FALUN DAFA India Newsletter for October 2016

FALUN DAFA - INDIA
TRUTHFULNESS - COMPASSION - FORBEARANCE

Newsletter for October 2013

Click on the below-mentioned, numbered subjects:

Welcome

What’s Happening?

Maintaining a Divine State With Righteous Thoughts”

Remember to Cultivate Xinxing While Interacting with Friends

Letting Go of Self While Promoting Shen Yun

Raising One's Level by Discerning Between Truth and Illusion

Falun Gong Changed Me Inside and Out

Do Not Fall into the Old Forces’ Trap

1. Welcome: Welcome to the October 2016 Falun Dafa India Newsletter.

It is important for us to keep our righteous thoughts and clarify the truth to the world. In the context of Sending Forth Righteous Thoughts Master has mentioned many times the importance of sending forth righteous thoughts in his lectures and articles. Master says,
"Let me tell you, all those who remain and that can persecute Dafa and Dafa disciples are due to our students themselves. Students who haven't taken sending forth righteous thoughts seriously: the evil in the dimensions that you are supposed to shoulder and be responsible for has not been eliminated. That's the cause. So you must take sending forth righteous thoughts seriously. No matter whether you think you have the ability or not, you should do it."
( "Fa-Lecture at the Conference in Florida, U.S.A.")

There is a special request.
Please copy the text below and send the petition to as many people as possible.

Hi,

I saw a Documentary recently titled 'Human Harvest' where they show in China, you can get any organ you want in a week's time. This is because they extract organs from innocent people who practice Falun Gong, a peaceful exercise and meditation practice that is banned in China by the Communist government.

The sad thing is that a lot of affluent Indians travel to China to get a liver, or kidney transplant. They don't realize that somebody is killed, so that they can live!

I just signed this petition. I think this is important, because it affects us all in some way. I would be grateful if you can sign and also forward it to your contacts please.

http://chn.ge/1jFWwRV

(Your Name)

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?: Practitioner from Sarnath visited Arunachal Pradesh and has been introducing Dafa to many schools and has taught the exercises to women’s Helpline groups. She has also met some journalists and the ex-Chief Minister. She has informed them about the persecution and given them truth clarifying materials. Many articles have come in different local newspapers.

Practitioners from Delhi have been going to Rahgiri events on Sundays to distribute flyers and demonstrate the exercises. Practitioners from Delhi also distributed flyers at the railway station.

Practitioners from Hyderabad have been holding Banners at vantage points and giving out flyers and giving information about the persecution. Practitioners from Hyderabad distributed flyers at the National Health Care Senate.

Practitioners from Pune reached out to the throngs of people with thousand of flyers during the 10 days Ganesh Festival.

Practitioners from Mumbai also distributed flyers to the huge crowds at the popular Ganapati Pandals during the 10 days Ganesh Festival.

Practitioners in Mumbai also distributed Flyers at the huge crowds at the popular Mount Mary Fair in Bandra.

Practitioners from Bangalore visited De Paul International School in Kerala to introduce Dafa and teach the exercises to the students.

Practitioners from Bangalore were invited by Sri Sai Prashanthi School at Puttabarty to teach the exercises to the students. The foreigners who run the institution said they would try and integrate the exercises as part of the school routine.

Practitioners from Nagpur went to Amravati to distribute flyers at the Maratha Muk Morcha. They also got an opportunity to teach the exercises and meditation to some people and sell a few books.

Practitioners from Nagpur distributed flyers, sold Bengali Dafa Books and demonstrated the exercises at a All India Bengali Community program in Durganagar, West Bengal.

Practitioners from Pune distributed Flyers and had a stall for Display of Dafa Books at the National Teachers Conference in Pune. They also distributed flyers at Pune International Literary Festival.

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3. Maintaining a Divine State With Righteous Thoughts By a Dafa disciple from Yunnan Province

(PureInsight.org) Whenever I go on the Minghui website and read about how practitioners are following the diligently in all kinds of projects, I am very encouraged. Reading Minghui has allowed me to realize my inadequacies, for example; "Compare in studying, compare in cultivating" ("Solid Cultivation" from ), and correct myself in time. Currently, together with another practitioner, I am following Master's Fa-rectification and fulfilling my responsibility to save sentient beings. Here, I would like to share a few cultivation points with everyone.

1. The Fa must enter your heart when you study

Master has repeatedly asked us to "study the Fa well and abundantly--and do so frequently" ("To the First Fa Conference in India"). There is no doubt as to the importance of studying the Fa. It is the foundation and ensures that we will be able to do the three things well. Over the past few years, clearing my mind and studying the Fa has become one of my most important daily tasks.

Whenever I study the Fa I sit in an upright position. Normally I sit in full-lotus (sometimes when my legs get tired I will switch to half-lotus). Each time I read one or two lectures, and the result is very good. I constantly remind myself that as a cultivator I have to respect Master and the Fa at all times. Also I focus so that I don't get sleepy or lose my concentration. As a result I am able to truly calm and clear my mind and heart, and have the Fa enter while I study.

