(Minghui.org) Greetings, respected Master! Greetings, fellow practitioners!
I feel extremely honored to be able to share my cultivation experiences with everyone at this sacred and solemn Fa conference.
Every year when I attend the Fa conference, I deeply feel Master’s immense compassion and that my heart and mind are purified. Each time, I resolve that in the coming year I must cultivate myself steadily and conscientiously every single day—so the next time I attend a conference I can share my cultivation experiences. However, it’s difficult to remain diligent while living among ordinary people. I sometimes cultivate diligently and other times I slack off, which prevents me from reaching my own expectations. Because of this, I’ve never been able to submit an experience-sharing paper.
Over this past year, I feel that I still haven’t cultivated well, but encouraged by fellow practitioners I decided to share my cultivation journey over these past few years.
I began practicing Falun Dafa when I was 16 years old. I often think back to that 16-year-old version of myself—after reading Zhuan Falun in one sitting, I was filled with excitement and determined to cultivate well. I felt that even if I had to give up everything in the human world, it would not matter. When I practiced the exercises back then, I often felt many small Falun throughout my body, rotating downward from the top of my head. Time has flown by, and in the blink of an eye, more than 20 years have passed. During these 20-plus years, immersed in the great dye vat of ordinary society, compared with my 16-year-old self, I feel that I’ve accumulated many additional attachments. Fortunately, Dafa has always given me wisdom and strength. Although the path has been bumpy, I have continued moving forward in cultivation.
Because I was young when I began practicing Falun Dafa, I did not place much importance on practicing the exercises. I practiced very little—I was far from Master’s requirement of practicing them every day. I was lazy and I only did them a few times a month. I’m also not a very self-disciplined person and I’m easily distracted. However, in recent years, I began to place more importance on practicing the exercises. This change originated from an incident that happened a few years ago.
When I had a meal with a friend she excitedly showed me a photo of a woman and asked, “Guess how old she is?” The woman looked energetic and very youthful, appearing to be in her early 30s. I said, “Thirty-something?” My friend excitedly replied, “She’s around 50!” I was shocked and said, “You really can’t tell—she’s maintained herself so well!” My friend said, “Yes, she practices Buddhism! She doesn’t take anything to heart, so she looks so young!” She even gave a few examples to show how broad-minded the woman was.
I was deeply touched. I thought, “When we clarify the truth to others and say that Falun Dafa improves health and cultivates character, yet we look prematurely old, or wear worried expressions, or talk with friends only about our attachments to fame and personal gain—how can people see the beauty of Dafa? Ordinary people judge cultivators by their outward appearance, especially those who know us well.”
I urged myself to overcome my laziness and persist in practicing the exercises for at least one hour every day—not for myself, but to better validate Dafa. Whenever other matters arose or I felt too lazy to practice, I recalled Master’s words:
“Genuinely cultivate Dafa,Only this is great....” (“Obtaining Fa,” Hong Yin)
I reminded myself that this was the most important thing, and that everything else could wait until after I practiced the exercises. In this way, I persisted and overcame my laziness and other interference.
After I began practicing regularly, my cultivation state improved significantly. After a full day of work, even when I felt tired, I found that practicing the exercises was the best way to eliminate fatigue and purify my thoughts. The quality of my sleep also greatly improved, and my appearance became more peaceful. Another friend who meets me every one or two months always says, “Every time I see you, you look especially beautiful—it’s like your whole body is glowing.” A former colleague I hadn’t seen for a long time once ran into me and said she felt I was glowing. I believe ordinary people may be sensing Falun Dafa practitioners’ bright energy field.
This year, my work situation changed significantly. Previously, I was the only person in my group, fully responsible for a particular area of work. This year, however, I was merged into another group. In addition to my original responsibilities, I had to learn an entirely new field within the new group. There was a colleague younger than me who was responsible for teaching me certain tasks. She was very impatient and always spoke in a scolding tone. We held the same job title, and I was very experienced in my own field. She was younger and only more experienced in her area, yet she showed me no respect at all. This made me feel wronged and I sometimes became very angry because I thought she was extremely rude—her behavior was something I never encountered in my professional career.
