Click on the below-mentioned, numbered subjects:
- Welcome
- What’s Happening?
- Some Enlightenment about Breaking out of Difficulty
- My Understanding of "Helping Fellow Practitioners by Sending Forth Righteous Thoughts"
- Eliminating Acquired Notions and Returning to Our Origins
- Applying Righteous Thoughts to Everything We Do
- Changing Our Thinking and Rectifying Ourselves
- Becoming Diligent
- 1. Welcome
Welcome to the January 2014 Falun Dafa India Newsletter.
Happy New Year and Wish we all do better in our cultivation and live up to the vows that we have made to Master. Let our resolve to do better not be hollow but we should treasure and cherish what we have got in this lifetime and work towards improving ourselves.
Hope in the New Year we will work harder to gain a better understanding of the Fa and be more steadfast in our cultivation and carry out our assigned responsibilities.
In this issue, we have a compilation of experience-sharing Articles gleaned from Clearwisdom that always shine through because of their insights and fine quality of sharing. It is important to read the Clearwisdom, Pureinsight and other Dafa sites.
We make an effort to select Articles from the Archives which people don’t go back to and are relevant even today. Contributions are welcome from practitioners.
Heshi! Hope, you like the selection of Articles and gain some new insights!
Note: "All the contents in this newsletter - except for quotations and excerpts of writings of the founder Mr. Li Hongzhi - are only ideas and experiences of practitioners and do not represent Falun Dafa in itself."
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- 2. What’s Happening?
Practitioners from Nagpur, Pune and Mumbai were at the Stall at Shivaji Park Mumbai in celebration of Dr. Ambedkar’s anniversary at Chaityabhoomi. There was a good response and many people purchased the Books and wanted to learn the exercises.
Practitioners from Bangalore have been conducting follow up sessions on exercises with three schools and also encouraging teachers to learn the exercises and study the Dafa Books.
Practitioners have also been conducting the 9 Day Video Lectures for veteran and new practitioners.
Practitioners from Kerala successfully concluded the Kochi Book Fair and the response was good. Follow up sessions are being conducted for all those enthusiastic to learn the exercises.
Practitioners from Delhi have for the first time gone to Odissa for the Cuttack Book Fair.
Practitioners from Hyderabad participated in Hyderabad Book Fair from 17th Dec to 26th. The response from the visitors was encouraging.
Some visitors from Cambridge and New York were surprised and happy to see that practitioners are promoting Falun Dafa in Hyderabad too.
Fliers were given to ministers, MLAs, other political leaders, editors of dailies, writers, prominent singers, women activists and many visitors etc.
Truth was clarified to many, while many already happened to know about the most inhuman persecution etc. Many showed interest to learn the exercises and rang up to come to the practice site.
Some students requested to introduce in their schools. The Police requested us to introduce in their department and gave their contact details.
This happens to be the third consecutive year to participate in the book fair, and many people said that they knew about Falun Dafa from previous book fairs. Some said they still have the beautiful lotus flowers given by Divine Land Marching Band in 2012.
Practitioners from Mumbai continue with their Sunday sessions at the ‘Equal Streets’ events.
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- 3. Some Enlightenment about Breaking out of Difficulty
By a Falun Dafa practitioner in China
(Minghui.org)
I learned that during the process of
rescuing our imprisoned local practitioners, some of us felt
hard-pressed and foggy-headed while sending righteous thoughts.
This angered me. It was good that practitioners persisted
regardless, but they should have improved their state with clear
and rational thinking, and therefore improved the results they were
able to achieve. Here I detail a few minor things I enlightened to
regarding breaking through difficulties, and a few ways of handling
being detained, to share with fellow practitioners.
There was a period of time when I would always run into hardship
while studying the Fa, sending righteous thoughts and doing my
work. Especially while sending righteous thoughts, I felt that I
was totally covered up by obstructive factors, and my dimensional
space was brimming with obstructive matter. It was as if my
thinking was blocked, and I was unable to break through. It seemed
I was dreaming while sleeping. Sending righteous thoughts was like
a job, taking up time, and it was difficult to sustain. My main
consciousness was muddle-headed and confused, and I was unable to
become clear and rational, even if I opened my eyes. But as soon as
I watched television or played games the obstructions would
immediately disappear, and my spirit was vital and strong. I
enlightened that this was because obstructive factors in the
universe, and my own thought karma, were interfering with me.
