New Practitioner Pushes Beyond Superficial Practice to True Cultivation

(Minghui.org) I was born in the 1990s. Before I began practicing Falun Dafa, I studied Tantric Buddhism and always believed in the existence of divine beings. After I began practicing Falun Dafa, I discovered that this was what I had been searching for—the questions I’d had for many years were answered.

I have now been practicing for more than four years. Just as many practitioners, I have gone through the process of body purification. With Master’s care and protection, I have been able to overcome one tribulation after another.

With Master’s help, I saw that I'd practiced Taoism in previous lifetimes, and I also saw what level in heaven I came from. Soon after I began practicing I went to study abroad in Taiwan, and I was offered a job in a restaurant. I encountered many difficulties during that time. Sometimes I had to work 12 hours a day, which left me very little time to do the exercises or read the teachings. I did the exercises, but it was not until June 2020 that I really began to internalize the Fa and cultivate.

Finally Stepping onto the Cultivation Path

Master said,

“We do not practice qi here. You do not need to practice such low-level things, and we will push you beyond it, making your body reach a state free of any illness. In the meantime, we will install in your body a system of ready-made mechanisms necessary for laying a foundation at the low level. This way, you will cultivate at a very high level.” (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun)

I had a very superficial understanding of what Master said when I first read this. I thought that once I started to cultivate, understood some Fa principles, and had my body purified, I’d already be cultivating at a high level. I later realized that the Fa has strict standards for cultivators, and each level has different requirements.

I saw Master many times in my dreams, and he continued to give me hints. I realized that, as a Dafa practitioner in the Fa-rectification period, everyone shoulders the mission of saving people in this world as well as saving the sentient beings in our own worlds. I participated in truth-clarification projects and my understanding was that if I didn’t do the three things, I was not fulfilling the basic requirements.

Working in a restaurant, it is common to be yelled at or even cursed at. Since I’d just began practicing I didn’t know how to cultivate. I knew that I would improve and pass the test as long as I could silently endure. But cultivation is serious, and I still had too many human attachments and notions that I did not realize. Even though I had been practicing for three years at the time, I still did not sense any changes in myself. I had so many shortcomings that I was like a brand new practitioner. I often wondered why but didn’t know the answer. I thought there must be a threshold that I had not stepped over, which kept me from improving. I felt that I still didn’t know how to cultivate.

Sometimes I got sleepy while studying the Fa or when I sent forth righteous thoughts. I didn’t think this was wrong. Master said,

“Any Dafa disciples who have not been diligent, or who are prone to acting in extreme ways, should immediately straighten themselves out, and sincerely study the Fa and work on themselves, for you are at great risk. True Dafa disciples have higher energy and are able to destroy karma and germs; they are emissaries of salvation in these latter days, and bring their wisdom to bear upon saving people as they share truthful information related to our practice.” (“Stay Rational”)

After reading this, I understood that only true Dafa practitioners have positive energy, and positive energy is the gong. When bacteria and viruses enter the field of a Dafa practitioner, they will be immediately disintegrated by this energy. Then why did some fellow practitioners still get the coronavirus although they had been doing the threethings very diligently? Is it because we have shortcomings in our cultivation? Are we really true cultivators?

I asked myself: “What should I do to become a true cultivator and reach Master’s standards?” When I compared myself with Master’s requirements for disciples, I saw that I did not meet the standard. I knew that I still hadn’t truly obtained the Fa even though I had practiced for three years.

One day a practitioner in my Fa-study group told me his understanding about what it means to truly cultivate. I started copying the Fa and I was strict with myself about acting according to Master’s requirements. I also started to read the Fa more slowly. I noticed the word “true” in the Fa, which in my understanding is related to Master’s requirements for true cultivators. I also kept in mind Master’s requirements for disciples in Zhuan Falun. The Fa is there to guide us through any tribulations. When I concentrated on studying the Fa, I was able to better restrain myself to meet the standards and understand the Fa within the Fa.

In addition, I extended the time I did the fifth exercise. In the past, I meditated for 45 minutes or an hour and I then put my legs down because of the pain. Each day I gradually increased the time. I began meditating twice a day and gradually I increased the time to two hours and sometimes 160 minutes. During this process, no matter how much my legs hurt, I pushed myself to increase the time I’d meditated the previous day. Every time the pain started, it felt like a chunk of karma was coming out of the soles of my feet. Sometimes my back and hips hurt, too. When it was really painful, I would remember that Master told us to not relax but strive forward vigorously. So I endured the pain while saying to Master in my heart, “Master, I’m fine. I can bear it no matter how much it hurts.” Now I can meditate for at least 80 minutes, and it is not as painful as before. Sometimes I can sit for a 100 minutes or two hours.

