Click on the below-mentioned, numbered subjects:
- Welcome
- What�s Happening?
- The Danger of Allowing Attachments to Grow
- Respecting Master and Dafa is a Disciple's Duty
- Cultivate Every Thought
- Am I Truly Cultivating Diligently Every Day?
- All Interference Such as Sickness or Persecution Should Be Handled with the Same Righteous Mindset
- A Tribute to my Master
- 1. Welcome
Welcome to the October 2009 Falun Dafa India Newsletter.
This issue has a compilation of experience-sharing Articles gleaned from Clearwisdom that always shine through because of their insights and fine quality of sharing. It is important to read the Clearwisdom, Pureinsight and other Dafa sites. We make an effort to select Articles from the Archives which people don�t go back to and are relevant even today. Contributions are welcome from practitioners.
We have in this issue a poem written by an Indian practitioner living in Newzealand. The newsletter generally does not have any poems since practitioners prefer to read experience sharing articles which they can connect with. But since there are no contributions coming and as a sign of encouragement, and also respect for his efforts, we decided to include the poem.
Heshi! Hope, you like the selection of Articles and gain some new insights!
Note: "All the contents in this newsletter - except for quotations and excerpts of writings of the founder Mr. Li Hongzhi - are only ideas and experiences of practitioners and do not represent Falun Dafa in itself."
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- 2. What�s Happening?
Practitioners were busy trying to organize the arrival of the Divine Land Marching Band in three cities. You can read the reports on Clearwisdom.
Practitioners in Bangalore have been making efforts to introduce Fa Study in schools.
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- 3. The Danger of Allowing Attachments to Grow
By a Falun Gong Practitioner in Toronto
(Clearwisdom.net) As I get involved with more and more projects
to validate Dafa, as the Divine Performing Arts Mid-Autumn Spectacular
ticket selling gets more and more rigorous and as the Fa-rectification
progresses closer and closer to the conclusion, I feel that cultivation
presents me with higher and higher requirements and my various attachments
are also being exposed more and more obviously. How do I walk correctly
on the serious path of cultivation? My sudden awareness of the danger
of my growing attachments gave me a very deep feeling. In cultivation,
if one does not advance he will then move backward. I do not want to
keep falling. Therefore, I put my experience in writing to share with
fellow practitioners and hope fellow practitioners can learn from my
lesson.
Origination
It was a kindly reminder from a fellow
practitioner that resulted in my writing this article. This reminder
allowed me to find out many of my attachments that had been hiding deeply,
some of which were getting worse and worse. For a cultivator, the continuation
of one's attachments and especially the attachments that are getting
larger are very dangerous. Therefore, I appreciate very much that this
practitioner reminded me.
Recently, when I was talking with a fellow
practitioner about some other practitioners' undesirable cultivation
situation and some tribulations they were experiencing recently, this
practitioner suddenly pointed out to me, "When you are talking
about others' tribulations, you seem to have a feeling of pleasure."
(Actually the practitioner meant that I was taking pleasure in others'
misfortunes, but out of politeness this fellow practitioner did not
use these heavy words.) I was stunned at the moment. Why did I give
out such an impression? Wasn't that scary? These words really alarmed
me greatly. I thought a lot that night and dug out some of my deeply
hidden attachments. I am sure that I have not dug out all my attachments
yet and some of them are still hidden. I am asking fellow practitioners
to give me more hints. Thanks!
Mentality of Showing Off
The mentality of showing off is my biggest
attachment; it is also the one that I have been trying to discard but
I have not been able to discard completely. I remember when I first
started practicing cultivation, Master gave me a very clear hint about
this issue in a dream. It was a very clear dream. In the dream, everyone
was sitting around Master and Master was lecturing on the Fa. There
was a trophy next to Master (my impression was that it had been an award
to Master from an ordinary people's organization). After the Fa lecturing,
Master picked up the trophy and asked, "Who wants this trophy?"
At that moment, only me and another fellow on my right stood up anxiously
and wanted it. Since I sat closer to Master, Master gave the trophy
to me.
At that moment in the dream, I felt lucky
and thought that Master was rewarding me. I asked Master in a low voice,
"Why don't you want it?" Master said to everyone, "Why
do our cultivators want these ordinary people's fame and fortune?"
In the dream I stood there holding the trophy and did not know what
to do. I really wanted to give the trophy to the practitioner who stood
up with me a moment earlier. Master then said to me, "It is OK
for you to have it since you have already got it. It will be good if
you can let go of the attachment."
