Reflections on a New Beginning

 

Raised and schooled a Roman Catholic, my grandparents and to a large extent my parents maintained many of the moral values more typically seen in older generations. Childhood innocence presented few obstacles in that environment to assimilating with life’s good characteristics. This formed an unshakeable grounding in what is right and wrong and my only real attachment being those committed to my upbringing.  

 

During schooling, the absence of God from religious teachings and the unreasonable way in which it was taught combined with mainstream society’s promotion of personal experiences and 'getting the most out of life'. True meaning of life eluded this domain and my unrest on the state of society and people’s lack of morals led me looking for escape. By mid to late teens, numerous and strong attachments soon took hold and discontentment fuelled habits of drinking, smoking drugs & tobacco, swearing and daring to mistake passion for anger. Although attempting to exploit hedonistic desires, fortunately I always felt burdened by doing the right thing no matter how hard I attempted to distance myself from this with the aid of society’s escapist notions and substances. In retrospect and from the Fa, all these things brought nothing but trouble to my life, and again I was fortunate enough to experience immediate retribution through physical sickness, legal disciplining and an aching heart. Nevertheless, these habits continued after my 30th.

 

In early to mid 2006 a very good friend indeed introduced me to his then understanding of Falun Dafa teachings. He had acquired Zhaun Falun and I was able to read a little of it. Upon completing Lunyu, for that matter just after the first paragraph I was extremely touched by its profound nature and felt a resonance with its truth.

 

I steadily acquired as many materials as I could and began reading my way through Masters Teachings and lectures. My understanding of life and the universe, no real need to tell you, exponential growth is surely an understatement. Dafa's teachings have given me new hope and assurance that humanities actions and attitudes all incur causal relationships with retribution or reward inevitable and this lifetime seen from above as a test for some and a chance for others.

 

Equipped with the beginnings of this knowledge and realisation of the incomparable opportunity in front of me, I knew I had to step up, for life outside the Fa was a disappointment and the only satisfaction and salvation was clearly to take the path of a true cultivator. With Masters aid and my own resolutions, years of bad attachments began to slide right off me. Masters teachings on alcohol regarding ones nature being destroyed and other addictions being merely attachments of choice enabled me to quickly enlighten to the power of righteous thoughts and actions in eliminating evils. I began to feel that I had prepared the quintessential base from which to finally consider myself a practitioner at the beginning of 2007.

 

Throughout the year I had only maintained practise and study to and from work and whilst at home. More recently I have joined in activities with fellow practitioners and as such am witness to the enormity of our righteous field and display of truth compassion and forbearance.

 

Thank you for lettings me share my personal understanding of my new beginning.

 

Daniel Granger

Western Practitioner