My Experience of Cultivation

Greetings benevolent Master! Greetings fellow practitioners!

I started practising Dafa with my mother in 1999. I was only 8 years old at the time. We regularly came together to the practice site to do exercises, and a little later my mother gave me the book "Zhuan Falun" and told me to keep it with me all the time. Of course, due to my age, I could not understand a lot of things, but I just kept reading a little all the time.

I used to be a sickly child, I often had very bad headaches, and I regularly had the flu. And all the medicine I took did not help, but only increased the duration of the illness. I could not normally go to school, because most of the time I felt very bad.

The exercises had a great impact on my state of health, the more I did them, the better I felt. One day, when my mother took me to the Fa study group, I was sick and weak, and a little scared, but fellow practitioners told me not to worry, it was just the process of cleansing the body.

After some time, my mother married a Chinese practitioner and my life dramatically changed. I had a new environment in which most practitioners were Chinese. Also, I had a Chinese grandmother. She often took me to study the Fa with Chinese practitioners, I really liked this environment and I felt that it was one big family.

Several years later, my grandmother did not get a residence visa to stay, and she was forced to go to another country, where she was granted refugee status. At that time my mom stopped practicing and felt depressed, it was difficult for her to do housework and take care of my younger brother. One day, when I went to pick up my brother from nursery school I started to cry, realizing that now all of the family responsibilities would be transferred to me, and I was not ready for it. Then I realized that I had come to a turning point in my cultivation. It was time to use all that I had learned over the past years, the wisdom and understanding, it was time to practice, to rely on myself not on others. This idea became the backbone that strengthened my will.

Another challenge for me was the fact that my mother strongly prevented me from practising, and did not even want to let me go to the practice site. But I firmly told her that I did not want to stop practising, because the practice had brought me so much benefit and I wondered how she could even say something like this. I realized that I should firmly believe in Master and the Fa, no matter what happened.

Master said, "Cultivation is serious. Not one test or hardship will seem like a joke", "Then it is also testing whether or not you are steadfast towards this Law." ("Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Houston").That night I had a dream in which my mother and my father pulled my hands in opposite directions, my mum discouraged me from practising, and my dad asked me to go to church. I woke up sweating profusely, my whole body was shaking. I was in this condition for several minutes. Then I decided to sit down and send forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the chaotic gods and evil factors that interfered with me. Everything was gone in ten minutes like nothing had ever happened.

A new cultivation environment
When the situation had improved in my family and my mother began to feel better, I decided to reorganize my personal life. Since I had had to take responsibility for many duties in the family for a long time, I thought it was time to live independently. I thought that it would be much easier, but later I realized that instead of being happy to accept the hardships and difficulties, I began to think that the problems could be washed away. In fact, I was deeply mistaken.

I got married to a practitioner from another city. I was very happy, and thought that now I could begin a new life. But my thoughts were not righteous; my life became even harder.

I had many disagreements with my husband and we often endlessly quarrelled. I lacked compassion and patience, I could not give in to my husband, I thought about him in a human way, that his actions were wrong, and I never looked inside. Due to the fact that none of us could come to a reconciliation, we were constantly criticizing each other and saying hurtful words. All these offences in my soul turned into a huge mountain that seemed unmovable.

Since I no longer looked at things from the perspective of the Fa, all things in my life became chaotic. I could not find a job for a long time, and when I got it, the job was for a short period with a small income. My physical condition also severely deteriorated, and it felt very hard. Later, I still managed to find a job, but I was busy all weekends when we had group studies and activities. Thus, I was cut off from the group and I felt bitterness in my heart. I could not live without my job, because we could not do without my income and it was not easy to find another job.

I used my free time for doing things, but I still really missed our group environment. I was very jealous of my husband, as he had more time for doing things and studying the Fa in a group. Dissatisfaction and resentment overwhelmed me so much that I could not think about anything, and even when studying the Fa, I could not get enlightened and upgrade myself. One day I called a practitioner and told her about my situation, saying that I felt as if I was drifting from Dafa and I had no strength to take a step forward. She said that I needed to think about my mission and study the Fa with a calm mind, to think about my situation and look inside, she promised to support me.

I had a great desire to improve and upgrade quickly, but I had a test waiting for me that I was not able to pass. Once when I came home, I quarrelled with my husband and again I could not stand it and remain silent, on the contrary, I became even more argumentative, proving my point of view. My husband was so angry that he even hit me. Waking up in the morning I realized that it could not continue any more, I could not go back home with Master acting like this, and it was very important for me to change my heart.

