PureInsight | April 9, 2006
[PureInsight.org] (Los Angeles
Fahui, 2006) I became a Falun Dafa practitioner in the spring of 2005.
My health has completely changed since then. Within a couple of months
my energy level has increased tremendously and the health problems I
had suffered from for many years, including digestive
problems and blood sugar imbalances, have all disappeared or are
greatly diminished. I changed from being a frail, elderly lady into a
vibrantly energetic person and I can do things I have not done in many
years.
But I did not become a Falun Dafa practitioner because of health
benefits. It was because I wanted to cultivate, become an
enlightened being, and end the cycle of reincarnation. For 20
years I have been consciously seeking enlightenment and studying many
esoteric teachings and practicing meditation. When I read Zhuan Falun
I knew I had found what I had been seeking. I strongly felt that the
improvement of xinxing character or mind/heart quality the way Teacher
Li writes about it has to be the foundation of cultivation. I
finally got a satisfactory answer to the question, why am I here on
earth, while other beings are in heaven. Teacher Li says we have
dropped down here because we were bad or selfish in the heavenly places
where we lived before. Now we have to abandon our selfishness and other
attachments and pay for our karma in order to return.
I was very happy when I found Falun Dafa and started right away
to practice the exercises every day, study the Fa with my fellow
practitioners in San Diego and get involved in truth clarification
projects. I quickly read all of Teacher books and articles and
everything about the persecution to get the big picture.
Even before I obtained the Fa I had already enlightened to some
principles of the universe through the years of studying Buddhist,
Taoist and Christian writings and research into paranormal
phenomena. But my understanding was incomplete on many important
points. I knew that there is a law (the Dao) in the universe that
is just and fair: we always reap the results of our own actions,
meaning that the good fortune as well as the suffering we experience is
because of our own previous actions. I had also found that when we have
intentions or think about something with great emotion, we manifest
those kinds of things in our lives. So I worked on keeping my mind
peaceful and joyful as much as possible, and only think about things I
wanted in my life, avoid negative news or talking about negative
things.
So when I first heard about the persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners
in China, I was not sure what to make of it, and was reluctant to get
involved or allow myself to have strong emotional reactions about it. I
felt it was the karma of the individuals coming back to them, and that
there was really nothing I could do about it. I thought that if I got
too involved and got myself all emotionally upset about it, I would
attract bad things to myself as well.
But when I read Zhuan Falun,
it became clear to me, that the persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners
is different from the tribulations of other people, because Falun Dafa
practitioners are cultivators, and Teacher explained on page 5:..."once
a person wants to practice cultivation, his or her Buddha- nature is
considered to have come forth. Such a thought is most precious, for
this person wants to return to his or her original, true self and
transcend the ordinary human level. Perhaps everyone has heard this
statement in Buddhism: when one's Buddha-nature emerges, it will shake
the world of ten directions. Whoever sees it will come to give a hand
and help this person out unconditionally."
Then I realized that what Falun Dafa practitioners are going through is
very different, and I could not turn my back. I, too, had to help end
the persecution. From everything I read about Falun Dafa and the
persecution, I was filled with the deep sense that this is an historic
event the world has been waiting for, the dharma ending period as it is
called by Buddhists, the final battle between good and evil that many
religions have been predicting. When I read that within seven years
there were 100 million Falun Dafa practitioners and about the violence
of the persecution, I thought that this must be the fulfillment of all
those prophecies.
I felt a longing to share Falun Dafa with my family and former
spiritual friends. I found that is not as easy as I had thought. I
think most people in the West do not want to hear that they have to
endure suffering. As soon as it hurts a little bit, they don't want to
do it. They believe that anything spiritual has to make you feel
wonderful all the time. Especially New Age believers (and I was one of
them), don't want to hear about hell, as a loving God would not send
his children to hell. I think they are addicted to the feel-good part
of certain spiritual practices that involve music and meditation that
take one into an altered state.
When our Teacher talks about the many Qigong masters and Qigong
practices in China, I translated that to the West as meaning the many
teachers and groups here who teach their own enlightenment classes and
seminars all over the place. They all have some good ideas, but I found
that there is no strict self-improvement requirement and so it cannot
help people improve themselves and return to their original true nature
or their original place in the universe. In addition, those teachers
are not enlightened themselves; they cannot save themselves and don't
have the power or the gong to help others transform their karma.
I have tried to find one thought from Master teachings to hold onto
when I feel that I am being tested, or when my emotions start getting
out of control, which happened a lot when I read day after day about
the details of the persecution. Master makes a comment in Zhuan Falun
on p. 378 about an Arhat:..."when a person reaches the Arhat
level, in his heart he is not concerned about anything. He does not
care at all in his heart for any ordinary human matter, and he will
always be smiling and in good spirits."
This is my first Fa conference, and this is all I want to say today.
I wish to express my deepest gratitude to our Teacher for saving
us, and also to my fellow practitioners who are a source of inspiration
and joy to me.