Master told us,

"If we look at the cultivation state of Dafa disciples as a whole, we find evidence from the path walked thus far that tells just how important Fa-study is. A human being is like a container. If he is filled with Fa, he will--this being the Fa of the cosmos--naturally have righteous thoughts and play a positive role. That's for sure."
"When you go to clarify the truth, only when your mind has stored up ample Fa will you be able to save people. That is when your words will have the power to move them." ("Fa Teaching at the 2009 Greater New York International Fa Conference")

2. Maintaining a divine state with righteous thoughts

Whenever I have the time, I read Minghui online every day and immerse myself in Dafa disciples' cultivation sharing. Throughout my cultivation I have benefited so much from this sharing. It has helped to overcome my laziness and numbness, so that I could continue to be diligent in resisting the persecution, saving sentient beings, and doing the three things well.

I remember there was a period of time when work became very busy and I did not treat sending righteous thoughts with importance. Even during the four set times for doing so every day, I could not do it well. Sometimes I would do it wrong and have to redo it, but I'd be very regretful afterwards because this is definitely not a state a practitioner should be in. Around this time, there was a series of articles published online by other practitioners discussing their experience in sending righteous thoughts. It inspired me deeply and also corrected my cultivation state.

Master has told us very clearly, "But that said, when Dafa disciples around the world send righteous thoughts together at the same time, the power is boundless." ("Fa Teaching at the 2007 New York Fa Conference") Recently, Master has told us again, "If every Dafa disciple could manage to treat sending righteous thoughts correctly, and routinely have strong righteous thoughts, then all evil spirits throughout the entire world could be quickly dissolved." ("Fa Teaching Given at the Epoch Times Meeting")

From Master's teachings, I have come to again realize that sending righteous thoughts is divine and powerful. In stopping the evil persecution, it can eliminate all evil factors directly at the source. Its effects are huge. The numerous examples online of retribution suffered by the persecutors are clear evidence.

In other words, in doing the three things well, sending righteous thoughts is one of the very important tasks that we cannot be lax about. It is definitely not something that we can just do or not do as we like. If we do not do it well, we'll delay the eliminating of evil beings with our righteous thoughts. This might bring about losses in our clarifying the truth to save sentient beings and in validating the Fa. Thus, one can see that Master wants us to cultivate our righteous thoughts and cultivate strong righteous thoughts. In assisting Master in Fa-Rectification, no matter where we are or the situation we are in, we have to use righteous thoughts in facing and solving any problems. We have to maintain our divine state steadfastly, and that is a core cultivation principle for us to follow.

3. Saving sentient beings is our responsibility

"And since this evil persecution has not yet ended, we have absolutely no reason to slack off." ("Fa Teaching Given in Manhattan") Due to my work commitments, I have to go to many different places and talk to people from many different social classes, some of whom are in leadership roles. No matter where I go, I always clarify the truth so that more people can be saved in this special moment in history.

Master told us,

"Saving sentient beings is first and foremost. Just try to save more and more people." ("Fa Teaching at the 2009 Greater New York International Fa Conference")

Everyone knows that the has won people's hearts. It has had a huge impact in exposing the evil nature of the Communist Party and helping people escape from its grasp. Therefore, over the past few years, I have been persistently talking about the Nine Commentaries. Once, when a company manager came to my house, I gave him a Nine Commentaries CD. When we met again, I told him about ancient prophecies and how he should save himself by withdrawing from the Party. His mind was very open and he knew a lot of information from within and outside China that is not generally known, so he agreed to quit the Communist Party.

Later I found out that while watching the Nine Commentaries at home, he found software to overcome the Internet blockade on the CD. He began actively reading websites from outside China and even gave the software to his friends and colleagues.

Whenever I travel, I always take a Shen Yun Performing Arts DVD with me as a "greeting gift" for customers. Sometimes there would be too many customers and I did not have enough copies, so some people did not receive one. From then on, every time I make Shen Yun DVDs, I make many back-up copies.

In reality, the back-up copies have had a significant impact on several occasions and fulfilled the wishes of sentient beings. I feel that we need to regard saving sentient beings as our own responsibility and consciously treat all sentient beings as our family members. We have to think from their perspective. We should treasure every occasion that we meet sentient beings and do everything wholeheartedly. Only then can we leave without regret and fulfill our prehistoric vows.

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4. Remember to Cultivate Xinxing While Interacting with Friends By a practitioner from China

(Minghui.org) A fellow practitioner came to visit me tonight. Since we have a good personal relationship, I have a lot of unnecessary chats with her. When she wanted to go home, I asked her to stay a little longer to talk more. We chatted about one practitioner's attachments, about how another practitioner clarifies the truth, about another practitioner's recent singing of Dafa songs at a wedding, and so on. After she left, I could feel clearly that my level had dropped. I realized after looking inward that I had not cultivated my xinxing.

I identified my weakness. I realized I often forget to cultivate xinxing when I am with people that I am friends with. When I am with everyday people or practitioners with whom I'm not particularly close, I can manage to keep my cultivation state steady and clearly remember that I must cultivate my xinxing; however, when I am with my best friends, close relatives, my father, husband, child, or everyday people who have lots of trust in me, I forget that I am a cultivator or find excuses from the Fa to cover up my attachments.

