(Minghui.org) Greetings, venerable Master! Greetings, fellow practitioners!
I’m 19 years old and I was fortunate to be born into a family of Falun Dafa practitioners. I’ve practiced Dafa with my father, mother, grandma, and grandpa since I was a child. After graduating from high school two years ago, I left San Francisco to attend college in Florida. I realized that I was an adult now and could no longer rely on my family’s cultivation environment. I needed to truly become a Falun Dafa practitioner on my own.
Shen Yun performed in Miami during the winter vacation in my freshman year, so I didn’t have the opportunity to invite my classmates to watch it. I just posted a message on social media saying that Shen Yun was about to start performing. I hoped that my classmates would watch Shen Yun on their own, in their own cities. This year, Shen Yun performed in Miami in February, which coincided with the university’s Spring Semester. I know Master arranged for me to promote Shen Yun to my college classmates this year.
At the end of January, I first sent a text message to one of my classmates who is usually willing to organize activities and asked him if he was interested in going to see Shen Yun with his classmates. He didn’t reply all day, and I started to worry—would he think it was weird that I said that? Would he have any misunderstandings about Shen Yun or Dafa? Or would he think Shen Yun tickets are too expensive? But I realized that I shouldn’t think like this. Isn’t this an attachment of fear? The more unstable my thoughts are, the easier it is for ordinary people to be interfered with. Dafa practitioners’ righteous thoughts are powerful, and I should help people by maintaining righteous thoughts.
He replied the next day, saying that he saw Shen Yun before, liked it very much, and was willing to see it again. He also said next weekend is his classmate’s birthday, and when we went out to eat together, he would mention watching Shen Yun. I was very happy and thought it was great, because this classmate is usually proactive and often asks us to do something together, so when he mentioned Shen Yun, it would seem natural, and I wouldn’t need to mention it again.
When we went out to eat, and I kept waiting for him to mention Shen Yun, but he didn’t. I realized I relied too much on ordinary people.
Master said,
“So who would you count on? All the beings are counting on you!” (“Fa Teaching Given at the 2002 Conference in Philadelphia, U.S.A.” in Collected Teachings Given Around the World Volume II)
After dinner, everyone was about to leave. I realized if I didn’t say anything, I might not have another chance, so I quickly mentioned Shen Yun as naturally as possible, and then asked the others if they were interested in watching it together. They all expressed an interest.
The next day, that classmate sent me a text, saying he would send information about Shen Yun tickets in the classmate’s text group. Although I already realized that I shouldn’t rely on ordinary people, I still thought he would do it. A few days passed, but he didn’t send it. I looked inward and realized the reason I wanted to rely on him was that I had various worries and fears. I was worried that my classmates would think it’s strange that I kept asking them to see Shen Yun, or that I was too pushy. But I told myself to let go of my attachment of fear and treat everything with righteous thoughts. Their knowing side was actually waiting to get information about Shen Yun.
So, I sent a text message to the classmate group, with a form included for everyone to fill in the time they wished to go, so that we could buy tickets together. Eight students filled out the form, and I helped five buy Shen Yun tickets. After watching Shen Yun, they all felt very good. In fact, three other students originally wanted to see it, but due to various reasons, they didn’t go. Maybe it wasn’t their time yet. I felt if my righteous thoughts were stronger the result would have been better. For example, two of the three classmates’ parents came to visit them that weekend. Wouldn’t it be better if I was able to convince them to bring their parents to also see Shen Yun?
Besides the more familiar classmates who I invited to watch Shen Yun, there are some classmates I’m not so familiar with, but I think since we have the predestined relationships to know each other, I should tell them about Shen Yun. No matter what the result is, every time I talk about it, I’m letting go of attachments and breaking through fear, which is an improvement in my cultivation.
So I sent information about Shen Yun to my dorm administrator. She was very happy to get the informaiton and said she heard Shen Yun was very good and always wanted to see it. She also took the initiative to forward the information about Shen Yun to the message group of our dormitory, so that everyone in the group saw it. I also sent emails to several teachers to introduce Shen Yun, and one of them replied and said he would take his children to the show. Several other students also said they always wanted to see Shen Yun. I found that indeed all sentient beings are waiting to hear the truth and see Shen Yun. As Dafa practitioners, our responsibility is to clarify the truth and spread Shen Yun’s message. I hope to find more ways to promote Shen Yun in my university next year.
When I was eighteen months old, I saw my father being arrested by seven or eight policemen (in China). Although I seldom thought about this incident when I grew up, I’ve always been introverted and insecure, and I have a strong desire to protect myself.
