My Experiences of Practising Falun Dafa

Dear fellow practitioners,

It is a great pleasure and honour to be able to share my experience with you all. Our Teacher and countless beings are watching every single word that we utter, every single action that we carry out and every single thought that we have. I decided to write down my experience, partly because through the process of writing it I became more aware of some of my remaining attachments and shortcomings. What I say here is only my personal understanding and enlightenment. Should you find anything inappropriate, please do point it out to me.

I obtained the Fa [Law and principles of Falun Gong] in 1996. Though I started my cultivation relatively early, and I did practise true cultivation for a period of time, unfortunately I didn’t realise that I had such a significant historical missions on my shoulders, and allowed myself to relax for some time and enjoy some human pleasures. Driven by strong attachments, I fell behind and wasted three years. After I arrived in Ireland in January this year, I saw some Falun Dafa practitioners distributing truth-clarifying leaflets. I knew it was time for me to come back to cultivation, and I also wanted to get a clear and high-level understanding on the Fa about the persecution in China. However, because I busied myself with trivial matters like finding a job and looking for accommodation, etc., I procrastinated contacting the practitioners for a long time. On one evening in May, I happened to meet a few practitioners on a bus when I was going home. They urged me sincerely to start practising again, but I was still hesitating about when to do so. On that same night, I finished the book, 'Essentials for Further Advancement II', which the fellow practitioners had given to me, and I came to a very clear understanding. Afterwards, when I studied the Fa more, I gradually realised that I was a Fa-rectification period Dafa disciple, and that I had on my shoulders the great historic mission of helping Teacher in the Fa-rectification. I also understood the value of time. I realised that, when I was lost, it was our compassionate Teacher that had found me and taken me home. I knew Teacher didn’t want to see a single disciple falling behind.

A few weeks later, I found a job in a Chinese restaurant. The boss was a person from Hong Kong, and didn’t know much about Dafa. So I began to tell the boss and his wife about the truth of Falun Gong. Some employees had watched our truth-clarifying VCDs, so they vied to tell what they knew about the matter, and almost clarified the whole situation even before I needed to talk too much. The wife of our boss even wanted to learn to practise, and asked me to borrow a copy of Zhuan Falun [The main text of Falun Gong] for her. When I told her Teacher says in Zhuan Falun that: “you dropped to this level because you became corrupt”, and that “One should return to one’s original, true self; this is the real purpose of being human”, she murmured, “I also want to go back. I don’t want to stay here, either.” I was surprised she said that, but I soon realised that it was her real self that was talking. Unfortunately, she told me a few days later that her husband didn’t want her to practise. I tried to talk to her, saying, “It doesn’t matter. You will have a chance in the future. You may belong to the next group of people who will obtain the Fa." Upon hearing this, she was very happy, and took a book back home to read.

There were more than ten employees in our restaurant, all of whom knew that I practised Falun Gong. They gave me a nickname – “Falun Hui”. I knew I represented Dafa before them, and every remark or every action of mine might influence their thoughts about Dafa. As Teacher said in the Fa lecture at the 2002 Conference in Boston, “If we don't pay attention to our own behaviour in our daily lives, everyday people will see our actions and, since they can't get to know you at a deep level such as by studying the Fa, they will just look at how you act. And it's possible that one sentence or one action of yours will make them unsavable or create a bad impression of Dafa. We need to think about these things.”

In my work, I tried to make sure I could exhibit the spirit of a Dafa disciple. I work very hard, and I always consider others first. I volunteered to do difficult jobs, and, after finishing my own work, I often helped others with some small tasks. When the dishwasher was broken, I used to handwash them, sometimes I stood there for almost an hour. My colleagues were quite touched. I then told them that actually what I was doing counted as nothing when compared with what other practitioners had been doing. “So long as you know Falun Gong practitioners are all good people, it is fine.” Sometimes, my co-workers would get involved in some minor “corruption”, but I make sure that I never get involved in such things. One day, after printing a new article by Teacher, I was about to pay for what I had printed. A colleague said, “Why do you pay for this?” Another colleague answered for me, “Because she practises Falun Gong.” I was very glad when I heard this, because I knew my actions had helped people come to understand Dafa.

In addition, I would like to talk about my experience in clarifying the truth. It was after Teacher published the article “Hurry Up and Tell Them” that I really started my truth-clarification work seriously. Before, I had had some barriers in doing this work. On one hand, I had always been reluctant to talk to strangers, mostly due to my notions such as overly strong self-esteem; On the other hand, I had felt that I was not adept at words, and had been worried that I might not do well. The following words by Teacher changed my mind: “If the vast majority of the people in this world today have really come from high levels to obtain the Fa, think about it—they aren’t just some simple beings, then.” After reading these words, I came to understand that any selfish heart couldn’t get in the way of my clarifying the truth. So I discarded all human “face” and notions, and completely dedicated myself towards clarifying the truth. When I had committed myself to this effort, using all my strength to knock at the thick doors to those numb hearts, I came to the happy revelation that they were not as difficult to open as I had long imagined. For some people, a few sentences would be enough to arouse sympathetic response. For some others, although they might say this had nothing to do with them; they would listen to you very attentively when you touch upon the issues of their concerns. The fact is that I have not experienced the awkward situation that I had imagined. Once, a fellow practitioner told me that he had met a Chinese person somewhere who told him that he knew me. That person also said that, through my truth-clarification, he had understood us more clearly. This made me very pleased. I also came to realise that the current situation was really like what Teacher said: “This is because the evil was restraining people before, and after the evil was eliminated, people became clearheaded and now they’re reconsidering and reassessing all these.” (Teaching the Fa at the Western U.S. Fa Conference) Here’s one example. When I was on my way home the other day, I handed a truth-clarifying booklet and a VCD to a Chinese person in front of me. He told me that he had read it. I was just about to put the materials back into my bag when he said, “I’ve read the booklet, but I haven’t watched the VCD yet. Could you lend it to me?”, “Of course!” I said, knowing that his words had come from his real being, the side of him that was aware.