For example, I know we must cultivate speech; however when I am with my father, I tell a lot of jokes and say words belittling others to amuse him. Of course he laughs, but I do not maintain my xinxing.

A colleague of mine was divorced and lived in a difficult situation. I said some kind words to her to express my sympathy. She became friendly with me and often came to discuss some everyday people's topics such as how to find a good spouse, how to make money, and how to make life better. Out of my attachment to emotion—that is, if someone trusts me deeply I trusted her back in return—I talked a lot about everyday people's topics with her and even helped her find a job. It turned out that she quit the job after a week, and borrowed money from me to cover her cost of living. I realized later that I had been attached to self and emotion, and thought that since she trusted me so much I should pay her back. In fact, if the situation were measured with the Fa, it would be clear that this thought was completely from the standpoint of everyday people. As a cultivator, no matter how everyday people treat me or think of me, good or bad, my heart should remain unaffected. I should be kind to all people around me, and that is the compassion beyond ordinary people's standards. If one treats me well and I am good to him, but another one treats me badly and so I also treat him badly, that is not real compassion.

When I am with practitioners that I am friends with, I often forget to cultivate speech. I felt that if I did not tell them certain things it would show a lack of trust. As a result, everyone knew things that should not be spread. I used ordinary human standards of right or wrong to judge fellow practitioners' conflicts or be swayed by practitioners' human thoughts, rather than using the Fa to measure right or wrong. I realized that all this was caused by my attachment to self and being unable to rise above and beyond emotion.

Dafa disciples should not fall into this human relationship in everyday society. We should not be trapped in various human emotions; instead, we should treat everyone the same: responsibly and with rationality.

Only by letting go of the stubborn attachment to self, can our righteous thoughts be more powerful, can we rectify ourselves from every single thought, can we do the Three Things well and cultivate diligently on the Fa.

The above is my personal understanding. Please kindly point out anything inappropriate.

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5. Letting Go of Self While Promoting Shen Yun By a Falun Dafa practitioner in Canada

(Minghui.org) Greetings Master, Greetings fellow practitioners,

I am originally of West African heritage, born in France, and I now live in Canada. I am positive that my life was arranged to practice Dafa.

In the summer of 2005 I was reading a book about finding the Truth and searching for your spiritual Master. I was Muslim at that time but was not practicing Islam much because I felt that the religion had too many contradictions.

Therefore I decided to hold on to the book about the Truth, and after I finished it – it was quite late, around 1:00 or 2:00 a.m. – I fell asleep and had a dream. Today I don’t remember the images of the dream but at that time I was writing all my dreams in a journal and on August 5th, 2005, I wrote it all in detail. I wrote that a young and enthusiastic “instructor” was demonstrating Truth to me. He was always smiling and he asked me to listen to a sound that resonated like “ING.” He told me that I had to find that sound in me but in the dream it sounded more like a “GONG.” At that time I had no idea what that sound was, but I can tell you today that this sound was the first notes you hear when you do the fifth exercise.

In 2007 my mom, who was already a practitioner, insisted that I read Zhuan Falun and do the exercises with her. When I decided to practice Dafa, I made the connection with that dream and I knew that Master had already contacted me two years before. I am so fortunate! In such a difficult world, without the support of my mom and this dream, I would have never practiced Dafa. Thank you Master!

Letting Go of Self While Promoting Shen Yun

In 2009 the main coordinator asked me to join the Shen Yun team. I had no idea what it involved, but I was just happy to participate in such an event. I was relatively new in my cultivation so I did not know the relationship between my cultivation and promoting Shen Yun. I was doing things just to do them because I liked to do them and I had prior experience in this area. But Master showed me with compassion how to be a better person while promoting Shen Yun.

First Lesson: Being humble

The main coordinator assigned me to find sponsors for the VIP reception, so I got a few prospects and we went to visit an Iranian lady who makes delicious middle-eastern cookies. After talking to her and telling her about the show, she gladly agreed to participate and provide free food for 200 people. I was happy!

During this time I also secured a printing shop that does high-end invitation packages. I managed to have them print 450 personalized invitations for free in exchange for ads in the program guide. I was happy and proud!

I also made sure we had a professional PR firm giving us their top VIP list to invite, and asked them to handle all the guests before, during and after the show, securing good interviews for our media. I was on the top of my game and even more notably, this was my first time doing this.

For the food, I also secured at cost price, a good catering service for one of the best restaurants in Montreal to serve at the VIP reception.

With all these positive results I told my coordinator that we did really well. He looked at me very seriously and told me firmly: “Remember this: when it’s all good, it’s Master; when it’s bad, it’s you!”

Hearing these words, I wanted to disappear because I was so embarrassed. Later, while looking inside, I enlightened that all I did was not about me, but about saving people and giving them the opportunity to participate in this Fa-rectification period. I also realized that I had the attachments of showing off and elation, which are attachments we should eliminate and avoid.