Through studying the Fa and practicing the exercises, I realized
that when a cultivator runs into this kind of circumstance, it's as
if his blood vessels are blocked. If we cleared out the
obstructions, wouldn't this state just disappear? From then on, for
ten minutes before sending righteous thoughts, I would first
practice the first exercise, Buddha Showing a Thousand Hands, two
times. Then when sending righteous thoughts, my thinking would
immediately become clear, and I could feel a very strong flow of
energy. I could feel a field that was clearing out the
obstructions.
Now whenever I come across a state that isn't right, as if I'm
stressed and tired, or have feelings of sexual desire, or a heart
of fear, I do the exercises for a while. This is always effective
in calming down my thinking and restoring vitality to my body.
As cultivators we take improving as
fundamental, and we can't become slack about this. We need to use
the Fa to assess ourselves and find what's not right, then
cultivate it away.
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- 4. My Understanding of "Helping Fellow Practitioners by Sending Forth Righteous Thoughts"
By a practitioner in Weifang City
(Minghui.org)
A practitioner in Weifang City passed away
due to sickness karma. Some fellow practitioners believed it was
because that practitioner didn't have enough righteous thoughts,
since they had already helped him with sending forth righteous
thoughts and exchanged experiences based on their understanding of
the . Other practitioners believe that it is because the
whole body didn't coordinate well. They didn't continuously send
forth righteous thoughts for him, and then added bad things onto
him by assuming he lacked righteous thoughts.
Master has clearly talked about sickness karma, especially in
the article "Sickness Karma" in Essentials for Further
Advancement. In addition, Master has answered questions about
this issue many times in his lectures. Generation after generation,
we accumulated a lot of karma during our countless previous lives.
Master has helped us to get rid of a big part, leaving only a small
part for us to pay for. Master said in
(Lecture Two), "It is absolutely prohibited for you to not endure
some suffering." Before the persecution started, no matter who
suffered from sickness karma, everyone excitedly talked about his
or her experience of eliminating karma. Feeling that Master helped
eliminate a big part of karma, everyone felt very happy. Then why
do we become restless now while facing the situation of eliminating
sickness karma?
Right now, whenever a practitioner continuously experiences
sickness karma, fellow practitioners ask each other to send forth
righteous thoughts for him or her. This seems to be a common
phenomenon. In addition, practitioners write experience sharing
articles to tell others how sending forth righteous thoughts helped
fellow practitioners to pass through a sickness karma test.
It seems like sending forth righteous thoughts is an almighty
prescription. Sometimes, when a family member suffers a toothache,
or when someone faces difficult things, practitioners all send
forth righteous thoughts, rather than looking inside, as a
practitioner should do, to find where he or she didn't do well.
Experiencing sickness karma is only one aspect of eliminating
karma. Some practitioners realize that it is a test and
manage it well, while facing troubles in ordinary society. They
know to look inside, and nobody sends forth righteous thoughts for
them. So why do we hurry to send forth righteous thoughts when
faced with sickness karma? Isn't this also to pass a xinxing test?
Are we so attached to our bodies that the evil can take advantage
and take away that practitioner's body? Isn't everyone responsible
for that? If we didn't pay so much attention to his sickness karma,
he probably would quickly pass through it.
I also read a lot of experience sharing articles on this
subject. My understanding is as follows: If a practitioner can pass
a sickness karma test, it's not only because everyone sent forth
righteous thoughts for him or her, but also because, with
everyone's help, that practitioner reached a higher level in the
Fa. He or she passes it with sufficient righteous thoughts and
enlightenment. If we really hope that practitioners makes it
through sickness karma, we need to help him or her change their
concepts. Master said in Los Angeles,
"...you are not in any way beings of the Three Realms, and you
are no longer ordinary persons,"
"But how could a divine being have ordinary people administer
treatment on him? And how could ordinary people heal a divine
being's sickness?" ("Teaching the Fa in the City of Los Angeles,"
February 25, 2006)
When practitioners give up trying to pass sickness karma tests
by going to a hospital or using other ordinary methods, they give
up on trying to overcome the test and become ordinary people, at
least in this respect. The old forces are very likely to use this
excuse to persecute someone more severely.
