By a practitioner from Ohio, USA

(Clearwisdom.net) I would like to share my humble experiences of cultivation with you.

A year ago, a non-practitioner who is working in a local Chinese school called me three times to encourage me to allow my son to attend her class. I was not interested at first because my son was already attending the local Minghui School. On second thought, she did call me three times after I had clarified the facts about Falun Gong to her. Regardless of her intention, I thought it was probably a sign that I should take my son to her school. Thus, my son started to attend both schools.

Once there, I met non-practitioner friends that I had met in the area over the past ten years but had lost contact with for a long time. Almost all of my Chinese friends from Columbus send their children to this Chinese school. It was like a big reunion with my Chinese non-practitioner friends. I began to work with another practitioner to clarify the facts about Falun Gong at this Chinese school. When our children were in classes, the parents would sit around and read newspapers, books or chitchat, thus we donated videos and printed publications from NTDTV to the library.

One day, I overheard that an employee at this school picked up a photo album of NTDTV's Chinese New Year Spectacular and asked why there was a publication from NTDTV. Another staff member said that this was pretty normal. A fellow practitioner's non-practitioner husband borrowed a magazine that we had donated to the library. We also encouraged Chinese teachers to compete in the NTDTV's International Chinese Classical Dance Competition. The Chinese school hires its faculty members from among the overseas Chinese people and some Chinese teachers have a background in classical Chinese dance. They just happened to teach Chinese as a part-time job. Although they didn't compete in the dance competition, we had at least taken the opportunity to clarify the facts to them. One of the Chinese teachers had graduated from a professional dance school in China. When I talked to her about classical Chinese dance, I had the feeling that she was enthusiastic about classical Chinese dance, but that she felt helpless and pained to see that the art of classical Chinese dance has increasingly degenerated in modern times. I could tell that she was excited that NTDTV was hosting such a traditional dance competition.

Later, we noticed that people delivered Chinese newspapers to the Chinese school, so we started to deliver the Chinese Epoch Times newspaper as well. The Chinese school is indeed a good place to clarify the facts about Falun Gong on a regular basis.

In the past I didn't realize that I had a strong attachment to fear. Last year while watching some people distribute advertisements in the streets, I was inspired to distribute truth-clarification materials at the Chinese school. There are 400 students at this school. Combined with their parents, there are about 1,000 people going to this Chinese school. Many of them do not practice Falun Gong. Some of them do not shop at Chinese supermarkets, so they won't see the Chinese Epoch Times newspapers. We printed a lot of fliers to encourage Chinese people to withdraw from the CCP and its two affiliated organizations and distributed them on the last day of the semester. A Taiwanese practitioner and I decided to put a flier behind the windshield wiper of the cars in the two parking lots of the school. It was that day when I realized that I was very nervous. I had hoped that every parent would have entered the building by the time we started distributing the fliers. When someone came to check what we were putting behind his windshield wiper, I did not dare to speak at all for fear of facing the embarrassment of a potential conflict. Besides, how could I take my son to school if I argued with other parents? It appeared that all my ordinary thinking surfaced. The Taiwanese practitioner came to me when she finished distributing the fliers in one of the two parking lots. Because I failed to secure the fliers behind the windshield wipers, many of them had already blown away. I decided that I should check each car and start over. When she came to me, I let out a sigh of relief. I suggested that I drive and send forth righteous thoughts while she distributed the fliers. She is from Taiwan so she does not have so many notions and concerns. She confidently and gracefully distributed the fliers to all the parents outside the building and told them the flier would bring them good luck. Every parent that accepted the flier thanked her politely. We observed the parents for a while. Those parents that came out later were reading our fliers with a positive facial expression. Later, I entered the building to join the end-of-term party. It was my attachments that had caused my fear. Those people that performed at the party looked at us twice because they now knew that we practice Falun Gong, but it really was nothing. It was that we didn't clarify the facts about Falun Gong enough. Now, I was afraid of clarifying the facts for fear of affecting my own personal interests. It was just like calling people in China. If I did not do it for a long time, I would become nervous and afraid when I picked up the phone again.

I still have fear when I take my son to the Chinese school and deliver the Epoch Times newspaper at the same time, but I am able to encourage myself and control my attachments. Actually the parents enjoy reading our newspapers.

