(Minghui.org) As a 65-year-old new practitioner, I started Dafa cultivation in March 2014 after watching Shen Yun earlier in Canada.
Master said in Zhuan Falun:
“Attaining a human body is so difficult! If a person can truly obtain Dafa, this person is simply most fortunate. A human body is hard to acquire—that is what it means.”
I feel extremely fortunate to have this most precious opportunity to become a Dafa practitioner and be able to assist Master in the Fa-rectification and saving sentient beings.
I would like to share some of my cultivation experiences of the last three years.
Being Diligent in Solid Cultivation
I was staying with my children in Canada when I started cultivation in 2014. I studied the Fa on my own, read articles on the Minghui website and learned the exercises from watching the DVD of Master teaching the exercises.
I returned to China in August 2014, and continued to study the Fa and practiced the exercises at home. I remembered that a practitioner at the Tianti Bookstore told me to read articles on the Minghui website every day so that I could catch up with the Fa-rectification progress.
Because I was only a new practitioner and did not know much about cultivation, I was very anxious to find other practitioners. Master must have known how I felt, because a few months later I ran into some practitioners who were handing out truth-clarification DVDs at a market. I felt so happy!
Quickly, they helped me obtain a copy of Zhuan Falun (the copy I had earlier was left behind in Canada) and most of Master’s new articles. They also encouraged me to study the Fa attentively—at least one lecture a day. I was very grateful for Master’s arrangement and the kindness of these practitioners.
Master said,
“If you don't study this Great Law well your own Consummation won't be secured. What's more, all the important Dafa things you should do will be like ordinary people going about their business, with ordinary-person thoughts and with an ordinary person's basis, and then that's just ordinary people, at best that's just ordinary people doing good deeds for Dafa. Since you're Dafa disciples you can't dissociate yourselves from the Fa when you do things. You're still continually changing this most surface part that hasn't changed. That's why you can't go without studying the Fa. You must study the Fa well. In the process of studying the Fa you'll be able to keep clearing away bad elements in yourself, changing the last bit of stuff you have that hasn't yet been changed. Why did I always use to tell you so emphatically to study the Fa, study the Fa, and study the Fa well? Because it's of utmost importance.” (From “Teaching and Explaining the Fa at the Metropolitan New York Fa Conference”)So, every day, I would study the Fa in the morning, go out to clarify the truth to people in the afternoon, and when I come back home, I would study Master’s new articles. In the evening, I would read articles on the Minghui website.
I have been retired for years and my home is my cultivation environment. Master said,
“To tell you the truth, the entire cultivation process for a practitioner is one of constantly giving up human attachments.” (Zhuan Falun)
Even though I understand the Fa principles, it is truly a test each time I change my human notions. Before I started to practice Falun Dafa, I never cared much about how my husband felt about things. I was strong headed and made decisions for everything at home. Now I understand that I should try to meet the requirements of the Fa both at home and in society, and my actions should measure up to the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.
It was rather hard at the beginning, as I often failed to control myself and thus lost many xinxing cultivation opportunities. Later I realized that as a practitioner, one needs to be kind and compassionate, and if I always argue over ordinary people’s things, I’ll drop down to that level.
Once, my husband said to me, “If you talk nicely, others would feel good and be happy to accept what you say. Why do you always talk so aggressively with a stern look on your face? You may feel good this way, but do you know how much hurt you cause others?”
I remembered what Master said in the poem “Yin and Yang Reversed” (Hong Yin III)
“Women are strong and smartImpetuous, sharp-tongued, and dominating”
I felt that Master was talking about me. The phenomenon of Yin and Yang reversed has appeared because social morals are going downhill and it goes against Heavenly principles.
Through Fa study, I understand that as a cultivator, I should change my attitude towards my husband and stop living with resentment. I recalled that it was not easy for my husband to have me as his wife. My salary was higher than his and my position at work was higher than his, too. Because of this our apartment was also allocated to us based on my position. Someone once said to him in front of me, “You are really nothing at home. Even your own house is not under your name.”
