My Cultivation Experiences

[PureInsight.org] I obtained Dafa several years ago and have been experiencing Fa-rectification cultivation for more than four years. However, it is in the most recent two years that I came to understand what validating the Fa is. At the beginning of the evil crackdown, I thought going out to participate in Dafa activities was the only way to validate Dafa. Later on, I started doing some Dafa work, which I considered to be the most important thing I could do for Dafa. Since then I've been busy with different Dafa projects. That gave me some excuse to not study the Fa and practice the exercises. Of course, the level of my xinxing dropped lower and lower. Once when I had a conflict with my husband, my neighbor, who does not practice and is a reasonable person, happened to be at my home. She said to me "you should think whether your xinxing has changed since you started your cultivation. One should practice well after deciding to practice, otherwise, one should not start it." I felt ashamed when I heard those words. I knew it was Master who was helping me through her words. That night, I pondered about the following questions with tears in my eyes: How can I truly validate Dafa? What is the progress of my cultivation? How much have I changed since I obtained the Fa? If I myself haven't been practicing Dafa in my daily life, how can I talk about validating the Fa?

1. Listening to Master's Words and Studying the Fa Diligently

Master told us to "Validate the Fa with rationality, clarify the truth with wisdom, spread the Fa and save people with mercy—this is establishing the mighty virtue of an Enlightened Being." (From "Rationality" in Essentials for Further Advancement II) Looking back, I did not seem to meet even one requirement. My everyday life did not even demonstrate the goodness of Dafa. How could I validate the Fa? I did not know where I went wrong. I was quite disappointed at my lack of progress. When I was painfully debating with myself, a fellow practitioner called. After listening to my struggle, she told me calmly: "Don't worry, admitting your own mistake is an improvement, isn't it? You should be diligent in Fa-study and exercises. You don't have to spend a lot of time, but you must do it regularly. This is my own experience. You also should establish a habit to always look inward. Don't lose your confidence even when you didn't do well. Try to view this as a lesson and don't repeat the same mistake. " After that conversation, I came to realize that I had to improve using the Fa as my guide.

Although I understood the importance of Fa study, sometimes I still could not stay focused when I was reading Zhuan Falun. Sometimes I became too sleepy to read. I would read Master's other lectures and sometimes wrote Master's words in my notebook, as if the words were spoken to me. When I traveled, I always took the notebook with me. I would read the notes over and over. In all those lectures, Master always emphasizes the importance of reading Zhuan Falun. Master said in "Lecture at the Conference in Switzerland," "I've often said that I have incorporated into this Fa everything that can enable you to practice cultivation and advance, and everything that you can attain through cultivation. Although you are in different realms, none of you can truly understand how great is the weight of my words. You will obtain everything so long as you cultivate. But do you know how many things of mine have been incorporated into what you will have obtained? Of course, I don't want to talk about these things concerning me. I just want to tell you that you should cherish this undertaking that I, your master, am carrying out! You have to do well in cultivation. Don't miss this opportunity." Through reading these lectures, the importance of reading Zhuan Falun became clearer to me.

Master also let me to see other practitioners change after they studied the Fa. In a group activity, I met a young practitioner. She had become a practitioner more recently than I. But I suddenly discovered that she had changed quite a bit since the last time I saw her. She was like a pure and happy little girl. She always considers others first. I really admire her. In our conversation, she calmly told me about her own transformation "I did not pay enough attention to Fa study before. I was involved in a conflict with someone for over six months but just couldn't get it over with. I asked myself seriously, 'Do you want to cultivate or not? If you do, then do you believe in Master's words? Master told you to study the Fa more. Have you done that?' After that, I set up a rule to read three lectures in Zhuan Falun every day. At the beginning, it was like an assignment. I wouldn't go to bed before completing the reading. Soon, I began to feel the reward. Now reading Master's books has become part of my everyday life, just like eating and sleeping." Her experience and happy demeanor deeply inspired me. Soon I also began to read three lectures every day. I also keep a cultivation diary in which I record how much I study and what my state of mind is.

First, I did this for a month. During this month, I realized how to break through the interference from the sleepiness demon with righteous thoughts. It's quite simple, be firm. "I will study the Fa! I will read out aloud, or stay focused and read fast. I can expel the interference and make the break through." One day I wrote in my diary, "Today I realized that the bad stuff was not part of myself. I will eliminate it with righteous thoughts." On another page of my diary I wrote, "From morning till the ride back home from work, I completed two and a half lectures. I understood more Fa principles that I did not know before. I can hold my xinxing better. I feel the greatness of the Buddha Fa. My conduct is more orderly." After that month, I did not keep up the pace. But I already established the routine of studying Zhuan Falun. I now read at least one lecture a day. I can feel clearly now that if I don't study the Fa, all kinds of interference will surface, such as work, family, or whatever. It's never-ending. Now I finally know what to do, I put down everything and study the Fa.