After I woke up, I was not quite clear
about what attachment Master wanted me to discard. My husband said after
hearing about my dream, "Think about it. If you really had a trophy
awarded to you by Master, it would be strange if you didn't show it
off to the whole world. Master wants you to discard your strong mentality
of showing off."
Since that time, I decided to discard
my strong show-off mentality. But after many years, it seems to have
become stronger, instead of being discarded. Master said in Zhuan
Falun, "This mentality of showing off can manifest in any situation;
it can also surface when doing a good deed." (Zhuan Falun,
March 2000 translation version)
When I wrote reports, articles and sharing,
I wrote them with a strong mentality to showing off. When I heard fellow
practitioners saying, "I like to read your sharing. I like to read
your reports. Why didn't you write for a long time? Your sharing is
really touching. How about writing an article about this issue to encourage
everybody. How about coordinating this matter because you can motivate
fellow practitioners." Amidst these praising voices, my show-off
mentality was obviously inflated, instead of being discarded. Therefore,
when I heard about others' undesirable cultivation situation, I had
the mentality of looking down on them, thinking that I was better.
Jealousy
Master said,
"The issue of jealousy is very serious
as it directly involves the matter of whether you can complete cultivation
practice. If jealousy is not abolished, everything that you have cultivated
will become fragile. There is this rule: If in the course of cultivation
practice jealousy is not given up, one will not attain Right Fruit--absolutely
not." (Zhuan Falun)
Each time I read this paragraph of the
Fa, it seemed that I decided to discard my mentality of jealousy. However,
I thought that in this aspect my attachment was not as strong; I thought
that I was better than others and there was not much chance for me to
be jealous of them; it was possible that others had more chances to
be jealous of me.
However, the facts were not what I had
thought. When I heard about others saying good words about a fellow
practitioner, I would talk to others about some insufficiencies of that
fellow practitioner. When I saw a fellow practitioner doing something
good, I would also say some good words to that practitioner but in the
back of my mind I was somewhat jealous; I would think that if I had
done it I would do better. When I saw some young and pretty practitioners,
a thought would unknowingly pop up, "I was not worse than you are
when I was young." When I saw some practitioners manifesting feminine
gentleness (because I am lacking that), a thought would pop up, "Don't
do this to me," and so on.
All these attachments existed in my cultivation.
I should discard them as soon as I came to realize them. Otherwise,
they will accumulate and inflate and be very dangerous at the end.
Mentality of Covering Up
As I wrote more and more sharing articles,
some practitioners became more willing to share with me. I then thought
that my understanding of the principles of the Fa was pretty good. When
some practitioners came to share with me, I would use the Fa-principles
to convince them. Actually, when I later looked inside deeper, I found
that on one hand, I was using Master's words to make requirements of
others; on the other hand, I was covering up my attachments and insufficiencies.
I was afraid that others would think that my understanding was unclear
and I was afraid of others knowing that my cultivation was far behind
my words.
Therefore, when I commented on others,
I sounded as if it was based on the Fa. However, I would avoid the topic
when the discussion touched my essentials. I had a feeling of relief
when I talked about other practitioners going through tribulations,
because I was actually covering up my own insufficiencies, feeling that
my mind was somewhat balanced because some other fellow practitioners
were not as good as I was.
Not Cultivating My Speech
One time, a fellow practitioner shared
with me for a while. At last he said with regret, "I am done. I
have told you everything and the whole world will know about it."
At that time, I started to realize that my uncultivated speech was very
bad. When he said that, I still did not want to accept it and I still
found excuses. I said, "Maybe the more you worry about me telling
your stories to others, I will probably have more tendency to do so.
Let go of your attachment and I will probably not tell anybody."
I looked outward with those plausible words.
Master said,
"The cultivation of speech that
we teach refers to: that which involves one's reputation and personal
gain that cannot be given up among everyday people, that which has nothing
to do with the actual work of practitioners in society, the senseless
gossiping among practitioners in the same school of practice, attachments
that cause one to show off, hearsay or circulating rumors, or those
discussions on some social issues that one is excited about. I hold
that these are all attachments of everyday people. I think that in these
areas we should watch what we say--that is the cultivation of speech
we refer to." (Zhuan Falun)
I remember one time when our marching
Band went to Ottawa to participate in a parade. Several practitioners
asked me, "Why didn't you go?" (Before I always went with
the band to write news reports) When I heard many practitioners asking
why I did not go, I replied, "I am not good at playing any instruments,
what can I do if I go?" A fellow practitioner joked, "Your
boast is alright." Everybody smiled. If that had happened before,
I would probably treat this as a regular joke and then let it go after
a laugh; I might even have taken it as praise.
