(Minghui.org) I am a Falun Dafa practitioner who was born in 1970 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. I am a chief representative of a Korean company located in Vietnam. I started practicing Dafa on January 1, 2017.
My family practiced Buddhism, and my mother used to take me to the Buddhist temple. The abbot of a famous temple asked my mother to have me become his disciple, telling her that I had good inborn quality needed for cultivation, but my mother disagreed.
The pagodas were very pure and peaceful at the time. However, society has lost its purity, and it is just as Master Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Dafa, said,
“The human moral standard is declining tremendously, and human moral values are deteriorating daily. People only pursue self-interest and will harm others for a tiny bit of personal gain. They compete and struggle against each other, using any means necessary.” (Zhuan Falun)
Encountering Dafa
Although I went along with the deterioration of society's morality, I maintained a belief in the divine and karmic ties. However, I did not go to the temple as often as I used to since I saw that the temple was no longer a pure land. Competition for vested interests had taken a foothold, and it was often worse than in society. I did buy books on spiritual subjects in the hope of finding something to uplift my spiritual life, but none really met my expectations.
While surfing the web, I saw an article called “Zhuan Falun- A Heavenly Book.” I was amazed to read that description. I quickly found the contents of Zhuan Falun online, printed it out and had the loose pages bound into a book.
I immediately read the entire book without pausing. It was amazing. I found answers to many of my questions that no other book had been able to address in the past. I knew that this was a precious book.
When I read the book the second time, I wore formal clothes and sat upright–I respected the book very much. While reading the book, Master allowed me to feel the Law Wheel rotating throughout my body.
Then, I downloaded the Falun Dafa exercise instructions. To my surprise, I realized I had seen some people doing these exercises in the park near my Yoga club some years ago. I just thought that they were practicing sports or qigong exercises rather than a cultivation practice, so I did not pay much attention.
Seeing the simple and natural exercises of Falun Dafa that do not regulate breathing, I wondered whether they would really be effective. One afternoon, my neck was aching again, a pain that usually disappeared after about three days. I thought I should do the exercises to see if it would be effective. After I finished the exercises, the ache disappeared. This greatly strengthened my belief in Dafa.
After reading the Dafa teachings, I knew that I would have to follow no second cultivation way, but I still did not know if it would be okay to practice Yoga and Falun Dafa at the same time. I asked a fellow practitioner, who said that Yoga could be considered a qigong practice, so I should not practice it.
Dafa is Precious
After I embarked on my cultivation path, Master removed bad substances so that I could cultivate. I was contaminated by the big dye vat of society. Among other things, I was addicted to pornographic materials, and to entertain customers I often went to massage parlors.
I no longer wanted to do anything that was not aligned with the Fa, and I was very surprised that I could so easily let the bad habits go. This was something I was not able to do in the past, no matter how I tried. This made me feel even more that Dafa was really precious.
As I did not know of any Fa-study groups in my area, I studied the Fa and practiced the exercises at home. Then, another practitioner introduced me to a Fa-study group and exercise site near my home. Being part of a such a group helped me improve rapidly in my cultivation.
Importance of Studying the Fa
I read Zhuan Falun every day, as well as Master's other teachings. The more I studied, the more I saw the greatness of Dafa, and the more I understand why Master so often tells practitioners to study the Fa, no matter how busy they are. We need to find time to study the Fa.
Studying the Fa gradually assimilated me into the Dafa principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. I understood what was good and what was bad. I became more pleasant and tolerant. I understood the need for cultivation and that looking inward was a tool to find one’s attachments and then let go of them.
Amid conflicts, I used to point out who was right and who was wrong. I kept Master's poem 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” from Hong Yin III)
Therefore, I avoided getting into endless arguments many times. Instead, I looked inside to find my own attachments and eliminated them. The situation would immediately change, and the conflict would be resolved.
Memorizing the Fa
Fellow practitioners shared how they benefited from memorizing the Fa. However, I was worried that if I did not read the Fa daily and could only memorize one page, then perhaps I would not improve.
Master said,
“Memorizing the book won’t affect your reading the book through, nor will it hinder your advancement due to a lack of reading it through. That’s because when you memorize the book, behind every word there are infinite Buddhas, Daos, and Gods, and every word can allow you to understand principles at different levels.” (Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Europe)
Since then, I have focused on memorizing the Fa. It was difficult at first, but Master gradually opened up my wisdom, and my pace of memorization improved. After memorizing the Fa, I could also quickly memorize Master’s poems in Hong Yin in both Vietnamese and Chinese. I was surprised by this newfound ability.
Group Exercises in the Park
After taking part in group exercises in the park early in the morning. I understood that this was not simply doing exercises but also validating the Fa, helping people see the beauty of Dafa, and preventing them from thinking that Falun Dafa was banned in Vietnam.
We encountered some interference at one exercise site, but we handled it peacefully and no longer had problems. Many people learned the truth about Dafa, so gradually more and more people joined us. Our group grew from 12 people to about 40. Many hold respected positions in society, including police officers and military personnel.
Sending Forth Righteous Thoughts
Sending forth righteous thoughts is an ability given to practitioners that helps clean out bad substances in other dimensions. Although I cannot see anything when sending forth righteous thoughts, I do not forget to sent righteous thoughts at the appointed times.
Master said,
“So you must take sending forth righteous thoughts seriously. No matter whether you think you have the ability or not, you should do it.”(“Fa-Lecture at the Conference in Florida, U.S.A.” from Teaching the Fa at the Conference II)
I used to be unable to wake up on time for sending forth righteous thoughts.
Master said,
“As you know, the persecution that Dafa disciples in Mainland China suffer is quite severe, so each student has to truly, clearly realize what his responsibility is, and when he sends forth righteous thoughts he has to be able to truly calm his mind and truly produce the effect of righteous thoughts. So this is something extremely critical, extremely important. Then if every student is able to do that, I can tell you, with five minutes of sending forth righteous thoughts together, the evil in the Three Realms will never exist again--that's how important this is.” (“Fa-Lecture at the Conference in Florida, U.S.A.” from Teaching the Fa at the Conference II)
Master's Fa helped me decide to send forth righteous thoughts at the four fixed times, and I do not go to sleep until I send forth righteous thoughts at the last time of the day. I use the time to memorize the Fa. This helped me let go of the attachment to comfort and the fear that insufficient sleep may affect my health. After I could do this, my health remained good, and my wisdom improved.
Clarifying the Truth
I always find ways to clarify the truth about Dafa to the people I meet. I tell them the beauty of Dafa, the benefits one derives from Dafa, and the reason for the persecution of Dafa in China. Many people were no longer deceived by the lies, and some decided to practice Dafa.
There are different methods for clarifying the truth. Sometimes I talk face to face, sometimes I give people a lotus flower before I talk about Dafa, sometimes I give them the Epoch Times newspaper, and so on.
Also, I am involved in projects that help people understand Dafa and debunk the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda. When participating in a project, I do whatever is assigned to me without any complaints.
I also participated in validating the Fa in Hong Kong at the end of 2017. After arriving in Hong Kong, I suffered extreme stomach pain. I remained calm, sent righteous thoughts, and recited the Fa. I did not take note of the pain and still distributed newspapers and took part in the parade.
I was assigned to hold a very large banner with four other practitioners. We had to use a piece of leather to firmly hold up the banner's pole because the winds were very strong. I thought that the leather would cause a bruise. After the parade, my stomach pain was gone, and I had no bruises.
Master strengthened me to help me pass a test, a tribulation, and he removed a lot of bad substances from me in other dimensions.