2. Harmonizing the Fa at the Level of Everyday People

After studying the Fa diligently, I can maintain my xinxing naturally, instead of suppressing it. I can search within when there is a problem. I could not find any fault in my side before, and now I realize that as long as I search within, I can always find my attachments. In order to cultivate, one has to commit to cultivating, and to confront their own attachments and notions. Though it felt painful at the time, the feeling is amazingly beautiful after the bad stuff is gone. It looks like I am restraining myself, but the reality is that I am gaining more freedom and wisdom.

I began to look at my problems that had accumulated over time. For a long time during my cultivation in the Fa-rectification period, I understood the Fa from only one perspective that was unwavering. The unwavering perspective had a lot of human notions, and it was even extreme. For example, I believed that my husband's income is enough to support the entire family and I could spend my time on Dafa work. It didn't feel right, and problems kept coming up. Later we had a baby girl and my mother came to visit us. Quoting Master's speech, both she and my husband told me "Master said: 'Everyone has a job and must do it well.' (From "Lecture Eight" of Zhuan Falun)" In the beginning, I argued with them, and asked them why they only read one sentence of Master's. Later I realized that the sentence was for me, and that Master was trying to teach me through them. Only when I searched within did I come to understand another side of the Fa, which is harmonizing. Harmonizing the Fa at the level of everyday people is an important part of the Fa-rectification. Therefore I began to look for a job and started to work. We purchased a house later. What we did was similar to what everyday people do. As Dafa disciples, however, the bottom line is to rectify the Fa. Some fellow practitioners didn't understand and asked "what time is it now, you purchased a house?" I understood them at that time, since in the pastI had the same thinking as them. But I knew I had had that thinking because I didn't understand the Fa well. Master is leading us to walk on the most righteous path. It is perfectly all-encompassing, and we have to leave a real way of cultivation in human society for future generations. We don't have too much time, but the Dafa's power is unlimited. As long as we follow Master's instructions, everything will work out. Another question is "who are sentient beings?" I believe that we should not define who sentient beings are, such as just those we called and those who received our truth clarification materials. In fact everybody who lives with us, studies with us, rides in the same car with us, and everybody we meet on every occasion are the sentient beings we need to save. When we look at the issue from only one perspective, our vision is blocked. To put it more seriously, we might obstruct the cultivation process that Master has arranged for us. If we could put human notions aside, understand the Fa rationally, and believe that there is nothing coincidental in cultivation, we could remove the blockages from our hearts, and follow the cultivation path that Master has arranged for us.

In my work, I began the real cultivation after I experienced a lot of xinxing tests. There are a number of Chinese in my work environment, and I slowly began to clarify the truth to them. A few of them told me "you are the first person I know who practices Falun Gong." And some of them became my good friends. A young woman who works in the lab next door likes to talk with me. She observed me for a while and told me on more than one occasion "you look so happy every day, even though you are busy, you always think about others. I could not do that." I told her that's the outcome of cultivation. Before I practiced Falun Gong, people called me "Sister Lin," so you can imagine what kind of person I was. She would consult me when she had problems in her work and in her family. I tried to cheer her up, and told her that we could not change others, that the only person we can change is ourselves. I asked her to learn to tolerate. Right after she began to learn to tolerate, her husband wanted to divorce her. I don't know what I did wrong, and began to search within. "Is it okay for me to help her, an everyday person? I encountered it, what should I do to exhibit the beauty of Dafa?" I then realized it suddenly, it's time for her to obtain the Fa. She came again, and asked me "I tolerated him, and why does he still refuse to compromise?" I answered her calmly "In fact, if a person does not have a belief, it's hard to change yourself. As your good friend, I need to tell you the truth. The Fa can really change a person. Many people proved that. I didn't tell you earlier because I was afraid that you might not believe it. I hope you can read Zhuan Falun." She told me that she didn't have time to read it, but she was willing to listen to the tape. I brought her the tapes of Master's lectures, one tape a day. In the next few days, her commute to work was very long due to traffic, and she could listen to the tape of Master's lecture twice. She listened carefully, and listened again if she didn't understand. One day she told me that she was going to spank her child, but realized something after she raised her hand. She put down her hand and believed that she should not lose her temper. She regretted it for awhile since she didn't hold on to her xinxing. I was moved after I heard that, since she changed so much after she listened to the second lecture, as I hadn't anticipated that.