Second Lesson: Cooperate with each other unconditionally

For the 2013 Shen Yun show, we had to complete the Level 1 training at the end of the summer of 2012. I was not part of the coordinating team because I was in Toronto at that time working for a media project. When I returned, the main coordinator asked me to quickly coordinate the training for practitioners along with another Chinese practitioner. We had to do it quickly because we had standards that needed to be met and no one could go sell tickets in the mall without having had the training.

We had booths in malls starting in mid-October and started the training in August. We had 13,000 tickets to sell and the pressure was high.

When I first read Level 1, I thought that the text didn’t make sense so I changed it by adding a few things. Then I tried to memorize it a bit before presenting it to everyone at Fa study. Although I was confident, everyone criticized me, saying that my heart was not there.

I couldn’t understand why they said that my heart was not there. I replied to my colleague on the team, “I rewrote the text to make sure it's professional and you are telling me what?”

She told me to just focus on the training, as during the upcoming week the elderly mamas (as we affectionately call them) would take the Level 1 test. On Saturday, four women passed the test; two Westerners and two Chinese ladies who barely speak English.

One after another they recited the text (Level 1) verbatim, and despite being shy and scared, they tried their best to smile and to look at everyone. We, the young ones judging them, were all in tears; we could feel their compassion while talking to us, we could feel that they were humble and we could feel they really wanted to cooperate at any cost to participate in the Shen Yun promotion.

We asked them how they could do such a good job. One of them replied, “Well, I saw that the young ones tried to put fancy words in the text, which we couldn’t; we’ve been told to simply memorize the text and everything will be okay and that’s what we did.”

I deeply enlightened that day; I realized that I was selfish and I did not want to follow Shen Yun instructions to simply follow the material they gave us. I also realized that again I wanted to show how good and capable I was, which can put others down and make them doubt their desire to participate in promoting Shen Yun if they see the coordinator behaving that way. I also enlightened that as a coordinator I should set a good example to others, because they only know what we tell them and any bad behavior on my part could lead to confusion.

Master said:

“If you don’t cooperate well, you won’t be able to effectively carry out what Dafa disciples are supposed to do. Here’s what often happens. When certain initiatives need everyone to act together, the first thing people do is to argue on and on, with each person sticking to his or her own opinion, and the end result is that things go unresolved and, as a consequence, Dafa disciples are not able to accomplish many things or even do a poor job of them.” (“Be More Diligent”)

Once again, I realized that my involvement was not about me, but about helping practitioners to pass the test successfully and move on the next step. At that moment I made a promise to Master, to fully cooperate with everyone and to be available whenever they might need me.

The training process was not easy. The Chinese practitioner and I had to do the training every weekend for three months without fail and organize the exam during the week. We could see that this really motivated everyone to participate, especially moms who could not come during the weekends, or busy practitioners with ordinary jobs.

During the ticket-selling period from Mid-October to mid-January, we also had experience sharings after coming back from the malls to encourage and learn from each other. All this was very tiring but at the same time very sacred.

When we sold 12,096 tickets we were so surprised. But we realized that helping each other during the training, then sharing with each other, resolving conflicts with each other in a kind way, then putting ourselves out in the malls for three months was truly cooperating with each other to form one body!

Without everyone’s dedication and cooperation we wouldn’t have been able to sell all the tickets. It is only because we cooperated well that the miracle happened.

Master told us:

“As you realize, with the many projects that Dafa disciples have initiated in order to counteract the persecution, clarify the truth, and save sentient beings, what is most important is that Dafa disciples cooperate together well, and that only when people work together well will things go well.” (“Dafa Disciples Must Study the Fa - Fa Teaching Given at the 2011 Washington DC Metro Area Fa Conference”)

Third Lesson: Eliminate fear when approaching sponsors

The following two stories made me clearly recognize and overcome the attachment of fear when it comes up during Fa-validating work.

We were instructed to be careful with expenses when doing Shen Yun promotion, so the main coordinator insisted that we look for sponsors who could provide things for free, especially food.

I was assigned to procure a free restaurant for Shen Yun so that they could have a nice brunch before heading to Quebec City.

There is a restaurant chain in Quebec that does healthy brunches and lunches with very good food. In my network of business friends I happened to meet a woman who is a friend of the founder of this food chain. I met her at a private event and during her speech she kept praising the founder of this restaurant chain. So I went up to her and explained what I needed. She told me to email her and she would connect me with the founder.

I emailed her that same night and waited for her reply for a week. When she didn’t return my calls and emails, I became fearful. I wondered if I should call her again or call the founder directly. When I called her I didn’t get a response and I didn’t get her private number either. My fear was increasing as my coordinator was putting pressure on me to find a place, as Shen Yun was coming the following week.

So I decided to forget about them and call the franchise owners directly, but I wasn’t sure which one to call since there were so many. I remember holding my phone and saying to myself, “If you don’t try you will never know if someone is there waiting to help Shen Yun. Think about it, Master said that everything is created for Dafa; are you not going to give them the chance to participate?” I also told myself the worst that could happen is that they say no; so why was I so afraid?

I went on and on and on repeating these sentences inside my head, asking Master to give me strength to overcome this. I checked the phone directory and found the closest restaurant to where the Shen Yun Team was staying. When I called, a man told me that the owner was too busy to talk to me then, but I could leave my information and he would call me back. After two days of waiting he did not call back. I was determined. I called again and spoke to the same gentleman that I got the first time. He said: “Oh, Tony did not call you? Wait a minute.” I then heard him saying something about getting back to me quickly and then he told me to come at 2:30 to meet with the boss.

