(Minghui.org) When I visited a temple in Sydney one day in 1998 I noticed the book Zhuan Falun on a table and I looked at it. Two of my friends worked as editors for the publishing company. I came from Beijing and experienced the June 4th incident. I deeply understood the evil nature of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). I couldn’t believe that the Party would allow a book about genuine cultivation to be published. My notion nearly made me lose the opportunity to obtain the Fa.
After I got home, I finished reading Zhuan Falun in one go. I felt the book was amazing. I could hardly believe what I read. My excitement couldn’t be described in words. I wanted to see Master. I contacted my friends in Beijing and learned that there were practice sites everywhere in Beijing, but Master stopped giving lectures in person. I didn’t know people practiced Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, in Sydney, and I didn’t know where I could learn the exercise movements. To my regret, I didn’t visit the website. My notions stopped me again. I thought it would be impossible that the Buddha law would be published online.
I felt upset but didn’t realize I should read the Fa often. I only read the book occasionally. It would have helped if I was in contact with other practitioners, as they could encourage me. A few months later I saw an advertisement in the newspaper in late 1998. I contacted the practitioner and joined a Fa study group. I then formally began practicing Falun Dafa.
Nothing except the Fa was in my mind, although I was not sure if I would be able to pass tests and tribulations. Master let me have an amazing experience in my 25 years of cultivation.
I was able to sit in the full lotus position for half an hour soon after I practiced Falun Dafa. While trying to break through and sit for one hour, I was unsteady. I meditated longer when my legs were not sore and less when my legs hurt. I felt that it was not right, so I set a goal for myself. I decided to sit five minutes longer than I was able to. No matter how badly my legs ached, I would not give up. One day my legs started to get sore a long time before the set time. I persevered. But the pain intensified with every second. I started sweating and my body trembled. I persevered and didn’t take my legs down. At that critical point when I could hardly bear it, all the pain suddenly disappeared. My body felt so comfortable and wonderful. I felt that Master was with me and looking after me.
My third eye was not open and I couldn’t see miraculous things, so this experience increased my confidence in cultivation. I knew that there was no test that I could not pass as long as I wanted to pass it. I formed the habit of sitting with my legs crossed when I read the Fa.
The April 25th Appeal in Beijing happened several months after I started practicing Falun Dafa. I attended an experience sharing conference in Sydney. I felt so fortunate to see Master. Soon afterward, the persecution began on July 20. Practitioners started cultivation in the Fa-rectification period. I went to Beijing twice. The first time I went back to clarify the truth to my relatives and friends. The second time I went to Zhongnanhai, the CCP central government compound. I met a young local practitioner in the police station. Several years later I saw him on a media outlet. Now he is well known among practitioners. It is amazing how practitioners are connected. We really should cherish this special time.
After I was deported back to Sydney by the CCP, I started to validate the Fa in Australia. During that time practitioners didn’t coordinate well in our efforts to clarify the truth. Most of us did it individually. Some of us worked together and practiced the exercises and clarified the truth to people in the square of the local town hall after work from Monday to Friday. I was there for two years, rain or shine. There were few practitioners, and sometimes I was the only one.
We were under huge pressure during that time. We met all sorts of people and experienced the coldness of human hearts. Now the environment is completely different. But at that time the evil controlled bad beings to come and interfere. However, Master arranged for many people to come and learn the exercises and encourage us. Some amazing things happened.
I was very impressed by several of these newcomers. They didn’t say much. They came and sat in full lotus from the very beginning to the end. They already seemed to know how to do the hand gestures. They came once but didn’t return. I was very puzzled. I later learned from Master’s lectures that they came down to the earth from high levels.
After my children were born, I had a lot of chores to do at home and didn’t have much spare time to go out to tell people about Falun Dafa. The Epoch Times Sydney Office was set up at that time. In 2003, I started to work from home for the Epoch Times.
I never thought that one day I would be a writer. When I was young, I was punished frequently for failing to do well when I wrote essays. I started from scratch by self learning through searching for materials, finding pictures, doing lay out, and posting articles online. I did everything from the beginning to the end all by myself. Actually, every practitioner was multi-skilled. I’ve worked for the Epoch Times for over 20 years.
I have four children but my parents didn’t help me. My family members don’t practice Falun Dafa. We couldn’t live without money. In the end, all the pressure came back to me. Every day was like going into battle, but it was a good cultivation environment.
To balance everything well, I became a taxi driver. When I was not busy with my newspaper work, I drove a taxi for 12 hours a day. I could focus on driving, and clarify the truth to passengers, while making money.
Driving a taxi was just like wandering around in society like a monk. I met all sorts of people. I had a deeper understanding of what Master said about, “following the course of nature.” I came across many miraculous things. I met a person who worked six months in ordinary society and the other six months he cultivated in a mountain. I met many people whose third eyes were opened and asked for the truth. Some people came to listen to the truth and stayed in my taxi for over half an hour. Many people were moved to tears as they listened to my truth clarification.
