PureInsight | March 5, 2006
[PureInsight.org] I was born
with a thirst for the answer to the question, "Why are we here?" I
recall experiences in my youth that told me there is more to life than
appears to the eye. I can remember at the age of about 2 or 3, seeing
pictures of people "move." Behind the house where I lived was an
enormous United Church that unmistakably had an atmosphere. It evoked
powerful feelings of the beyond. And, then, seeing spectacular sunsets
over this church made it even more incredible. A psychic I ran into
several years ago, told me she lived in the area, and confirmed that
this particular church definitely had an "atmosphere." By the time I
was 13 I had read the Bible, and from there started to read other books
on the subject of religion and various esoteric teachings.
By age 15 I was reading books by G. I. Gurdjieff that my brother had
introduced to me. I believed they were very sound and did seem to
explain some of the unanswered questions of life. Eventually, I became
a member of the group in the Toronto area for 14 years. I felt it to be
a true cultivation way as I now see it from the Dafa point of view. I
remember Master Li's words that there are some very good cultivation
ways out there. I felt this was one of them. But something still felt
restless inside, that this was not the final way for me. I left this Work, as it was referred to, and remained idle for some years.
I found myself very strongly drawn to oriental culture over the past 30
years through literature, culture, and martial arts, particularly Tai
Chi, which I also studied for a while. One day I was looking on the
internet randomly for some new info on Tai Chi as I had heard about
Qigong being a big thing in China. That's when I found several websites
about Falun Dafa, in early April 2004. I was immersed in reading
everything I could find. Then I had a flashback and remembered seeing
the 6:00 o'clock news back in 1999 about this "new xxxx" in China. I
vaguely recall brushing it off as just another one of those new cults
that are man made and make people crazy. (I now know who tried to
portray it that way!) Well, after reading all these articles about the
persecution, I was horrified. Master Li's words seemed to settle deep
down inside me. Within 72 hours of reading these articles, I was
chatting online with a family member and told her that I declared
myself a Falun Dafa practitioner, and have [since] tried my best at
cultivating. I remember being called to potential jury duty at
that time and on my way there and back, I knew something was already
different. I didn't feel the same again. That morning I had tried to do
some of the exercises for the first time, and treading through our
transit system, I felt like something was moving my body for me. I was
extremely light and energetic.
While I would never say anything against my years in the Gurdjieff
Work, I do have to acknowledge that some of the experiences I wished
for never happened. Following Dafa, some of these experiences were
happening within days or weeks. One thing that was unmistakable was the
energy flow through my body. I had felt this while in the Gurdjieff
Work, but never with this intensity. Just like Master Li said, there
would be countless experiences like this, too many to go on about, but
they are truly extraordinary.
Dafa has also answered so many enigmatic questions that have been
burning in me for years. I have been doing Dafa on my own. I have not
contacted anyone in the Toronto area yet. I once saw some disciples
practicing in a park, and wanted to ask if I could join them, but my
son was with me, and was a little apprehensive about it. And my wife
who is a complete skeptic about anything much above the material, would
have had much to say, regretfully. But I continue to do the exercises
and reading the books as prescribed by Master Li all the same, perhaps
not as diligently as I should, but I will never give up. I sense the
preciousness of this teaching, and can also sense that there really
isn't very much time left. When I read articles and lectures by Master
Li, some of them evoke memories of a childhood dream/nightmare, in
which I'm in a void world that looks like a beach, on a surface like
the moon with no atmosphere or water, and then I begin to hear a
distant rumble to either side of me, that slowly builds in volume until
it is so loud that it is humanely unimaginable. Then a collision
happens of such magnitude that again, nothing in our dimension could
describe. Yet there was no visible damage or destruction anywhere. This
pattern would sometimes repeat 2 or 3 times in the dream. When I awoke
from this dream, I was often drenched in sweat, and sometimes felt
severely nauseas. Could this be an omen of coming changes? It was
absolutely terrifying, yet I never felt that I was going to die.
I thank Master Li for everything he is doing for us. I feel that he is
indeed a Holy person and that I am nothing compared to him. I can only
hope for his blessings and continue with his requirements for this
cultivation way.
