(Clearwisdom.net) My father (78 years old), my mother (75 years old) and I are Falun Gong practitioners. However, because my parents are illiterate, their understanding of the Fa is more superficial. Sometimes what they say is not in accordance with the principles of Fa. So I often rebuked them like an adult does to young children, and I thought that what I was doing was consistent with the teachings of the Fa.

When my mother suffered from sickness karma, she secretly applied medication to her aching legs. When I discovered she was doing this, I reprimanded her loudly and said that if she did not believe in Master and the Fa, she shouldn't cultivate. Sometimes my father could not maintain the correct gesture while sending righteous thoughts and was drowsy when he studied the Fa. I impatiently pushed him and forcefully corrected his hand gesture. I told him off: "I have told you this a hundred times; yet you cannot remember what I said. You simply don't pay attention to this. How come you never forget to take your meals?"

Other practitioners saw my unkind behavior and pointed it out to me many times. However, I felt maligned, thinking I was behaving this way for the good of my parents. As a result of my lack of compassion, the conflicts at home escalated to a degree where we couldn't communicate with each other. My parents said they would cultivate as they wished and that it was none of my business. I then realized the severity of the problem. Through sharing with others and looking inward, I discovered that my greatest weakness was that I was just reading the Fa, but not cultivating myself. When I am in such a state, how can the old forces not take advantage of this loophole?

Master said in the article "A Brief Explanation of Shan" in Essentials for Further Advancement:

"Shan is the manifestation of the nature of the universe at different levels and in different dimensions. It is also the fundamental nature of Great Enlightened Beings. Therefore, a cultivator must cultivate Shan and assimilate to the nature of the universe, Zhen-Shan-Ren."

I know that as practitioners, we should first of all, treat everything with compassion. However, I kept treating my parent's problems in cultivation with human notions. Digging into the root of this attachment, I realized that I was unkind to them because I thought they were old and illiterate and they were a hindrance. I treated them unkindly and they nearly gave up cultivation as a result of my harsh words.

Master said in "Fa Teaching at the 2009 Washington DC International Fa Conference":

"If man wants to become divine and transcend the human state, then he must forsake that frame of mind and use compassion to resolve things."

Everything that a practitioner encounters at home contains elements of cultivation. We should reflect on our shortcomings whenever there is a conflict. We must look at the problem and resolve it from a compassionate perspective, using the requirements of the Fa to rectify ourselves. My parents underwent a big change due to an elevation in my understanding as well as through frequent sharing with fellow practitioners. I realized that the power of compassion is tremendous. One can only return to the true nature of an enlightened being if one has compassion in his heart.

Please kindly correct me if there is anything inappropriate.