However, as practitioners, whatever we
run into is not accidental. I asked myself at that moment, "Should
I be serious about the cultivation of speech from now on?" My character
is that I say whatever I think, no matter whether it is good, bad, funny
or not funny; I simply say it without considering whether others can
take it or whether it will hurt others. I simply get everything off
my chest by all means.
I remember one time we went to New York
City. My seven-seat vehicle was crammed full while another five-seat
vehicle only had three people. I asked one from my vehicle to go to
another vehicle but nobody wanted to go. The reason was that by staying
in my vehicle they could laugh all the way. At night, they would rather
sleep on the floor than go to other rooms because they wanted to listen
to my "boasting." The more the fellow practitioners complimented
me, the more my attachment grew. Finally, I made them laugh bending
forward and backward and I enjoyed self-satisfaction at the same time.
Actually, this kind of casual talk exposed
many of my attachments: selfishness, showing off, zealotry and not thinking
of others. This kind of casual talk also brought out very big barriers
and tribulations to my cultivation at the same time. But I still felt
satisfied when others complimented me that I was capable of telling
stories and writing articles. It was already a very dangerous situation
for me. Therefore, I understood that Master was giving me a hint through
the fellow practitioner's words, "I must cultivate my speech."
When others were going through tribulations,
my uncultivated speech did not give them any support; it instead created
bigger tribulations for them. Therefore, cultivation of speech is very
advantageous with no shortcomings for either others and myself. I must
truly pay great effort to cultivating my speech well.
Conclusion
Master said,
"So, when you meet with ordeals,
it is the perfect opportunity for you to improve. If you are able to
look inside, that trying situation will become instead an opportunity,
something to overcome and a chance to enter a new state. Why haven't
you looked at things that way? As soon as you meet with an ordeal, you
push it away. As I said, even if you quarreled over validating the Fa
and saving sentient beings, or you heard some unpleasant comments, those
were all for your improvement, because your improvement comes first.
Without your improvement, nothing can be achieved, and that includes
saving sentient beings. If you fail to improve and achieve Consummation,
where will the sentient beings that you save go? Who will take them?
Why not look at things that way? Of course, while you're among ordinary
people, it is hard to do everything perfectly and to really be that
way at each and every moment. But at least on crucial issues, such as
saving sentient beings, or cultivation, you should look at things that
way, right?" ("Fa Teaching at the 2008 New York Conference")
Master has explained this so explicitly
to us. If we still do not look inside to cultivate ourselves, can we
validate Dafa well? Can we be worthy of Master's efforts to save us?
Have we done enough for ourselves? I want to thank the fellow practitioner
that I mentioned at the beginning of this article for waking me up and
for giving me the opportunity to look deep into myself for shortcomings.
I hope this is also an opportunity for me to improve.
Please point out any mistakes. Thanks
everybody!
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- 4. Respecting Master and Dafa is a Disciple's Duty
By a practitioner in Dezhou, Shandong Province
(Clearwisdom.net) It is cultivation process, for one, to be able
to truly respect Master and Dafa. I remember when I first obtained Dafa,
due to my ignorance of how noble and solemn Dafa is, I casually placed
Dafa books everywhere and read the books while lying in bed. Gradually,
with the progress of my cultivation, I developed a deeper understanding
of Dafa. From a shallow perception to one with profound reasons while
witnessing the mighty power of Dafa during the persecution. I truly
realized that no matter how we respect Master and safeguard Dafa, we
cannot pay back what Master and Dafa have given us or repay the Buddha's
infinite grace.
I have read several articles on this
subject and they are very inspiring. However, I find that some veteran
practitioners are still unable to do well during this last stage of
Fa-rectification. For example, studying the Fa is a holy event. However,
during group study, some of us do not dress appropriately. Some lay
down against the bed covers with both legs stretching out; some sit
on chairs with their legs crossed high; some are not serious in reading
the Fa; and some chat about other things loudly or continue answering
their cell phones. Seeing such a situation, a new practitioner may get
a negative perception resulting in an adverse impact on their cultivation.
