(Minghui.org) I started practicing Falun Dafa in China in 2017. Before I moved to Sydney, I did not know any other practitioners except the doctor and his wife who introduced Falun Dafa to me. I did not study the Fa or do the exercises with other practitioners. Three months after I started practicing, my younger daughter, my husband, and my mother all started practicing as well.
My oldest daughter did not join us in practicing at first. My two daughters are twins. The younger daughter's health was poor. I had trouble recovering from their birth, so the older daughter was sent to a relative’s home when she was less than two years old.
My first daughter returned to me when she was five years old. Even though she was so young, when she saw her sister she felt she was unfairly treated and she wept every day. There was a boarding kindergarten of traditional culture in a neighboring community, so we sent her there.
The two sisters were separated when they were in grade one of primary school. The younger sister went to public school.
The older sister who went to the boarding school learned to recite several books of traditional Chinese culture. Because she was emotionally troubled and frequently wept, she developed severe eczema and her entire body itched. She took various kinds of Chinese and Western medicine treatments, but all in vain.
I thought practicing cultivation might resolve her chronic illness (of course, I knew cultivation was not for curing illness). I told her, “You have eczema because you are jealous of your sister. If you recite the section ‘Jealousy’ in Zhuan Falun, your eczema may disappear.”
She was only seven years old, so I accompanied her to read Zhuan Falun for three days. Afterwards she began to read the book herself.
Her eczema which she had for two years disappeared after she recited the Fa. I was convinced that reciting the Fa is very important. Later she and I recited parts of Hong Yin and some paragraphs in Zhuan Falun.
Our Changing Situation Brings New Cultivation Opportunities
My entire family moved to Sydney, Australia at the beginning of 2019. I was busy with settling down and arranging for my children to go to school. When I started to participate in the local weekly group Fa study, I found local practitioners did not recite the Fa. I tried reciting the Fa a few times with my daughters, but we recited only five or six pages and then stopped.
In May 2020, I began participating in the platform to phone people in China, and I began reciting the Fa with the team. I recited Zhuan Falun at least once since then. Actually I cannot completely recite the entire book. But reading Zhuan Falun over 20 times with others enhances my understanding of the Fa. For some long paragraphs, reciting repeatedly allows me to enlighten to the principles at each level in the book. I noticed that my reciting the Fa had a positive impact on my family.
After living in Sydney for a year, our lives settled down—but it seemed that our cultivation began to stagnate. As my children became integrated into the environment at school, I found that it was difficult for them to study the Fa attentively. They practiced the exercises less seriously and became more and more interested in ordinary people’s affairs.
My husband’s thoughts about education diverged from mine. He felt that children still have a long way to go in life, and a foothold among ordinary people is very important.
But I thought the most important thing is to encourage them to form the habit of thinking and treating issues like practitioners since they practice Dafa. My husband always thought that they were young and it was too difficult for them to follow Dafa's principles. He also emphasized that we must first follow his house rules.
Our own human notions also added fuel to the flame—this caused my husband and I to argue without solving the children’s issues. We would get angry because we felt the children didn’t cherish this cultivation opportunity. We even thought about punishing them. This situation went on for a long time. Master said:
“even getting angry about the things that aren’t agreeable to them.” (“The Third Talk” in Zhuan Falun).
I suddenly enlightened when I recited this sentence in Zhuan Falun. I should not be angry when my husband and children did not agree with me. If the issue could not be resolved with wisdom, I should set it aside for a while. Instead I should focus on doing the three things. As soon as I had this thought, I felt relieved and my body felt lighter.
To better enlighten to the deeper meanings of the Fa, our group recites the Fa paragraph by paragraph. When I first joined the team and began reciting, I felt I could not catch up with the others. My older daughter wished to join us in reciting the Fa. I was happy and decided to continue reciting.
It is winter in Australia from June to September. My daughter recites the Fa for 40 minutes before going to bed. She reviewed a few times the following morning. She progressed quickly as young people have better memories. Gradually her xinxing improved. Whenever she and her sister argue, she defers to her sister. She happily does housework. She is also polite with her classmates in school.
Our area enters Summer savings time at the beginning of October. She has to go to school in the morning and could no longer recite the Fa with us. Seeing her positive changes, my husband started reciting the Fa at the end of October. He even bought a new laptop to participate. He has now recited over two lectures in Zhuan Falun.
When I initially realized the benefits of reciting the Fa, I wanted my husband to recite. I suggested this several times, but he did not listen. He helped distribute newspapers and other informational materials. My daughter’s positive change touched him.
Nowadays, both my husband and I have our own Fa reciting after our daughters go to bed at night. I feel that he's less irritable and we have fewer arguments. My daughters are more harmonious.
My cultivation improved with the encouragement of fellow practitioners. My family also benefited. When I was in my hometown in China, there were no fellow practitioners to discuss cultivation issues with.
But on this phone team platform, even though we cannot meet in person, we feel like we're together. When I slack off, fellow practitioners encourage me. I thank Master, and I really appreciate the fellow practitioners in this group.
Many times I can get new understandings from reciting that I missed when reading the Fa. While reciting the Fourth Talk in Zhuan Falun, I told my children, “Master teaches us how to deal with conflicts. We must endure and be kind. In the end, we need to thank the other party. In school, when you have a conflict with classmates, you can deal with it in this way. When you two have a conflict at home, you should remember what Master said:"
“When we get into a disagreement we should first of all stay calm and not act like others.” “And not only shouldn’t you respond like them, neither should you feel hatred or resentment.” (“The Fourth Talk” in Zhuan Falun)
I often remind myself to face conflicts in this way.
When I recited the Seventh Talk in Zhuan Falun, I was impressed when Master mentioned smoking was an attachment and advised practitioners to give it up.
My husband smoked for nearly 30 years. Even though he gave up smoking a few years ago, we bitterly quarreled over this issue and the painful memories were hard to forget. When I read in Zhuan Falun that Master mentioned we would be able to give up smoking, I felt Master’s power of compassionately saving people from suffering.
Master teaches us to eliminate attachments with righteous thoughts. We cannot yield to our notions and we need to step away from humanness. After I enlightened to Dafa's principles I stopped being annoyed by my husband’s smoking in the past.
After reciting the Fa one day my daughter said, “Mom. The character for 'annoyance' in Chinese is pronounced the same as 'ordinary'.”
I said, “We should follow the requirement of Dafa. We should not become annoyed like ordinary people.”
I like to listen to Minghui.org radio about reciting the Fa. I admire fellow practitioners who have continued to recite the Fa. I know I have much room for improvement. I will work hard to catch up and keep reciting the Fa.
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Category: Improving Oneself