With the approval of my employer, I went to an English class during workdays. I didn't want to go at first, since I believed I was busy enough. But both my husband and the women I mentioned earlier encouraged me to go. I figured that I should go now, and registered for the English class. I was assigned to the advanced class. Upon entering the class, I met two young women from China. One of them stared at me and said "you look like my mother, and she looked exactly like you when she was young." I suddenly understood why I needed to take this class. I sat with them in the class and began to know them well quickly. They were inspired when they noticed that I was energetic and happy all the time. One day, a quiet woman told me: "I told my husband that I have a classmate who practices Falun Gong. She sleeps 4-5 hours a day, has two children, has to go back to work after class, and she writes articles in her spare time. My husband was thinking about practicing Falun Gong." "If I hadn't know you in person," she said, "I wouldn't have believed that Falun Gong is so good."

In the article "Dafa Is All-Encompassing" in Essentials for Further Advancement II, Master said "Doing your job well in the ordinary human society is not only for the sake of cultivation or to display Dafa disciples' goodness among everyday people, but also to safeguard the Fa-principles that Dafa has created for ordinary human society." Master [in the same article] pointed out further, "In every one of society's professions a person can cultivate, and in each there are also people with predestined relationships waiting to obtain the Fa." I have verified what Master said in my cultivation process.

3. Writing articles

I wanted to be a writer since I was little, but the old forces did not arrange that for me. Instead, I went to a medical college, but I kept thinking of being a writer. Since I started to cultivate Dafa, and as my xinxing level gradually elevated, I had some thoughts and experiences that I wanted put into words, so I started to write. I wrote one article, and fellow practitioners said it was good and encouraged me to keep on writing. Later, even my friends who do not cultivate Dafa also said that my writing was moving. I realized that this is a good way to validate Dafa, and I started to write more and more. I wrote about how I resolved contradictions with a benevolent mind, and how I dealt with unreasonable treatment from others with tolerance. I wrote about fellow practitioners and about my neighbors. These articles told the true stories in language that ordinary people could easily understand and when I wrote them, I wrote them with my heart. Although I did not have flowery phrases, the stories I wrote presented the truthfulness, the innocence, and the kindness in human relations. One day I received an email from a friend in a remote place. She told me with excitement that she read my article in Epoch Times, and she was moved when she read it. Some friends read my articles and they admired the variety in my life. Some said they would also like to write but they felt they did not have such a high realm. Some other people started to understand Dafa from a different aspect after they read my articles. They said "the story written with the heart is really moving and persuasive." I have also written things about ordinary people. For example, I wrote about my neighbors. They are very good people and I wrote about them to mainly show their benevolent side. I want to strengthen their righteous understanding about Dafa with the encouragement.

In the process of writing, many of my attachments were exposed, and my mind was purified and elevated. The better I learn the Fa, the purer the article I write. The more tranquil my mind is, the more moving the article is. At the beginning, writing took me a lot of time. Sometimes I wrote until 4 o'clock in the morning. One time I had something in my mind that I wanted to write, but suddenly I had a headache. I knew it was interference and so it was the time for me to study the Fa. Then I picked up "Guiding the Voyage" and read through without stopping. The more I read, the clearer my mind was and the more I read, the more energetic I was. Then I sat down and wrote two draft articles in only two hours. The phrases were fluent and it was like the words were inputted to me through a pipe and I was just punching the words into my computer with my fingers. After minor revisions, the articles were ready to send out. Through this experience I understood what Master Li had told us, "When you know what to do, just go ahead and do it, and while you do it your wisdom will continually come forth, because at that time the side of you that's been successfully cultivated will fuse together with the side of you here. That's a God, who's omnipotent! So of course a small issue will be resolved in no time, and your wisdom will come forth—it's different then! And if you get stuck Master will give you wisdom (laughs). (From "Teaching and Explaining the Fa at the Metropolitan New York Fa Conference") Now, before I write, I first study the Fa. That way I am able to achieve double the work with half the effort.

4. Calling China

I did not participate in calling China for a while. An aunt who is a very determined practitioner lives not far from my house. While she was in China, she had dealt with evil policeman, posted Dafa slogans, and organized practitioners for experience sharing. Every day she persists in doing the three things Master requires. Since her family members do not practice, she comes to my house to call China, two hours every day, and never stops. For a period of time, I was not interested in calling China. I thought everybody is capable of different things. The things that we young people can do, the elder practitioners cannot, so I considered calling China to be their main task. Later, more and more practitioners participated in calling China, and Master also has told us the importance of the calling. So I joined the group calling, but I only sent righteous thoughts during the calling, not knowing why I just did not want to pick up the phone myself. During one teleconference I honestly told others I did not want to call. The others shared with me their experiences. I felt something was not quite right with me after I heard their experiences. After learning the Fa, I understood the reasons why I did not want to call. My ability was restricted by the old forces and I was still trying to cover up my own attachment. After realizing that, I started to pick up the phone, and called a chief of a "610 office". My questions, carrying the force of justice, made him speechless. Even I myself was very surprised with my calm attitude.