Fellow practitioners want to obtain a healthy group study environment
to improve as a whole. With such poor postures and attitudes, how can
the profound Fa principles manifest before us?
This is not intended to blame anyone
here. I know I have not been doing very well either. As a matter of
fact, let us think calmly. Although Master has suffered so much for
all practitioners, he never asked us to worship him with any religious
formalities such as burning incense or kowtowing. He only asks us to
cultivate a heart of compassion. Without Master's protection, in such
a brutal environment, how could we still be able to sit together to
study the Fa? How can we be worthy of Master if our behavior is as described
above? Moreover, the fellow practitioners who are still detained in
those demonic dens are not only unable to study the Fa but also unable
to do the exercises. How strong their urge must be to be able to study
the Fa! How can we not treasure such a precious opportunity to be able
to study the Fa together.
Here is my personal understandings on
the correct posture in studying the Fa. Keep the upper body straight,
sitting in the double lotus position or the single lotus position. Hold
the book with both hands with an attitude of reverence and sincerity.
Take turns reading the paragraphs with clear pronunciation and with
the proper speed, so that everyone can follow along in their minds.
Reserve a sufficient amount of time to share experiences while discussing
more on the Fa principles and avoid ordinary people's topics. A practitioner
with an opened celestial eye mentioned what she saw. During the group
study, Master's fashen and other Gods are all present. They all listen
to the Fa sitting in the double lotus position. When she uncrossed her
legs, a god would say, "You stepped into me." She then would
resume the lotus position quickly. If someone read too fast, there would
be a god saying, "Slow down." Another fellow practitioner
said that many gods were listening to the Fa while kneeling down. Apparently,
studying the Fa is very serious and important. We should truly do well.
Fellow practitioners, please treasure
what we have! Such an incomparable and magnificent Dafa has been passed
down to us who are filled with karma. We were scooped up from hell,
cleaned and purified, and are bestowed with the glory of the Gods. To
be worthy of the beings created by Dafa and to manifest as true Fa-rectification
period Dafa disciples to sentient beings, we must be more diligent on
our cultivation path and be responsible to sentient beings. We should
mind minor details while holding great aspirations and respect Master
and Dafa wholeheartedly. This is what we should do and we should do
it well.
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- 5. Cultivate Every Thought
[PureInsight.org] Dear Master! Dear fellow practitioners!
Despite a busy everyday life,
I�ve passed my twelfth year of Dafa cultivation. When I look back
over my cultivation path, I�ve found that every single thing in my
life was part of my xinxing cultivation. Every thought of mine has been
a choice between being a human or being a God.
1. Cultivation and Improvement
in Being a Mother
As a mother of four children,
I have many good cultivation experiences. I feel deeply that my kids
are my best fellow practitioners. They help me expose my hidden attachments.
Meanwhile, they reflect my human thoughts and impurities in comparison
to their purity.
Every time when someone says
that they feel thirsty, my three-year old son will stop playing, quickly
open the fridge and get a drink. Sometimes he spills the drink because
he is in too much of a hurry. If I was in the middle of doing housework,
I would sometimes chastise him without a thought. Then he would look
at me with his innocent, nervous, but curious eyes that made me recognize
my rude behavior. He is actually very enthusiastic and the most helpful
person in my family. If I calm down and think of his selfless behavior
and compassion, I get embarrassed. Despite being a practitioner, I often
ignore the virtues of my child because I�m busy with housework and
see his enthusiasm as making a mess. I often don�t know how to appreciate
the child's selflessness and warmth. This made me realize that I made
the same mistake during Fa rectification work. I always think of the
result too much and forget to appreciate the virtues of each practitioner
who wants to cultivate and displays a heart of gold.
Let me now talk about my joining
the media project. I�m one of the veteran practitioners who has been
part of the media endeavor from the beginning. After two years, I saw
myself as a specialist with a lot of experience. I began to pick on
others� news reports. I unconsciously hurt other practitioners with
my comments that were laced with various human notions. I couldn�t
see in others the wish to improve. It�s my son who let me see the
harm to Fa rectification work because I didn�t take working as cultivation.
Many times, when I was in a
hurry to go out, my second son helped his younger brother to slowly
put away his toys, without caring about my yelling or scolding. Although
this happened over and over again, my son continued at his slow speed.
