PureInsight | August 27, 2006
[PureInsight.org] (2006 Experience Sharing Conference in Ireland) My name is Gerald and I started practising Falun Dafa in the year 2000.
When I started cultivating I wanted to improve very quickly and left
aside my bad habits and some ordinary habits. I spent a lot of time
doing Fa-rectification things and took care of my studies. When I got
married in the summer of 2001 I tried to continue not doing any
ordinary things which put a great strain on my relationship with my
wife. In our home I insisted there was no television and was even upset
if she wore earrings or died her hair to make her appearance more
beautiful.
In 2001 the persecution was very intense and there were many things to
do between only a few people. I was seldom at home and my relationship
with my wife continued to be under a lot of pressure. One time after we
were sending forth righteous thoughts outside the Chinese Embassy, some
fellow practitioners returned to my home for a cup of tea. They arrived
before me and were talking to my wife who was very upset. I considered
all of these things interference with the more important things we were
doing to save sentient beings. The fellow practitioners sat me down and
talked to me calmly telling me the situation was not correct and that I
must think more of what others can tolerate.
To be told something from a few different practitioners signalled to me
that it was not only interference and that the fault was on my part. I
started to look inside more carefully. I realised that I was being over
zealous and asked fellow practitioners to take over some of the things
that I was responsible for. I started to pay more attention at home and
think more of others.
What I gave up, though, was only the attachment. I spent more time
doing things for Fa-Rectification at home rather than away from home. I
also paid more attention to some of the more ordinary things in life
and yet I never forget I am a Falun Dafa practitioner.
At home my situation has changed completely and with this newly changed
environment my wife is contributing more to Fa-Rectification and
helping more than ever before. When we were immersed in conflicts I
worried about her future because I didn't think to look inside at
myself. When I looked inside and changed my behaviour to be more inline
with the requirements of the Fa, my home environment changed and was
more harmonious.
The importance and priority of Fa study.
In January of 2005 some Irish practitioners went to the European
Fa-Conference in London. During the Fa-Conference I met with a few UK
practitioners who were in the process of starting the English Epoch Times. They very kindly offered to help us to start an Irish edition of the Epoch Times. Over the next few months Irish practitioners discussed the idea of producing an Irish version of the Epoch Times. After Fa-study and discussion over a few months we decided that with Master's help we could do it. As we started doing the Epoch Times we all became very busy and I started to study the Fa less than before. I was very anxious about this.
In recent months I have again started to study the Fa more and have
deepened my understanding about why Fa study is important. When we
study the Fa well we have it fresh in our minds and when we come across
conflicts we solve them with the Fa, this means the power of the Fa is
behind our words and actions and that energy is enormous. Each
principle we enlighten to in the Fa means that a part of us is then in
line with the righteous Fa principles of the new cosmos and the old
forces can not interfere. The thing that motivates me the most to study
the Fa well is that Fa rectification will not last forever and, when
it's over, we can no longer enlighten, validate or remove our
attachments with the Fa. It would be regrettable that, when the Fa
rectification ends, there might still be a part of me that is not in
line with the Fa. What happens to this part? Can it enter the future?
Will it affect the sentient beings I came here to save? I feel
privileged to be able to read the Fa and I hope to use my time well to
do so.
Having Firm Faith in Master and the Fa
When we started the Epoch Times
there were many things to overcome. We were short in all areas and we
didn't realise initially that there was so much work involved with
producing the paper. Things were hard and we had many things to learn.
Each week we were never sure whether we have enough human resources,
financial resources, or even the technical skills to produce the paper.
At times when it seemed impossible, strong faith in Master and the Fa
were required. I would think to myself that Master arranged this path
for us and believes we can be successful. If Master thinks we can do
it, then we can do it. At the same time I always tried to keep up a
reasonable level of Fa study because if things where not done according
to the Fa's requirements, we as a group could deviate from the very
narrow path we were walking on. It always seemed there was no room for
error but if we followed Master's requirements and had strong righteous
thoughts everything would work out according to Master's arrangements.
Sometimes Master gave us strong encouragement in the paper and, it
seemed, directly intervened when we could not do something's for
ourselves. The only requirement on us was that we followed the Fa in
the process. One example is when we were asked to move to mid week
printing by the UK team.
We asked the printer for a midweek deadline. He said absolutely not.
This left us in an awful position because as far as we knew this was
the cheapest printer, by a substantial amount, in the country. But we
know there are reasons for everything and at the time we had a number
of problems with our current printer that we had failed to resolve
through talking with him. So we started to look for another printer.
After a few weeks we found one in another part of the country. He
offered us a cheaper price, more colour and a better print deadline. We
travelled a long distance to go and see him. When we went to see him he
changed what he had agreed over the phone, he admitted he would have
similar problems to our current printer and also went behind our backs
to talk to our current printer who we had not told we were shopping
around. So we left a little disheartened that he couldn't solve our
problems.
I shared with other members of the team what the printer had said, they
were a little shocked that he went behind our backs but it didn't
really bother me because I was sure we would get a glowing reference as
we had been a good customer. The next day I got a call from our contact
in the current printer who said he could give us the print deadline
near to what we were looking for, I told him we would think about it.
That evening the English Epoch Times
team had another meeting to discuss what to do. We decided to stay with
the current printer but we wanted all the advantages that the new
printer offered. Being honest people we didn't have much to barter with
because we knew the current printer was probably better in most areas.
The next day the problem resolved itself harmoniously with a simple
phone call, the first sentence of which was like music to my ears. A
responsible person called me from our current printer and said simply
"Gerald, you are a valued customer, what do you want us to do so we can
keep your business" I said the other printer offered more colour, a
cheaper price and a better print deadline. He said he would match them
all.
There was one further test as he asked me how much I would like to pay.
Again being truthful I asked him to match the price of the other
printer. A few days later he asked for the quote of the other printer
which I had no problem giving him because I hadn't taken advantage of
him and asked for an unreasonable price.
Through the tribulations in changing the print deadline I strongly felt
Master's presence guiding our every step. Things that appeared bad
became good, all we had to do was keep the Fa at the forefront of our
minds and trust Master.
The English Epoch Times in
Ireland still faces many challenges and we are always looking for more
people to help. I am very grateful to Master for this opportunity to
cultivate and save sentient beings. It is such a rare opportunity and I
treasure it immensely.
