The Joy of Cultivation Is Boundless Only When I Truly Cultivate Myself

It is a great honour to share my humble insights from my cultivation practice with compassionate and admirable Teacher and fellow practitioners. The following recounts my journey on this precious path of cultivation.

I am an elderly Falun Gong practitioner from a farming village in China. It was a blessing that I started practicing Falun Gong on August 9, 1997. I am flooded with memories when I look back at my cultivation practice over the past 11 years.

1. While My Thoughts Are with Sentient Beings, I Cultivate Myself Solidly to Validate the Magnificence of Falun Gong

These years I constantly remind myself that I am a Falun Gong practitioner in the Fa-rectification period wherever I go. After all, I must behave well in all areas so as to reflect the demeanour of a practitioner. My neighbours, relatives, friends, and acquaintances, after witnessing my tremendous physical and spiritual improvements, praised Falun Gong because they knew I was prone to illness and suffered from heart disease, cerebrovascular sclerosis, stomach disease, and fatigue before I started practicing. It has been 11 years since I started practicing, and those stubborn illnesses that hospitals failed to cure have disappeared.

I have been actively participating or assisting in every local project that has to do with clarifying the truth about Falun Gong. There are 11 villages and 64 farming stations in our town, which we have divided into northern and southern regions. My group has been responsible for clarifying the truth to residents in the southern region for several years. Through Fa study, we have felt the urgency of saving people. Hence, our local Fa study group has divided practitioners into pairs to more efficiently accomplish our goal. Every pair of practitioners visits people door to door to explain the facts about Falun Gong and to try to persuade people to quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and/or its Youth League and Young Pioneers. I have met all kinds of people from these visits. These experiences made me realize how challenging it must be for Teacher to work tirelessly and compassionately to save us. Some people refused to let us into their courtyards. Some people kicked us out. Some videotaped us and threatened to report us to the local 610 Office. Some even threatened to call the police on their cell phone. We have had all kinds of responses. Typically we would send forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the evil elements behind them. We chose to be impervious to the adverse illusions and went on to visit the next household. It took us three days sometimes to finish visiting every household in a farming station.

One day we arrived at the home of the captain of a farming station. There were a lot of people at his home discussing medical care. The other practitioner I was paired with had previously clarified the truth to the captain and he had already quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations. Therefore, we were allowed to clarify the truth about Falun Gong and the nature of the CCP to his guests and to try to persuade them to quit the CCP. Before they responded, the captain urged them, saying "Why don't you all quit the CCP? I did it a long time ago." It turned out that all six of his guests quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations. The captain added, "Let's study these truth-clarification materials together and watch these DVDs now." At the time I felt Teacher's magnificent compassion and it was beyond description.

Next, we arrived at another household that happened to have a guest from out of town. Because of Teacher's reinforcement and our heartfelt compassion and kindness for these sentient beings, they agreed that Falun Gong was good. However, they didn't agree to quit the CCP or its affiliated organizations. My team mate and I were both pretty sad, so sad that tears welled up in our eyes. They were touched by our sincerity, so the entire family and their guest agreed to quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations. Throughout the experience of wandering around to visit households, I eliminated many human attachments. I truly felt that the only thing that we practitioners have a role in is saving people. There is no excuse for us not to do it. This year we finished calling on every household in all the farming stations in the southern region before the autumn harvest.

2. I Decided to Produce Truth-Clarification Materials to Save Sentient Beings

Back in 2000, practitioners in our farming areas had a scant supply of truth-clarification materials, so we had to pick up additional materials from other cities or counties. Truth-clarification materials were in short supply. One day we selected a few pages to be photocopied in a printing shop, but the store refused to make copies because of its contents. Finally, when the store agreed to make copies, they charged us 80 yuan for 100 copies. I don't have any personal income, and my family's income is very limited. Although truth-clarification materials were in high demand, I just couldn't afford the expenses in the long-run. I thought of producing truth-clarification materials on my own, but I was in my 60s and had little education. I wondered if I would able to learn to produce them. Later on I read an article in "Minghui Weekly" that advocated that practitioners in China produce informational materials at home. That was when I vowed to learn to use a computer in order to produce materials to save sentient beings. I think it was because of this one wish that Teacher made the necessary arrangements for me. Not long after, my daughter asked a fellow practitioner from a neighbouring province who is a computer expert to teach me to use a computer.