I did not have any excitement or fear. Instead I prepared my video and sponsor package and sent forth righteous thoughts for a good meeting.

When I met with the boss, he had a huge smile on his face and apologized for not returning my phone call. When he said that he was so busy, I replied that it wasn’t a problem.

He offered me a beverage, and watched the 30-second promo video carefully. Right after, he looked at me with a big smile and said, “Oh this is a lovely show. I saw this on TV. How lovely. Tell me how I can help.” At this point I had not said anything. I just showed him the video. I said, “Well the team needs to have brunch before going to Quebec City and they need a lot of food, including a lot of fruit.”

He said, “No problem, I can do that.” I thought next that he was going to ask for money, so I should quickly ask him if he wanted an ad and tickets. As I handed him the program guide, he said yes to the ad, giving me the name of the graphic artist to contact. He also asked for 2 pairs of tickets so he could do a raffle with his staff, saying that he wanted them to have a good time since they worked hard.

I just calmly said “No problem,” but in my mind I was speechless! I'd just showed him the video and hadn't said anything! Shen Yun is so powerful! This man was just waiting for this moment to happen, to do what he was supposed to do in this Fa-rectification period. I then realized that the demons had taken advantage of my lack of faith in Master to reinforce my fear and try to force me to abandon my quest.

Master said:

“It’s not that if you have fear you are no good. It’s about overcoming your fears and trying to do the three things well with stronger righteous thoughts, and that is outstanding. (Applause) To put it in perspective, no matter how afraid you may be, if when faced with the responsibility of saving sentient beings you feel compelled to take action, to go save people, then that is remarkable.” (“Fa Teaching at the 2013 Greater New York Fa Conference”)

When Shen Yun arrived at the restaurant, he had prepared a special buffet for them full of healthy fruits and on the other side was a nice continental buffet brunch with as much coffee and juice as anyone wanted.

The next story happened last year: I went with another practitioner to visit a woman who has a boutique next to a fancy hotel and she gives a lot of donations to the arts.
The first time we went, she was busy with clients and asked us to come back the next day, which we did. My colleague recited the level 1 very slowly while I was sending forth righteous thoughts. At the end, she said that she saw Shen Yun in 2008 and she liked it and would think about whether she could donate or not because her budget for donations was tight this year. She told us that she would let us know. Before we left she said, "Oh I think this show will be great for my Chinese friends. I have a lot of business friends at the Chinese consulate, I am sure they will love it! I will tell them about it. Give me a couple of flyers so I can have the information with me.”

We thanked her and she told us she would call us in regards to giving a donation or not. When the practitioner and I went out, we felt that something was not right; we sat down not far from the boutique and discussed the situation: "She is friends with the consulate; of course they will tell her that the show is not good!” My colleague said she should have clarified the truth to her right away but we missed the chance.We knew we'd gotten scared, and we knew we were afraid to say something. We felt helpless and sorry that we'd missed the opportunity to give her the chance to position herself well. We decided to wait until she called us, and then we would clarify the truth to her.

When I went home, I felt uneasy as if I had a hole in my heart. I said to myself, “Today you were afraid to clarify the truth? After all that Master showed you, after all the experiences you had?” I answered myself, “But this one was different, I never had a potential sponsor who was a friend of the Chinese Consulate.” I let that thought go and waited for the woman's call. She never called!

Fear came to me again and I could see a movie playing in my head, picturing the lady being poisoned by the evil. I didn’t know what to do. I called my colleague and we decided to go clarify the truth to her at her store.

Then I said, “Master, at the end of the day it’s not about the sponsor. It’s about saving sentient beings! I don’t care if she says no to the money but she needs to hear the truth.”

Master said:

“Just speaking about things in terms of cultivation, you should truly have no fear in your mind, be confident and aboveboard, do what you should do, continue on the path to divinity in a noble and dignified manner, and not be afraid.” (“Fa Teaching at the 2013 Greater New York Fa Conference”)

Monday morning at 10:00 a.m. sharp I was at the boutique with my colleague, determined to give her a chance to position herself well. She welcomed us with a smile and apologized, saying that she was busy and did not have time to call us. She then said that she decided to not give us money but to donate merchandise if we wanted to do a raffle. I looked at my colleague briefly and she started the conversation. We clarified the truth to her, starting with the persecution, to what the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is doing to stop Shen Yun from performing in cities, to how this show is bringing good to society. We laid it all out there fully and deeply.

The woman smiled at us and said calmly, “I know the whole story. Believe me I know. I am a businesswoman and the consulate cannot dictate where I give my money or who I should do business with. I know these people. They have their own way of handling things, but believe me, I will go see the show with my good Chinese friend because I am aware and very clear about all this. You ladies do not need to worry, but thank you for caring about me.” Then she added, “Let me also tell you that in 25 years of dealing with people, I never met two charming ladies like you. You are so professional; you really touched my heart. You were respectful, not calling me all the time for money. When you came the first time, I had customers, so you left quietly without disturbing me. I was impressed. I can tell that you do this with your heart.”