I didn’t have much free time and was not able to attend local activities for a long time. Many practitioners were concerned about me and worried if I lagged behind in cultivation. I assured them that I still practiced. The meaning of my life lays on this path. I will definitely complete this journey. As my children grew older, my cultivation environment became better. I had more time to be with practitioners.
Some practitioners asked me how I persevered and worked for the Epoch Times for 20 years. I didn’t feel that I tried to persevere. Instead I felt it was my responsibility, my life journey, and the meaning of my existence. I didn’t have the slightest thought of giving up. Actually I was very thankful to the Epoch Times. Being a part of it gave me the urgency not to relax, because the newspaper has to be published on time.
Practitioners were encouraged to clarify the truth through social media after the COVID pandemic broke out. At first I was not interested. Later a practitioner shared her experience during the big group Fa study, and said it only took five minutes every day. So I joined the social media promotion team. After I joined, I realized five minutes was not enough if we wanted to achieve good results. I only used the simple sharing function for a while and it didn’t achieve good results. I then changed to doing “advertising promotion.” Dozens of practitioners joined this project and achieved good results. We soon had some interference. The main pages and our accounts were almost all blocked. The project was paralyzed.
But I felt this promotion was very effective, so I didn’t give up. I started by making a main page and uploading videos myself. It was difficult initially. My account was blocked for no reason. I asked for advice from experienced practitioners. They all shook their heads and couldn’t provide any solutions.
I still didn’t give up. I started to send forth righteous thoughts for a long period of time. Every time it was like a battle, and I even sweated heavily. Things eventually became stable. I was able to spend five minutes on this platform every day and reach a lot of people. I was so happy to see so many sentient beings learn about Falun Dafa, and felt my efforts were worth it.
I then introduced this project to the local practitioners in my Fa study group. More practitioners joined in. We achieved better results. After two years, our video introducing Falun Dafa reached more than 24 million viewers. The main page reached 100 million viewers.
I will persevere on this path because I think it’s effective. Now many practitioners have joined the social media project. Any truth-clarification projects will have the same issues. To save sentient beings, we need to make breakthroughs layer-by-layer. When you have made a breakthrough finally, you will indeed find:
“After passing the shady willow trees, there will be bright flowers and another village ahead!” (Lecture Nine, Zhuan Falun)
I have so much to say and could even write a book about cultivation after cultivating for more than 20 years. Actually each practitioner could write a book, a great book detailing their heart-pounding path to divinity.
I have been able to walk this far because of Falun Dafa. Master reminded us in almost every lecture to study the Fa more and well. I’d like to share my understanding of the importance of studying the Fa. Do you know how big the universe is? What we can imagine about how big it is would be only a dust particle. It’s huge beyond what any human can describe. Those who have human bodies in the Fa-rectification period are from high levels. Dafa practitioners are from even higher levels. How many levels should we break through before we can return to our original homes?
“How many seconds are there in 25 years? Almost 800 million seconds. If we break through one level in one second, would you think I was exaggerating? This is only a metaphor. When we reach a certain level, the part that has been assimilated to the Fa is separated. The remaining parts have not yet been assimilated to the Fa. So we need to continue studying the Fa and assimilating to the Fa. Studying the Fa every day is very important. I study the Fa every day, no matter how busy I am.
Studying the Fa is to assimilate to the Fa and guides our cultivation. What is the most difficult part of cultivation? Different practitioners have different answers. For me, the most difficult part is letting go of attachments that I am not aware of. If I don’t realize that it’s wrong, how can I rectify it?
Master takes care of us in our cultivation. The divine will not tell us where our problems are, but will give us hints. I regard these hints as the divine’s language and a way of communication. This kind of communication lets us recognize our human hearts. This is what we normally call “looking within.”
We shouldn’t wait until conflicts come before we look within. If the conflicts become intense, it means we’ve had issues for a long time. I honestly and sincerely examine myself when small issues happen, because the big issues are accumulated from small issues.
I gradually formed the habit of looking within. Someone’s reaction, or body language remind me to look within to see if I haven’t done well. I find my own problem every time. It is not important anymore whether I am right or wrong.
Think about it. If people nowadays come from high levels, those who cause trouble for us know what role they will play before they come here. I ask myself if I am willing to play a role that causes problems for practitioners. If we can achieve consummation, the ones who caused trouble will be considered to have helped us. If we stop cultivating, they will be regarded as interference and damage. What will await them in the future? From this perspective, our cultivation, good or bad, decides their fate.
We experienced harsh tests and many tribulations over these years. We know these were arranged by the old forces. Who are the old forces? Are the parts of us that haven’t assimilated to the Fa the old beings? Before we obtained the Fa and during the process of descending to lower levels, were we the old beings? Were our thoughts and notions much different than those of the old forces? So when we have tribulations, we shouldn’t become resentful or complain. Master controls everything. We should act according to the Fa principles. We should overcome tribulations and negate the old forces’ arrangements.
My understanding is limited, so please kindly point out anything inappropriate.