(Clearwisdom.net) With longing for our Venerable Teacher I finished reading the first part of "Reminiscing Master's Benevolence." My face was bathed in tears. I can feel Master's great compassion very deeply when I read the reminiscences of practitioners who attended Teacher's Fa lectures. Although I have never met with Teacher during my ten-year path of cultivation, the greatness of Teacher and the wonder of Dafa was right in front of my eyes. I could also feel that Teacher was beside me, giving me his compassionate care.

Beginning Cultivation

In 1996 I suffered from serious allergic asthma and was out of breath all day everyday. Whenever I was outside in the sunshine, I would feel extreme itching, like ants were crawling all over my body. I was very miserable. For four years I went to many hospitals, big and small, but could not find a cure. I visited traditional Chinese medical practitioners, Western doctors, and even witch doctors; however, there was little improvement. I was known as a chronic invalid far and wide. About that time I became unemployed as well. This additional hardship hit me really hard and I felt extremely miserable. There was no way to live or die. Just at that time I was very fortunate to learn Falun Dafa. While listening to the first of Teacher's Fa lectures I felt like something had impacted me quite strongly. I went back home from school on foot and felt very light. This was how I learned of Dafa and began to embark on the path of cultivation.

Before I practiced Falun Gong I had repeated asthma attacks. I had to use a lot of steroid medication and inhalers to get only temporary relief from the symptoms. I would lose consciousness when the symptoms got too serious. After studying the principles of Falun Gong, Teacher starting cleansing my body. I still remember the first cleansing. I was so short of breath that I could not lie flat. I had to kneel down on the floor and hold onto the pipes of the central heating system for three days and three nights. Every day I would experience something which felt like an electric shock. My head seemed to be ready to explode and it was extremely painful. However, being a practitioner, I knew it was not illness. On the evening of the sixth day of cleansing I felt the two ropes that had been so strongly tied around my neck for so long suddenly release. On the evening of the seventh night, I felt as if there were three balls rolling out of my throat, and I was able to breathe normally. Tears streamed down my face. It was Teacher who saved my life! At that time, Teacher's Fa-lectures in the United States was published. Fellow practitioners read it aloud to me once and I was able to go out to practice the exercises. My whole family witnessed the entire process of my cleansing and witnessed the wonder of Falun Dafa. They were all very grateful to Teacher. I was no longer a chronic invalid. Dafa truly gave me a second life!

At that time I was determined to cultivate through to the end and be worthy of Teacher's merciful and laborious saving. I strictly cultivated myself in line with the universal principles of "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance." My xinxing was upgraded and my health improved. I knew all the changes were the result of the fact that I had learned Falun Dafa. It was Teacher who changed me fundamentally from the inside out. I changed from a person enveloped by karma and living a selfish, warped life into a person dedicated to a life of selflessness and altruism.

Several years ago, our area depended on a large truth clarification production site for materials. I had never cared much about truth clarification materials. One day practitioners from other areas incidentally shared with me how they broke through the attachment of depending on others to provide materials. They also told me about their seeing printing sites spring up and blossom everywhere! They encouraged me to set up a truth clarification material processing site in my area. At that time I had never touched a computer before, so if I wanted to set up a materials site I decided I must ask other practitioners for help. One of the other practitioners read my mind and said, "I see that your xinxing, your state of mind, and your environment are all good. If you want to learn, you can come to my place. We have an elderly practitioner from a rural area that had to travel all the way to the city to pick up materials. This seems to be a waste of time and quite expensive. We helped the practitioner to set up a local materials site. If you have this wish, Teacher will definitely help you." At that time family chores prevented me from going with him. However, the sharing really woke me up and played a role in helping me to walk the remainder of my journey.