Sometimes my body hurt so much when I did the fifth exercise, I trembled. I realized that the fifth exercise is an exercise of both “cultivation” and “practice.” The physical pain is often accompanied by anxiety. From time to time, my mind would think about all the competition and fighting going on in society, and I would get reminded of someone treating me badly, and so on. All kinds of emotions would appear in my mind. I realized that this was for me to cultivate my main consciousness to see if these things were truly myself. I would then send forth righteous thoughts to get rid of them and strengthen my main consciousness. I understood that this was part of cultivating “forbearance.” I realized that the pain during meditation was Master helping me convert the karma in my body into virtue. So I would feel quite glad about the pain.

One day I read “On Dafa” (Zhuan Falun) and Master said,

“When people show the appropriate respect and reverence toward Dafa as it manifests here in this world, they, their race, or their nation will enjoy blessings or honor.”

Master also said,

“After that, this Fa will no longer be left to people. This Fa can’t be left behind as a culture for the future people. That would be completely unacceptable.” (Teachings at the Midwestern U.S. Conference)

When I read the above, I wondered if Master did not leave Zhuan Falun or other lectures to future generations, how would people show reverence towards Dafa? What would the form be? As I thought about it, I suddenly understood the inner meaning of this Fa. At that moment, the cells in my entire body were shocked, as if there was an explosion inside me. Master opened up my mind. I suddenly awakened and understood my mission.

I felt that I’d truly obtained the Fa and finally stepped on the cultivation path!

I enlightened that only when I truly obtained the Fa would my sentient beings have a chance to be saved. I am a Dafa disciple during the Fa-rectification period, and I must cultivate diligently and keep up with Master’s Fa-rectification process.

From the Fa, I have realized that when Dafa practitioners begin to practice Dafa, they must meet the requirements of true cultivation in order to have their bodies completely cleansed. Master places a set of things in our bodies and also plants in us a lot of seeds so we can develop all kinds of supernatural abilities of Buddhas and divine beings. Only that way can we cultivate at a high level and transform our bodies into divine bodies. If we don’t truly cultivate, after many years we still linger at the beginning levels of cultivation.

I often pay close attention to the passages where the word “true” in Master’s teaching appears and try to memorize them. I keep telling myself that I must not relax.

The xinxing Master taught us has very deep meanings. We are only true cultivators when we follow Master’s requirements. Therefore, apart from Master helping us transform some karma in conflicts, the process of bearing the pain is also a process of transforming the karma into virtue. However high we can cultivate is precisely from this virtue, so why am I afraid of suffering? The pain we have is nothing compared to what fellow practitioners in China have endured, so I push myself to strive forward diligently in cultivation.

It’s really not easy for a being to be able to practice Dafa, so I have to be strict with myself. I can’t do whatever I want. I try my best to follow Master’s requirements. No matter what conflicts I encounter, I remind myself to look within for my own shortcomings. I’ve found that, as long as I truly have the desire to break through and let go of my attachment, I will be able to eliminate it.

I’ve tried to let go of all the desires I have as an ordinary person. I enjoyed things like listening to music, eating in the middle of the night, and shopping online; I judged right or wrong with fame, gain, lust, and temper. These were all the obsessions I wanted to get rid of. After looking inside, I realized that I must truly let go of these habits and attachments to truly cultivate. I told myself that a divine being wouldn’t have these habits and attachments and wouldn’t do or say those things. Since we are walking on the divine path, our words and actions must meet the requirements of the Fa.

Only then did I feel a significant change in my body and mind. When I sent forth righteous thoughts, even when I was at work and could not sit in lotus position, I still could easily reach a tranquil state of mind and the power I sent out was very strong. Whenever I realized that I had said or done something that was not in line with the Fa, I would immediately strengthen my righteous thoughts.

I was able to enter tranquility during the fifth exercise many times. Once, I was in this state for two hours. My mind was completely empty the whole time, and I didn’t have any bad thoughts. All I felt were waves of karma pressing on my legs. It was painful at first but suddenly it stopped hurting. When I slept that night, in my dream I was a child of about seven years old. I saw Master holding my hand as we entered a room. Master smiled and said, “From now on, when you come back to the room, lightly kick the wall and say to it, ‘I’m back.’” Although I was puzzled, I still said okay to Master. Later, I realized that Master was encouraging me in my dream since I was cultivating in delusion.

