Gradually Maturing in Our Cultivation

I am an elderly practitioner from the countryside in China. I started to practise Falun Dafa on August 9th, 1997. Looking back through my ten years of cultivation, I have much to say. Recalling this journey, I have had gains and also had lessons to learn. Simple language can't express my gratitude for Master's¹ great and compassionate teachings. It is Master who leads us and pulls us forward in cultivation.

Despite the persecution--including suppression by the local government, being arrested, and being unreasonably fined by the county 'gestapo' like 610 Office and town government--and despite the misunderstandings of my family, relatives, friends, and people around me, I have walked my cultivation path solidly up to today with Master's protection. My firm determination in cultivation originates from my strong belief in Master and in the Falun Gong teachings, the Fa. Only by studying the Fa well can I do everything well. Dafa is fundamental to everything and the guarantee of everything. The Fa is the source of everything we have. Only when we study the Fa well can we get rid of our selfishness and notions and purify ourselves. We should try to find our attachments according to the Fa principles and constantly look inward and let go of attachments. This way we can cultivate ourselves well and we can successfully pass tests and tribulations in our cultivation.

Validating Falun Dafa through Genuine Cultivation

During the past ten years, wherever I go and whatever the circumstances, I remind myself that I am a Dafa disciple in the Fa-rectification period. Only when we do everything well in every aspect can we show the demeanour of Dafa disciples. For example, I have often been given extra change when shopping or buying tickets on the bus. I immediately realise that this opportunity to return the extra change has been arranged for me to validate the Fa by Master, to tell the truth to people and clear away any misconceptions that they may hold towards the practice.

My neighbours, relatives, friends, and everybody who knows me have seen the great changes in me since I have practised Falun Gong, and all have said that Falun Gong is really wonderful. They know that I had all sorts of diseases before I practised. I suffered from heart disease, cerebral atherosclerosis, gastropathy. I have practised Falun Gong for ten years and haven't needed to take any medication since then.

My younger brother is a doctor of Chinese medicine and very well known locally. Many patients go to him for treatments. He often tells his patients to practise Falun Gong. He says, "My elder sister suffered from so many diseases and I treated her for so many years and was not able to cure them. She practises Falun Gong and has recovered from all of them. The best thing for you would be to start practising Falun Gong."

After the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) started the persecution, some of my family members were poisoned by the regimes lies and didn't dare to accept the truth. They started to question me. But later on they changed and supported me. From the bottom of my heart I thank Master for his great and compassionate salvation. Sometimes when I was doing Falun Dafa related things, it was time to cook dinner. My husband came in and, seeing I was doing Dafa things, he went on to cook dinner instead. My sister, daughter, son, nieces and nephews, and grandchildren all help me distribute materials in support of the practice, hang up banners, and put up small posters. One day my son laughed and said to me, "We have all become members of your transportation team." I said to him, "That is because you know the goodness of Dafa and know the truth of Dafa and surely you know what to do."

In January and February of 2007, it snowed heavily and the roads were blocked with snow. Cars and buses couldn't get through. Students couldn't go to class. Practitioners were determined to open up the road in order to validate the Fa, save sentient beings, and demonstrate the wonderfulness of Dafa to people. Of the seven days that we cleared snow, I participated six days. Along the over 50 miles of road, more than one hundred practitioners participated in clearing the snow. People travelling along the road were all very excited and shouted, "Falun Dafa is good!" Some of the drivers even raised their arms above their heads and shouted, "Falun Dafa is good!" Most of them withdrew from the CCP.

One person walked towards me with broad smile on his face. He asked me if I still remembered him. I said that I didn't. He said, "Last year more than ten of us were delivering cigarettes to the cigarette company. On the way we were thirsty and went to your home to ask for a drink. You were kind enough to oblige and also explained the truth about Falun Gong to us. Now when I come home, I really do as you told me. I recite in my heart 'Falun Dafa is good' and 'Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance is good.' Not only have I recovered from my disease, but a feeling of possession that has always plagued me has also disappeared. I thank Dafa's Master for saving me. Please help me to withdraw from the CCP, the Youth League, and the Young Pioneers. Falun Dafa practitioners are all good people. I will tell my friends and relatives when I return that Falun Dafa is good and that Falun Dafa is very righteous. I will tell them that practitioners volunteered to clear the snow from the road. Falun Dafa is the authentic way to save people."

Cultivate Ourselves When Doing Truth Clarification

It is a Falun Dafa disciple's responsibility to do the three things and it is also the vow we made in a pre-historic period. One day I went to the village to post some statements in support of the practice on the big trees and power poles on the sides of the road. When I finished I rode my bicycle back along the same road because there was no other way. Suddenly I saw a police car driving toward me not far ahead. The car was filled with officers, but I was not afraid at all. I instantly asked Master for help and asked Master to let the car turn around and go back. The big red characters I had painted had not dried yet. Once I had this thought, the car slowed down, turned around, and drove back the way it came. At that moment I experienced the power of righteous thoughts.