Not long after, the big material processing center in our area was sabotaged and the practitioners involved were illegally arrested. This meant that our weekly supply of materials was interrupted. I asked Teacher for help and printed many copies myself. At that moment I wished I could start to process truth clarification materials myself. When I thought of the practitioner's encouragement from before, my confidence increased. Teacher said,

"You should also be clear that 'natural' does not exist, and 'the inevitable' has reasons behind it." ("Expounding on the Fa" from Essentials for Further Advancement)

I understood that Teacher used that practitioner to give me a hint to let me shoulder the responsibility that I was meant to take. Therefore, I shared this understanding with several fellow practitioners and we were determined to raise our levels on this issue. We needed to quickly share our technology and help other practitioners to set up materials sites. We wanted to walk on the path arranged by Teacher and assist in helping printing sites to spring up and blossom everywhere.

Under the compassionate care of Teacher and the support of practitioners' righteous thoughts and actions, many practitioners who could not even hold a mouse before were able to operate a computer on their own! Many material sites have been set up and gradually matured. During the process there were hardships and conflicts, but looking back, the "tribulation" was very small after all. I felt happy even for the hardships we experienced. It was just like the line from a popular song, "In the hardships the happiness would stay forever."

We have all matured under the compassionate care of Teacher--jthe printing sites have sprung up and blossomed everywhere. We laid a solid foundation for the spread of the Nine Commentaries far and wide. It really is like, "The pure lotus is born from the Fa" and "Blossoming lotuses fill Heaven's courtyard." This united body of ours has an orderly division of labor. We feel the power of our one body when working together and like particles of a whole when we are dispersed. One practitioner can do the work of ten people! While recalling our experiences of coordinating as one body, I cherish our predestined relationships even more.

While writing the preceding words, the "Flower Fairies" from the 2006 NTDTV Chinese New Year Global Gala appeared before my eyes. The Lotus Flower Fairies were born when the Fa traveled to all the cities and towns to clarify the truth. The Fa's principles spread throughout the world to break the illusions, and the lotus flowers blossomed all over the Heavens to return with Teacher. It is from this relationship that I came up with the title for this article: "

Pure Lotus Flowers Blossom."

As Fa-rectification period Dafa practitioners, our grand wish is to validate the Fa and save sentient beings, not personal cultivation. Teacher said,

"Having cultivated as Dafa disciples up through today, you have become increasingly clearer on what this Dafa is that you cultivate, clearer on the responsibilities of Dafa disciples, and clearer on the importance of everything that Dafa disciples are doing today." ("Teaching the Fa at the Fa Conference at the U.S. Capital")

I enlightened even further to the idea that everything in the human world is revolving around Dafa. We must therefore place ourselves correctly and eliminate the factors of the old forces. We must do the three things well and keep up with the progress of Fa rectification.

I have had some profound understandings while clarifying the truth. The following are two examples:

"Hurry Up And Tell Them
As Dafa disciples clarify the truth
Sharp swords shoot forth from their mouths
Tearing open the rotten demons' lies
Lose no time and save them,
hurry up and tell them"

("Hong Ying" II)

When I read this poem by Teacher, I know that time is pressing and that it is most urgent to save sentient beings. Therefore, I began to clarify the truth to my relatives, friends, classmates, and colleagues. Through my concerted efforts, 90 percent of them learned the truth, saw through the true nature of the evil party and resigned from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

At a gathering of classmates, one classmate who had already learned the truth proposed a toast, "Thank Dafa and thank practitioners for the beautiful truth clarification cards and the beauty of the 2006 NTDTV Gala!" He also asked me to convey his thanks to all those working for the gala. He showed his truth clarification card to others to cooperate with me in clarifying the truth. Several people quit the party and its related organizations on the spot.

At another gathering, a classmate of mine toasted the health of our Teacher. I was very much moved by his action. My eyes brim with tears whenever I think of it. This is what Teacher said,

"If the heavens want to have something change, nobody can stop it." ("Teaching the Fa at the Fa Conference at the U.S. Capital")

The lives that have been saved and the sentient beings in their respective celestial bodies are all grateful to Teacher and Dafa from the bottom of their hearts. I feel that I witnessed part of the grand scene of gratitude, just like Teacher described,

"Every single sentient being reveres Dafa's saving grace. All of the heavens and the earth celebrate together, congratulate each other, and exalt together." ("Foretelling the Fa's Rectification of the Human World" from Essentials for Further Advancement II)

