Cultivating in Dafa

[PureInsight.org]
Greetings Master!
Greetings fellow practitioners!

My name is Valentina, and I am an Italian Dafa practitioner. I would like to share my cultivation experiences in Dafa.

Experiencing the Importance of Fa Study

I obtained Dafa through my husband. He invited me to join the local Fa-study group. From the beginning I could feel that group Fa-study and experience sharing among practitioners was very beneficial. After cultivating for a period of time, I can still feel the benefit that group Fa-study has on my individual cultivation.

I remember that after Fa-study, practitioners would share their experiences with each other, which helped me to better understand the Fa. I learned to search inwards.

I am not very experienced in cultivation, but I realized that if we want to do well in clarifying the truth, it is crucial for practitioners to communicate well and to study the Fa well. If we wish to keep pace with Master's Fa-rectification process, reach the standard in our individual cultivation and fulfil our prehistoric vows, we cannot ignore Fa-study.

A few months after having obtained the Fa, I attended a European Fa-conference for the first time. I had to accept that I could not understand the speeches at the conference, and I even fell asleep. When I returned home, I felt a huge power push me forward to be diligent in my individual cultivation. Master was already looking after me. However, my understanding of the Fa was very shallow at the time. I remembered two things: one was to study the Fa as much as I could to keep pace with the Fa-rectification process; the other was to clarify the truth. From then on, I started to attend local truth clarification events and Fa promotion activities. Later I attended nationwide truth clarification activities.

Every time I attended both national and international experience sharing events, I could feel a huge momentum. It was a shame when I went back home because the momentum became weaker, and ordinary people's thoughts and attachments would hide the real me, the part that had already assimilated Dafa, the part that allowed me to go on the right track.

In his Fa-teaching, Master repeatedly emphasizes the importance of Fa-study. Although this Fa-teaching seemed quite simple, I understood this gradually during the process of becoming more mature. Although rationally I understood, in practice I still encountered many problems, interferences and tests.

What left me the biggest impression was when we organized a Free China screening to be held in a city hall meeting hall. We had several practitioners working together. Some of us called local politicians to invite them to join us. A week before the event, there were still a few politicians who we had not contacted, so I hurried to phone them. Thus I spent less time on Fa-study and doing the exercises, and I did not pay enough attention to my individual cultivation.

On the day of the screening, my cultivation status was very bad, and I could not keep righteous thoughts with all of my human attachments surfacing. The politicians we invited did not show up. Instead, many ordinary citizens came to the screening. I was very upset and felt the event was not successful because the politicians did not show up. I was not in a mood to look after all those ordinary citizens.

Although I obviously did not do very well, all the audience members were moved by the film thanks to Master and fellow practitioners. Some of them even asked for details about the exercise site so they could learn the practice.

Since then I have had a very strong and scary feeling of swaying, so I decided to use all my time to study the Fa. Initially when I wanted to study the Fa, I could not concentrate until I read Master's Fa-teaching “What is a Dafa Disciple”. Master's teaching stayed in my mind: “What I think is: The only path that lies before you, the disciples of Dafa, is one of real cultivation. There is no other path.” Master also mentioned, “You are cultivators. I’m not talking about your past, what you once were, or what you display on the surface. I am talking about your core and the meaning of your life, the responsibility you shoulder, and your historic mission. Only thus are you truly a Dafa disciple.”

Since I did not study the Fa well, I had lost my foundation. Without the Fa's guidance, how could I really help Master to rectify the Fa? How could I say that I am a Dafa disciple? How could I forget who I was and what my mission was? Without the Fa's guidance, all my activities are human activities guided by human thoughts.

I felt that I could not face Master and was very sad. I made up my mind to redeem myself. I understood that I should search inwards and really cultivate myself. The desire for the screening’s success, for fame and for being good in other people's eyes had been replaced by the righteous thoughts that a practitioner should have. I wished to have many people come to the screening. I had different thoughts about different people; I only looked at their social statuses and did not think that they were all sentient beings to be saved. Master told me that clarifying the truth should aim at people's hearts, offering them an opportunity to choose their own future.

After learning this lesson, I no longer ignore Fa study. Fa is the air I breathe. Now I increasingly realize why Master told us to “take the Fa as Master" and that we could find the answers to all questions in the Fa. Master has offered us everything to go back home and fulfil our prehistoric vows. As long as we do things according to the Fa and do not prioritize ourselves or our human attachments, everything will be fine.

I could see many things I did not do well in cooperating with fellow practitioners. I did not fully trust the local fellow practitioners. In particular, there were many disagreements between my husband and me.

Cultivating at Home

Because my husband and I always attended truth clarification events together, it was very important for me to cooperate well with him. I thank Master for offering me such a cultivation environment. I felt that I must be strict with myself so that I could be responsible to my cultivation and to the Fa. Many times when I interacted with my husband, I could not search inwards or be compassionate and tolerant towards him. I was far from Master's request: “Forbearance is the key to improving one’s xinxing. To endure with anger, grievance, or tears is the forbearance of an everyday person who is attached to his concerns. To endure completely without anger or grievance is the forbearance of a cultivator” (What is Forbearance (Ren)? / FALUN DAFA ESSENTIALS FOR FURTHER ADVANCEMENT).

I always criticized my husband more than I praised him. I could not see his good points and always wished that he would do things according to my understandings and requirements. Thus I always blamed him. I realized that this was not fair to him and that I had not met Master's requirement of seizing the opportunity to search inwards and improve myself. Whenever I see his weakness, I should look at and improve myself.

I realize that I have a very strong attachment to fighting. However, in cultivation we should keep a modest attitude.

Once I translated an article for the Clear Harmony website written by a young practitioner in Mainland China. He described his experience of making truth clarification materials and writing articles for Minghui. The material he made was chosen and read by Minghui editors who edited and reinforced the article with more powerful truth information material. When I translated this part, I thought that he must be very upset that his material was modified. However, the practitioner's response was totally different from mine. He thanked the Minghui editors and was very touched by their modification because he realized that Dafa disciples are one body and that everyone is supporting each other unconditionally. The aim is to achieve better efficacy in clarifying the truth and saving more sentient beings.

I feel ashamed for my lack of righteous thoughts, but I thank Master for giving me the opportunity to realize the importance of eliminating my attachment to self. I should prioritize the Fa. However, during interactions with my husband, I did not want to accept criticism. I always felt what I did was right. I did not have a modest attitude.

Sometimes I thought it was quite hard to eliminate attachments, but I remembered what Master said in his Fa teaching at “Explaining the Fa During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference”: “I can sense the state of your thinking--"It's hard, really hard." But didn't you wait those thousands of years just for today?! Could your future Consummation compare with this little bit that you're enduring today?!”

I understand that I am far behind Master's requirements. I have many human attachments to let go, but I know I should be strict with myself and diligent in my individual cultivation. I stick to this point very well. I understand that only if one does well in individual cultivation can one really cooperate well with other practitioners.

I thank Master for giving us such a beautiful Dafa and offering me the opportunity to become a Dafa disciple. I thank my fellow practitioners for their help and support. I also thank the Minghui editors and all the practitioners of the Italian Clear Harmony website. Being able to always read fellow practitioners' sharings greatly helped me in my cultivation and improvement.

Please compassionately point out anything inappropriate.

Thanks Master!
Thanks fellow practitioner!

(Speech at 2013 European Falun Dafa Experience-Sharing Conference in Copenhagen)