I also felt bitter. One day at noon, I asked myself: why does this situation cause me so much pain? Which of my attachments is being exposed? I realized that first, I desired a harmonious relationship with my colleagues. Second, her scolding me loudly in front of others made me lose face. I worried that the others would look at me differently and think I was incompetent. Wasn’t this fear of damage to my reputation an attachment to fame? I recalled the Fa principles—that over countless lifetimes, people have accumulated karma, and it is impossible that everyone around us is connected through predestined relationships from previous lives. Perhaps in a past life, I killed or harmed others, and in this life I need to repay my debt. Insisting on pursuing an ideal, harmonious workplace—isn’t that unrealistic?
Master said,
“This characteristic, Zhen-Shan-Ren, is the criterion for measuring good and bad in the universe.” (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun)
“As a cultivator, one must then conduct oneself by following this characteristic of the universe rather than the standards of everyday people.” (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun)
Why was I, as a cultivator, so concerned about what ordinary people thought? Whether I was conscientious at work and how capable I was should be measured by Dafa and witnessed by Master. Whether I upheld Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance in the process—that was what truly mattered. At that moment, my heart suddenly felt light, and I deeply felt the greatness of Dafa and the greatness of Master. After that, I could face this colleague calmly and kindly, and her attitude toward me also changed significantly.
I no longer cared as much about others’ opinions of me. I simply required myself to practice Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance at all times.
In my new work, I also became aware that I had a strong fear mentality. One of my tasks required completing a very important operation every morning within a fixed time, and the results affected many departments. The task involved many steps, and because I was unfamiliar with this field, at first I rigidly followed procedures. Due to time pressure, mistakes were easy to make, and I constantly feared doing something wrong. If someone called or messaged me in the afternoon to ask about the results, my heart would race, worrying that I had made a mistake. This fear put me in a passive and anxious state.
Master said,
“Fear is also a kind of attachment.” ( Lecture Six, Zhuan Falun)
“Once you are scared, it is an attachment of fear. Isn’t that an attachment? Once your attachment surfaces, shouldn’t it be removed? The more you fear it, the more it will appear like a sickness. This attachment of yours must be removed. You will be made to learn from this lesson so that you can remove your fear and improve.” (Lecture Six, Zhuan Falun)
After recognizing my attachment of fear, I reflected on my life and realized that I had strong fear in many other areas as well. When facing outcomes or situations I had fear. I would avoid them like an ostrich burying its head, lacking the courage to face problems or take proactive measures, completely losing my sense of self. For example, in that important task, I could have quickly checked my work after key steps, but instead I feared checking at all. Wasn’t this being completely controlled by “thought karma” and losing my main consciousness? I realized that since fear acts on the mind, it might also be a form of thought karma or acquired notion.
Master also said in Zhuan Falun that “Your Main Consciousness Should Dominate.”
“Most people, however, can remove and resist it with very strong thoughts from themselves (a strong Main Consciousness). With this, it indicates that this person can be saved and can distinguish good from bad. In other words, the person has good enlightenment quality. My fashen will help eliminate most of such thought karma.” (Lecture Six, Zhuan Falun)
So when fearful situations arise, I consciously step out of the fearful notion and rationally ask myself why I am afraid, what the possible consequences are, and what I can do now to prevent negative outcomes. I began studying how to do this task on weekends so I could thoroughly understand it. During actual operations, I paused after key steps to quickly review for mistakes. I no longer feared inquiries from others and I faced them calmly. I felt my will growing stronger, and I was able to face problems directly.
I have long been aware that I have a strong resentment mentality, especially when others make mistakes—I tend to be unforgiving especially when I am in the right. For example, when customer service staff are inefficient or make errors, I become very angry. At home, when the domestic helper does not do a task and denies it, or when my children repeatedly ignore advice, my resentment make me angry and my behavior is sometimes irrational. After each outburst, I feel numbness in the back left side of my head, as if blood vessels are blocked. I regret it afterward—it’s all minor issues, so why do I care so much? Why is Forbearance so hard to achieve? Yet when it happens again, I still cling to the ordinary people’s logic that “it’s the other person’s fault.”