Some practitioners are wondering why they face sickness karma
since they do the so well. Is this any different
from the person who suffered a stroke in Zhuan Falun? Some
practitioners only consider it as interference. I think this
thought itself is looking externally, rather than looking within.
Why do you encounter interference? Do you have any gaps?
Master said, "I am rooted in the universe. If anyone can harm
you, he or she would be able to harm me. Put simply, that person
would be able to harm this universe." (Lecture One, Zhuan
Falun) With Master's protection, who dares to harm Dafa
disciples? Who dares to interfere with us? Who dares to force bad
things onto us? Only when we have gaps, can those things happen. It
is our own problem in this final analysis.
Master said that whatever we encounter in cultivation are good
things. However, when practitioners think that it is a good thing
only if we pass through something, this contains a hidden meaning:
that it would be a bad thing if we didn't pass through it. I think
that thought is wrong, and means we do not believe in the Fa.
Believe in the Fa first, then you may enlighten. Without belief in
the Fa, how can you enlighten? Without enlightenment, how can we do
well? Nothing happens by accident. No matter what happens to us,
everything is for our cultivation and great virtue. If we pass
through them, we upgrade to a higher level. Otherwise, it is a
matter of looking within. If you don't want to become a Buddha,
Buddha cannot help you, and Master and his fashen cannot do
anything for you.
Master always directs us to practice cultivation until we
succeed and reach consummation. In "Dafa Disciples' Righteous
Thoughts are Powerful," "The Effect of Righteous Thoughts,"
"Righteous Thoughts," "Stop the Evil Acts with Righteous Thoughts"
and "Eliminate the Dark Minions With Righteous Thoughts," Master
has emphasized the important points of sending forth righteous
thoughts. I hope fellow practitioners can calm down to review
Master's articles mentioned above and move forward with righteous
thoughts.
"Stop letting the evil exploit gaps, and stop being interfered
with by human attachments." ("Eliminate the Dark Minions With
Righteous Thoughts," 2004) Fellow practitioners, let's firmly
remember Master's words.
At the same time, it is necessary to help fellow practitioners
by sending forth righteous thoughts. Even when practitioners do not
do well, we cannot accept the old forces' arrangement. However, we
should help fellow practitioners to study the Fa more, upgrade
within the Fa, look within and strengthen righteous thoughts. Only
by doing this, can they pass through any test and upgrade to a
higher level.
I hope fellow practitioners will kindly point out anything that
is improper in my understanding.
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- 5. Eliminating Acquired Notions and Returning to Our Origins
(Minghui.org)
I discovered recently through studying the
Fa that one of my notions has been blocking my improvement for a
long time. When I was dealing with a situation, I first thought of
its negative effects and used that to guide and constrain me, even
in my cultivation.
For example, when my husband wanted to go jogging along the lake
after dinner on a winter evening, my first thought was he'd better
not go since he might slip and fall into the lake. When I heard
about bad things on the Internet, I didn't want to have a computer
until I really needed it for accessing Dafa websites. Before I did
anything, I thought of all the bad factors in how I would deal with
them before I actually did it, so I believed that I was a clever
and cautious person among everyday people. This was truly just
cleverness and not wisdom.
This mindset also applied to my cultivation. Since I had seen
the disadvantages of Christianity and Buddhism, when I began to
practice Falun Dafa, I judged it from all angles. I did not
practice it until I confirmed that it was truly good.
Of course, doing things like that had some advantages within
certain limits and levels. I had strong desires of lust, but I knew
the consequences of violating that, so I restrained myself and did
not make that mistake. When my husband had an affair, I thought of
revenge by spreading the news in our workplace, as we worked for
the same company, but I knew it would defame Dafa since I was known
for my firmness in Dafa within my company. So I forced myself to
let it go, but my cultivation was tiring.
The disadvantages of this mindset were obvious. When I was about
to do the meditation, my first thought was about pain from
double-crossing the legs, so how could it not be painful? When I
came back home late after doing Dafa work, I first thought of my
husband's questioning. How could he not ask, then? Before I started
to clarify the truth, I first thought about what to do if he did
not believe what I said. The result would be predictable there,
too. Since the opening of the celestial eye can cause demonic
interference from one's own mind and Master had seriously talked
about this, I have never envied practitioners with supernormal
abilities, but to the other extreme, I stayed away from supernormal
abilities all together. Thus I was not able to do well when sending
forth righteous thoughts. How could I use my supernormal abilities,
then?
