience sharing a long time ago. However, I could not start writing owing to different kinds of incidents or thoughts. Afterwards, I realized it was because of interference and the arrangement of the old forces, so I denied them thoroughly. Here I hope that fellow practitioners can take this warning. When we have a good experience sharing or cultivation understanding, write them in time. Thus, when we are validating the Fa, we can also eliminate the evils at the same time. By the time of writing the article, I did not have enough understanding of the old forces. So, I hope fellow practitioners can kindly correct the insufficiency.)

Since I was little, I have always been a good son in my parents’ eyes. I was a good student in my teachers’ eyes, a good companion in my friends’ eyes, a good player in the coach’s eyes, and finally, a good employee in my supervisor’s eyes. After graduating from a famous university in my country, I acquired a good job. Because I worked hard I had some achievements in my work, I was prized as outstanding back then. Afterwards, owing to various reasons, I got the opportunity to study in Germany. I obtained the Fa a month later. In university, I still got excellent grades. I also won a scholarship offered by a big company in Germany.

However, superior to others in all aspects among everyday people, I was not really diligent as a practitioner on the path of cultivation. I was way far from Teacher Li’s requirements in many aspects. Especially, I was still in the stage of personal cultivation after Falun Gong was banned in China in July 1999. Then, through studying the Fa, reading articles on Dafa websites, and the help of other fellow practitioners, I started to go out to clarify the truth to people. At that point, my thesis for my master’s degree also had to be started.

In Teacher Li’s article, “To All Students at the Nordic Fa Conference,” it says, “So in clarifying the truth, don’t wait, don’t rely on others, and don’t just hope for changes in external factors. Every one of us is creating history for the future, that’s why everyone is not only participating in group activities, but also taking the initiative to look for things to do. As long as something is good for Dafa, you should take the initiative to do it, take the initiative to work on it.” Realizing what I had done before was not enough, I bought some truth clarifying materials and copied some by myself (I could not have a part time job, because I was working on the design for my graduation. I had to do my best to spare daily expenses). Sometimes, carrying a bag, I would go directly to the busy part of the town to distribute the truth clarifying materials. Then, after I shared experiences with other practitioners, distributing the truth materials gradually became clarifying the truth. I started to use any opportuinity. I brought materials with me all the time. So, wherever I went, I could clarify the truth there.

At the beginning, the progress of my thesis went smoothly. But soon after, I met a tough problem, involving a quite complicated deduction of a mathematical model. I first asked two professors, one of whom had even published related works. However, they could not solve this kind of concrete problem in my thesis, either. I did not mind it at that time, thinking that I could try other algorithms.
With the Fa-rectification progressing faster and faster, the final actions of the persecution were almost insane. We heard about the news of practitioners persecuted in China one after another each day. Being as one body, overseas practitioners exposed the evil through all means. We held activities of urgent rescue of the practitioners in China time after time, and appealed peacefully in front of Embassies. Other kinds of activities of spreading the Fa and clarifying the truth were also following up. Seeing that Teacher Li and Dafa were slandered unreasonably, that our fellow practitioners in China were persecuted, and that the days I was not diligent enough in my cultivation practice, I was absorbed in Fa-rectification. The fear in my heart, which had bothered me, was also relinquished bit by bit in those days. Because I persisted in studying the Fa everyday and had experience sharing with many fellow practitioners, I became more and more clear minded in understanding the principles of the Fa.

Owing to joining the activities of spreading the Fa, sometimes I went to other places for several days. Therefore, I cherished the time left very much. Sometimes I would reduce my sleep to do my graduation design. I did not spend much time on my thesis every week. One time, I only worked for five or six hours during a week (This was a special case. In usual situations, one should maintain a normal study life). However, when I discussed with my director, I always could bring up some new algorithms of my own. Sometimes, a new thought would suddenly appear in my mind during the discussion. Nevertheless, when I failed in the deduction of different algorithms, my thesis was basically in a state of standstill. The condition continued for some time. I, always good at studying, felt there must be some problems in my cultivation practice. I had to look inside.

My fellow practitioners also saw that my schedule was a bit tight, so they reminded me not to have the heart for doing things. Schoolwork was also very important. We should also do well in the human level. It also validated the Fa. So, I started to think about it calmly. Why should I go out? Did I have an impure heart? How to balance the relationship of cultivation, Fa-spreading, and studying? Through studying the Fa, I understood that Dafa had created all beings in the universe and the living environment for all beings. All lives in the universe were created by Dafa. When Teacher Li and the Fa were slandered, when Dafa practitioners in China were persecuted groundlessly, being practitioners of Fa-rectification, going out for the Fa-rectification was our incumbent responsibility. At the same time, we were saving lives.

