PureInsight | January 16, 2006
[PureInsight.org]
With the year 2005 coming to a close and the New Year approaching, I felt it appropriate to take a look back at how I have fared in cultivation and whether I am still worthy of being a Dafa disciple. In the past year, I have learnt quite a few lessons in cultivation and also tried newer ways to clarify the truth. I wish to share some of my experiences and understandings with you.
Clarifying the truth in India
I traveled to Mumbai, India last December to take a break from schoolwork in the US to visit my parents and gain some internship experience. During this trip, I came across several opportunities in clarifying the truth.
My plans before going to India
Before going to India, I had plenty of ideas on how I should clarify the truth including the following:
• I could clarify the truth to many relatives and friends and request them to sign the petition calling for an end of the persecution of Falun Gong.
• I could go to temples and clarify the truth to priests. Also, I could give flyers to people who came to pray there.
• While traveling, I could clarify the truth to the people at the counters, fellow passengers in the plane, and flight attendants.
During travel to India and back
I was able to clarify the truth to several people at various airports where I stopped over. Passengers were supportive of the practitioners in China. In the Korean airport, I saw a group of business people and explained how much money China had wasted in trying to persecute innocent people who uphold the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance. When I saw a family with children in the US airport, I mentioned to them how children had become orphans in China due to their parents practicing Falun Gong and gave them the flyer.
In the temples
It is customary for any Hindu Brahmin family in India to go frequently to temples and worship various Gods and Goddesses. My mother would often take me to various temples. I knew that I should not go to these temples since I must be dedicated to Falun Dafa. But my only reason to visit them was to clarify the truth. And my mother did not know this until a few visits. She was very happy that I was visiting many holy places.
One of my friends in the US practiced an Indian spiritual practice and asked me to deliver some gifts to her guru who stayed in a temple in India. I realized that I could use this opportunity to tell the guru and others about Falun Gong.
I met the guru and informed him about the persecution. Obviously he was practicing "one cultivation way." So I mentioned that I had learned the practice from some Chinese people in the USA and that I just wanted to let him know that no form of spirituality should not be persecuted in this manner, and that it is the duty of all spiritual people to protect it, or at least be aware of it such that this does not happen to them. He was in complete agreement and said he would let others know of it. I then gave him lots of flyers and also my friend's gifts.
From this experience, I learnt that I could use the same type of reasoning at other places of worship. So at other temples, I would clarify the truth to one or two priests in the same way and also drop flyers in collection boxes instead of money.
Practicing at a nearby park
There were no practitioners near my area, so I decided to introduce Falun Dafa in a park close to home. There was no CD player or boom box at home and buying one was very expensive. Hence, I did not go to the park for about a week. Fortunately, a fellow practitioner at another location was kind enough to lend me one for a few days.
Since no one in that park had seen Chinese exercises with Chinese instructions and music, many people stopped to see what I was doing. Some of them approached me and asked me what it was. I explained to them about the practice and showed the exercises. Most of them assumed that I was charging money for the same and were surprised that it was free. So, they started to learn the exercises.
Next day, I introduced Falun Dafa to about 25 members of a free "laughing club" in that park. They would all gather early in the morning and start laughing out loud for about half an hour. As I watched them laugh, I was reminded of people being possessed as mentioned in Zhuan Falun. It appeared to be insane as all of them were over fifty with sons and daughters and they were laughing helplessly. They asked me to join them, but I refused.
Since I had never introduced the practice to so many people at once, I realized that I should not get too excited and stay as calm as possible. I knew that they had been in the park for quite a while so I quickly demonstrated all the exercises to them. I also reminded myself to be as righteous as possible. Everyone showed great interest in learning and gently did the movements. It was good to see some seriousness back in the environment. They asked me to come everyday and teach them. I was really happy for them and asked them to call as many people as possible.
My realizations when I lost my job
In May 2005, I finished my graduation and started my full-time job. However, after a month of working, the boss told me that since the company was not doing well, I would have to forego my pay for around 2 weeks. I considered this as a test of my xinxing and kept working hoping that I would be paid later on. A month after this happened; they asked me to leave as they could not afford to pay me anymore.
At first, I felt it unfair that despite working 5-10 hours extra per week and learning things quickly, I was given no compensation for the 2 weeks they promised to pay later. It seemed as if I had done something bad to them in some previous lifetime and I had to repay it now. I was also happy in a way that I had a huge tribulation to overcome.