Master said,
"It seems that people can never learn positive lessons from
history. Instead, they always learn from negative lessons for the
sake of their own self-interests." (The Buddha Fa and Buddhism,
Essentials for Further Advancement)
When I studied this part before, I did not understand it, but
now I know this is my problem. This mindset blocked me from
improving in my cultivation. I was not able to fully give up myself
to the fullest extent, and instead I always held back, and I was
not able to harmonize with the Fa totally. Although I had been
doing the three things, I had my own thoughts and would protect
myself instinctively. Before doing anything, my attachment to
pursuit had attracted demons. In my cultivation, I worried about
the outcome and did not know what to do. I measured cultivation
with my human notions, so I felt really tired.
This mindset actually comes from the golden mean. I don't have
ups or downs but stay undefeated. This strong sense of
self-protection blocked my cultivation after the persecution
started on July 20, 1999. Especially after many diligent
practitioners went against Dafa after their detention, I warned
myself to stay in the middle. I was thus relaxed and no longer
diligent. Master had benevolently reminded me in my dreams. Once I
went up to a level in the heavens, and two divine beings from a
higher level called me, "Go higher!"I said, "I dare not to."I was
afraid that I might fall down if I failed to go up. Later in
another dream, Master also reminded me that however much you give
is however much you get. Although I understood, I was not able to
break through.
Before doing any Fa rectification work, I first thought of the
possibility of being arrested and tortured. After I heard about the
cruel methods of torturing practitioners, I knew that I could not
bear it to a certain extent. I always measured how much I could do
with human notions, so I felt confused. Master said,
"The Fa can break all attachments, the Fa can destroy all evil,
the Fa can shatter all lies, and the Fa can strengthen righteous
thoughts."(Drive Out Interference, Essentials for Further
Advancement II )
Although I felt bitter and tired in my cultivation, I had the
heart to keep moving forward. Master saw it, and he gradually
opened up my wisdom through the Fa and broke the shell blocking me.
Later Master arranged for me to meet two practitioners who helped
me break through.
When I think about it now, it was all human notions. I was not
really in the Fa. A person's endurance has limits. If a
practitioner thought about cultivation with a human mindset, the
evil would persecute you harder, and you would reach your limit
eventually. You were actually trying to prove yourself instead of
validating the Fa.
I also found out that although I was honest and kind
superficially, I still tried to protect myself and suspected
others. I didn't practice Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance one
hundred percent.
I have felt that all these years I had made a cocoon to restrict
myself and all my acquired concepts, and I wrapped myself up in it
and walked around and around inside it. Now I have broken through
it and I am reborn.
In life, nothing sought,
In death, regretting naught;
Washing away all wrong thought,
Buddhahood, with less adversity, is wrought.
(Nothing Kept, Hong Yin)
I came to the realization that cultivation is actually simple,
and it should not be exhausting us, but we should just do as Master
said and believe what Master has taught. The Fa and Master are
here. I am a Fa particle and came to validate and harmonize the Fa,
not to validate myself. Without the Fa, I am nothing. I should give
up all of myself to the greatest extent, completely dissolve into
the Fa and return to my origins.
After I understood this, the first thought that came to me was
depression and regret. I felt that I had wasted so much time.
Later, I discovered that this depression and regret also arose from
the attachment of validating myself. I should be happy that I came
to see those things.
The above is my understanding. I hope that this can help fellow
practitioners with similar notions.
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- 6. Applying Righteous Thoughts to Everything We Do
(Minghui.org)
Just before the new year, I suddenly lost my
hearing. This was no small matter. How could a deaf person
communicate easily with others? How could a deaf practitioner talk
to people about Falun Gong? I understood that this was a form of
persecution by the old forces.
After calming down, I began thinking about the possible causes
of this phenomenon. Master has told us that we must not accept any
arrangement made by the old forces. I must have conformed to the
old forces without knowing it. Hence, I started to send righteous
thoughts frequently every day to remove the influence of the old
forces. Within about two weeks, shortly after the new year, my
hearing returned to normal.