When I clarify the truth on the Internet, normally I would chat with one person at a time. When the issue of Falun Gong is mentioned, I would paste some truth articles or persecution cases on the screen for the other person to read. Then I would give him some time to think it over, and tell him my own understanding on this, especially the principles of “Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance” which Dafa disciples always follow. Usually I can achieve very good results through doing this. Sometimes, the eagerness with which some kind people ask for truth is incredible and far exceeds my expectations. When I told them the truth of the so-called “self-immolation” incident, they said, “It would be good if we could see the pictures in the materials” (it’s hard to show pictures in an on-line chat room). When they saw some articles were taken from Hong Kong newspapers like the Apple Daily, they said sadly, “So they can read about the truth even in Hong Kong.” (Because they only knew people could see the truth abroad). When I posted stories of Dafa disciples being subjected to cruel persecution, they asked me over and over, “Is it true? It’s incredible!” I would then tell them that tragedies like these are happening every day, and that kind-hearted Dafa disciples are enduring unprecedented torture and ill-treatment. The person who had heard the truth said, “I feel very sad. Had it not been for you, I could have possibly remained ignorant all my life.” Upon seeing this, I felt happy for him, but at the same time I felt sad for the millions of beings still waiting anxiously to be saved. The sides of those beings that are aware are all looking forward to knowing the truth, because it’s their only opportunity. Teacher says, “Don’t underestimate your sending even one flyer or one booklet to China, making one phone call there, or sending one fax there or sending all sorts of information—the effect is quite significant...” (Touring North America to Teach the Fa) Therefore, the responsibility of Dafa disciples is great. After reading Teacher’s poem “Hurry Up and Tell Them”, I realised that I had been doing too little, and developed strong anxiety. Driven by such mentality, my understanding of this poem went awry. I thought that we no longer needed to pay too much attention to the way we clarify the truth. Consequently, I went after quantity and overlooked quality. When I got to know someone on the Internet, I hastened to mention Falun Gong and sent a lot of materials to him or her, regardless of whether or not the other person liked it. Once, the person I was chatting with sent me the following sentence before logging off, “sometimes you are a bit too pushy.” I was left speechless. Wasn’t it Teacher talking to me? After thinking about it for a while, I realised that it was my fault. The amount of effort we put in is definitely important, but if we fail to do it in the proper way, we could incur huge losses to Dafa and cause obstacles that will make it hard for people to accept the truth. Everyday people are very seriously influenced by their postnatal notions. The deep-rooted bad notions have controlled them, making it hard for them to know the truth. Under such circumstances, we should be ever more patient, clarify the truth bit by bit so as to gradually eliminate the bad impression of Dafa the evil propaganda had caused in their minds. If one conversation isn’t enough, we still have further opportunities. However, if we handle the situation improperly or with an over-zealous heart, our loopholes could be taken advantage of and cause negative effects. This is just my personal understanding. Another thing is, when clarifying the truth; we must pay attention to sending forth righteous thoughts.

In addition, I have accumulated some experience in clarifying the truth. To different people, we need to use different methods. To different wrong views, we need to clarify the truth from different angles. For instance, if the person hates corruption in China, I would talk about my similar feelings about it so as to draw our minds closer together. After that, I would talk about the benevolence of Dafa disciples. In this way, I can break through his attachments layer after layer. If he’s interested in the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, I would begin with some moving cultivation stories and then tell him how the evil political gang has been persecuting Dafa disciples. During the whole process, we must make sure we do not fall prey to anxiety, zealotry or other human notions that may have negative effects, and remain polite and good-humoured from beginning to end. We must use our compassionate words and manner to move people’s hearts. Teacher said, “if all a person wants is the well-being of others and if this is without the slightest personal motivation or personal understanding, what he says will move the listener to tears.” (Essential for Further Advancement (I), Clear-headedness). Therefore, if we cannot achieve good effects in our truth-clarification, we must look inside our own hearts. Because any selfishness or impure notions can influence the effect of our compassionate actions.

When we clarify the truth and send forth righteous thoughts, we must also study the Fa well. Only when we study the Fa well can we clarify the truth with wisdom. Studying the Fa is the key to our improvement. In this evil drama, the last test the old forces have arranged for Dafa disciples is to test the overall coordination. If we still harbour strong personal notions or even have conflicts with other Dafa disciples, this will be taken advantage of. Our attachments will be enlarged so as to encroach upon our overall strength. When we dislike another practitioner because of our own personal attachments, why don’t we look inside to find out which attachments are at play? Why can’t we think more for others? When fellow practitioners are in difficulties and need your help, why don’t we give him a helping hand? Why do we allow our brains to be filled with dirty human thoughts? Teacher said, gods in the heavens “have certain differences in some of their views. But they would never argue.” (). If we cannot get rid of such human hearts, how can we be Dafa practitioners?. For the sentient beings in the cosmos, for our great historical mission of helping Teacher rectify the Fa, let us value the limited time, take every step well, and establish our greatest mighty virtue.

It’s now time to end my personal experience sharing. In fact, what I have done falls far short of the deeds of many disciples present today. I hope that we can all find our own problems through experience sharing and make further improvement together as a whole. The pace of Fa-rectification is ever accelerating. As Teacher said in his “Congratulatory Statement to the New York Fa Conference”, “What history has bestowed upon Dafa disciples are all the most magnificent things. At present, all that you are doing is the most sacred,..."