I improved my xinxing through Fa study and, when conflicts arise, I can now keep calm and recite Master’s teaching in my mind:
“As a cultivatorOne always looks for one’s own faults‘Tis the Way to get rid of attachments most effectivelyThere’s no way to skip ordeals, big or small[During a conflict, if you can remember:]“He’s right,And I’m wrong,”What’s to dispute?(“Who’s Right, Who’s Wrong” Hong Yin III)
I realized that looking inward is a precious tool and, as a cultivator, I must jump out of my human notions. Gradually my home environment took a huge change and my husband also changed. In fact, my husband has many merits. He is kind and does not care much money and material things. I made up my mind to follow the Fa principles to rectify myself, respect my husband from my heart, and do well the household chores as I should.
Now my family has become more and more harmonious, and is filled with warmth.
Test in Doing the Exercises
For me, doing the exercises has been a real test. For nearly one and a half years I could only sit in “half lotus.” Master said,
“You may do half-lotus if you can’t yet sit in full-lotus, but you still need to work to gradually put both of your legs up.” (The Great Way of Spiritual Perfection)
Later, I began to do half an hour of “half-lotus” and half an hour of “full-lotus,” but a practitioner encouraged me to sit in “full-lotus” for a whole hour.
During the first time I tried to sit in “full-lotus” for a whole hour, the perspiration poured down my face halfway through and my legs were so painful that I started to tremble uncontrollably. I persevered and some words appeared in my mind: Cast off your old self and take on a new self. I felt that Master was encouraging me to keep going. I kept sitting in full-lotus position for a whole hour. Since then, I have been able to do so when doing the fifth exercise.
I read a sharing article recently, in which a practitioner reminded me to keep the back straight when sitting in the full-lotus position. I did try to keep straight when I first started to do full-lotus, but when I straightened up my back, my legs went up as well and began to hurt badly. I had to bend forward to bear the pain.
Later, even though I could sit up a bit straighter, my posture was still not good. I remembered Master’s instruction: “Keep the waist and neck upright” (The Great Way of Spiritual Perfection). So I tried to do as Master said and had a totally different feeling. My legs felt really light after the exercise.
From this experience, I realized that cultivation is a very serious matter and I must follow Master’s teachings 100 percent, and that means truly having faith in Master and the Fa.
Cultivating Myself in Truth-clarification
Because I’m a new practitioner, my personal cultivation is combined with the validation of the Fa. With the help of other practitioners, I soon joined the mission of assisting Master in Fa-rectification and saving sentient beings.
Once, I met a lady of my age. I talked to her about moral degeneration, the difficult life our generation has had, the corruption of the CCP officials, and that CCP would be punished by Heaven for its crimes. I then asked her if she had joined the CCP organizations before and if she had heard about the “Quit the CCP” movement.
She said yes and I was the third Falun Gong practitioner who had talked to her about it. I told her she was truly blessed to have had such opportunities and encouraged her to quit the CCP. She agreed happily and said she would recite “Falun Dafa is good. Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good,” as I suggested. I knew in my heart that everything was done by Master and I was only doing my bit along the way.
Cultivation in a New Environment
I came to Canada for a visit again at the end of 2016. Even though the environment had changed, I still got up at 3:30 am to do the exercises, and then send righteous thoughts. After that I would study the Fa. During the day I would read Minghui articles and do some household chores.
Later, I went to the Tianti bookstore. Practitioners there were kind and helped me find a couple who lived not far from my children’s place. The couple was very kind and took me to a big group Fa study.
That was the first time I joined a group Fa study. I felt really excited and had such a magnificent feeling! Several hundred practitioners studied the Fa together, with western practitioners and Chinese practitioners together. I read every word carefully with full concentration. We studied one lecture, then a new article by Master, followed by sharing from practitioners. The atmosphere was very peaceful and I could feel a very strong energy field.
On our way back, a practitioner asked me to join in a Shen Yun promotion during the weekend, which involved hanging Shen Yun brochures on people’s doors. It was such a wonderful opportunity. I was very grateful to the practitioners who drove a long distance to pick me up and bring me home, who patiently told me how to conduct myself when promoting Shen Yun, and how to interact with everyday people.
Each time I came to a house, I would hang the brochure properly with respect and say: Please bring people with destined relationships to the Shen Yun show. Let them remember: Falun Dafa is good. Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.
Reflecting upon the last few years of my cultivation, I feel extremely grateful to Master, who has given me this most precious opportunity to become a Dafa practitioner. Falun Dafa is a truly a wonderful practice that teaches people to be kind with high moral standards. I hope that my fellow Chinese people do not believe the lies told by the CCP and remember that Falun Dafa is good and Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good, so that they can all choose a bright future for themselves.