On April 16, my bicycle collided with a large three-wheeled
vehicle carrying a load of beer. It happened so suddenly that while
falling over, only one thought came to mind, "I am all right." When
the driver of the other vehicle helped me up, I said to him, "I am
fine. You can go about your own business."
While sitting on the sidewalk, I began to look inward for the
cause for the accident. Surely, I must have overlooked something
and allowed the old forces to harm me. On the other hand, this was
an opportunity to about Falun Gong to the
driver. I could have told the driver that because I was a Falun
Gong practitioner, I would not ask him for any compensation. He
might be willing to withdraw from the CCP, also, from the
experience. At the very least, he would get the idea that Dafa
practitioners have a high moral standard. I regretted very much
that I had missed an opportunity.
After returning home, my spouse and other family members
insisted that I go to the hospital to be examined. A CT scan showed
a fracture in my spinal column. I was told that it would take two
to three months to recover. I recognized that this was an ordinary
person's thinking.
While lying in bed for 10 days, I finished reading , listened to the Guangzhou lectures twice, read all of
Master's articles at various conferences, and sent righteous
thoughts at other times. After six days, I could turn over by
myself. After 11 days, I was able to sit down, and after 18 days I
could walk around.
In less than a month, I could do all the exercises again. I
started with the sitting exercise. My legs were painful just
sitting in the half-lotus position. Then I thought to myself,
"Since it is going to be painful, I might as well do the full lotus
position." It turned out that when sitting in the full lotus
position, there was no pain. In the standing exercises I had some
concern about the fourth exercise because it required bending.
Then, I told myself not to have negative thoughts. I didn't
encounter any problems doing the exercises. All this has shown me
that the one's mindset really does determine everything.
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- 7. Changing Our Thinking and Rectifying Ourselves
(Minghui.org)
On December 25, the Clearwisdom website published an article entitled "Military Applicants in China Are Asked if They Practice Falun Gong" (http://www.clearwisdom.net/html/articles/2009/12/25/113345.html). When I read, "Several applicants have been asked if they practice Falun Gong, what they think about the practice, how they heard about it, if their neighbors practice, if they have relatives overseas, etc." I suddenly had the fear that the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) wicked means would scare away people and deprive them of the chance of being saved.
Then I read on, "Since the CCP came into power, it has relied on military force to maintain its rule. Now it is hard for the regime to recruit 'trusted' soldiers because more than half of the Chinese population have been persecuted by it. Even after a strict investigation of the applicant's political background, the CCP doesn't trust the recruited soldiers. As a Chinese saying goes, 'Harming others is just as bad as harming yourself. 'Take a life, repay with your own life; Borrow money, repay with your own money.' The CCP is very afraid of the day it will have to pay for all the crimes it has committed." Reading this, I knew I was wrong and my fear was unfounded. I had a wrong mentality. For a cultivator, our first thought after an incidence is critical. My first thought was negative and I was thinking like an ordinary person.
Everything that happens in the human world follows the principles of mutual generation and mutual inhibition. Everything has a kind side and an evil side. As a cultivator, we must choose the kind side. Because cultivators have energy, by choosing the kind side, we are strengthening this side and improving things. Master said,
"'Tathagata' is what human beings call someone who's come with the truth and the power to do what he wants, whereas real Buddhas are guardians of the cosmos and are responsible for all righteous elements in the cosmos." ("Teaching the Fa at the Western U.S. Fa Conference," Guiding the Voyage)
If our thoughts are not righteous, and our field is occupied by negative elements, how could we be responsible for the righteous elements?
On the other hand, ordinary people tend to look at things negatively. This is what ordinary people do to solve a problem. They first recognize it, analyze it, and finally try different solutions. There is nothing wrong with this approach for an ordinary person. But for a cultivator this is the wrong method. Master said,
"Human society never had true principles to guide it before, so man has not resolved his problems via shan. Instead, man has always resolved things through fighting and conquest, and that has thus become man's norm. If man wants to become divine and transcend the human state, then he must forsake that frame of mind and use compassion to resolve things. " (Fa Teaching at the 2009 Washington DC International Fa Conference)
Clearing our moods and changing our ways of thinking
How do we change our ways of thinking? Master said,
"Since human beings have sentimentality, being upset is sentimentality, so are happiness, love, hatred, enjoying doing one thing, resenting doing another thing, preferring one person to another, hobbies, and dislikes. Everything belongs to sentimentality, and everyday people just live for it. Then, as a practitioner and one who rises above and beyond, one should not use this approach to judge things, and one should break away from them." (Lecture Six, )
My current understanding is that emotions are manifested in my mind as different moods: anxiety, happiness, resentment, and so on. As a cultivator, our state should be peaceful and compassionate. Any strong mood is a deviation from the right state. We must clear them and change our ordinary human habits. We should also dig deep inside to find the roots of such moods and what attachments we still harbor. Gradually, we will reduce fluctuations in our moods and become closer to a divine state.
