New Practitioner: Appreciation for Fellow Practitioners' Help in Gradually Understanding the Truth

New Practitioner: Appreciation for Fellow Practitioners' Help in Gradually Understanding the Truth
By a new practitioner in Germany
(Clearwisdom.net) I am a new practitioner who started practicing Falun Dafa in March 2007. Since then, I have been immersed in the Buddha light every day. I am deeply grateful for Teacher's compassion and fellow practitioners' tremendous efforts to help me - a lost person, understand the truth and walk the path of returning to my true self.
One day during the summer of 1999, I heard of Falun Gong for the first time on CCTV when the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) started to criticize Falun Gong. From then on, the TV programs defaming Falun Gong were broadcast daily. I really felt disgusted at such propaganda, and was doubtful as well. I was especially annoyed when the CCTV broadcast news like someone gave up practicing and started to criticize Falun Gong under some leader's "flood of concern and care." I was wondering: If Falun Gong is that bad, then the practitioners could walk away from it themselves. Why bother with a "flood of concern and care?" Later, I ignored the programs defaming Falun Gong. I've never taken seriously the false news of the "Self-immolation on Tiananmen Square."

Currently in China, the CCP's propaganda poisons everyone, and people are unconsciously influenced by what they hear and see. When I saw the picture exhibition that defames Falun Gong on a university campus, I really believed that Falun Gong practitioners could do those bad things that the CCP said about them.

Later, I was greatly shaken by the truth clarificationvideo broadcast event in Changchun, because I had never seen anyone do that before [this refers to practitioners in 2002 successfully tapping into the cable TV network to broadcast truth-clarification programming]. I believed that no one could accomplish that. This event aroused my curiosity about Falun Gong and its founder Mr. Li Hongzhi. I said to my roommates, "Whether Falun Gong is good or not, I believe that its founder is absolutely a genius." To my regret, due to fear and uneasiness, I never read the truth-clarification email sent to me.

One day, a person on QQ (an instant messenger software in China) sent me many questions about Falun Gong. He asked me which question I was most interested in. I don't remember what I responded to, but I only remembered that the person said, "I understand you." Just because of those words, I felt that he was protected by something. No matter what happened, nothing could disturb his heart. Just because of those words, I asked him almost all of those questions. I figured out the reason behind those words; I think it's probably due to the power of compassion. Though I learned some truths about Falun Gong at that time, I was still not clear about what Falun Gong really was.

Later, I went abroad with my husband. I was very sad when I initially found out that my husband was practicing Falun Gong. While I learned some more about Falun Gong, I was worried because it's still persecuted by the government. I asked my husband, "Are you against the government?" I trembled in fear whenever I thought of that. When my husband saw me crying, he smiled. He answered many questions that I had with great patience. After that, I was not adverse to Falun Gong. Sometimes I would steal a brief look when he was practicing the exercises. I felt that those movements looked very nice. My husband also asked me to watch the video "Traveling Between Heaven and Earth." Though I didn't watch it carefully, it touched me very much, and I was no longer against my husband's beliefs.

We installed an NTDTV satellite receiver, and the NTDTV programs broadened my view and gave me more information about Falun Gong. However, I didn't accept NTDTV immediately. In the beginning I was very critical. I couldn't believe the horrible story that a CCP member peeled off the skin of a live person. It's so cruel and beyond the imagination of human beings, that I just couldn't believe it. Finally, the book the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party solved my puzzle. The complete Nine Commentaries video series was broadcast on NTDTV. I changed my thoughts completely after watching the series. I learned about more websites through NTDTV, and sometimes logged onto them. Gradually, I learned the truth of Falun Gong.

I was very weak physically, so my husband always tried to persuade me to practice Falun Gong. I don't know why I was not moved. One day, he said that I had no predestined relationship with Dafa. My heart was shaken by the two words "predestined relationship." Around the 2007 New Year, I read Teacher's article "My Thanks to Sentient Beings Who Have Sent Greetings" on the Minghui/Clearwisdom website. My heart was shaken again by the words "sentient beings" and "Consummation" in the article. From then on, I developed the idea to practice the exercises, but still didn't want to read Zhuan Falun. Every time I tried to read the book, I couldn't focus. It seemed that something was preventing me from reading it. Every day, I hoped that a practitioner would come to visit me. It seemed to me that I would have definitely decided to practice Falun Gong if anyone would just come to see me. It's a pity that my hope was not realized at that time.
Subsequently, NTDTV broadcast "Goddess of Mercy and Compassion," in which there was an episode of Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara chanting scriptures. I was instantly moved by her compassion. In the meantime, I had an idea: Though I don't want to read the printed version of the book, I could read it online.

After reading only several lines of Zhuan Falun, I adjusted my posture and sat upright and read attentively. I had never read the book as carefully as this time. Later I realized that it was due to the mighty power of Dafa. I felt tired when reading online, and started to read the printed book carefully. I didn't feel uneasy anymore. It seemed that the obstacle that prevented me from reading the book had disappeared. The principles that I had never heard before attracted me. I completed Zhuan Falun in only three nights.

Having read Zhuan Falun once, I felt much clearer. Though I was not quite clear about several points, I really felt that Zhuan Falun is a book that teaches people to be kind. I often tell others about my feeling after reading the book for the first time: Whether you believe in the existence of gods and Buddhas, it's really a book that teaches people to be kind. While I was reading the book, I was very comfortable, even my knees and back, which often ache, felt very warm. Though I had read it only once, I knew from the bottom of my heart that I was determined to practice Falun Dafa and follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.

I started to learn Falun Dafa during school vacation. I spent all my time reading the Fa, studying new articles, reading articles on Minghui/Clearwisdom and practicing the exercises during that period. The more I studied the Fa and practiced the exercises, the more changes happened to me. I really felt free of illness. The more I studied the Fa and practiced the exercises, the higher the Fa principles I learned from the book. I realized that this is the Buddha Fa. Cultivation is such a wonderful thing. The more I studied the Fa and practiced the exercises, the more regret and excitement I felt. I felt regret because I started practicing so late, as Teacher has spread the Fa for fifteen years. I was excited, because finally, I came to Dafa. Compared with those numerous sentient beings who still haven't obtained the Fa, I am so fortunate.

Eight years had elapsed from the first time that I heard of Falun Gong, to the date that I started practicing Falun Dafa. During the past eight years, in order to change my thoughts and help me find my way home, so many fellow practitioners have extended their help, and have made tremendous efforts and sacrifices; and how much energy has Teacher exhausted on me!

Whenever I think of my own experience, I often wonder: How difficult it is for a person to come into Dafa! Therefore, all practitioners should cherish this precious opportunity. Sometimes I also wonder: If the persecution of Falun Gong had never happened, I would have started practicing earlier, and far more people might have practiced Dafa. It's a pity that so many kind Chinese people have no access to the truth of Dafa. Some people are even persecuting practitioners and committing crimes against Dafa.

I have described my experience in detail because I want to tell fellow practitioners: Please be patient. Be persistent: "I just want to save you." Of course, we are not imposing the truth on people, and we should do things properly. People who are saved and come into Dafa can't express their appreciation enough. Today, I would like to express my great thanks to the fellow practitioner who told me the truth, to my husband and fellow practitioner, to NTDTV, to the fellow practitioners who managed the Dynamics website and other media, and to all the fellow practitioners who are making continuous efforts to save sentient beings. I would like to express much more appreciation to our great Teacher for teaching us Dafa and educating more than 100 million good practitioners.