I didn't have any background in computers and knew nothing about them. In fact, I had never even seen a computer. It was a real challenge for me to learn to use one. But this young practitioner was very patient and sat with me for the entire evening. He did everything possible to help me learn to use the computer as quickly as possible. I have been producing truth-clarification materials at home independently for four years now and have been working well with the practitioners that pick up materials from me. When a problem surfaces, we communicate with each other and search inward. We all try to cooperate with each other in harmony.

3. Identify Interferences and Assimilate to the Fa

Shortly after I started producing materials at home, I faced a lot of interferences. I knew the old forces were creating obstacles because I wanted to save people. My family knew the truth about Falun Gong, so they didn't interfere. However, fellow practitioners had misunderstandings about me and gossiped about me. Some even accused me of wasting money that should have been used on saving people. But I knew it was the old forces attempting to separate us. I refused to acknowledge the old forces' arrangements. I told myself I would only follow Teacher's arrangement. Teacher said:

"He does not care at all in his heart for any ordinary human matter, and he will always be smiling and in good spirits. No matter how much loss he suffers, he will still be smiling and in good spirits without any concern." ("Lecture Nine" in Zhuan Falun)

With that in mind, I told myself, "It is all right as long as Teacher knows the truth. I don't need other people to understand. I know perfectly well if I am wasting money! Whatever people say is just a xinxing (character) test for me." Then I began to feel free and energetic. This is what I always tell myself when I face conflicts. These experiences made me realize that only when I search inward will I be able to cultivate myself. The joy of cultivation is boundless only when I truly cultivate myself!

4. Reminding Myself Constantly Not to Have Any Attachment to Doing Things

There is no other practitioner in my home but me to produce informational materials. I supply materials for local practitioners as well as practitioners from different counties and towns. I print "The Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party" regularly and there is no deadline. Fellow practitioners typically pick them up once a week. "Minghui Weekly," however, has to be printed once a week, which takes most of my time. I hardly have time to cook, let alone eat. Sometimes I wait until midnight to cook. After I eat, I hurry to bed so that I can get up on time to join the group exercise practice at 3:50 a.m.

Because I am so busy every day, I am prone to making mistakes when I print materials. One day the page numbers on the materials mismatched. I was so frustrated that I started crying, stomping my feet and blaming myself. After all, the money for printing came from fellow practitioners who save every penny they can to save people's lives. Because of my oversight, I wasted enough paper to print about seven booklets. Was there any selfish thought that might be the root cause? Then it became suddenly clear to me that I had compromised my "Fa" study and developed attachments to zealotry, showing-off, and doing things. I enjoyed praise from fellow practitioners such as, "You have done a wonderful job. You are very fast in producing materials." I realized this was not right. I immediately adjusted my mentality and rectified myself with the Fa. If I should allow these attachments to multiply, how could the old forces not exploit them? The consequences would be unimaginable.

After repeated contemplation and an evaluation of my situation, I finally decided that I needed help with producing materials. I approached two very diligent fellow practitioners and had a discussion with them. They were very glad to join me in producing materials, and we have been cooperating with each other well ever since. I now have sufficient time for Fa study, so I am more capable of exchanging insights with fellow practitioners and searching inward for attachments. Because I am able to understand everything from the perspective of the Fa, I seem to have upgraded my xinxing level quickly. I feel I have made improvements holistically. Since then, I rarely make mistakes in producing materials. Together we have made all kinds of beautifully designed materials that have been distributed all over our local towns, villages, and stations to save people. A fellow practitioner from a local county said to me, "I feel different when I travel to your area. It's a joyful feeling, and I find it easy to clarify the truth. Everyone I clarified the truth to was receptive. Other areas are not like this."

I am not good at writing, so please kindly point out anything inappropriate. Heshi.