Awaking to my Cultivation Path
Greetings Master!Greetings Fellow Practitioners!
In October, that is 2 months ago a fellow practitioner contacted me and asked whether I can share my Fa experience in this Fahui. I accepted, at the same time, wondering whether there is anything for me to share. When I began to look inward, I asked myself….. If there is no experience to share then what have I been cultivating all this years? What is cultivation without any tests of trials and tribulations? Without trials and tribulations to awaken and enlighten myself, then how could I raise my xinxing that is fundamental in cultivation? If there is no elevation to each higher level, how can I say that I have cultivated in Dafa? Even preparing a paper on Fa experience for Fahui can make me think inward and open my scope of thinking on the Fa requirements.
So, I am glad to be given the opportunity and be here to share my Fa experience. Time When I first started, I was not consistent and only did the exercise practice. It took me some time to begin my cultivation in the study of the Fa. This was about 8 years ago. I knew then time is the essence; time to cover my work commitment, to fulfil my daily obligations and for my favorite hobbies in scrabble and jig-saw puzzles which were my greatest addictions that took up almost all the extra time in the old days. As I study the Fa further, few phenomena changed my thinking and my mind become clearer enhancing my faith in Master’s teaching. Slowly, I reduced my time indulging in scrabble and jig-saw puzzles and finally gave them up completely after knowing that it is an attachment that I have to remove. This determination comes from the strength of Dafa. Study the Fa on my own From then onwards, I use my time in a more effective manner. Based on my own interpretation from studying the Fa, I come to understand that Master accept self-learners who genuinely want to cultivate and seek discipleship with Master.
Master in Zhuan Falun said:
“I treat every student of ours as my disciple, including those who truly cultivate through studying on their own.”
“True cultivation depends fully upon the cultivation of your heart. As long as you can cultivate and can continue your cultivation solidly and steadfastly, we will treat you as disciples”.
I continue to study the Fa on my own except for Fa Study at the National Level during which I join fellow practitioners in group study. I tried, as far as I can, to be diligent in my study of the Fa and to allocate time for exercise practice. There were times when I started to treat it as part of the routine schedule I started to ask myself whether I am doing it with the heart and mind or whether I am just following a timetable or treating it as an academic study to gain knowledge.
From my understanding of Master’s teaching, a cultivator need to be clear on what they are doing and this is about letting go the attachments of everyday person by cultivating the mind in order to raise the xinxing. To raise the xinxing, there must be tolerance and the ability to endure suffering.
In my path of cultivation, there were few happenings that made me realized my shortcomings and change my thinking, at the same time, enhanced my faith in Dafa. I believed these are tests for my xinxing and I hope to share my experiences here today.
Trials
There was a period of time, when I read Zhuan Falun and Master Lecture Notes, the words became blurred after few minutes into my reading. As I read on, the words became more blurred as if the words were disappearing from the page. It was a challenge to read line after line however, this does not deter me from completing one whole lecture. Initially, I thought my vision was getting poor but I don’t seem to have problem reading other materials; newspapers, articles and notes. I took it as interference to be overcome. Over time, there was lesser disruption, the words become clearer and the so-called problem diminished and cleared gradually. Through this experience, it made me realize that it is not easy to obtain the Fa and I should treasure the time when I am able to study the Fa.
There were other trials and the one still fresh in my mind took place last year.
One night, during my sleep, I saw myself in a strange place. I was walking down a lane looking for a very close relative. I knew then the relative had died many years ago and yet I was adamant in getting to the destination. I reached a junction and there was no road ahead. It was either turning left or turning right and still I did not choose to turn back to where I come from. I saw a road signage that leads to no direction. It was getting dark and there was no one in sight. Just then, a woman appeared and told me that she can lead me to the place that I am looking for. I did not reject and followed. She led me to the left direction, walked a distance and took me down a steep stairway into an underground enclosed structure with no openings or windows. The woman disappeared. I saw a bowl of noodle for me…..at that moment, I felt being “drained” out…..I was trapped…..just before I lost my consciousness…..someone shook me hard and I heard “wake up, wake up”. I opened my eyes and it took me a second to realize I was actually sleeping. Who shook and woke me up? I was certain of the force and voice that took me out from the “dream”. At that instance, I can only think of Master.
Master’s Explicit Reminder in the Essentials for Further Advancement:
“At present there is a prominent problem: When some students’ Primordial Spirits (yuanshen) leave their bodies, they see or come into contact with certain dimensions at certain levels. Feeling that it is wonderful and that everything there truly exists, they don’t want to return. This resulted in the death of their flesh bodies. So they stayed in that realm and could not come back…..”