My colleague and I knew that not only did we clarify the truth to her but we also validated Dafa by showing the kindness and consideration of Dafa practitioners. She gave us a fur article for our raffle.

Along my cultivation journey, when I am engaged in projects, Master gives me the opportunity to clarify the truth. Therefore I should not see it as a challenge, mixing fear and discouragement, but on the contrary, I should cherish any opportunity that comes to me.

This is my limited understanding of the Buddha Fa through my cultivation journey.

I still have a lot of attachments I have to let go. Remembering people I’ve met during my cultivation experiences helps me to go forward one step at the time.

Please point out anything inappropriate.

Thank you fellow practitioners, thank you Benevolent Master!

(Presented at the 2015 Canada Falun Dafa Cultivation Experience Sharing Conference)

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6. Raising One's Level by Discerning Between Truth and Illusion By a Falun Gong practitioner from China

(PureInsight.org) The truth mentioned in this article is the truth of life. Master has mentioned the truth of life in Zhuan Falun,

"In other words, a person's earliest life comes from the universe. The space of the universe is benevolent to begin with and embodies the characteristic of Zhen-Shan-Ren. At birth, one is assimilated to the characteristic of the universe."

Therefore, bad behavior from many lives isn't part of one's nature. Our indecent thoughts or conduct also isn't part of our origin, the true us. I think that indecent thoughts either come from the selfish notions acquired during our lives, or are put into our minds by other beings.

In Zhuan Falun, Master tells us, "Your main consciousness should predominate." Master also told us in The Great Consummation Way of Falun Dafa,

"Falun Dafa cultivates a person's main consciousness. Cultivators have to consciously cultivate their minds, abandon all of their attachments, and improve their character."

Therefore, we should control our thoughts during our daily lives, reject interference from the outside, and not acquire human notions and habits. We should let our "true selves" judge or determine everything we encounter.

After I understood the meaning of the Fa I just mentioned, I tried to carry it out during my daily life. I have found it is very effective in elevating myself. Therefore, I want to share my experiences with fellow practitioners.

Interacting with Everyday People

In the past, when I heard everyday people defame Falun Gong, I would definitely argue with them, and sometimes start to resent them, or refuse to clarify the truth to them. I am now clear that their thoughts are not from their true nature. It is because their notions, acquired from the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) propaganda, control their mouths and behavior. I am no longer confused by the words of everyday people. When they refuse to resign from the CCP and it's affiliated organizations, I understand that these thoughts are not coming from their true nature. It is because the old forces control their mouths and bodies. The purpose of the old forces is to let Falun Dafa disciples become upset about these people and eliminate the chance for them to be saved.

Whenever I have the thought of disliking someone, I remember that this thought isn't from myself or my true nature. My nature would never have this kind of idea. This is the exact material which opposes the characteristic of the universe and needs to be eliminated. It is exactly the place where the old forces could take advantage. It is just a reflection of my human notions, not my true main consciousness. At this moment, I send forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the notions, clear the elements behind the everyday person which controls him or her, and eliminate the notion of the person, which replaces his or her true nature.

Gradually, I can truly be responsible for a life, for the true nature of a life, not just change what shows on the surface or the false images. I can't help but forgive him or her. I remember that Master mentioned,

"In fact, the entire Fa-rectification has been done in this most lenient, most merciful manner. The mistakes that beings made in history are not counted against them. No matter how large of a crime you committed or mistake you made in history, none of it is held against you: Only your attitude towards Fa-rectification today and your understanding of Dafa matter. That's the only thing that counts."("Teaching the Fa in Canada, 2006")

As we clarify the truth to save sentient beings, we should look only at the good side of people. We should do our best to save them, instead of being affected by the false images. This is truly considering others, and having compassionate and tolerant behavior, and merciful behavior from a Falun Dafa cultivator. After I understand the true nature of the person, I feel that my capacity also increases.

Interacting with Fellow Practitioners

When I meet wordy or verbose older practitioners, I no longer feel resentment or feel like I need to escape. I understand that their character was not from their true nature. Instead of being from the real me, the resentment was a reflection from my notions. I now use the opportunity to find the attachment which makes me resent them and let it go. I then kindly reminded the fellow practitioners that the windy material was trying to replace their main consciousness and taking advantage of them. I find that I am very rational and no longer feel upset or angry.

When I see the impatience of some young fellow practitioners, I never complain or criticize them. I don't want the "false me" to have the chance to control me. Instead, I take the chance to search for the attachment or notion which formed the "false me." The process of rejecting it is the process of elevating myself and refusing self-indulgence. At the same time, I will advise the fellow practitioner to eliminate the attachment behind the "impatience." I also send forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the element behind his or her indecent behavior.

