(Clearwisdom.net) Greetings, Master. Greetings, fellow practitioners.
Today I would like to share with you my experiences in Fa rectification cultivation.
It was in June of 2004 when I moved to London with the thought of participating in the 24-hour peaceful protest in front of the Chinese Embassy, in addition to helping distribute the Chinese edition of The Epoch Times newspaper. At that time, we did not distribute as many newspapers as we do today. By using backpacks and a cart, several practitioners could manage to take the newspapers to Chinatown.
With Fa-rectification pushing forward, the English Epoch Times was born in March 2005. I was responsible for taking the newspapers to Chinatown every Wednesday.
At the beginning, the Chinese Epoch Times not only ran into difficulties with manpower, material resources, and financing, but also in the distribution of the newspapers. At that time, there was only one newspaper box. With The Epoch Times in English being published, it was easy to see that not enough newspapers were being distributed in Chinatown. So we put five newspaper boxes on the main street of Chinatown. By doing this, The Epoch Times had the biggest distribution of any free newspaper in Chinatown.
But slowly I began neglecting Fa study and was busy with Dafa work every day. Since I did not improve by studying the Fa, I was often interfered with. While distributing newspapers, if I did not have enough righteous thoughts, my attachment of seeking comfort would surface. I would be interfered with by conventional thinking, and I would think that distributing newspapers was too hard and ask why some other practitioners did not do it. It was often at times like these that the newspapers were taken very slowly, and I did not care much about who took the newspapers. I was controlled by my selfishness, which had formed in the society of everyday people. Later I realized that I could not do Dafa work and attend Fa validation activities with my personal attachments.
As the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party was spread widely, Fa-rectification entered a new period--quitting the Party and its affiliated organizations became a key step for sentient beings. To save more people, we needed to put newspapers in the boxes in Chinatown every day. This was another test for me. Besides Wednesdays, I had to deliver the newspapers to Chinatown every other day too. Without a vehicle, I could only walk to Chinatown on foot with a cart. With Master's strengthening and my improvement in cultivation, I did not back down because this was what Fa rectification needed. When I was in the Fa, I delivered newspapers filled with righteous thoughts for saving sentient beings. When I was attached to something, the process of delivering newspapers made my human notions stronger. In fact, Master has made good arrangements for us, but Dafa disciples must walk the paths for themselves. Shortly afterwards, buses going to Chinatown were replaced with bigger, more spacious buses, so I delivered newspapers to Chinatown twice a day.
The cultivation process for a practitioner involves constantly letting go of human attachments. Difficulties resulted from my application for asylum, and difficulties in my life lasted for such a long time that I felt as if I was cultivating while admitting to the evil's persecution. Although I did the three things, I had not made any breakthroughs. By studying the Fa and continuing to look inward, I was getting to know the principles of the Fa. Actually, the fundamental cause was that many human thoughts of mine were not eliminated, and my cultivation did not reach the standard required by the Fa.
I found that my fundamental attachment was the heart of pursuit, and I had had it for a very long time. I had a heart of pursuit when I walked into Dafa cultivation. I cultivated because of an expectation for something from the everyday people's world, which hid in the bottom of my heart and badly interfered with me while I was studying the Fa. It prevented me from seeing the Fa principles. As a result, I always felt that cultivation was too hard. I was determined to remove this fundamental attachment that stopped me from stepping forward in cultivation. In "Unimpeded" from "Hongyin" II (Translation Version I), Teacher said:
"The paths of cultivation are varied
But none is outside the Great Law
When one is attached to nothing
The path underfoot is naturally smooth"
After removing the fundamental attachment, I felt that my path of cultivation was no longer difficult.
The old forces took advantage of another of my remaining attachments, and I was nearly deported to China by the Home Office in February 2006. The attachment to lust is one of the most difficult tests for a practitioner to pass, and also the most focused attachment by the old forces. I looked inward and found my attachment to lust. The evil is all-pervasive, and it will take advantage of my loopholes if I don't remove them, and it will interfere with me while I validate the Fa and save sentient beings. Why did the Three Realms come into existence and why were the sentient beings born in this period of time? The sentient beings are all waiting to be saved. Helping Master with Fa rectification and saving sentient beings are the fundamental purposes of Dafa disciples coming to the world.
From then on, I often distributed newspapers in Chinatown. I have realized that as long as we have a heart of compassion for saving sentient beings, Master will arrange for those people who have predestined relationships to come to us. No matter where I was, as I was distributing newspapers on buses or in Chinatown, I would try to persuade people to quit the Party, and most of them declared that they would quit. I have read the Nine Commentaries and the Disintegrating the Party's Culture many times. When I was clarifying the truth to sentient beings, sometimes it was easy for people to understand. Chinese people from mainland China are seriously poisoned by the Party culture, so it is not easy for them to accept the truth, and we may need to clarify the truth to them many times before they can be saved.
The media plays a very important role in saving sentient beings in Fa rectification. The old forces are preventing our media from getting the finances it needs. Master also said that he hopes our media can enter a positive cycle. Practitioners in many countries have participated in newspaper distribution. It was last October that I took part in selling advertising space for The Epoch Times. I have no experience in sales and my English is not very good. In the beginning, I just learned from other practitioners who have experience in this field. After listening to experience sharing from other practitioners, I gradually sold some advertisements, but I think what I have done is far from what the Fa requires us to do.
Doing sales also requires improvement in cultivation. Many human notions have surfaced, such as pursuing fame and gain, the attachment of zealotry, jealousy, and the mentality of showing off. As long as I pursued the result, I spent a lot time thinking about how to sell an advertisement to a client and forgetting to save sentient beings by clarifying the truth. Sometimes my clarifying the truth was done without the proper mindset, as if just finishing a task. One time, a service center for studying abroad had already signed a three-month contract with us. Because of pressure from the CCP, the center stopped its advertisement in The Epoch Times. At that time, while clarifying the truth, I realized that the person I spoke to could not accept what I was saying. I had thought that signing the contract was most the important thing and that clarifying the truth came later, when an opportunity arose. Now I think that if I had made more of an effort to clarify the truth to him and persuade him to quit the Party, he would not have stopped the advertisements in our paper. It seems that we should always put saving sentient beings first. Master already told us in "Fa Teaching at the US Capital,"
"Aside from what you as individuals need to go through and establish on your final road to Consummation, what is most important for you and most significant right now is to save people. If not for that, let me tell you, your cultivation would have concluded long ago."
I have understood now that in the long process of life belonging to the old universe, we have formed all kinds of conventional thinking and attachments purposely arranged by the old forces. In Fa-rectification, if we don't cultivate ourselves well, we will be taken advantage of by the old forces because of our loopholes. The old forces will use these human notions and attachments to prevent us from helping Master with Fa-rectification and from saving sentient beings. If we listen to Master, work hard at Fa study and at sending forth righteous thoughts, we will be walking on the path arranged by Master and completely denying the old forces.
This is what I have learned from my cultivation. Finally I would like to share a little more of what Master said in "Fa Teaching at the US Capital,"
"In the phase ahead, do even better with what you need to do, walk well the final leg of the journey, and do even better with what you are supposed to do. Don't become complacent just because you think you've done such and such, for there are so many sentient beings that we have yet to save. You still need to push yourselves so that you may establish even greater mighty virtue within a limited timeframe, and so that you won't have any regrets when all is said and done. So I hope that you will do even better and be even more magnificent."
Thank you, Master. Thank you, fellow practitioners.