I set a goal to fundamentally change myself, to control my thoughts and actions, and to develop patience and compassion. I let go of resentment and tried to understand my husband more. I decided that I would do everything possible using my free time and opportunities. It took more than two hours to get to my work place, so I used the time to study the Fa. As soon as I stepped forward and began to work on myself, the situation began to immediately change. The relationship between me and my husband began to improve, my director offered me a new position at work, and I went to the office for a standard working week with two main free days. My new position required many new skills that I had to learn from scratch, but I learned everything very quickly and I am still working there.

My work was also a new environment for improvement. When we had a reorganization in the office, there was an association between departments; I joined with the employee whom no one wanted to work with. At work she often dealt with extraneous matters, she could spend hours talking loudly on the phone about different subjects, and then completely leave the office leaving her job to me. This behaviour just put me in a bad mood, and I expressed my displeasure to her, trying to explain that it was wrong. But she just became more indignant. Later, I realized that I had to be nice to her, and only my example could make her think. I was no longer mad at her, and when she left I took her calls without any word and helped her with her work. The relationship between us was soon adjusted.

Clarifying the Truth to Chinese
Since I grew up in a Chinese environment, I managed to learn to speak Chinese, I clearly understand that I obtained this ability through Dafa. Since childhood I went out to distribute leaflets in Chinese, in 2000-2001 the situation was very tense, many Chinese believed in the lies and did not want to take our materials. They tore up our flyers and broke truth-clarification disks with hate in their eyes, and then threw them on the ground. Seeing their grim faces, I was a bit scared, but I knew that I was doing the right thing, and that it just took time for them to understand us.

In 2002 Russia started publish Epoch Times in Chinese, which has become an excellent tool to uncover the facts. We went out with one practitioner every weekend to distribute it to the major markets where there were many Chinese working. We were only two, and we had more than 500 newspapers, and it took a lot of time to go to each of them. During this process, I overcame a lot of things, such as fatigue, cold, heat, fear, and much more. When our human notions prevailed, the Chinese did not want to take materials and chased us. Then we stopped, sent righteous thoughts and moved on, driving away every bad thought. Due to persistence in the distribution of materials, many of them have changed their attitude towards Dafa. In this process my Chinese language also improved. Before I was unwilling to speak, and then I became determined and gained confidence, when I was asked where I learned to speak Chinese so well, I answered that my grandmother was Chinese and she practised Falun Gong. Many were shocked to hear this, they not only changed their attitude, but also became our friends through constant communication and reading materials. Over time, the number of practitioners participating in the project increased, and we were able to cover more and more Chinese.

A couple of days before the next time for distributing materials to Chinese people, I developed symptoms of chickenpox. Small blisters covered my whole body and I could not even sleep because my head was also covered with these blisters. In addition, I had a high fever. One day remained before distributing and I did not know what to do, whether I should go or not. I was afraid that my condition would create a bad impression. But I still decided that we should go, because if something prevented me from doing things, it was a hindrance. When I first started handing out materials I met the familiar Chinese man who was very happy to get the latest issue of the newspaper. He looked at me and said that I looked so good today, I was shocked and at first thought he was joking. But he talked about it quite seriously, and when I pointed to the red blisters on my face, he said he did not see them. I knew immediately that with these words he wanted to say, in spite of my condition I got out, I have such a good heart, and am still thinking about some blisters. On that day, throughout the distribution none of the Chinese said anything about my condition, but rather were all very happy to see me. Through this incident, I gained invaluable experience of how important it is to keep righteous thoughts at all times and deny the old forces.

The second incident like this happened before the next issue of the newspaper. Waking up in the morning I began to get ready, and when I looked in the mirror I noticed that something was wrong with my face. Looking closer I saw that a swelling had formed like a large plum under my right eye. Unfortunately, that day I did not manage to distribute the newspaper. But since the next day we had to go to another market, I firmly decided that tomorrow I would undoubtedly go. My husband and I stayed at home and decided to send forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the interference every hour. I was clearly aware that the evil tried to interfere to prevent me from going to distribute the newspaper. In between, I also read the Fa and kept righteous thoughts. In the morning the swelling subsided and we happily went to the market.

Master said, "Be sure not to forget that you are a cultivator. It is only because you have cultivation as your foundation that you can go and try to save people. Only with a foundation in cultivation and righteous thoughts that have grown strong will you succeed in saving people and complete your undertaking. So you must not neglect your own cultivation. This will always hold true. "(" 2012 International Fa Conference at the U.S. Capital")

Until now we go to distribute newspapers and other materials to Chinese people. The situation has undergone great changes. Many Chinese are not only happy to take our materials, but also talk and transmit information to others. Some have quit the CCP. For all this time we met a lot of Chinese people, and no matter how they behaved, and no matter what they said, we realized that they were all extraordinary, and it is very important to clarify the truth. After reading "20th Anniversary Fa Teaching" I have deeply understood how important it is, and that it is not easy.