After I understood the truth of life, I clearly realized that the difference between Falun Gong and all the other methods is our cultivating the main consciousness. I now see clearly the intentions of the old forces. They want to divide practitioners, in order to prevent us to forming a whole body. The method that they use is to strengthen the ideas of the "false me," and let us focus on the shortcomings and attachments of our fellow practitioners, such that we dislike our fellow practitioners, the "fake fellow practitioners." I will never be fooled by the old forces again! Actually, the old forces should not exist. Every Falun Gong practitioner should follow the Fa in Zhuan Falun to cultivate themselves. The nature of our lives is Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. Whenever a contradiction happens, we should really consider it based on our true nature. The old forces want to control us and make us follow their arrangements. We then just take the chance to eliminate them! We should only look at the good side of our fellow practitioners, since that is their true nature. After my mind changed, I found that I could truly tolerate the shortcomings of my fellow practitioners. We are forming a whole body and nothing could come between us. We are elevating as a whole body.

Facing Ourselves

When we quiet down or are alone, many concepts from the "false me" come out to communicate with our brains. The "false me" makes up many stories and plays the main role in the stories. At this moment, our main consciousness should tell the "false me" that all of the stories that pursue fame, profit, lust, or sense of achievement are just short-term and empty. Instead of putting others first, they are all selfish or self-interested. We should then strengthen our main consciousness and force the "false me" to learn the related Fa together. If we can monitor the concepts from the "false me" closely and analyze how the "false me" is formed, the "false me" will be completely eliminated.

The "false me" may introduce various past images into our brains, such as sad or joyful memories. The images could include the stories from childhood, from school, about your first love, or about failing a school entrance exam. At this moment, your main consciousness, your true nature, should tell the "false me" not to indulge in the past. Master has mentioned in "Discarding Attachments" from Hong Yin II.

"What's given up is not oneself
But instead the folly of delusion"

The "false me" always surfaces silently. Therefore, my main consciousness or my true nature should rectify the bad things that the "false me" did before. For example, the true me should talk to the lives that the "false me" killed before. Lives such as small birds, flowers, ants, grass, etc. The true me should tell them, "Falun Dafa is good."

After we realize the true nature of lives, we can easily tell the difference between "the true nature of ourself" and "the acquired notions," and our main consciousness and then be strengthened easily. When we are alone, we also are cultivating. We should allow the true nature of ourselves to constantly rectify the acquired notions and prevent the "false me" from taking advantage of loopholes. The intention of the old forces is to allow everyday people see the fake images of us, such that they are not willing to agree with Falun Dafa and lose the chance to be saved. The false images include speaking foul words, untidy appearance, or calculating small gains. Because they are the trash of the universe and they are right by our sides, we have to eliminate them one by one. Teacher says, "...he is full of great aspirations while minding minor details." ("Sage" from Essentials for Further Advancement) In such a way, we will reduce the chance for the old forces to create barriers between us and everyday people.

Encountering Bad Things in Society

Falun Dafa disciples do not care about the everyday people's business. If we see something happen, it should relate with our xinxing. During the Fa rectification period, I feel that all of the bad things are created by the old forces. For example, the moral quality of everyday people deteriorates and common people are prevented from having a true understanding about Falun Dafa. We have to actively rectify this situation. Everyday people are lost in the everyday people's realm and they don't understand their own true nature. I often see singing or dancing shows in the streets, which are dirty or lewd. Some practitioners refuse to look at or listen to them. This is very good behavior. If I see this happen, I first search inward to find the problem of my own xinxing, and then reject the influence of the old forces, since they are trying to plant seeds for the next interference. At this moment, the intentions of the old forces are to harm everyday people and Falun Dafa disciples. I will send forth righteous to eliminate the evil elements behind this.

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7. Falun Gong Changed Me Inside and Out By a practitioner from China

(Minghui.org) I began practicing Falun Gong in 1998, when I was 69 years old, and benefited greatly. I suffered from many illnesses before I began practicing, including high blood pressure, angina, nervous headache, cervical spondylosis, lumbar spine bone hyperplasia, arthritis, and atherosclerosis. However, after I practiced Falun Gong , all my illnesses disappeared. My way of thinking also changed greatly and my improved.

Dafa Melted Away 20 Years of Deep Hatred

In 1980, I found out that my husband had been having an affair with Ms. A who lived in the same building as we did. It was so painful to learn this, and I couldn't forgive him for many years. What made it worse was that I saw Ms. A almost every day. Although my husband had already corrected his mistake, I still held a strong feeling of hatred. The thought of revenge permeated my mind.

After I began practicing Falun Gong, I studied Teacher's lecture "Teaching the Fa at the Eastern U.S. Fa Conference," where Master said,

"People are saying nowadays that women are becoming more and more liberal and their personalities are getting stronger. In fact, you aren't being driven by your kind (Shan) side. I don't think strength is necessarily reflected in a person's outward expression. If in your daily life you're like a gentle, true woman, your competence will let you have everything you deserve all the same. You don't necessarily have to express yourself in tough and manly ways to obtain those things. Do you understand what I'm getting at? (Applause) In other words, if you're a woman, you must act like one, and be kind and gentle. Only then can you gain respect and love from men. If you aren't kind and gentle, men will be afraid of you when they see you, (laughter) and you won't be able to have the love or even the family affection that you're supposed to have."