Instead of actively overcoming the tribulation by studying the Fa more, I just passively chose to endure it without realizing the extent of damage caused by the old forces. I was not at all prepared for this eventuality. I did not have enough money to support myself and was also not getting any job offers. Moreover, as an International student, I needed an employer to sponsor my visa to be able to stay in the USA.
A fellow practitioner helped me examine myself and stated that I should not be without a job and that it was the old forces' way to prevent me from becoming stable and doing truth clarification work. I examined myself and saw that I had not been diligent in studying the Fa although I constantly read practitioners' articles from Clearwisdom and PureInsight.
Once I enlightened to this fact, I resolved to completely eliminate the influence of the old forces and be completely upright. Within a few days, I found a new job in the same town doing exactly what I was doing before, along with a higher pay. I thought this was Teacher's way of making me realize how important it is to be with the Fa all the time, and how much the old forces could interfere if I wavered. Since then, I have stepped up my efforts in doing the 3 things and have also obtained sponsorship by the employer to stay in the USA.
Clarifying the truth to customer service representatives
One day, I called up the courier service to enquire about receiving a parcel. I requested the service representative check the status of the delivery. He made me wait for almost 15 minutes and then mentioned that for some reason, the parcel was held up in another state. I mentioned that the online tracking of the shipment mentioned that it had left that state and would arrive sometime that day. He said that it was not the case and that I had to wait 3 more days to receive it because of the weekend. I felt really irritated and wanted to criticize the courier service for being so irresponsible. But I restrained myself thinking that I should act as a practitioner and not get upset. In fact, I should thank him in my mind for creating this situation to improve my xinxing. So I ended up saying that it was alright and I could wait longer. The representative thanked me for my patience. At that moment, I thought that this was a great opportunity to clarify the truth and mentioned about Zhen-Shan-Ren. He immediately agreed to check it out.
This incident made me think of people in customer service. Since they have to serve their customers well, they have to listen to what the customer says. So I would find opportunities to clarify the truth.
My understanding of attachments
In certain situations, when I clarified the truth to people I knew and if they refused to acknowledge the facts or said improper things about the persecution, I got aggravated and started arguing like everyday people to prove my point. I then validated myself instead of the Fa. When I calmed down, I realized that I still had fundamental attachments at a more microcosmic level that I needed to get rid of.
My understanding of what Teacher mentioned about attachments is that the set of microscopic particles of one's body that has been cultivated is moved over to the divine side and the new set has been exposed. This new set may contain the same old attachments and needs opportunities to cultivate. And we have them in the form of xinxing tests from various ordinary people who give us opportunities and are waiting to be saved. Should I not consider myself lucky and think of it positively in their terms?
Secondly, Teacher mentioned that time has speeded up in our dimension, without us realizing it. A good example is the progress of technology in such a short time span. As Teacher said, one shichen is two hours in our dimension. If we sit in meditation for a night, it is like cultivating for a year. So cultivating with these tribulations for a short time is like cultivating for a very long time in other dimensions. Then, should I not try to endure them as much as possible?
Thirdly, we have waited for billions of years to obtain this Fa. Also, we have been chosen for this mission. Should I not do justice to Teacher, to the Fa, and to myself for being given this opportunity?
What I am referring to is what Teacher talks about having a broad-minded way of looking at attachments or tribulations, and taking them lightly. Why could I not look at this way all the time?
I am trying my best to do the above, and realize that it is a matter of studying the Fa and cultivating myself accordingly.
Conclusion
Cultivation is all about trying and never giving up until Consummation. Our wonderful Teacher has repeatedly provided us with numerous opportunities to save people. As we go through this process in delusion, we may encounter tribulations of all kinds. But whatever they may be, we cannot stop until we save all sentient beings.
A large country like India offers tremendous opportunities for practitioners as many people are waiting to be saved. I call upon as many overseas (both Western and Chinese) practitioners as possible to assist with truth clarification in India.
I shall end with Teacher's poem "Hurry Up and Tell Them":
"As Dafa disciples tell people the facts,
It's like sharp swords shooting out together from their mouths,
Shredding apart the rotten demons' lies.
Lose no time and save them, hurry up and tell them."