"Then as a cultivator, [you may be thinking,] 'What counts as cultivating?' Well, doing the things that Dafa disciples are supposed to do, such as things that validate the Fa and that save sentient beings, among others, is one's duty-bound responsibility and a part of establishing mighty virtue. But being able to improve yourself is the most crucial. That is because if you don't improve yourself, you won't be able to do any of those things well. So when you are strict with yourself, discover your shortcomings, and constantly get rid of them, then you are cultivating." ("Teaching the Fa at the Fa Conference at the U.S. Capital")

Teacher has again and again earnestly taught us the Fa, made painstaking efforts for our improvement, given us hints during various trials, and provided opportunities for us to let go of human attachments. One day when several other practitioners and I were coordinating a Fa validation project, I had a conflict with them. One of them said that I did not cultivate myself and failed to look inward. At that time, I appeared to accept what the practitioner said, but in my heart the attachment was untouched and actually I felt very angry.

When I returned home, a paragraph of Teacher's words suddenly appeared in my mind.

"When a Dafa disciple has a hard time with something and needs to think things over, he should look for things starting with himself and do things in line with the environment needed by Dafa disciples and the Fa-rectification. When a problem occurs, it is because that person is stubbornly going against the Fa principles. Go and find where the problem lies, let go of that stubbornness, and sort things out. When you encounter something, the best approach is not to charge forward and contend with others, push your way to the front, and rush forward to chase down the solution. Let go of your attachment, take a step back, and then resolve it. (Applause) If whenever something happens you instantly jump into who's right, whose problem it is, and how you have done, then while on the surface it looks like you are resolving the conflict or tension, in reality that's not the case at all. On the surface it looks plenty rational, but in reality that's not rational at all. You haven't taken a step back and fully cast off your attachment, and then thought the issue over. Only after a person calmly and peacefully withdraws from a conflict and then looks at it can he truly resolve it. " ("Teaching the Fa at the Fa Conference at the U.S. Capital")

Instantly I enlightened that the situation was given by Teacher to help me to find my shortcomings and eliminate my fundamental attachment. Measuring myself with the Fa I found that I was doing poorly in cultivating my xinxing, which is a fundamental issue. Because of this I had a difficult time going into the tranquil state when practicing the exercises or sending forth righteous thoughts. I also did poorly in looking inward at myself. While coordinating Fa-validating projects I always made indiscreet remarks or criticisms. I had very strong attachments of showing off, jealousy, doing things, and looking outward. I would think less about others and therefore created a lot of pressure for fellow practitioners. I am very impatient and not meticulous in doing things. Thus, during the personal cultivation period as well as the Fa rectification period, the practitioners Teacher arranged to work beside me were all meticulous and calm. I know this was not accidental. It was meant to give me opportunities to let go of my attachments of impatience and carelessness.

Sometimes when I came across a problem, I would push what I should do onto other practitioners. During one coordinated effort in rescuing detained fellow practitioners, I did not take part in the activity. My excuse was that my xinxing was not good enough. As a result, only three practitioners turned up for the activity of sending forth righteous thoughts while in close proximity, and this affected the success of the rescue efforts. I had a dream that night and saw I did not go to the university for a day. On the following day when I went to my class, my seat had been taken by another practitioner. That practitioner wanted to give the seat back to me. I said, "You stay there" and I shared the seat with the practitioner. When I woke up I knew that Teacher wanted to give me a hint, telling me that I did not do the things I should do. Our nature is to emulate the principles of "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance." If I do not let go of my postnatally acquired concepts and this "phony me," my xinxing will not be upgraded. If my xinxing cannot be improved, I cannot do well a lot of sacred tasks. Therefore, efforts to save sentient beings will be affected. Some practitioners may not reach consummation and some will only receive big blessings in return for their efforts.

After finding these attachments I began to study the Fa with a calm mind, let go of warped concepts, and correct my words and deeds. Through Fa study I have experienced great changes. I am able to accomplish the work my boss asks me to do, I do my work diligently, and I am no longer impatient.

If there is anything I did not do well here, please feel free to comment and correct me.