Later my family and my aunt called China together. The atmosphere was harmonious. My mother sends forth righteous thoughts while my husband, myself and my two kids all join in. Once, when my aunt was in the middle of calling a lady, my 8½-year-old son took the phone, and said "How are you? Falun Dafa is good. The propaganda in China is lying." The lady heard a kid's voice, and she asked "How old are you? Where do you go to school? Do you practice Falun Gong?" My son answered: "I am 8 and a half years old, and I study in the fourth grade at the gifted school. I practice Falun Gong too." Then I took over the phone and explained to her: "That was my son. His Chinese is not so good. He practices, too and he is a very good student. He is selected to go to a school for the gifted in our city." Then I continued talking with her and she was comfortable talking with me, and asked about my situation. I told her my personal experience. I told her that I did not believe in Qigong at first, but I was sick so I gave it a try, It really worked for me. Zhuan Falun sounded reasonable and I have never had any interest in politics and Falun Gong has nothing to do with politics, so I like it. All the propaganda in China is for serving politics, and what was said by the propaganda was totally contrary to the facts. She continued to ask me "does your husband support you?" I said "he practices, too. You can talk to him." I handed the phone to my husband, and my husband said "I did not believe it at the beginning, but I believed it later. This gong is indeed good. There is nothing that isn't good about it. It has nothing to do with politics. If I were still in China, I would believe the lies as you do." After hearing from every one of my family member she started to talk about her family. She said, "I have a neighbor, an elderly lady who practices Falun Gong. She mentioned Falun Gong to my husband. Since my husband had a stomach problem that really bothered him, he wanted to give it a try. As my husband was about to start practicing Falun Gong, the persecution started. My husband did not dare to practice, and the elderly lady was arrested and jailed for 8 months. It was horrible. I was confused and I didn't know whether Falun Gong was good or not." My husband asked, "Now do you know whether Falun Gong is good or not?" She answered, "Yes, I know what's going on." It is not just my son who wanted to call, my two-year-old daughter also want to join in. One time, in the middle of my aunt's conversation, she stopped and said "please wait, my two-year-old granddaughter wants talk to you. "My little daughter said with her soft voice "Falun Dafa is good." The person on the other end was very happy to hear a little kid's voice, and said "what a nice girl!" The atmosphere became relaxed, and the communication became smoother and more comfortable.

Everything we come in contact with in our cultivation is an opportunity Master gave us to improve ourselves. If we don't pay attention, we will let the opportunity slip, and we will not improve. However, if we really improve ourselves based on the Fa, then everything we do for rectifying the Fa becomes more powerful.

5. Cultivating Together

All our fellow practitioners once made wishes in a remote time to come to this world during the Fa-rectification period to help our Master rectify the Fa. Probably we had also made promises at that time that no matter how many times we cycled through this world in the form of reincarnation, we would not forget to remind each other that we ought to go back home with our Master! For our fellow practitioners to cultivate Dafa together is a long predestined relationship. Therefore, when we recognize that a fellow practitioner is having an attachment, we should point it out. The fellow practitioners in our small environment have been doing this. We are honest and frank with each other, and we all know that this is out of good will. I remember that when I had my daughter, I went through some significant tests without paying attention to studying the Fa. It was like going through the test of life and death for me. When I occasionally mentioned that experience, it caught the attention of my fellow practitioners. They got together and shared experiences with each other and found out the following problems in our environment: We did not have enough benevolence towards our fellow practitioners and we did not help a practitioner when she was in her most difficult time. Fellow practitioners felt that we could do better if we reminded each other. We decided that whenever we are facing a difficult test, we will tell our fellow practitioners and we will get through it together.

A fellow practitioner did not come out often because of his busy schedule. Other practitioners would remind him frankly, "Please count how much time you spend cultivating Dafa. You are busy during the weekdays, but you should come out to practice on the weekends!" Some could not get up in the morning and they would ask others who could get up to call them to wake them up. Some felt sleepy when they studied the Fa, and they would invite others to join them to learn the Fa in the morning. This way, we were able to break through some barriers quickly. These things look trivial, but they have significant effects. Let us remember that every Dafa practitioner in the Fa rectification period represents a cosmos and is carrying an enormous responsibility. The living beings in the cosmos are waiting for their king to return with a successful consummation. Helping a fellow practitioner to move forward is not just a problem of only one individual life, but during the process we are also manifesting our benevolence.

