(Minghui.org) Greetings to our merciful Master! I am a Falun Dafa practitioner who started my cultivation journey in 2010. I personally feel that, as a practitioner, my practice can only be upgraded by following the path arranged by Master, and by following the cultivation form as taught by Master.
Although I had practiced Falun Dafa for over seven years, since May of 2017 I have noticed a great improvement in my understanding of the Fa after joining a local Fa-study group. In less than four months, my cultivation state improved quite dramatically.
Since the beginning of my cultivation, I have studied the Fa on my own at home. My understanding of the Fa and Fa-rectification cultivation had been limited to a certain level. I studied the Fa every day, joined activities to save people, and was able to help fellow practitioners when they went through difficult times. But I was not diligent in doing real solid cultivation and improving my understanding of the Fa principles.
In the Fa study group, fellow practitioners were all very diligent, which impressed me very much. A veteran practitioner, persecuted for ten years in prison, commuted 40 minutes by bus daily to attend Fa study in the city. Whatever the weather, he took group Fa study very seriously. Observing his attitude towards Fa study, his firm belief in Dafa, his looking within and his solid cultivation state helped me to see the gaps in my cultivation.
I also benefited from the solid cultivation of other practitioners and I made steadfast improvement in my cultivation. Influenced by these diligent practitioners, I never missed a Fa study session. I cherish the format and environment of cultivation set up by our Master.
In the Fa study group, the practitioners’ serious attitude toward reading the Fa deeply impressed me. Initially I was not fluent in Fa reading and often missed a few words. The practitioners kindly reminded me and also offered patient help. They didn’t mind my slow reading. Seeing that fellow practitioners were reading the Fa so fluently, I became aware of my deficiency and the seriousness of Fa study. At home I spent more time reading the Fa. After a period of more diligent study, the practitioners said that my Fa reading had improved a lot.
The good news was that in less than a month after joining the group Fa study, my eyesight improved and I got rid of the eyeglasses that I have had to wear for several years.
Fa study is designed to guide me to do real cultivation and to remind me of being a true practitioner. One day, I took an elderly practitioner with limited mobility to the public baths. At the checkout, the cashier rejected some of the shabby looking money the elder practitioner gave to him, and started to say some nasty words. The practitioner explained to the cashier that he had no other money available at the moment, and I also tried to smooth the situation by talking politely to this cashier. But the cashier didn’t care and continued to speak to us in a nasty manner. At that moment, if I hadn’t benefited from group Fa study and group sharing, and without the resulting cultivation improvement, it would have been really hard for me to stay calm in this situation.
Before my cultivation journey, it was impossible for me to suffer such injustice and humiliation. This time, however, I didn’t blow up; instead, I accepted the situation and didn’t fight with the cashier. My xinxing had really improved.
In the Fa study group, where the energy field was peaceful and kind, it was natural to share with fellow practitioners and this benefited me a lot. Fellow practitioners talked about their understanding of the Fa principles; how to have righteous thoughts and actions; experiences gained in passing tests; how to overcome sickness karma by denying the arrangements of the old forces; and the practice and experience of clarifying the truth to save sentient beings. All the sharing offered me so much help!
Through sharing, I let go of more than 10 years of enmity and jealousy with relatives. I became aware that the root cause of feeling uneasy, grieved, resentful, and unbalanced was my jealousy. When I recognized my attachment of jealousy, I felt an amazing sense of release. I finally sorted out this painful issue after 10 years.
I had upgraded my cultivation state in line with the Fa principles. This time, not only were many years of emotional backlog removed, but also I became more confident that I could continue to cultivate solidly as well.
Since the age of 20, I had experienced coughing symptoms as a result of a hereditary disease. I had to take a quite powerful prescription of Chinese herbs to maintain normal health. But still I often coughed. Sometimes, the cough was so severe that my whole head hurt.
As I studied the Fa in the group and shared experiences with fellow practitioners, I gained more understanding of the Fa principles, my xinxing was upgraded while doing real cultivation, and my health improved more and more. My old acquaintances said that I used to have patches of dark skin on my face, but now my face looked much healthier. Symptoms of vomiting blood that I had endured for several years disappeared as well.
I deeply felt what Master meant in saying, “The cultivation is up to you, gong is up to the master.” (The First Talk from Zhuan Falun)
I became aware that as long as we do solid cultivation, Master will be able to do everything for us. I knew that Master would look after me, as long as I upgraded my xinxing. I also realized that, as a Dafa disciple, I should understand the Fa principles of how to deny the arrangements of the old forces and how to deny their persecution of my health. I firmly denied any illness-like symptoms and didn’t see them as a disease. I believed in Master and Dafa. Some peculiar phenomena occurred in my body that made me even more convinced of the supernatural power of the practice.
On August 29, after the group sharing, I gained a new understanding of the Fa principles, and accordingly my body started to feel uncomfortable, especially in regards to a very severe cough.
In the evening, I felt very ill with no strength. But I still remembered to join the group efforts to send forth righteous thoughts for fellow practitioners suffering due to the persecution. After sending forth righteous thoughts, I had a severe cough with vomiting. It was hard for me to go to the toilet, so I put a clean pot beside the bed. During the night, as the cough continued, I threw up five times. I was too weak to notice anything unusual about the vomit.
The next morning I got up and was going to empty the pot. But I was stunned. I saw that there were five live worms in the center of the pot. The larger worms were two to three centimeters long, the smallest one was over a centimeter. I have never seen bugs like these with a lot of claw-like hooks and a couple of duck like webbed feet underneath. I lived in an apartment in a high-rise building. The surrounding is very clean without much greenery, and the windows and doors in my apartment are totally shut in the evening. There was absolutely no chance for any bugs from outside to get in.
I deeply felt that if Master hadn’t cleansed me and taken away the bad things attacking my body, my health would have deteriorated to a very serious condition. Thinking about it, I shuddered.
My family and I were extremely thankful to Master. Fellow practitioners were also very pleased to witness this cleansing process. I was extremely grateful to Master and determined to be more diligent in cultivation.
Seeing that I was really trying hard to cultivate myself, Master then encouraged me further. While studying the Fa one day I saw that the font size had increased which allowed me to read much better. I was really amazed.
During the time when I was writing up this article, one day in group Fa study, a paragraph of Master’s Fa teaching became illuminated in front of my eyes,
“But let me make it clear up front: we can only do that for true cultivators. Doing it as you please for ordinary people wouldn’t work, that’d be like doing something bad. The birth, aging, sickness, and death ordinary people go through all have underlying causes, and you can’t just go and violate them.” (The Third Talk from Zhuan Falun)
This paragraph didn't stand out to me before, but this time the words became deeply imprinted on my mind, which made me further aware that I must think and act like a cultivator at all times.
I am immensely grateful for the compassion offered to me by my great and merciful Master! Master not only purified my body and eliminated the bad things within me, but also took me out of the abyss of misery. What I can do is to be more diligent in cultivation and do the three things well, so that I will be able to repay the mighty grace bestowed by my Master.
In the future, I will keep doing Fa study diligently and follow the Fa closely. I will keep participating in the group sharing, and keep up with the cultivation requirements set by our Master. Only in this way, can I become a worthy Dafa disciple and be successful in cultivation practice.