Master said, "I have told you before that today’s Chinese people were once the Kings of the many ethnicities known to history, the Kings of each era; they are Kings of higher planes in the cosmos who have come down to earth, who’ve reincarnated in China. Their salvation will result in the salvation of the countless sentient beings behind them whom they represent. So it’s not so simple. When one such person gains salvation and it results in so many more being saved, who’s to eliminate all the karma involved? How is he to make it past that trial? What must he do for the old forces to have less of a loophole to exploit? What must be done in order to make the sentient beings and many gods at different levels of the cosmos who operate under the old Fa principles and old notions find him acceptable? What will it take for those beings that are being impacted to feel okay about it and to allow you to get through [the trial]? It is really hard. But Master has said that, “When disciples have ample righteous thoughts, Master has the power to turn the tide.” If your righteous thoughts are strong enough, who would dare to do something? So if you are in the right, Master can resolve anything. "

One day my husband and I offered a newspaper to a Chinese man. He flipped through it and said, "It's not true.” But my communication in Chinese forced him to continue the conversation. I told him about Falun Gong and promised to bring a DVD of self-immolation next time. The next time he told me: "In China I saw a lot of posters and leaflets of Falun Gong, I found them at the door and in the basket of my bike, but I never dared to look at them. I am currently working in Russia, and here you are offering me materials." He was very surprised that even here, in Russia, people are practising Dafa. From his words I realized how efforts of practitioners in China and around the world are important.

We maintained friendly relations with many Chinese. We congratulated them on different occasions, gave gifts, and helped them when they needed help, and I even taught them the Russian language. It also had a good impact, especially when it was difficult for them to accept the truth. At such moments, I sincerely told them about the persecution in China and what benefits I received through the practice. There was one Chinese, who did not want to take materials, but each time he passed by me, I said hello and asked how he was doing. After a year, he came up and asked for the newspaper. Now we are good friends and he regularly takes a newspaper for himself and his friends.

Some Chinese people, who realized the truth, gave us presents, offered food and tea and asked to stay to talk in gratitude. One winter, before distributing the materials, I lost my gloves, and it was a hard frost outside, and at first I was upset, but then forgot about it. After about half an hour, I met a Chinese friend and gave him a new newspaper. He saw that I was not wearing gloves, and said: "Today is so cold, where are your gloves?" I said that I had lost them, but there was no worry, and I would soon go home. But it did not stop him, he even forgot about his job, just left and asked me to wait for him. A few minutes later he returned with new gloves. I was very uncomfortable taking them, and I refused for a long time. But he did not want to listen to me, and told me to take them as a sign of gratitude.

Also, we are distributing newspapers to builders when they finish their work. As soon as they see us, some of them run, shake hands, and are sincerely grateful. Some say, "Thank you, we know that it is not very easy for you." And they shout when we are leaving, "Falun Dafa - Hao!" One Chinese took the newspaper and looking at us said, "Great job, you are doing an excellent job." But there is also a group of Chinese who do not want to read materials. I enlightened that Master encourages and inspires us with the words of these people. And this second group gives a hint that we don’t have much time, and we need to seek ways to give them a chance for salvation

Participation in the Dafa website
Translations of the Russian version of a Dafa website also become a part of my cultivation.

Here I started from scratch as well, and now I understand this project gave me a big breakthrough. By regularly doing translations, I obtained great wisdom from the experiences of fellow practitioners. And the articles I get are like they are specially written for me. When I could not pass a test, or enlighten to something for a long time I get an article for translation that described a similar problem. Experiences of our practitioners are priceless; they are very helpful to me. Each article makes a big impression on me and does not go unnoticed. I also edit a lot of experience sharing articles already translated by other practitioners, and very often I come across articles with the same errors. Then I thought, well, the coordinator has asked us to pay attention to them many times, and the practitioners still do them. And then I realized that this is another allusion to the fact that I did not let go of some of my attachments, which I have had for a long time, and I got a hint through it. I was very grateful to Master.

In conclusion I would like to quote the words of Master in "20th Anniversary Fa Teaching" “I will tell you: cherish the path that you have travelled and what you’ve done, cherish all of the time you’ve spent validating the Fa. What has passed shall never return. If one were to try to create again a climate of terror in which to temper Dafa disciples, it would no longer be possible, for there is not that much evil left. As the Fa-rectification pushes forward, level after level, it is ceaselessly, on a large scale, eliminating the evil elements, and the new cosmos is constantly moving ahead in its formation. The Dafa disciples who have done well have been eliminating evil on a large scale throughout the [cosmic] expanse and region that they are responsible for. So, if one wanted those evil elements to play some major role, it would no longer be possible."

Dafa gave me a second, real life, showed me wisdom and gave me a lot of abilities. I will use all this to cultivate better and do the three things better.

Please, point out anything inappropriate with compassion.

Thank You, Master! Thank you fellow practitioners!