Almost every fellow practitioner is doing at least one kind of Dafa work. At the beginning we did not know what work other fellow practitioners were doing. Later we found that we are all connected together. For example, for the articles I wrote, one fellow practitioner said that she had already selected it for the newspaper. Another said she had already put it on the internet website. I suddenly realized that our small environment is a small reflection of Dafa in this world, and every one of us is playing different roles. In the ordinary society, we are good citizens, good employees, good students, and at home we are father or mother, or we are son or daughter. In the process of Fa rectification, we are in different roles, such as writers, artists, singers, editors, translators and so on. Only when we uphold the Fa Master gave us, are we in our true roles. We are Dafa practitioners of our Master and when we learn the Fa and cultivate our minds, we assimilate ourselves to Dafa, save lives, and build a new universe.

6. Inspiration

In "Lecture Two" of Zhuan Falun, Master said, "Some people also find that their Celestial Eye rotates. Those who practice in the Tao School often see something rotating inside their Celestial Eye. After the Taiji plate cracks open with a snap, one will see images; however, it is not that there is a Taiji in your head. It was the master who installed a set of things for you at the very beginning, one of which is the Taiji. He sealed your Celestial Eye. By the time your Celestial Eye is opened, it will crack open. The master intentionally arranged it that way, and it was not something originally from your head."

At the beginning of my writing attempts, I seemed to get some inspirations. Although I knew they were given by Master, sometimes I still thought that they were produced in my brain. When I read the Fa of the paragraph above, I gained a deeper understanding. All those were intentionally arranged by Master.

Whenever I did things well, the words of Master would be heard in my ears, "Some practitioners want me to check out their abilities and skills. But actually, what I think is, all of that was given by me, so there's no need to look." (From "Explaining the Fa during the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference")

Whenever I did not want to get up in the morning, the words of Master would appear in my brain, "But I would think that your being a little busy and your enduring a little hardship is your Dafa disciple's mighty virtue. In the future when you look back, you will find it remarkable!" ("Touring North America to Teach the Fa")

Whenever I helped others and my help was not appreciated and understood, the words of Master would appear in my mind, "I think that you absolutely shouldn't be discouraged or apathetic. Do this compassionately no matter who it is, and with a compassion that can melt steel you will be able to do it well." (From "Explaining the Fa during the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference")

"When you truly look at things from the perspective of being responsible to the Fa and truly have a heart that can melt steel, I just don't believe that things can not be handled well." (From "Explaining the Fa during the 2003 lantern festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference")

Master is always beside me and looks after me. It is not because I have learned the Fa by heart. It is because that Master saw a disciple's heart determined to follow the Fa so Master points it out when it is time for the disciple to improve. Cultivation is similar to going to school in that the teacher has given the assignments. If we don't do it well, but then we ask the teacher why we don't get good grades, well that is obviously unreasonable. Whenever we do not do well in our cultivation, we should always ask ourselves "have we done what Master asks us to do?" If the answer is "no," who could be to blame? Master has given all that he could to make the disciple elevate in the Fa. As long as we study the Fa we will get everything from it. I have enlightened to the fact that everyone has his own road of cultivation. Master guides from the front. This road is not one you can explore by yourself but it has been described in Zhuan Falun. As long as you read Zhuan Falun, you are going to find your road. The purer your heart is when you read Zhuan Falun, the clearer the road will be in front of your eyes. It is indeed the case that there are difficulties and hardships in cultivation. Master has also told us our future: "Cultivation is hard, and the evil is more evil while you are validating Dafa. Those who can make it through are bound to be Kings of sentient beings." (From "Teaching and Explaining the Fa at the Metropolitan New York Fa Conference")

I have been tempered by Dafa, and I have been proclaiming the beauty of Dafa in different aspects of life. I feel that my life is full of happiness. I am no longer attached to time. I am no longer attached to consummation. I only cherish every second in my Fa-rectification cultivation. I constantly purify myself, assimilate myself to Dafa and have become a happy particle in the cultivation of Dafa.

Master said in "Explaining the Fa During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference," "What you do well is everything that you've validated and enlightened to. Put that part in order and remove the unwanted dregs, and the essence that remains is the path to your success."

Having followed Master's words, I put the dribs and drabs in my cultivation together to share with you. I hope fellow practitioners will correct me if there is anything improper.