Next, I would like to share a story about my son. In the past, my son often told his friends about Falun Gong. Later, one of his friends whose parents don't believe in gods, said that he doesn't believe in God and never goes to church, etc. I explained to my son that we believe in the existence of divine beings and that we are following the best cultivation practice in the universe - Falun Gong, but my son continued to feel peer pressure. One day his teacher asked everyone in the class to talk about his/her hobby for a few minutes. My son wanted to talk about Falun Gong, but he was so worried that his friend might misunderstand him that he started crying at home. My husband and I repeatedly encouraged him, but he was still a little afraid. Eventually, he decided that he is a young Falun Gong practitioner and he should do what he is supposed to do. The next day after school, he jumped up and gave me a big hug. He had demonstrated the Falun Gong exercises in class and showed the class a photo album of Falun Gong practitioners doing the exercises. That friend even asked my son to talk more about Falun Gong. The entire class and his teacher were very pleased with his show-and-tell. Teacher is always watching over every practitioner as long as he/she strives to overcome their fear.

After several practitioners moved here from other areas, I identified some of my attachments.

I always knew that I don't exercise tolerance of others well. After these practitioners moved to our area, I encountered many opportunities to cultivate my tolerance because we were not familiar with each other and we had different work styles. After a few conflicts, I was able to identify many of my attachments.

I used to believe that I was very competitive, but not jealous. Later, I realized I was wrong. Some attachments can easily be concealed. There were many reasons and misunderstandings caused by my hidden jealousy that intensified the conflicts between these practitioners and me. Actually, I have seen that fellow practitioners have the same problems when doing some Dafa projects, but I was not involved in these conflicts, so I didn't look inward. One day an elderly practitioner who was aware of the conflicts among Ohio practitioners talked to me during a car trip. This was when I discovered my problems. One problem started with a practitioner suggesting a solution, which was very good as long as it was executed well. However, the practitioner that suggested the solution had some attachments and the practitioner that was listening only looked at her attachments. Hence, a discussion turned into a conflict. In the end, the good part of the solution was completely overlooked. I later noticed that I also had the attachment that others should listen to me. When things do not go well, I tend to blame the practitioner who gave the suggestion. These issues resulted in many conflicts.

The elderly practitioner said something very inspiring. She said to a practitioner, "You should not evaluate things that happen in cultivation based on everyday people's reasoning." Why are there so many misunderstandings? Actually it is very easy to exchange different ideas as long as we are willing to explain them. If a practitioner does not think it's worth communicating his ideas, then he is not considerate of others and he fails to put himself in other people's shoes. This will only create distance and conflicts. Later, I identified my faults and shared my thoughts on the subject with practitioners on our local email list. I also described this practitioner's suggestions about clarifying the truth to VIPs and included my ideas as well. Basically, the idea was about sending electronic magazines to people interested about issues in China.

I am very thankful for the cultivation environment in Columbus, Ohio. For many years, we have faced challenges. I have provided fellow practitioners with many opportunities to cultivate their xinxing. But when it really came down to it, we were all able to let go of ourselves for the sake of validating the Fa. When we see attachments in each other, we will express our concerns, help others, tolerate others and cooperate with each other. I hereby thank my fellow practitioners in Columbus, Ohio.

This is a rather embarrassing subject. Before I started practicing Falun Gong, I filled my head with romance novels. Not long ago, I moved to a new place and neglected my Fa study. After I had a NTDTV satellite dish installed in my new home, NTDTV started broadcasting a Korean TV drama. It was a romance drama with beautiful actors and actresses in romantic settings. They used to be my favorite subjects. Watching the Korean drama reminded me of the courtship between my husband and me in college. I began to fantasize about love and romance again, which resulted in an attachment to lust. I began to face tests of lust in my dreams. Actually it was a sign of lust that I was attracted to actors in the TV drama. I knew I should eliminate the attachment to lust as a cultivator, but I was addicted to watching the romance TV drama. Meanwhile, I was feeling confused and began to wonder why it was a bad thing wanting to feel love and romance. Because I neglected my Fa study, my attachment to lust appeared. To make matters worse, I had the habit of browsing everyday people's websites, so I had absorbed these bad notions in my head.