After a long time of failing to improve, the old forces seized the loophole, and a condition resembling a stroke appeared. One night in October last year, I suddenly experienced severe pain on the left side of my head, with intense facial nerve pain as if my face were splitting apart. I could not sleep. I got up to practice the exercises, and after completing the first and second exercise, the pain eased somewhat. The next day, the left side of my face collapsed severely—facial nerves lost function, my left eye could not fully close, my speech became slurred, and I had to pull up the left side of my face for my speech to be understood.
I realized that my attachment persisted too long, allowing the old forces to exploit it.
Master said,
“Resentment. It comes from the habit of your liking to hear nice words and liking good things to happen to you; otherwise you become resentful. Think about it, everyone, this is not acceptable. Cultivation shouldn’t be practiced like that. I’ve always said that a cultivator should look at things in reverse. When running into bad things, you should think it’s a good thing as it’s here for the purpose of improving you. “I should handle it well. This is about passing another test. It’s cultivation here now.” When running into good things, you think: “Oh, I shouldn’t get too happy about it. Happy things don’t allow one to improve but they easily make one fall.” In cultivation, you must look at problems from the opposite angle. Suppose you run into difficulties or unpleasant things occur, and you just blindly resist them and block them; you are refusing to pass the test, then you are refusing to ascend, right?” (“Teaching the Fa in Washington DC in 2018,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. XV)
I deeply regretted my poor enlightenment quality. I only remembered to look inward when my personal interests were harmed, but in these small everyday matters, I remained trapped in ordinary reasoning and failed to “look at problems in reverse” as Master taught. From the Fa, I realized that without Forbearance, there can be no true Compassion. I lacked tolerance and understanding of others. For example, the domestic helper may not have been intentionally lazy but simply overlooked a task, and my aggressive questioning forced her to defend herself. Children failing to do certain things is part of their nature—they cannot be as responsible as adults. My resentful, accusatory words hurt people and never achieved the desired results.
After this major setback, I increased the length of time I read the Fa and did the exercises. Every day I felt my left face improving. Fluid often flowed from my eye, especially during group Fa study. My boss suggested I see a doctor, but I told him it was fine and that practicing more exercises would help. After a few months, my face was fine. My boss was amazed at the change, and this also validated the miraculous power of Dafa.
I now strive to eliminate resentment and act with compassion. For example, when I ask my children to practice the exercises and they play on their phones instead, my first reaction used to be resentment. But then I thought: they are wasting precious time—how regrettable this is for their true lives. I should feel sorrow, not anger. Miraculously, without saying anything, they put down their phones and began practicing. Once again, I experienced the power of compassion and the greatness of Dafa.
I am deeply grateful to fellow practitioners who encouraged me to write this sharing. During the writing process, I realized that I need to study the Fa more and still have many attachments to eliminate—such as personal gain, greed, impatience, attachment to children, failing to cultivate speech, and not doing the three things well or actively saving sentient beings. I deeply understand that to do all this well, I must make sure I study the Fa and practice the exercises every day, and I maintain righteous thoughts.
Master said,
“Living in human society, everything people are in contact with are practical things of human society. If you don’t seize the time to read the book, your thoughts of and heart for cultivation might be weakened. You might become less diligent in your cultivation, even to the point of giving it up. That might happen. But I often contemplate: You have obtained the Fa, which wasn’t easy, so if you don’t cherish it, it will be such a pity because this has never been done in the thousands of years of history since the beginning of time. In the past, how could the true Fa of the cosmos have been revealed to human beings? It was absolutely impossible.” (Teaching the Fa at the Eastern U.S. Fa Conference)
In the new year, I firmly resolve to make Fa study and exercise practice daily necessities, arrange my time well, do the three things well, and live up to the sacred title of “Dafa disciple during the Fa-rectification period.”
These are my limited cultivation experiences. If anything is not in accordance with the Fa, I sincerely ask fellow practitioners to compassionately point it out.
I have infinite gratitude to Master for his boundless compassion and for saving me!
Thank you, fellow practitioners!
(Presented at the 2025 Singapore Fa Conference)