I felt provoked and blamed him and scolded him using bad words. But,
my son never resents me, always smiles and says, �I love my mom the
most.� At first, I thought it was his character, because he is the
quietest among my four children. He is also the most honest, most ordinary
and the least smart one. During conflicts among the brothers, he is
always the most tolerant and never takes revenge.
Then one day, I found that
I had lost virtue when dealing with my second child. I felt guilty about
what I had said and my behavior. I realized that it�s been his gentle
and tolerant character that has smoothed the relationships between my
children, which has helped me a lot. Instead, I criticized him from
a materialistic standpoint. I worried about his not being as smart as
his elder brother. But actually, a sentient being with higher xinxing
is much closer to the truthfulness, benevolence, tolerance character
standard of the universe. Isn�t he reflecting my lack of compassion
and tolerance by his behavior? Isn�t he helping me improve myself?
The same thing happened during
my Fa rectification work when trying to save sentient beings. I often
evaluated and co-operated based on people�s ability in the human world.
I didn�t look within and made the excuse of being busy on tasks assigned
by Master. Actually, every single Dafa disciple has an important role
in the Fa rectification. We cannot judge them by their worldly abilities,
their age or based on their technological skill. But I am still not
quite clear about this principle and am bouncing back and forth. Most
of the time I could not behave like my second son. I was not able to
smooth the relationships during conflicts with practitioners because
of my own attachments.
For quite a while, my eldest
son spoke some rebellious words and displayed rebellious behavior. This
appeared to be the behavior of an adolescent. He always threatened that
he would not study the Fa any longer. I became worried and gave him
more attention. I felt that he no longer was so good hearted and obedient
as when he was younger, and he didn�t like helping me anymore. As
our conflicts increased, I developed a really bad headache and began
to study the Fa intensively. I eventually looked at myself from the
perspective of my son. I found that I really had a problem criticizing
him daily, chastising him for his impatience, selfishness, high-handed
behavior, which actually were reinforced by all of my shortcomings.
It was I who brought so many problems to such an innocent child! He
used to help me a lot by taking care of his brothers, but I never thought
to thank him. I never appreciated or learned from his inborn virtue.
Wasn�t that a special way Master used to remind me? When I apologized
to him from the bottom of my heart and tried to change my behavior,
my eldest son no longer rebelled and he treated his cultivation seriously
again.
As a coordinator, I have similar
problems. When I got attached to my tasks, I would forget what other
practitioners had done and how much they suffered. Thus, I didn�t
know how to cherish, appreciate and thank others. Isn�t that a bad
old cosmic factor that separates us and prevents us from being upright?
If I couldn�t realize this and continued to deny this, how could I
be part of the one body with all practitioners?
Three of my sons were born
after I began to cultivate in Dafa. I trained them to go to the restroom
the day after they were born. My husband, who is not a practitioner,
laughed at me and said that it was impossible to train a 2-day-old baby.
Shortly after he said this, my infants showed that they knew how to
cooperate in this respect. They were very neat and never let poop or
pee dirty their bodies. And they could always make me understand what
they wanted. What�s more, the infants seemed to know my time for saving
sentient beings is limited. They automatically stopped or refused my
breast milk when they were between seven and eight months old. Thus,
I could go out more often. I realized that Master was reminding me all
the time: As a practitioner, I must be modest.
Compared to Dafa, my thoughts
of human opinion are all shallow and wrong. If I could be as pure as
an infant, I would also have supernormal abilities, be enlightened and
do everything efficiently.
2. Cultivation While Collecting
Speeches for our Experience Sharing Conferences
I have collected speech drafts
for Experience Sharing Conferences for many years. We cancelled our
Canadian Experience Sharing Conference last year for many reasons. Though
we lost our deposit, many disciples were still relaxed and said that
we were too busy and they did not mind that we canceled the conference.
We don�t have to worry about this issue now! I myself was there, but
didn�t feel anything wrong.
This year, we found that many
cultivation problems had become more prominent. Many projects faced
great difficulties. When looking within, we realized that the difficulties
were due to our lack of integrity. We should find the root cause and
see the truth clearly. We found that cultivation communication among
practitioners had become working communication. Our Fa study groups
grew smaller or some disappeared. Exercise spots were scattered all
about. When we talked about the Experience Sharing Conference, practitioners
seemed uninterested. Even only a couple of days before the Canadian
Experience Sharing Conference, despite much information and communication
from the Fo Xue Hui and volunteers calling for speech drafts from every
practitioner, there was hardly any response.