Thus, I was first of all a Dafa practitioner, then a student. So I had to go out to clarify the truth for Fa-rectification. But how should I treat study, especially the present graduation design? Teacher Li had said that Dafa practitioners should be good people everywhere, should do well in their jobs everywhere. When my family watched the fabricated news in China about the so-called conspiring with the anti-Chinese overseas powers and so forth, when I called home, I told them truthfully with an upright and dignified manner the whole process of our holding the activities of Fa-spreading or having peaceful appeals in front of the Embassies: first, practitioners applied to the local police for a legal permit; then, we practised the exercises to demonstrate traditional Chinese cultivation. The truth materials were printed by some practitioners with their own money first. Then we would buy from them to distribute. The banners were made by practitioners themselves. They said “Falun Dafa,” “Truthfulness, Benevolence and Forbearance,”or “Stop the persecution of Falun Gong,”etc. We did not accept donations and were not attached to any organisations. Besides, all activities were joined voluntarily. They then understood what I had said. Of course, they also knew that I spared time to join the Fa-spreading activities in the period of doing my graduation design. Then, while I always used to have good grades, but failed to do well of my graduation design, how would people around me regard a practitioner? At that time, I only understood that I should have an adamantine heart for cultivation in Fa-rectification first. As for my thesis, I would do my best, regardless of others’ point of views. Therefore, I only passively squeezed some more time from other activities to do my graduation design.

Though it took me much effort, the progress of my thesis was still slow. Reading many of the drafts of my deduction and the failure of all the algorithms, my director realized the difficulty, and thought it was hard for me to pass.
One day, when I memorized “Lunyu,”the first sentence appeared in my mind, “ ‘The Buddha Fa’ is most profound.”Thus, how could a practitioner be limited by the level of human knowledge? When I understood this principle, a three-dimensional mathematical model suddenly showed up in my mind. It was vivid, and even continuously rotated. Though I understood this principle, I knew that deep in my heart, there must be some deeply-buried attachment undiscovered. Until one day, when I fell asleep, a picture clearly showed up in my mind all of a sudden. That was the evening before I went abroad. When all of my family members were eating dinner together, my cousin asked me, “What is the most famous thing in Germany?”I casually answered, “Probably Mercedes-Benz.” Thus, my cousin said cheekily, “Then, you bring a Mercedes-Benz home when you come back. ”I looked at her with a smile, “I might be penniless when I come home, but it's enough for me to have a diploma. With my bare hands... ”When I awoke, I suddenly realized everything. The deeply buried attachment originated from here. At that moment, I felt light and at ease at once.

The progress of my thesis gradually became smooth after that. Sometimes when I quietened down to start my graduation design, throwing away the limitation of everyday people’s knowledge and thoughts, many real mathematical models would appear in my mind spontaneously. I experienced the condition of how Teacher Li described that practitioners’ wisdom would be broadened. Afterwards, I joined the activities of Fa-rectification more whole-heartedly. I clarified the truth to professors and some departments in the university, and people around me. Time was still tight, but everything was arranged perfectly. I was busy but not hasty.

Before long, I carried out two sets of complete and accurate solutions. So my thesis was accomplished successfully. I also helped my director correct an error that was extremely difficult to discover in the process of analogy on the computer. At last, I completed my study for my master’s degree with excellent grades for both the overall evaluation and the graduation thesis. The achievement of this thesis not only became a crucial part in my director’s research in his professional field, but an academic paper based on the thesis was also published on an international academic periodical. In addition, it was given the excellent thesis award that year by a quite influential professional association. Afterwards, I worked in the university and studied for my PhD, which offered many good chances to clarify the truth in the future.
Sometimes, when I encountered Chinese on the street, I would peacefully and kindly tell them the truth of Falun Gong, and at the same time, I would talk about my work and my PhD studies in the university. I did not have the intention of showing off in my talks, and others did not feel jealous, either. On the contrary, what they showed in their eyes was their understanding and respect towards Dafa.

Every time when I look back at my path of cultivation practice, I always feel that there is still a gap between myself and Teacher Li’s requirement. I thus always remind myself to be diligent.

Translated from: http://www.yuanmingeurope.net/articles/200302/17073.html