(Minghui.org) When I was in 8th grade I looked for a book to kill time. I found one on my shelf that I hadn’t noticed before. It seemed strange—how come this book was on my shelf, yet I had never seen it? It was one of the books of collected teachings of Master (Master Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Dafa). I don't remember which year the lecture was given but I will never forget how excited I felt after reading it. I’d finally found what I’d been looking for.
Finding Falun Dafa
That night, I wrote in my diary that I was very excited because I’d finally found the Fa, and learned what my real purpose in life is. Although it was just one lecture, not the systematic teaching of the Fa, I realized that Falun Dafa is the righteous Fa and that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was telling lies and persecuting Dafa.
One day in English class, the teacher split students into groups of four and asked us to pick a topic for discussion. I told my group that Falun Dafa is good, and how the CCP misleads the Chinese people. That was my first experience of clarifying the truth.
When I was in 9th grade, my uncle showed me videos that presented the truth of Dafa. He asked me if I wanted to cultivate. Without hesitating, I said yes and I officially started my cultivation journey. My uncle then told me that he was the one who put that book on my shelf.
Although I read the Fa, I didn't realize how great Master is. In my mind, the Fa is great, but I didn't have Master in my mind until I read the Fa many times. Finally I understood how great Master is.
Recovering from Eye Disease
In high school, I started to slack off in cultivation and got addicted to video games and the internet. One day, my right eye suddenly felt uncomfortable. I found a hard bump on my eyeball, which was a little painful. I felt it strange, but didn't pay much attention to it. The bump didn't go away, and more bumps developed. Then I was scared. I knew that Dafa can cure diseases but one should not pursue a cure. I didn't know what to do. I had stopped reading the Fa a while ago so I didn't have righteous thoughts.
After six months, my eye problem worsened. There were seven hard bumps covering the upper half of my eyeball. Sometimes they caused pain, and my heart was full of fear.
One day, by chance I read about eye cancer in a magazine. I was so scared, I fell over and could not stand up for a long time. I told myself, “Nothing will help me but cultivating in Dafa.” So, I resumed Fa study. As time went by, the bumps disappeared.
When I realized that all the bumps were gone, I was not too excited. I felt that it was normal and natural. I believed that the problem was arranged by Master, who used my own karma to warn me. When I started reading the Fa seriously and completely put down my notions, the disease disappeared because it was Master's arrangement and the karma was paid back.
Clarifying the Truth
I often read practitioners' experience sharing articles on the Minghui website, which helped me follow the trend of the Fa-rectification. I started to clarify the truth to my classmates. Combining the stories in those sharing articles with my own experiences, I told them how great Dafa is and tried to convince them to quit the Communist Youth League.
I improved very fast on my cultivation path. As my level raised, my heart also changed. I felt that my heart was filled with mercy and compassion; I felt comfortable and wonderful.
I made lists of classmates who were willing to quit the Communist Youth League, and gave the lists to my uncle who published them on the “Quit the CCP” website. He said I’d convinced more people to quit the communist organizations than he had, and told me to stay safe. I didn't feel any fear. I didn't understand why convincing people to quit the CCP would bring me danger.
With a few sentences, I successfully convinced a relative of mine to quit the CCP. I never thought I’d be able to do that. It was really like what the articles on the Minghui website said: “When one has righteous thoughts, one can convince people to quit the CCP with just a few words.” I knew that the power comes from Master.
The old forces tried to interfere with me. Since I didn't hold any fear, they took advantage of my attachment to lust. When I clarified the truth to girls, I became very shy and my body shivered.
Later I learned how to send forth righteous thoughts, so I did it all the time, including when riding my bike, walking, and so on. As long as I had the opportunity, I sent forth righteous thoughts. Every Monday, the school had a flag raising ceremony. I sent forth righteous thoughts towards the CCP flag. One Tuesday, I saw that the flag was upside down. I was excited, because I saw the flag being raised the right way up on Monday but on Tuesday it was upside down and and nobody would change it until Friday. This experience made me more confident. It was Master showing me the amazing power of Dafa.
Looking back now, I clearly see Master's boundless power and mercy—I was able to clarify the truth shortly after I started cultivating.
Improving After Letting Go of Attachments
When I was in junior high, I had an accident. My brother and I were riding our bicycles. A fast-moving tractor passed us from behind and made a sharp turn. Something on the tractor caught my bicycle, and I was thrown through the air. At that moment, time moved in slow motion.