Master said that we should
look within when encountering any problems. As a member of the task
force, a person responsible for collecting drafts, I should look within
more than others. When I looked inside, I was astonished to find a loophole
as large as my own cosmos and all kinds of wrongful behavior.
I still remember the first
few years of my cultivation. I was so diligent at that time. It was
difficult to put down Dafa books. And I did the exercises in the park
all-year-round. When it was time for the Experience Sharing Conference,
I would write an article and it did not matter if they were going to
use it. Difficulties never stopped me. Then, I don�t remember when
I stopped studying the Fa and doing the exercises diligently. The Experience
Sharing Conference just became one of my projects and made me busier
than usual.
Although I took part in many
Fa rectification projects, this cannot be an excuse for not cultivating
in the form Master arranged for us. I finally understood that I was
no longer diligent and I needed to make a breakthrough. But how? Where
did the problem come from?
I remembered that when I first
started cultivating in Dafa, veteran disciples told me that Master would
recommend that practitioners in China read the cultivation story about
Buddha Milarepa. I would follow whatever Master said and found this
story immediately. I finished reading with tears running down my face.
My will of being diligent became extremely firm. I decided in my heart:
�I want to be as intelligent as Buddha Milarepa, not afraid of suffering,
and cultivate into a Buddha in this life.�
The story of Buddha Milarepa
has faded from my memory. I followed Master all the way in his Fa rectification
and built up some virtue. Because I live among ordinary people, some
subconscious but terrible human thoughts took hold in my mind. I dared
to bargain with Master in my mind and no longer took cultivation as
such a sacred and solemn thing. This is just like a spoiled child beginning
to negotiate with its parents. I also helped Master in the Fa rectification.
My work is hard and difficult. I told myself that it�s forgivable
if I could not reach Master�s requirement sometimes. Because these
thoughts were deep in my mind, it was difficult to expose them. So they
became big obstacles to my being diligent in my cultivation.
After recognizing these shortcomings,
I began to treat myself as a new practitioner. I put away all the so
called �credits� and read the story of Buddha Milarepa again. It
felt so different reading the story again ten years later. Before, I
just saw a good cultivation example, but now I saw the insufficiencies
inside me. For instance, Buddha Milarepa�s master wanted him to succeed,
so he forced him to build houses around the hills. The houses were built
and destroyed again and again. Milarepa was wounded by the stones. The
scene was one full of misery. His master still criticized and beat him
sometimes. Though Milarepa thought of a shortcut and met with failure,
he listened to his master�s words all the time. That�s why his master
called Milarepa the best disciple he ever had and taught him all those
cultivation truths.
In comparison, I seemed to
be paying a lot during all the projects and suffering a lot. But I understood
now that all those things are arranged by Master for my cultivation,
just like Milarepa building the houses. How could I feel proud because
of the credits I accumulated?
Master wants us to achieve
a higher level of fruition. So what we do will not be as simple as building
houses. We have to publish newspapers, build up a TV station and set
up shows. Master doesn�t care about the results of those projects,
just like Milarepa�s master didn�t care if he built the houses or
not. Our Master wants to see our disciples� hearts: Do they truly
believe in Master, are they respectful to Master, are they true disciples
and are they diligent? If one test is not enough, there will be a second,
third, fourth and fifth.
Because we fell into the maze,
we forgot all this. We built attachments to how big our house would
be, how wonderful it would look, how many stones we moved and how much
effort we put in. We began to feel that we built houses well for Master,
and we put in a lot of effort, and that Master must treat us well and
mercifully, that he will definitely make us a Buddha. Those are terrible
human thoughts. We are not listening to what Master says and even bargain
with him.
Cultivation when preparing
for an Experience Sharing Conference is a form of Dafa cultivation arranged
by Master since the beginning of his Dafa teaching. Before the suppression
by the Chinese Communist regime, if there was an Experience Sharing
Conference and drafts were required from every practitioner, who would
not have written an article? Everyone paid great attention and wrote
an article because that is the way arranged for every practitioner.
The evil tested us in a devastating way. They first attacked the cultivation
form taught by Master. The environment for group study and group exercises
inside Mainland China was damaged.