Another thing we should watch out for is having a negative attitude toward people and things that ordinary people tend to take. This is definitely not the mindset of a cultivator. One day, I encountered three or four people on separate occasions who were speaking negatively of another person. They used very harsh words. I thought this must not have been a coincidence; it was a reminder for me. Did I treat others unkindly? Then I remembered that the weather was cold a few days earlier, and I was angry at my husband for being careless with our child, forgetting to give him a hat or close the window. As a result, our child had a cold and a fever. I didn't say anything to my husband directly, but complained to a few people that he was not a good caretaker of our child. It is a serious matter for a cultivator to speak negatively of another person. Actually I could have taken a positive attitude and reminded my husband kindly. I think he would have accepted my suggestions and done better in the future. At the same time, it is also not a bad thing for my child to endure a little illness karma. One incident can be viewed from both a positive angle and a negative one. It's up to us which approach we choose to take.
Need to practice and strengthen the new way of thinking
In our daily lives, we don't doubt that water will come out if we turn the faucet, because we see it happen every day. But we don't think about or practice some principles every day, and our understanding is usually superficial. Because we don't often practice the principles, when we encounter a problem, we don't usually react appropriately. For example, we all know that everything that happens to a cultivator is a good thing, but when something seemingly negative happens, we forget the principle and try to solve the problem with a human mindset. If we develop a habit of thinking and analyzing the situation whenever something happens, we will change our human mentalities over time. We can ask ourselves why what happened was a good thing or how we could turn it into a good thing.
These are a few understandings of mine. Please kindly point out anything incorrect.
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- 8. Becoming Diligent
By a Falun Gong practitioner from China
(Minghui.org)
My work group had some difficulties in a science research project this year. The first difficulty was that a technology bottleneck could not be broken through. The second was that the conditions for the workers were not good (for example, ignoring schedules and delaying the project). The director of the group claimed that if we could not achieve our goal, our group would have to be terminated, our salaries would need to be returned and we would be laid off. Although I was not directly involved with the research, I was affected. If the group was terminated, I would be laid off.
From the perspective of the Fa, I understood that my environment was closely related to my cultivation. I studied the Fa, searched inward, and examined how I had performed the recently. I realized that I did not study the Fa very much (about one hour a day), and I often fell asleep while practicing the sitting meditation. I could not concentrate while sending forth righteous thoughts, and generally did it for fewer than 15 minutes. Fellow practitioners sent me their collected lists of telephone numbers and email addresses. I delayed in uploading them to the Minghui website for weeks. I was lazy and slothful. I needed to completely change myself in order to become diligent.
I made a plan for daily Fa study, exercise practice, sending forth righteous thoughts, and . I treated the plan as my prehistoric vow. If I could not complete it, I would be breaking my vow. When I was becoming lazy, I remembered that I am a Falun Dafa disciple and can never break my vow. Therefore, I tried whatever I could to overcome all kinds of difficulties and interference every day in order to follow through with my plan.
Merciful Master saw my wish to be diligent and created an environment for me to carry out my plan. Two weeks later, I was assigned to be in charge of the document library of our group and my desk was the only one in the library. Now I am able to send forth righteous thoughts with hand gestures. I brought my electronic book with me so that I can study the Fa at break time and I feel that I have made some progress in cultivation recently. My energy field is very strong while sending forth righteous thoughts and my attachment of fear is getting weaker and weaker. I don't sleep much, but still feel energetic every day. My co-workers told me that I looked very healthy. Some of them directly asked for truth-clarification materials from me and some of them even started to practice the exercises at home. The conditions for my work group have become much better now. A lot of difficulties have been resolved like miracles.
There is not much time left. Let's be diligent!
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