PureInsight | June 7, 2007
[Toronto Fahui, 2007] I
obtained the Fa through the Internet in March, 2005. Right now, I would
like to share with all of you my cultivation experiences before and
after the municipal election.
I. Clarifying the Truth of Dafa during the Municipal Election
Before the Toronto municipal election in 2006, a city councilor
publicly made some discriminatory remarks about the Divine Land
Marching Band. Making use of this event, I then carried out truth
clarification during the election.
One Saturday last October, there were to be meetings with candidates
for city councilors; I then decided to deliver truth clarifying
materials. When I took out my printer to have some materials printed, I
found it was running out of ink. I immediately knew it was interference
preventing me from going. Nothing could stop me. I had to go! The
meeting started, and during the question period, I, to picked up a
question sheet. I would never have expected to stand up and raise
questions in front of so many people. I used to be quite reserved, and
never felt like speaking in public. It's kind of agonizing for me; I
would feel awkward and rather uneasy, especially with lots of
foreigners in the audience. Since my English is very poor, I worried
that I wouldn't complete a whole sentence or I would simply forget what
to say due to nervousness. But I also told myself, with such a crowd
here, I surely won't be asked to raise any questions. And so I sat
there calmly as if nothing was happening. I was absolutely unprepared.
I heard the host read a number aloud, but no one stood up nor even
answered. I looked at the number in my hand. I just about fainted! Why
was it me? I had to stand up straight, my heart almost popping out of
my chest. I felt my cheeks burning, they must have turned red. I
stuttered out words with a trembling voice, saying all that I could
remember. And sometime I had to stop to think about the next sentence.
The host urged me on twice, asking me to briefly make the questions
clear. That made me even more nervous. After I took great trouble to
put forth my questions, including the question of what they thought
about the city councilor's discrimination towards the Divine Land
Marching Band. The candidates answered me one by one, but I could only
roughly get their ideas, I missed most of the details. And there was
one candidate who asked me something and repeated it twice:
unfortunately, I did not understand it at all.
Truth be told, before the end of the meeting, I strongly felt Master
and all the divine beings watching us. It was 11 p.m., but my heart was
still beating like a drum, I was feverish from head to toe, it was
really abnormal, and lasted too long. I had to think it over. I found
that although I was scared, and had got stage fright, this seemed only
to be the reason in this dimension. In reality I felt frightened with
all the divine beings staring at me. It showed that I'd done a lot of
unrighteous things before so I felt sort of guilty and ashamed; and
also that I did not fully believe in Master and the Fa, not having done
the Three Things well. At last, I enlightened that it was Master who
had me take care of the event.
On Monday I was kind of occupied, but I felt somewhat relieved thinking
I would be busy the next day so I could not attend the next candidate
meeting. And I also found some "reasonable" excuses like: "the thing
I'm busy with is also related to the Fa. Everything should be done,
right? So it does not matter what I do. Plus, I am not a Canadian
citizen." But on Tuesday night, when I sat down and thought it over, I
found those ideas ridiculous. I had selfishly found many excuses for my
shrinking back from difficulties. Master says in Zhuan Falun:
"Without human action happening under cosmic changes, such conditions
would not have been brought to ordinary human society, and neither
would they be called cosmic changes."
I often heard fellow practitioners talking about people missing the
chance, missing the cosmic change. I then thought I had to go on
Wednesday. By saying in public that I am a Falun Gong practitioner
might solve all the problems for everything is arranged by Master.
On Wednesday two other practitioners attended the meeting. On seeing
one of them, I felt so happy and relieved, thinking that with him here,
I would not suffer having to stand in public. We sat in the second row.
At the beginning of the question period, three other people had asked
their questions. But all three of us had remained seated, and the
meeting would end after three more questions. Suddenly it came to me:
"Go! Go!" I finally raised my hand. I stood up and asked the same
question. Though I could still feel my voice trembling, I held control
of it. A young lady candidate said that she once she had seen our
marching band and found it gorgeous, very peaceful and wonderful, and
had taken lots of photos. She said, "You should not be discriminated
against." After that my fellow practitioner also stood up and asked,
"What about government officials accepting offers of free travel and
free gifts provided by the CCP, and keep silent or turn on Falun Gong
under the pressure of the Chinese Embassy." And also he asked why the
Motion for Falun Dafa Day was not yet approved. The councilor explained
at once that he had never taken any offers from nor accepted any
pressure from the CCP, etc.
I was late for the third meeting. Three people had already put forth
their questions, while my fellow practitioner in the front row sat
quietly. I put up my hand. And just when the last candidate finished
answering the audience's question, I rose and stepped forward, and with
a loud voice I put forth my question and asked all the candidates to
answer it. My voice still was not as steady and firm as it ought to be;
yet I had made progress. For I had practiced repeating my question out
loud to myself after the second meeting, so little by little I could
speak clearly and loudly enough to ask my question.
At the fourth meeting, there were 13 candidates and over 200 in the
audience. Once the meeting started, some in the audience argued with
one of the candidates, which, I knew very well was interference. I then
started to send forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the wicked demons
and rotten ghosts behind them. People could raise questions only when
their number is drawn. I sat there sending forth righteous thoughts.
But I was a bit anxious, three people had asked questions, why was it
not my turn yet? But all of a sudden I realized I shouldn't have taken
a fellow practitioner's ticket (which had his number on it). Wasn't I
taking my fellow practitioner's chance to cultivate? What a bad
mentality of showing off and selfishness! I confessed to Master that I
had realized my mistake. My heart immediately turned peaceful. I kept
on sending forth righteous thoughts. As a result, my own number was
called and I became the fifth person to ask a question. So I stood
before the microphone and I was asked to finish my question in 30
seconds. I then loudly, peacefully and calmly asked my question.