Master said,

“In other dimensions any substance can manifest life. When your celestial eye reaches the level of Fa Eyesight, you will find that rocks, walls, or anything else can talk to you and greet you.” (Lecture Seven, Zhuan Falun)

One time when I was studying the Fa, I suddenly felt that Master seemed to be sitting facing me. I asked in my heart, “Master, is it you sitting by my side?” I suddenly felt a compassionate and warm stream of energy surrounding me, and I wept.

I found that my body underwent obvious changes whenever I followed the requirements of the Fa and improved my xinxing. Sometimes I also felt surrounded by a strong energy field.

Improving Xinxing When Clarifying the Truth

I usually help translate articles, print out materials, and pick up materials from other practitioners. Whenever I go out, I always have truth clarification materials with me. Due to the pandemic during the past two years, I was unable to go to meet with other practitioners and learn how to clarify the truth to the Chinese people and help them to withdraw from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its youth organizations. Instead, I listened to the recordings of practitioners clarifying the truth, and read related articles on Minghui.org. I also began to call people in China to help them withdraw from the CCP.

When I first started to phone people in China, I was very nervous. I couldn’t stay calm, my breathing became short, and my whole body got warm. I knew this was an incorrect state. I told myself to be confident: with Master there, everything should be okay. But this still happened a few times.

I examined myself to see what my problem was. Why was I so afraid that my voice trembled? What was I afraid of? I was afraid that I could not speak well and the other person would not listen or believe what I said. I would then feel disappointed and sad. This was the attachment to ego and reputation. If the other person listened to the truth and agreed to withdraw, I would sigh with relief, and I was very happy.

When I examined my reactions, I found that my sadness and happiness were not because I cared whether people were saved or not, but whether I succeeded or failed. Wasn’t this an attachment to ego?

I found that my ego was quite strong. I was determined to break through it and get rid of it. I sent forth righteous thoughts to eliminate all the substances and factors in the three realms related to fame and gain that hindered me from assisting Master to rectify the Fa. After that, I was able to easily clarify the truth, and I was no longer affected by people’s reactions.

During one phone call, the person said vulgar, nasty things. I immediately wondered if I had an impure field that made the other person to say such things. So, I corrected myself, eliminated the bad thoughts, and didn’t let the other person affect me. I continued to clarify the truth, constantly eliminating and denying those bad factors. In the end, he understood the truth and stopped saying such things.

Thank you, Master, for letting me see my shortcomings and eliminate the bad substances!

Master Gave Me Hints So I Could Let Go of My Human Notions

Master often gave me hints in my dreams. In one recent dream it was as if my consciousness was cultivating in another dimension. I was accompanied by a little boy about six years old. I was holding him but he suddenly got down and ran off. I also wanted to run, but there was a force like a wind holding me back, and I couldn’t. I asked the little boy how he could run so fast. He said, “Close your eyes, don’t breathe so fast, and be calm. All that you see in this dimension is fake. Everything is an illusion and not real. Don’t worry about what you think you are seeing and you will be able to run.” I took a look at the surroundings and saw a lot of people going the opposite way. I closed my eyes and said to myself, “I am no longer obsessed with all these matters—I’ll let go of everything.”

After a while, I entered another dimension. The light on the road was soft, bright, and yellow. I was running as fast as the little boy—it felt as if I was flying. When I turned around, he was gone.

Another time in a dream, negative factors were disturbing me, and I recited the words for sending righteous thoughts many times, but it did not help. I wept when I woke up and blamed myself for not cultivating well—that’s how those bad factors could take advantage. I realized that Master was giving me a hint: I still held very deep human notions and was using them to judge right from wrong and good from bad. I was also easily moved by things in this world, such as the pandemic and natural disasters. I knew that I had to let go of these notions for my divine abilities from Dafa to be effective.

I have also realized that, if we are always quick to make judgments, then we may get suspicious when we encounter the truth, which will hinder us from comprehending the high-level Fa. Judging people and things is an acquired human notion, and we need to eliminate it. Only when we have a pure and sincere heart will the Fa-principles at that level be revealed to us and guide us in our cultivation.

I had been stumbling since I began to practice Dafa, but with Master’s encouragement, I am able to firmly follow my cultivation path during the Fa-rectification period. I will fulfill my historic mission and responsibilities as a Dafa disciple.