Now, the Minghui Website is
trying to overcome those difficulties and has opened an online Experience
Sharing Conference for practitioners in China. There are tens of thousands
of Experience Sharing articles breaking through the Chinese Regime�s
Internet blockade. Practitioners inside China are also trying their
best with their righteous thoughts and actions to build up an environment
for group study and group exercise. We disciples abroad cannot use the
excuse of being busy in working for projects and thus accept the persecution
from the old cosmos. We have to adhere to everything Master arranged
and requires of us.
In fact, I experience a lot
of cultivation even during a simple task like writing sharing articles.
Every time I write an article for an Experience Sharing Conference or
any other sharing, it exposes my human thoughts. When I am happy while
writing, I find the mentality of showing off and the attachment of zealotry.
When I am reluctant to write, I find the attachment to being afraid
of losing face, as well as the superior feeling of veteran practitioner.
If my article is not chosen, there would be attachments of arguing and
jealousy. If the article is chosen, I would become arrogant. It is just
as Master said in Lunyu, �If human beings are able to take
a fresh look at themselves as well as the universe and change their
rigid mentalities, humankind will make a leap forward� (Zhuan Falun).
In the course of exposing my attachments, I realized that I am still
cultivating myself. I also feel that Master is helping me get rid of
those dirty thoughts and other impure matter. I can see the Fa at different
levels displayed by Master.
From now on, I dare not slack
off again. I have decided to treat myself as a new disciple and try
seriously to finish everything required by Master. I will persist onward
and reach the ultimate standard for disciples of the Fa rectification
period. I will not let down Master�s merciful salvation.
Thank you for letting me share
with you. Please kindly point out anything inappropriate.
Thank you, Master! Thank you,
my fellow practitioners!�
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- 6. Am I Truly Cultivating Diligently Every Day?
A sharing after studying Master's Lecture, "Fa Teaching at the 2009 Washington DC International Fa Conference"
By a Falun Dafa practitioner in Liaoning Province
(Clearwisdom.net) I went to Beijing to attend my daughter's
wedding during the summer break. My husband and I stayed at a hotel
one night. It was 11:00 p.m. and I was studying the Fa when I received
a call from the front desk about a security check. In a moment, two
policemen were knocking on the door. When we opened the door they gave
us a lecture about the importance of a security check for the sake of
the so-called "60th anniversary of the National Day." They
asked me, "Do you practice Falun Gong?" I began to argue with
them. They threatened me, "You will be sent to the police station
if you say you practice Falun Gong. If you say you don't practice Falun
Gong, you will be all right." I then said something against my
conscience, as I didn't want to be carried to the police station. I
was overcome with regret afterward, as I knew I had failed a major test.
After I returned home, I read Master's
newly-published lecture, "Fa Teaching at the 2009 Washington DC
International Fa Conference," and had a better understanding of
what had just happened to me. In the lecture, Master said,
"Nothing happens in cultivation
without a reason. When incorrect states and bad human conduct surface
among us, those things have come to target human attachments. We don't
acknowledge the old forces' arrangements, but, when we fail to do well
they will exploit our gaps. So, perhaps it was that a particular place
needed to be targeted in that manner, and that was why an incident happened."
"As sinister as the evil may be,
it wouldn't dare to do that. The old forces' factors are bold enough
to play the role they do among Dafa disciples precisely because you
have the human thinking that I described and needed such people to appear."
Master's teaching awakened me. The reason
why such an incident happened to me was precisely because I had human
thinking, and the old forces' factors exploited my gaps. First of all,
I failed to cultivate compassion well. Whenever I heard the policeman
talking about Falun Gong, I became enraged. I forgot that he was a sentient
being to be saved. Master said,
"If you, as Dafa disciples, want
to effect change in a person when you clarify the truth and want to
save him, you must not arouse the negative elements in that person.
You must hold to being shan (compassionate), and only then can you resolve
problems that may arise and save that person."
"The greatest manifestation of shan
is compassion, and it is an expression of tremendous energy. It can
disintegrate all that is not right."
Secondly, I didn't have strong righteous
thoughts as I was fearful. I didn't want to "be arrested by the
evil." But the underlying reason was my fear and lack of righteous
thoughts. If I had strong righteous thoughts, the policeman wouldn't
have intimidated me. Even if he did, I would not be affected.
Lastly, the incident exposed my attachment
to sentiment. When I saw how fearful my husband was, I was afraid to
worry him. All of these human thoughts attracted the evil test, and
my attachment was exploited by the evil forces.