There was another incident. I went to the village and went from door to door to tell the truth about Falun Gong. One person who didn't know the truth stopped me, took out his cellphone, and tried to call the police. He said some nasty words. I thought, "I can't let you report me. You would generate karma." At the same time I looked inward for any omissions and anything I didn't do well that was not within the Fa. I sent forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the evil factors behind him. He put his phone back into his pocket and said that I was not allowed to say anything about Falun Gong in his village but that he had to go because he had something else to do. I looked inward and found my shortcomings. When I was clarifying the truth to one family, they asked me if I had met Master. I said that I had and that I could see him (I was referring to Master's photo) whenever I wanted to. Actually, I didn't see Master in person. At the time I was afraid that they would not take me seriously if I said that I hadn't. I regretted having said this. Another shortcoming was my heart of complacency. Most of the people I talked to came to know the truth and be saved after I clarified the truth to them. I became very pleased with myself. If Master had not protected me and if I had not detected my shortcomings, I would have been reported to the police. The result would have been bad. Master said: "Dafa is solemn, and cultivation is a serious matter--it's not child's play." ("Teaching the Fa at the Eastern U.S. Fa Conference") I should not let down my guard. I should try to always be a qualified Dafa disciple.

One night I went to my daughter's home. We wanted to go out to post truth-clarifying phrases together. Others said that it was thundering and lightening and looked like it was going to rain, and they would rather not go out. I said that I would go out by myself if they didn't want to go with me, and that I guaranteed that it would not rain until I came back. They worried about me and rode a tricycle to go with me. We went to two villages and posted phrases. The minute we got off the tricycle and back into the house, the rain poured down. My son-in-law said that Master was in control of everything and it was really miraculous. The phrases have been there for two years and are still eye-catching and still play the role of waking up sentient beings!

Such miraculous examples are many. I have truly witnessed that "Cultivation depends on one's own efforts while the transformation of gong is done by the master." ( Zhuan Falun, 2000 edition)

Looking Inward Is Genuine Cultivation

One day in April of 2007, a practitioner from another city drove his car, which was decorated with a banner that read "Falun Dafa Is Good," to deliver goods to various places. When he came to our town, the police arrested him. When I learnt about this incident, I did what I should do and looked for my shortcomings. A fellow practitioner was arrested in our town and there must be omissions in the practitioners in our town as a whole. I had a discussion with other practitioners and decided to go to the police station to get that practitioner out. We would clarify the truth to the police and also ask all the practitioners in our town to send forth righteous thoughts.

The next day I went to the police station at the time arranged by our coordinator. After asking several persons, I met the director. He had been appointed to this position a few days before and we didn't know him. I got right to the point and let him know the purpose of my visit--the release of the fellow practitioner. I clarified the truth to the him. Thanks to the efforts of the whole body of local practitioners, the director had a good attitude.

I left the police station and went to see another practitioner. He seemed unhappy to see me. He asked why I didn't mention at Fa study the previous evening that I wanted practitioners to go to the police station with me. My heart was not moved because I knew that it was the old forces that separated us. The Fa came to my mind and that I should look inward whatever happened. When two people have a conflict, the third party who happens to see the conflict has to look inward as well. I must have omissions. Though I knew this Fa principle clearly, I couldn't calm down later when I was studying the Fa after I got home. My human thoughts kept popping up. I thought to myself, "I disregarded the risk of being arrested and went to the police station; you didn't consider that and you even blamed me for the things that I hadn't said." I felt grieved and unsettled. But immediately I realised it was not me. Master said:

"Whatever you experience during your cultivation--whether good or bad--is good, for it comes about only because you are cultivating." ("To the Chicago Fa Conference")

Wasn't it an opportunity for me to improve my heart?

I looked inward and found my shortcoming. That night at Fa study, practitioners discussed how we went to the police station to rescue the out-of-town practitioner. One practitioner said that her daughter would be coming home the next day and that she wanted her daughter to go with me. I was reluctant to let her daughter come with me because she had just been married for one week, was very busy with work, and didn't study the Fa a lot. In addition, the director of the police station was new. I didn't know the daughter and didn't agree with her mother, but I said to her, "Of course, one more person and one more effort." Actually I should have shared with her my real concerns and discussed it with all the practitioners so that all of us could improve. I created a division when I didn't share my real thoughts. I felt such a relief and boundless joy when I found my attachment. At present I cooperate well with fellow practitioners, and our local practitioners are doing very well.

From this incident I realised the importance of looking inward when we have conflicts. In righteous Fa cultivation, we should get rid of negative messages and elements and should deal with everything clearheadedly, with righteous thoughts, and with pure kindness. When something doesn't comply with my notions, I shouldn't blame others. Criticism and blame are negative factors and the things of the evil spirit of communism. They will cause impurity in our field and produce partitions. If practitioners can help each other and make up for the things that other practitioners haven't done well and form an indestructible body and walk righteously on our cultivation path, we can then completely dissolve all the evils and present the compassion, harmony, beauty, and wisdom that we gain from the Fa to other people and sentient beings. As Master said in Zhuan Falun:

"the Buddha-light illuminates everywhere and rectifies all abnormalities."

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