Hearing a loud sound as my bicycle hit the ground, I found myself landing on my feet. I was thrown more than 30 feet, but I landed standing upright. I was so excited. Master was really watching over me and protecting me. My brother yelled at me to write down the plate number of the tractor. I said, “It’s fine. I’m not injured.” The tractor was already far away. Maybe the driver didn't even know he’d hit me.
I had a lot of attachments that were hard for me to get rid of including lust, desire, laziness, pursuit of comfort, and an attachment to surfing the internet. I could not discipline myself. Sometimes, I even had excuses such as saying I would do better next year. I didn't read the Fa diligently. Although I never gave up on cultivation, I could not strive forward diligently. This state lasted for a long time.
Later, my uncle quit cultivation. I tried many times to get him back but failed, so I had to cultivate by myself. Cultivation is so serious. Gradually I developed a good and rational understanding of the Fa. Looking back, I realize that my uncle had strong attachments to pursuits, fear and lust.
Once, my uncle told me to practice another qigong. I was a new practitioner, so it was hard for me to point out his problem and remind him of “practicing only one cultivation way” (Lecture Three, Zhuan Falun, 2000). Nor could I solve the problems in his heart. During this period of time that has been extended by Master, he got lost in an everyday person's life. He started to smoke and drink. Later, he even talked like an everyday person who had never heard about the Fa. It was a really serious lesson for me. In cultivation, we cannot follow others but must cultivate ourselves.
In college, I cultivated by myself and my state alternated between good and bad. I was seriously interfered with by video games. I often played them with my roommates until very late at night. I didn't read the Fa well, so it was hard for me to get rid of this addiction. Although I convinced some of my classmates and roommates to quit the communist organizations, I never clarified the truth well.
The situation got better after I graduated from college. I got a job and my own apartment. I could study the Fa without interference. A few classmates started to cultivate, and my apartment became a Fa-study site and truth-clarification materials production site. Five of us studied the Fa, sent forth righteous thoughts, and made truth-clarification materials together. We improved our skills using the articles on the Minghui website. We made materials after work and went out to post banners or posters in public at night. We posted the words “Falun Dafa is good; Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good” on walls.
However, since I had strong lustful desires, the old forces took advantage of my loophole. One day, when I tried to take down a CCP banner that slandered Dafa, I was arrested and detained in a detention center. Our materials production site was destroyed too. The lesson was very serious. Cultivation is very serious, so we must take Master's mercy seriously—we cannot hold onto divine beings with one hand and human notions with the other.
Awakened by the Pandemic
After being released from the detention center, my state was not good for a long time. I usually only read the Fa for 30 minutes a day and felt that was enough. I used to have the heart of assimilating to the Fa, but now I just wanted to finish the bare minimum as if it was an everyday task. In my mind, I had a thought: “It will be fine, as long as I am not weeded out during the big wave of elimination.” I almost abandoned myself and felt no urge to make progress.
After the outbreak of the pandemic, I woke up. I realized that time is very limited. Everything Master said is true. Master said:
“You must have seen the epidemic that's come along in China now, right? Hasn't a huge epidemic arrived? To put it in human terms, it's Heaven punishing people. What it's targeting, we Dafa disciples know full well: it's targeting those who don't deserve to be saved, who are impossible to save while Dafa disciples clarify the truth, and who aren't useful to the evil rotten spirits. This is the first round of cleansing. Heaven is punishing the evil, yet China is still lying to cover up the number of deaths, and I'll tell you, it's huge, and it hasn't peaked yet. People find it scary, but in fact, the truly horrible thing hasn't begun yet. This isn't the real, big cleansing when the Fa starts to rectify the human world. It'll be even more horrifying when that big cleansing arrives, and it'll target the entire world. When the vicious people go crazy they don't fear anything, but, when the calamity really descends on them they'll be stunned. Wait and see, this is going to be an eventful year. A lot is going to happen.” (“Teaching and Explaining the Fa at the Metropolitan New York Fa Conference,” Collected Fa Teaching, Vol. III)
Actually, everything is under Master's control. All we need to do is awaken people's consciences, no matter when things are going to end.
I must go back to my initial cultivation state, the state I had when I first obtained the Fa. Master said, “always cultivating as if you were just starting will surely result in achieving your ultimate rank.” (“Fa Teaching at the 2009 Greater New York International Fa Conference,” from Collected Fa Teaching, Vol. IX). I will hurry up to clarify the truth, save people, and not betray Master's compassion.
