(Clearwisdom.net) On the path of cultivation, we encounter many unpredictable things. When I clarify the truth and ask people to quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), I often encounter various kinds of interference such as emotions, fear, and all sorts of tough questions. For us to save sentient beings, we need to eliminate any interference that obstructs us from accomplishing our historic mission.
As I continue to study the Fa and have a better understanding of a Dafa practitioner's responsibility, I am able to see the elements behind the interferences and their ultimate goal. I am also able to see the attachments that resulted in the interferences.
For a while I was very busy with helping or visiting my non-practitioner friends. As a result, I didn't have enough time to do what I had planned. A former neighbor whom I had not seen for over ten years was visiting Beijing with her daughters and granddaughter. When she called me, the first thing that came to my mind was to let her know the truth of Falun Dafa. However, as we were talking, my selfish notions arose and I did not want to see her and her family anymore. From our conversation, I sensed that she and her family wanted to stay with me and my family during their visit to Beijing. It wasn't convenient for me, because my father lived with me, my son was transferring from one school to another, and my husband was very busy with work and wasn't sleeping well. Besides, the weather was hot and I didn't want to cram so many people into the house. I also had a selfish thought, "I will have to feed them and tour around with them. I already do not have much time."
My former neighbor told me that they had reserved a small room in a hotel, but she asked for my address as if she planned to come over to stay with me. My human notions arose again, "You people are pinching every penny! Once when you went to visit my parents, my family paid for all your lodging expenses and meals. Your daughter's husband works in Hong Kong and makes a good income. Another daughter lives in Canada and has a good life too. Why are you like this?"
Acting like an ordinary person, I was too worried about being inconvenienced and regretted inviting them over.
On Saturday, my former neighbor was supposed to call me because I had invited her and her family to come over on Sunday to have dinner. However, she did not call. Then, even though I should have called her after I got done with my daily responsibilities, I didn't. I worried that they'd ask me to go and pick them up. As a result of my selfish notions, we didn't get in touch for a while, and even after we did, we never fixed a time to meet. Although I cleaned my house, they never came over. I felt something wasn't right. I was too selfish and the old forces exploited this gap.
The old cosmos is based on selfishness. We fell to lower levels because of it. Teacher mentioned in "Zhuan Falun, "
"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. Yet as the number of lives increases, a collective form of social relations develops in which some people may develop selfishness and gradually their level will be lowered. If they cannot stay at this level, they must drop down further."
As practitioners, we need to eliminate selfishness because we are entering the new cosmos. Holding onto selfishness is not cultivating, and it was obstructing me from validating the Fa.
I sent forth righteous thoughts at noon to eliminate interference from dark minions. As I was making lunch, I thought to myself that I had to see my old neighbors, even if it meant that I had to go to their hotel to look for them. Otherwise I would miss the opportunity to clarify the truth to them.
As this thought emerged, I immediately felt that it was the right thing to do. My thoughts were rectified. Later on, however, I felt sleepy and tired. I had been sending righteous thoughts around the clock to help rescue a practitioner for the previous few days and I hadn't had time to rest or study the Fa. Still, I told myself that I had to go to their hotel no matter what. My sleepiness disappeared right away and I knew I had passed a small test.
After lunch, I tried to put my son down for a nap so that my husband and father could rest. Out of the blue, lumps started to appear on my son's head, face, limbs, and back. The lumps were like large clouds spreading all over his body and were extremely itchy. He started crying.
My five-year-old son had just begun practicing a few days before, and he had had several physical reactions from the body purification process. I told him that it was Teacher cleansing his body and removing his karma, so it was a good thing. I decided to give him a bath. The lumps almost covered his entire body and were turning red and swelling. I realized that "it" was trying to stop me from meeting my former neighbors and clarifying the truth. I told my son, "Let's work together to get rid of the lumps, alright? They are here to interfere with your practice and stop me from clarifying the truth. We can't let them have their way." We promised each other to win the battle.
Coming out of the bathroom, the lumps were less swollen. I told my son, "Teacher said that the practice can rectify all that is not righteous. Let's do the exercises and tell what is in your body that if it wants to stay alive, it should leave; otherwise we will eliminate it. We can't let it interfere with what we need to do." We did the first two sets of exercises. While we were exercising, my husband and my father walked into the room and saw us. They left without saying a word. In the beginning, they were opposed to the practice, especially having my son do it. After we did the exercises, I lifted my son's shirt up and all the lumps were gone, leaving only the redness.
We were very excited. I then told my father and husband about it so they could witness Dafa's magnificence. Neither of them said a word.
I was even happier because I had recognized the interference and eliminated it. Now it couldn't do anything to me. I then called my former neighbors and they suggested having dinner with us. I knew better now that my son and I broke through the interference that originated from my selfishness of not wanting to give too much of my time and energy. This selfishness caused a false illusion of "my neighbors wanting to stay with me and take advantage of me" and the result was that I was not willing to see them. The goal of the interference was to prevent me from clarifying the truth to them. We need to consider others first to attain the righteous enlightenment of selflessness and altruism. How could I only think of my own interest in everything I did? This was a great attachment that needed to be eliminated. After I discovered my attachments of selfishness, comfort, and laziness, the evil still wouldn't give up. The evil persecuted my son and used my feelings for him to try to stop me from clarifying the truth.
I was supposed to take my father along to see my former neighbors since they knew each other. However, I didn't want my father to be there when I clarified the truth. I thought of finding an excuse so that he wouldn't go, but that was lying! How could I clarify the truth of Dafa and not follow its fundamental requirements for practitioners? I thought that if my father went, he would surely oppose or at least interfere with my clarifying the truth. How could I be so sure about my father? Wasn't it my human notion? Teacher said in "The Closer to the End, the More Diligent You Should Be:"
"A person has many tests to overcome in the course of cultivation, one reason being, from the time of birth on, a person ceaselessly forms notions of every sort as he comes to an understanding of human society, and attachments result."
"What's more, Dafa disciples are cultivating in this 'real' world that brims with temptation, so it becomes even more difficult--and even more important--to change those notions."
I suddenly realized that meeting with my old neighbors, although it seemed insignificant, exposed many of my attachments. I couldn't let my notions control me. I took my father along thinking I would definitely find a good opportunity to clarify the truth. My father couldn't interfere with me because Dafa practitioners play the leading role in this cosmos.
"When it is difficult to endure, try to endure it. When it looks impossible and is said to be impossible, give it a try and see if it is possible. If you can actually do it, you will indeed find: 'After passing the shady willow trees, there will be bright flowers and another village ahead!'" (Zhuan Falun)
On our way to meet the former neighbors, we almost got into a car accident. Teacher protected us and nothing happened. However, as we drove across a bridge, another car caused our car to go past the white line that separated the lanes. As a result, the police gave me a ticket. I thought, "I am so unlucky. I haven't been fined for a while. Maybe I should just go home." However, I quickly suppressed the thought, knowing it was another form of interference. I wouldn't lose myself to it again. The interference couldn't do more than try to make me give up truth clarification. But now it couldn't fool me because it was as weak as thin air.
I must save sentient beings and nobody can stop me. No matter how dangerous and evil the interference is, the minute we recognize it is the minute it loses its power.
When I met with my former neighbors, I talked about quitting the CCP and the truth of Falun Gong while we had dinner. All of of them have now quit the CCP.