When I realized my attachment I found all the passages in the Fa regarding lust and read articles about removing lust published on Clearwisdom. I also searched for Clearwisdom articles where fellow practitioners eliminated their attachment to watching TV dramas, and I actually found quite a few such articles. A female practitioner said she was confused by the good feeling about love and romance, but she immediately reflected upon herself and identified the degenerated elements in the romance drama. Actually, I knew they were degenerated when I was clearheaded. I have some free time at work and when I take a break from writing computer programs, I often play music to relax myself. During those days when I was addicted to the Korean romance drama, I would play the theme songs during my break. I realized that music could have a lot of impact on listeners. I went to Falun Gong practitioners' websites to look for the origin of music. Then I read in the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party that music was first created to worship and praise Heaven and Earth and that later people started to add human sentiments into music. I decided that if I wish to continue my cultivation practice, I must refrain from watching everyday people's TV drama and from listening to everyday people's music. These external elements have a negative effect on me. I now listen only to music from Celestial Music websites and I can actually feel the sacredness of divine beings and heavenly paradises.

When I neglected my Fa study, I failed to do the three things well. Because I had no urgent Dafa work at hand, I used it as an excuse to relax and take a break. Many fellow practitioners in China have been persecuted to death for the same kind of shortcomings. In the past, Teacher has given me hints about my attachment to lust. This time, I have taken a big fall for the same attachment and it is high time that I face my attachment. The Fa-rectification has reached its final stage. It's time to eliminate all of my remaining attachments.

I would like to share a few stories about local practitioners' family members.

A family member of a local practitioner used to be strongly against Falun Gong, but he gradually started to understand that Falun Gong is good. He has even watched NTDTV's Chinese New Year Spectacular. Last year, he went to an old woman from his hometown that is famous for fortune telling. She said that he was supposed to die at the age of 66 (last year) and that a family was waiting for him to be reborn. She could even tell his name in the next life. Why didn't he die last year? She said it was because he was watched over by a great Buddha at home. I was shocked to hear the story. I knew he would have a good future because he has accepted the truth that Falun Gong is good, but I didn't expect that he would be blessed with such enormous great fortune. I realized that Teacher has given practitioners' family members many opportunities to understand Falun Gong. Actually, he has clarified the truth to many people by sharing what he has witnessed about Falun Gong and those people were ones that I had found it very challenging to clarify the truth to. By doing so, he has built a bright future for himself. I learned from this story that practitioners' family members may not be practicing Falun Gong, but they know Falun Gong is protecting them.

Another fellow practitioner's father was diagnosed with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). While he was considering going back to China for cancer treatment, several practitioners and I visited him and persuaded him to withdraw from the CCP and its two affiliated organizations. At that point one miracle after another began to take place. For example, the hospital was able to begin his cancer treatment right away, which caused him to decide to stay here. As a result, he has more opportunities to learn the truth about Falun Gong.

I know that I must be blessed with excellent fortune to practice Falun Gong, but I never knew to what extent. One day a relative of mine decided to go to a fortune teller. In order to test if the fortune teller is accurate, he brought the hour, day and year of my birth to the fortune teller and asked her to tell my fortune. She was incredibly accurate in terms of everything that had happened before I started practicing Falun Gong, including my college and graduate school education, my marriage and even my immigration to the United States. She could even tell the time when I moved to to the United States. However, she said that I was already divorced and am now living a miserable life. The fortune teller refused to believe it when my relative told her that I have a son and a happy marriage. They were both very confused because she was incredibly accurate in telling my fortune before I started practicing Falun Gong. I have clarified the truth about Falun Gong to this relative of mine and she knows a thing or two about cultivation practice. So she told the fortune teller it must be because I am a cultivator, although she didn't tell the fortune teller that I practice Falun Gong. When my relative told me the story later, I took the opportunity to clarify the truth about Falun Gong again. It was at this time that I realized that Falun Gong has blessed me with such an excellent fortune. Come to think of it, it would have been horrible if I hadn't practiced Falun Gong because then my morality would have slid down just like every other person.

Thank you, Teacher. Thank you, everyone.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2007/9/23/163199.html