From this “dream” and experience, I can only relate to the attachment of “qing”. The very close relative was my late elder sister in this life. She died in a car accident many years ago and that was before I obtained the Fa. We were very close when she was alive. From time to time after so many years and especially after I have obtained the Fa, I still think of her and wondered to which realm she is in now and always wishing that she can enter Dafa…..wherever she is. This “dream” serves as a reminder for me to remove the attachment of “qing”.
Arrangement and Tribulation
As I go deeper into the Fa, I understand that Falun Dafa is cultivation of mind and body that requires studying the Fa and doing the five sets of exercises. For exercise practice, it took me some time to get my movements as accurate as possible and this was done in an unusual arrangement that is; during group exercises in Hong Kong when I was there to participate in parades attended by Dafa practitioners.
Three years ago in 2015, I started to participate in parades held in Hong Kong. My attendance was initially inconsistent but after the first few events, I realized the situation in Hong Kong is tensed and the atmosphere there is closely linked to Mainland China. Thereafter my attendance in the parades becomes more frequent. In 2017, I attended almost all the parades and continue to do the same until now. Through these events, I can join other practitioners in exposing the evils in the persecution of practitioners in Mainland China, to clarify the truth and saving people. I derived the strength to participate in the Hong Kong parades from my understanding of Master’s teachings.
Master in Teaching the Fa at the Great Lakes Fa Conference in North America 2000 [Guiding the Voyage], said: [Many people used to ask me this, and they also wrote it in their question slips to me: “Teacher, why are we obtaining the Fa in the U.S.? Why are we obtaining the Fa outside of China?” Now it’s clear to you, right? Without you doing these things here, wouldn’t these things be incomplete during the Fa-rectification period? You should just do well over here with what you’re supposed to do. This is why you obtained the Fa outside of China. If all of you were to go back to China, who’d be doing things to rectify the Fa, to expose the evil, and to reduce the persecution of students in Mainland China?]
Master also said in the Teaching the Fa at the Washington, D.C International Fa Conference 2001 [Guiding the Voyage]: “Clarifying the truth isn’t a simple matter – it’s not only a matter of exposing the evil. When we clarify the truth we are saving sentient beings, and at the same time it involves the matter of your own improvement and your elimination of attachments during your cultivation, and the matter of Dafa disciples being responsible to the Fa in their cultivation, as well as issues like how you fill and enrich that paradise of yours in your final Consummation”.
Generally, in the morning before every parade, there was group exercise. Many times from the group exercise, my movement was corrected. In a large group of hundreds of practitioners, there were actually people watching and ready to correct my movements…..
My participation in the Hong Kong parades met with some tribulations. On several occasion, prior to leaving for Hong Kong, my knee or leg (it is either the left or right leg) would develop pain. The more challenging experience happened during one of the events in 2017. Few days before the day of my flight to Hong Kong, I experienced unexplainable pain on my right leg and it was particularly excruciating on the morning when I wanted to take the cab for the shuttle to the airport. It was so painful that I had to bear the pain even to lift the leg getting into the cab. I could not detect where exactly the pain came from…..it seem to start from the knee point and then it seem to come from other points. At that instance, if my thinking was that of everyday people, I would have cancelled the trip. I had difficulty even to sit down and had to bear the pain during the approximately 4 hours’ flight to Hong Kong. Looking from an everyday people perspective, it was almost impossible for me to participate in the parade that takes about 3 hours of walking from the starting to ending point. I kept sending righteous thought and reminded myself not to be deluded. I must have faith in Master and the arrangement for me to overcome. Next morning, despite the pain, I woke up to get ready to set off for the gathering point. To get up and alight from the bus was a challenge in this situation. At the site, we sent righteous thoughts. (While writing this Fa experience paper)…..I don’t seem to recall how I overcome the pain during group exercise but I do remember that it started to rain and it was almost lunchbreak. While waiting for the lunchbox, I managed to find a seat…..I sat down and crouched over with the face over the knees….I felt drowsy and dozed off. Then, someone called me…..I opened my eyes to find a practitioner asking me whether I can carry the bigger banner. There were so many practitioners around me and she chose to wake me up from the slumber and to ask me whether I can carry the bigger banner. Without second thought, I accepted the marker from her. For whatever reason, I felt refreshed. When the parade began, I proceed to carry the banner with other practitioner and completed the whole trip. The pain on my right leg subsided tremendously! Who can explain using everyday people’s logic?
I deeply thank our benevolent and compassionate Master for letting me into Dafa, not giving me up when I slacked in my cultivation and guiding me along my path of cultivation as well as practice.
The above are my own understanding from the experience encountered during my cultivation. If there is any misinterpretation, shortcoming or omission, please correct me.
Thank you Master
Thank you fellow practitioners
Chew BK
October 2018