Thoughts on the Path of Studying the Falun Gong Teachings and Raising My Character

My name is Wu Huilin. I am a professor at a university, engaged in economics research. I began practising Falun Gong during the Spring Festival of 1998. I came with a pursuit, my motive being to cure illnesses.

At that time, Falun Dafa had just been introduced in Taiwan and was not yet being persecuted by the Chinese tyrant Jiang Zemin and the Chinese Communist Party. There were very few practitioners in Taiwan then. People who heard about Falun Dafa and were curious about it. At the time, the main group of practitioners was from the Department of Economics of Taiwan University. It was mostly a group of economists and other highly educated people.

During that time, I often made media appearances, wrote newspaper articles, and joined and hosted TV programs. The media was very interested in those who participated in the practise of Falun Gong. I was well known and the media considered me as one of the people to focus on. They often asked me to do interviews. However, I rejected those interviews due to my attachment of fear.

Then on July 20th, 1999, Jiang and his followers in the Chinese Communist Party started their fierce persecution of Falun Gong. Suddenly, Falun Gong became famous worldwide. It was the hottest news at the time. Several practitioners, including me, began to face the media. However, I was timid, afraid of showing my face publicly and I chose my words carefully. I did not read newspapers or watch TV, for fear of my mind being "polluted" by all the false propaganda and slander. This timid behaviour was not in accordance with Falun Dafa's teaching. This mindset did not change until I bravely stepped forward, and participated in group study of the Falun Gong teachings and experience sharing with my fellow practitioners.

After group study and practising the exercises together, I gradually enlightened to Teacher's teachings on the subject of study of the Falun Gong teachings: that is, we must read the Falun Dafa teachings without any attachment to pursuit of knowledge. Through reading the Fa (law or principle, the teachings in Falun Gong) repeatedly, sharing experiences and practising the exercises, I gained a much deeper understanding towards Falun Dafa's teachings. These deeper insights came about not only from Fa study, but also from my cultivation, including facing conflicts, failings and mistakes during the course of my everyday life. On the path of cultivation, my understanding developed from the perceptual to the rational and concrete. After I realised the goodness within Falun Dafa, I introduced Falun Dafa to my friends and family members. Meanwhile, I understood the difficulties and barriers faced by ordinary people when learning the Fa.

Personal experience showed that I was not diligent enough in my Fa study. When I introduced Dafa to people, they were not very moved. However, I felt that I should not be depressed about it. Every difficulty offers the opportunity to examine oneself. We must examine ourselves according to the Fa and find out our shortcomings. Therefore, I had a new understanding about this part of Teacher's article, "For a cultivator, all the frustrations he comes across among everyday people are trials, and all the compliments he receives are tests." ("A Cultivator is Naturally Part of It"- Essentials for Further Advancement) What matters is the thought at the moment. One thought differentiates humans and gods.

I also gained an understanding of the difference between a human and a god in terms of "Forbearance" and "Compassion." Humans have attachments and their forbearance is often a forced forbearance. Even though one does not show one's emotions, one's heart may be bleeding. It is as Teacher says, "To endure completely without anger or grievance is the forbearance of a cultivator." ("What is Forbearance (Ren)?" - Essentials for Further Advancement) How to reach such a state? It is only possible through letting go of human feelings or attachments. When the "human feeling" is gone, we will reach the state of Compassion. To reach this state, we must truly cultivate vigorously and with diligence.

On the path of cultivating, I have come to understand that the goal of cultivation is to save sentient beings. This is a major difference between Falun Dafa cultivation and other types of cultivation practises. To save sentient beings, we need to meet with everyday people, and live among them with a similar lifestyle. Therefore, we should not quit our jobs, but rather, we should do well at our work. I also realise that there is no fixed answer as to how we carry out our daily work in ordinary society. In other words, there is no "fixed" or "concrete" answer, but our own cultivation levels determine what we should do. Our cultivation levels truly reflect on our behaviour in the everyday world.

After gaining this perspective, I conformed as much as possible to a normal lifestyle. I wrote the articles that I was supposed to write, watched the news and did my work without a fuss. Things were still the same on the surface, but the meanings had changed. I felt this in my heart. The vicissitudes of my emotions quieted down. I eventually let go of the attachment of loss and gain. Although all kinds of things continuously came and went, I was able to accept them with a calm mind. The pressures I felt before lessened without my being aware of the change. The attachment to "loss and gain" in the workplace was leaving me day by day. I realised that everything that happened was not coincidental; the work assigned to me was also not coincidental. There was no need to deliberately plan or schedule. What I needed to do was to do my best on the things at hand. The things that were meant for me would come to me.

There is one thing I need to emphasise. I still wrote articles; watched the news and went to movies, participated in professional conferences, and so on, but the extreme emotions were gone. My overbearing character was gone. I am now considerate of others. The things I merely talked about so often, I am now truly doing. In the past, I used to look at the negative side of things and people. Now I am able to see them in a positive way. I used to think that in the ordinary world, "specialists" were above others, and that they were supposed to get higher salaries. Now, I feel that a specialist with advanced knowledge should contribute to others, and help others learn. In the ordinary world, people fight for power and money. I used to be caught up in this also, but now I know that everything that happens offers a chance for self-examination and analysis. I must always learn from my lessons.

Fellow practitioners, in this final moment, let us follow Teacher's teachings and do the three things well. Let us be dignified and upright during this period of Fa-rectification. Thank you, Teacher! Thank you, all!