(Minghui.org) Although I began practicing Falun Dafa in 1999, I’ve recently experienced rapid progress in my cultivation. I have made major breakthroughs in understanding the Fa, improving my xinxing, and clarifying the truth. I would like to share my experiences.
Positive Changes after I Started Memorizing the Teachings
I used to feel sleepy whenever I read the teachings, either on my own or in a group. I tried everything I could think of to overcome it but couldn’t. I read articles on Minghui.org in which other practitioners talked about memorizing the Fa, so I decided to try.
I began memorizing the following passage in Zhuan Falun:
“What does character consist of, then? It includes being virtuous (as virtue is physically real), practicing self-restraint, having faith and discernment, letting go of what others normally desire and hold onto, and being able to suffer gracefully. So there is a lot to it.” (The First Talk, Zhuan Falun)
From this, I understood that xinxing includes having faith and discernment and many other things. I didn’t understand this before I started to memorize the Fa.
Memorizing the Fa helped me to overcome the sleepiness I felt whenever I read the Fa and deepened my understandings. It also helped me to look inward—and I found a lot of attachments. For example, because of fear, I complained about other practitioners being too loud when they talked to people about the persecution. I also felt anxious when I could not convince more people to quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). When I helped many people to quit the Party, I would show off in front of other practitioners. I felt jealous when I noticed that they convinced more people to quit than I did.
Through memorizing the Fa, I realized that one can only cultivate well if one studies the Fa well. Then one is able to send forth righteous thoughts well and save more people.
Dafa Taught Me Compassion
We’ve lived with my mother-in-law since my husband and I got married. My mother-in-law has a problem with incontinence and often wets her pants or the bed. I never complain. I just clean her up and help her to put on clean clothes. I also told my husband that she had a hard life and we should be nice to her.
At one point my mother-in-law was hospitalized. Since her daughter lives in another town, I took on the responsibility of taking care of her day and night. Every day, she soiled her pants a dozen times. I always cleaned her and put clean clothes on her. One day, her daughter came to visit her right after I’d put clean pants on her. She urinated almost immediately.
When my sister-in-law saw the wet pants, she yelled at me, “Why don’t you change her pants?” I explained that I just did. She retorted, “Well, she’s not your mother, so you don’t care!” Then she said some really hurtful things. The patient who shared the room spoke up for me: “I thought that she (meaning me) was the old woman’s daughter. She’s done such a good job with her. Where have you been?” My sister-in-law was speechless.
I felt I was wronged, but after I got home, I calmed down and recalled what Master taught in Zhuan Falun:
“When we get into a disagreement we should first of all stay calm and not act like others. Of course, it’s fine to try to explain things with good intent; there’s nothing wrong with trying to clear things up. But if you do it with too much attachment it won’t work out. When we experience these trying situations we shouldn’t respond in kind. If you stoop to the other person’s level, then you are no different from them. And not only shouldn’t you respond like them, neither should you feel hatred or resentment. And I sincerely mean that. Any bitterness towards another person means that anger got the best of you. And in that case you have failed to live up to the standard of ren, and even less so shan.” (The Fourth Talk, Zhuan Falun)
“It was in fact due to the situation that the person created that you had an occasion to work on your character and grow.” (The Fourth Talk, Zhuan Falun)
I reminded myself that I’m a practitioner, so I should consider others’ situations first. My sister-in-law is sick herself, and she was not happy seeing her mother sick. I should have compassion for her.
After I put aside my complaints, my sister-in-law apologized to me. She said, “Everyone in the hospital praised you—you are the best daughter-in-law ever.”
Eliminate Human Notions and Save People
At first, I only had the courage to talk to one person at a time about Falun Dafa. If there were two or more people, I didn’t dare to talk to them. I would ask other practitioners to talk while I sent forth righteous thoughts. If I was the only practitioner, I would give up. I felt sad but could not make a breakthrough.
When my understanding of the Fa improved and I looked inward, I realized that I was being selfish. I sent forth righteous thoughts to eliminate it. I got rid of my fear and developed compassion.
One day while I was on the bus I noticed a group of people sitting together outside. I got off the bus and went over to them. I told them about the persecution and how millions of Chinese have quit the Party. All eight of them quit.
I often run into people who curse me when I try to talk to them. Once I tried to convince a 50-year-old to quit. She yelled, “Get away! I don’t want to listen to you.” She also repeated the Party’s propaganda. I was not moved. I felt sorry for her as she had obviously been deceived. I nearly wept. When she stopped yelling, I said, “The Party has committed so many crimes and killed so many people. It even harvests organs from living Falun Gong practitioners. It has done many bad things. When people join the Party, they pledge their lives to it. When heaven punishes the Party, whoever belongs to it will go down with it. Please quit the Party for your own safety.”
She believed me and apologized to me. She quit the Party with her real name. I could not help but weep tears of happiness for her. When I turned around and looked back, she was still smiling at me.
No interference can stop me from saving people. Once I fell down some stairs when I was on my out to talk to people. At that moment, I recalled what Master said in Zhuan Falun, “We believe that one thought can determine the outcome of things, for better or for worse.” (The Fourth Talk, Zhuan Falun)
So, I got up immediately. I could not feel my foot. I moved slowly and found I could still walk, so I began talking to people. My foot was hot. When I returned home, it was really swollen. That night, it hurt so much that I could not walk. I had to hold onto a chair to move.
I knew this was persecution from the old forces, so I sent forth righteous thoughts for a long time and looked inward. I said to myself, “Even if I have attachments, the old forces are not allowed to persecute me, because I will correct myself on the path of cultivation. Master is in charge of my life. I will go out to save people.”
On the third day, after studying the Fa, I put on a pair of large shoes and went out without thinking about whether my foot hurt or not. Master saw my heart and arranged for me to meet people to talk to. In a short time, I convinced more than 10 people to quit the Party. I knew Master was encouraging me.
Under Master’s watchful eye, I’ve cultivated for almost 20 years. I’ve run into tribulations and tests, and I’ve also had the joy of experiencing improvement in cultivation. I cannot express my appreciation to Master in words. Master said, “Dafa disciples are the sole hope for people’s salvation ” (“The Only Hope”, Hong Yin III) I said to Master in my heart, “I understand how important it is to save people. Thank you, Master, for giving us these opportunities and the honor of saving sentient beings.”
Category: Improving Oneself