When I was a child, I didn’t realize this was a big problem in my personal cultivation. Instead, I felt that my introversion helped me eliminate interference from ordinary people. But when I grew up, I realized this attachment affects my ability to save sentient beings. As I mentioned earlier, I had this problem when promoting Shen Yun, and I recently discovered that it also impacted my learning to play the flute. I don’t blow loud enough. I’m very cautious, and I’ve always been afraid of making mistakes. With this mentality, even if I played all the notes correctly, others could sense that I wasn’t playing the music well.
One of my flute teachers said, “In fact, you’re capable of playing anything, you have all the skills. But just because you’re always afraid of making mistakes, you’re cautious and you limit yourself.”
Through studying the Fa and sharing experiences with fellow practitioners, I realized that this is actually the attachment to oneself, the desire to protect oneself, and the desire to save face. I’m always afraid of making a mistake when I play the flute and worry what others will think if I don’t play well. In addition, there are the issues of protecting myself and believing in Master and the Fa. If I could always believe Master is by my side, watching over me and protecting me, what do I have to fear?
Master often uses the flute teacher’s words to point out areas where I should improve in my cultivation. The teacher told me, “If you play all the notes correctly, it only means that you’re a good student. But to be an artist, your music must move the audience. You have to transfer your energy and message to the audience.” I realized that if I couldn’t let go of myself, I’d never be able to do that, and I might not be able to save all the sentient beings that I should.
Master said,
“If people are guided by Dafa as they study and compose music, they can make progress and have inspiration, and the things they will think of and come to see as being needed, will be divine revelations. So in other words, whichever field you might be in, when you are able to improve your skills, that is a reflection of your having continually risen in realm.” (Teachings at the Conference in Los Angeles)
I decided to put aside all worries and just blow. When I thought about it this way, it seemed that the sound I made suddenly became much louder. Before, I felt like there was something holding me down and not letting me go. As I gradually let go of myself, the things holding me down became less and less.
At present, I still need to continue to make breakthroughs in this aspect. I believe that as long as I continue to let go of the attachment to my self, always remember Master is by my side, and continue to improve in cultivation, I’ll continue making breakthroughs in my skills.
This June, I attended a summer music class at Boston University with four woodwind quintets. From the beginning, I found the people in our group were very motivated, willing to challenge themselves, and willing to practice more and rehearse more. In addition to normal class and rehearsal times, we rehearsed for an hour every morning before class, and for one or two hours after class, or after dinner in the evening. Sometimes we arranged self-practice time and asked everyone to practice at this time. Often other groups were taking a break while we continued rehearsing.
While I knew it was good to do this, I still felt it was a little stressful at first. I looked inward and asked myself why I was stressed. I realized I had a notion in the past, that is, everything should be allowed to flow naturally without my being too attached to it. I used to think this was a good thing, but now I realized it also had a bad side: I’m unwilling to try my best to do many things, and when I encounter difficulties, I’m not determined enough to overcome them.
Although I know that I cannot do this when it comes to saving sentient beings, and I cannot retreat when interference and difficulties arise, but due to the negative impact of this notion, I often don’t know how to make a breakthrough. I thought about this, and realized: Isn’t this pressure the best opportunity for me to change my notion? I should let go of my feelings, break through my limits, and get out of my comfort zone.
I found that after changing my notion, I no longer felt stressed, but felt the joy of improvement. Just like Master taught us,
“As the Righteous Fa spreads,Untold fiends try to impede,Yet sentient beingsdo still gain salvation,And human notions change,The degenerate things purged,Brightness now shines forth.”(“Born Anew” in Hong Yin)
After I changed my mindset, I felt everything changed.
Because I was influenced by this notion in the past, I was often passive. Although I worked hard, I was often carried away by feelings, and I did not actively eliminate interference and overcome difficulties. For example, when I feel tired, I want to rest and relax instead of denying this feeling. But as soon as I relax a little, time passes quickly.
Master taught us in his recent lecture “Wake Up”:
“You are wasting large amounts of the limited time that is meant for rescuing people in these final days! You are going to regret that one day!” (“Wake Up”)
Master’s words moved me. After returning from summer school, I worked harder and seized the time. Now that I think about it, Master must have put me in this group so I could see my shortcomings. It also reminded me that whether in cultivation or in the improvement of professional skills, I must have such a positive and proactive attitude, constantly improve myself, and constantly break through my limitations.
Recently, I felt strongly that I must let go of the attachment to myself. I think many attachments, including the attachment to showing off, jealousy, fear, and saving face, are fundamentally caused by the attachment to oneself. Master told us that the old universe was based on selfishness, but the new universe is based on thinking of others.
I hope that in the future I will continue to let go of the attachment to myself and selfishness, follow the path arranged by Master, and fulfill my responsibility and mission as a Dafa disciple to help Master in Fa-rectification and saving sentient beings.
These are my recent cultivation experiences. If there’s anything inappropriate, please kindly point it out.
Thank you, Master! Thank you, fellow practitioners!
(Presented at the 2024 San Francisco Fa Conference)