From this incident, I have a deep understanding
of how serious cultivation is. There can be no compromise. We must lose
all attachments. Otherwise, they become an excuse for the evil old forces
to persecute us.
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- 7. All Interference Such as Sickness or Persecution Should Be Handled with the Same Righteous Mindset
By a practitioner in China
As we practitioners know, practitioners do not get "sick." Why? Teacher has cleansed all the roots of the bad elements from our bodies, both mentally and physically. So, why do some practitioners still die from everyday types of sickness?
Being a Falun Dafa practitioner does not mean there is no physical discomfort while cultivating. When encountering physical pain, the results are determined by the attitude we take. If we consider it a good thing, our xinxing rises and karma is reduced. If we look within ourselves with righteous thoughts, we will take great leaps forward. However, if we think of the physical discomforts with human notions, then even life-threatening human sickness can follow. What an enormous difference between a God's thought and that of a human!
In view of this, we know that Teacher did not arrange the persecution, and it should not have occurred. So why has the persecution happened?
In regard to cultivation, the persecution is only due to interference and tribulations. How we deal with the interference and tribulations determines the end result: If we look at it as a way to raise our xinxing, we must disintegrate the evil right a way when it comes--doing well each of the three things. Then, what seemed to be unfolding due to interference and persecution did not happen. On the other hand, if we use human notions and thinking when confronting interference and tribulations, "Persecution is here...we have to hide away for a little while...we won't be able to make truth clarification materials, and we have to stop doing truth clarification at least for now," then we really invite persecution. The old forces can only persecute humans, not Gods. As practitioners, to think of tribulations with human thoughts is equal to inviting them.
Reflecting on the road of cultivation I have been on, it really has been like that. In 2000, when I was doing things to validate the Fa, I kept thinking: "How would I deal with the police if I was arrested, and how would I do if I was sent to a forced labor camp?" It became a reality, and I was persecuted: a three-year prison sentence was the result of a human attachment.
Using the Olympics as an excuse, the Chinese Communist regime (CCP) has been further persecuting Falun Dafa practitioners--calling it "guarding against dangerous persons" and holding "Learning" [brainwashing] classes. The CCP's plots and arrangements were quite intricate. However, we knew how to eliminate the arrangements by getting rid of attachments, looking within ourselves, doing well the three things and catching up diligently.
Through sharing and discussion, fellow practitioners now understand how to overcome interference and tribulations with the same attitude in which we handle sickness karma. Thus, nothing new has happened, but the interference has come in different forms targeting our various attachments and loopholes.
We do not acknowledge the old forces: There is no persecution in the course of our cultivation, since Teacher did not arrange such a thing. All interference, tribulations, and persecution should be dealt with by using righteous thoughts! Cherish everything we come across, because chances are that good opportunities will be hard to come by!
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- 8. A Tribute to my Master
By an Indian practitioner living in Newzealand
A tribute�
"On
a place called Earth I was born.�
And fell
upon the misery of illusion that ruled;�
With the
vision of a wonderland;�
I raise
my soul in sound of hope;�
To the
arms of my true mother (creator).�
Rest assured
is the way back home.�
Light
that never fades will accompany me,�
And guide
me safe from foul and veil (Hidden).�
Will I
make it is a question without doubt.�
What I
have is a golden shield -�
For the
dark that tries to pull me down.�
Cutting
the chain that anchors me;�
I plan
to set forth a journey to the bliss -�
That last
for the ages of the earth itself.�
How could
I ever pay you back -�
For the
blessing you showered on me.�
Without
which I never could have seen -�
The truth
behind the illusions I had.�
Though
the will was mine and the wisdom was yours,�
I couldn't
have lasted a moment without your care.�
Striving
forward, battling the fear;�
Incessant
notions block my view.�
I leap
in dark with a hope of a ground�
The light
in my eyes is taken for a trial;�
For the
goodness in me shall emerge again -�
To enlighten
me with the truth of life.�
Longing
for a selfless life, fighting through the selfishness I hold.�
Heavy
I felt, trembled my legs, in the pursuit to conquer the world.�
Dark I
was and darker my thoughts were;�
Almost
forgot the feeling of relief.�
For the
goodness that I hold now;�
I laugh
and cry for the shameful life -�
I lived
these years with out a thought.�
Now that
I know who I am,�
Lighter
I feel and the brighter I see�
For the
one that I chose as the god of all.�
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