All the candidates stood up one by one and gave answers to my question.
After the meeting, fellow practitioners further clarified the truth and
separately gave truth - clarification materials to the candidates.
With the experiences of attending those meetings, I realized that I'd
better wear something neater. So from the fifth meeting on, I started
to wear a suit and tie. Furthermore I intentionally wore a small
eye-catching Falun emblem. Entering the meeting hall, I found that for
unknown reasons, people glanced at me more frequently. Nobody had paid
any attention to me before. I raised my question and I found among the
candidates there was a councilor currently holding the post. He was a
friend of the councilor who had made negative remarks about Dafa. He
was spreading rumors that we could not take part in the parade for we
had not been invited. On hearing this, I stood up and loudly exclaimed,
"You are wrong. We had received and invitation, and I have proof of
it."
In the evening, I attended the Toronto mayoral candidates meeting. I
got there early to take a seat near the microphone. My fellow
practitioner, a westerner, had the chance to be the first to ask
questions. There was a candidate who said, "I am a Falun Gong
practitioner, I know about Falun Gong. Since there were over 100
million people practicing Falun Gong, the number of cultivators is more
than the CCP membership, so it launched the persecution. If I were
elected, I would adopt the act of International Falun Dafa Day in
Toronto."
During group study at Toronto University that weekend, fellow
practitioners asked me to share my cultivation experience during the
municipal election. Thus my attachment of showing off welled up. On the
second day things had changed greatly. One evening I went to attend a
meeting, but I was not allowed to raise any questions because they
found out that I did not live in the area. I realized my heart was
driven by the ordinary people present, and I had forgotten my mission
here. If I missed the chance to raise questions, there would be losses!
I thought about leaving, yet on second thought, I considered it
improper. I had to make up for the things that I had done poorly! I
would wait until the last minute to tell them the truth. While I was
sending forth righteous thoughts, I again confessed to Master that I
had identified my attachments and asked Master to help us to put forth
questions. When it was only 6 minutes before the meeting's end, time
seemed frozen. It was our turn when there were only 5 minutes left.
Within the limited 5 minutes my fellow practitioner read through our
questions and two candidates finished their answers. In all of the
10-odd meetings I had attended, there had never been 8 people who were
questioned and responded within such a short time, I knew it was Master
who helped us one more time.
At the last meeting, when I handed out materials to the last
candidates, I realized the event was over, and this cosmic change had
passed. But I did not feel relaxed; instead I felt a heavy burden. I
knew I had not done well in many aspects, and more than that I saw many
candidates - especially those in positions hidden away from us - for
whom I did not know what kind of future they would have. When I got
home, I enlightened that I had been kind of pursuing. Master says in Zhuan Falun:
"Cultivation depends on one's own efforts, while the transformation of gong is done by one's master."
I should attain things by giving up all my attachments to pursuit.
On the second day, when I practiced the exercises, I felt heat inside
and out which I never felt before. I knew it was Master doing guanding
to me. Through truth clarifying during the municipal election, I felt
strongly that Master was at our side anytime to help and to enlighten
us. I made progress, with both body and mind relaxed and my capacity
enlarged.
II. My Enlightenment from My Leg Pain
After the municipal election, there were 11 Christmas parades over the
following three weekends. Once within a single day we drove hundreds of
miles to take part in three different Christmas Parades. There were
several hundred thousand people on site and over millions of TV viewers
saw "Falun Dafa". The second day after the parades, I sat on a mat
rubbing my legs to get ready for meditation. I had arthritis in my left
leg before, and when it was windy in winter, it used to hurt. That had
disappeared after I attained the Fa. But two months ago, it came back
again. I even felt pain when I going up and down stairs. I know the
karma is eliminated from inside out layer by layer, and this is the
reflection of it. I insist on doing the sitting meditation, and with
great effort, I can still make it for an hour, yet I have to spend
about 15 minutes to press and rub my leg.
Though I know I am supposed to enlighten from it, but I haven't
understood yet. Once when I was rubbing my painful leg, two words
flashed into my brain, which were "cultivation practice", namely
cultivating xinxing and
together with practicing gong at the same time means cultivation. These
two words are just two legs of mine, left one is cultivating, the right
one is practicing. Then I thought I might have problems cultivating xinxing.
The fact is I have all the way considered practicing the 5 sets of
exercises the most fundamental, and put studying the Fa behind. I
practice exercises every day, and if I run out of time I would skip
studying the Fa. If there are only two hours left in a day, I would
normally use it to practice. I guess that's where the problem lies. In
the evening, when I studied Zhuan Falun, a paragraph suddenly came to my eyes and touched me,
"What we lose is actually something bad. What is it? It is karma, and
it goes hand in hand with different human attachments. For example,
everyday people have all kind of bad thoughts. For self - interest,
they commit various wrong deeds and will acquire this black substance,
karma. This directly involves our own minds. In order to
eliminate this negative thing, you must first change your mind."
I read it several times, and I suddenly enlightened: I only know that
while practicing the exercises, karma can be transformed; while in
conflicts, upgrading xinxing,
and karma will be shifted; but actually during studying the Fa, the
sudden display of Fa principles is also the process of enhancement of xinxing, and Master had eliminated the karma accordingly.
Afterwards, I strengthened my Fa study, and I tried to balance time for
studying the Fa and practicing the exercises. Within less than a week,
my leg pain was considerably reduced.