For the first time in my life, I began to look inward. In the past, I had always thought that my husband hadn't treated me fairly, but now I began wondering whether there was something wrong with my behavior. I soon realized that I was too ambitious, like a man. I paid too much attention to my work, and even went to work on Sundays and holidays while I neglected my husband and child. My husband did the washing, cooking, and the other housework. I was impetuous, careless, and lacking in generosity. I didn't take good care of him. I wasn't kind and gentle. My husband had said, "You don't act like a woman." The more I looked inside myself, the more I felt unworthy of him. I was responsible for his wrongdoings. I apologized to him sincerely and began treating him nicely. My husband was very much moved and thanked Dafa for changing me to be a better woman. He now practices Falun Gong too. I was also able to forgive Ms. A from the bottom of my heart. I talked with her, and she was very touched and said, "You Falun Gong practitioners are so nice." Since then we have gotten along well with each other. I later clarified the truth of Falun Gong to her, and she quit the Chinese Communist Party.

It is benevolent Teacher who helped me resolve the 20 years of hatred.

Getting Over Being Cheated Out of All My Money

On May 25, 2010, I was cheated of 63,000 yuan by a fraud gang. This was my life savings, and after the deception, my mind was numb. I then thought to myself, there are no accidents in a practitioner's path, nothing happens accidentally. So I looked inside and found that I was cheated of all the money I had saved because I valued money too much, and I was always afraid that I would lose it. A little loss would always lead me to great pain. It was the evil old forces who had taken advantage of my loophole of being attached to money, and created this tribulation for me, attempting to pull me down and destroy my opportunity to cultivate. Teacher said,

"...no matter how rich you are or how high your rank is, it only lasts for a few dozen years, it can't be brought with you at birth, and it can't be taken along at death." (Zhuan Falun)

Money is a worldly possession. What is yours is yours. If it is not yours, you cannot get it, no matter how hard you compete for it. No loss, no gain. What I lost was an attachment, what I gained was the uplifting of my xinxing. What Teacher taught us rang in my ears. My mind opened up and became bright, while my utmost pain from the loss of the money disappeared.

The following morning when I told my son of my realization about being attached to money, he was surprised and said, "I didn't imagine that you were so wonderful. I couldn't fall asleep last night and worried about you. I was afraid that as a nearly 80-year-old lady you might not endure this unexpected disaster. Dafa is really awesome. If you didn't practice Falun Gong, you couldn't have treated it so calmly and peacefully."

Teacher said at "Teaching the Fa at the Conference in the Midwest-U.S.,"

"In this society of practical interests and amid the emotions of the human world, it's not enough to just talk about letting go of attachments and dealing with conflicts in a way that's different from ordinary people. They have to put it into practice, and that is hard. Staying unaffected with these practical interests before them, dealing with all of it with a smile when faced with anger and hatred, and checking for one's own faults in the middle of conflicts--these are things ordinary people can't do. "

Teacher's words ring in my ears like a bell. I'm ashamed of myself that I have just now learned how to cultivate myself. I am also grateful that I finally found the golden key to open the door of cultivation.

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8. Do Not Fall into the Old Forces’ Trap By a Dafa disciple from mainland China

(Minghui.org) My cultivation state hadn’t been that great the past few months. A recent xinxing test, which I failed to pass, finally triggered me to look within to identify my problems.

I found that I had not been strict with my own cultivation, and that I had fallen into the old forces’ trap.

Because I failed to follow the Fa’s standards for every single thought of mine, I missed a lot of opportunities to improve my cultivation and accumulated a lot of karma as a result.

The old forces then exploited my loopholes and suppressed my main consciousness. I could not study the Fa with a calm and clear mind. I often forgot I was a Falun Dafa practitioner. Meanwhile, the old forces kept strengthening my attachments and weakening my righteous thoughts.

When I was attached to lust, the old forces kept playing those scenes in my mind, making me long for those lustful moments.

When I harbored a strong competitive mentality, the old forces arranged different tests to temper me. I would often fly off the handle at the most trivial things at home or work. Adding the influence of the Communist Party culture, I caused some damage to Dafa.

When I became afraid of being arrested for my belief, the old forces played up my fear and let me imagine all kinds of circumstances in which I’d get arrested.

What was worst was that the old forces severely interfered with my Fa-study. Before the persecution began, I often joined group Fa-study and was diligent in reading Dafa books. After the persecution started, however, I slacked off in studying the Fa and loosened my guard against the old forces.

Without solid Fa-study, I had trouble summoning my righteous thoughts, as they came from Dafa. Without righteous thoughts, I wasn’t able to pass the tests. My inability to remove my attachments was then taken advantage of by the old forces. This was truly a vicious cycle.

After I realized my issue, I intensified my sending forth righteous thoughts and required myself to stay clear-minded during the process.

In the meantime, to address the issue of not being able to study the Fa with a calm mind, I started memorizing the Fa word by word so as to stay focused and improve the quality of my Fa-study.

After several days of adjustments, I found myself much more clear-minded.

I hope my sharing will awaken practitioners who've encountered similar issues, and caution them not to fall into the old forces’ trap. We should strengthen our righteous thoughts, eliminate all possible loopholes in our cultivation, and truly walk the path arranged by Master.

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