Changes in Our Environment Are the Results of Our State of Mind

(Minghui.org) I often give used card boxes to a cleaning lady. After a while, she probably felt bad for accepting so many boxes from me, so she gave me a bag of red beans and a taro. I didn't really care for them since the beans were shriveled and the taro was sort of small.

I cooked dinner that evening and wanted to mix some red beans with the rice. I noticed that there were lots of bugs inside, outside, and around the opening of the bag. I complained about the cleaning lady, “She is so stingy! She gave me a bag of stale red beans!” I picked up two bugs and tossed them in a bowl of water. I then realized that my thoughts were not righteous. As soon as I changed my thought, the bugs around the bag disappeared! I was shocked! I clearly saw the bugs all over the bag. How could they disappear just like that! Was I seeing things? I rubbed my eyes and checked the bag again but could not find any bugs. Where did they go? I turned around and saw the two bugs floating in the bowl of water.

I realized very quickly that Master was pointing things out to me, that changes in our environment are the results of our state of mind. Everything practitioners encounter in the human world is an illusion, and things change according to our thoughts. When our thoughts are righteous, the effects will be good. When our thoughts are not righteous, the end result will not be favorable. As long as our thoughts are based on the principles of the Fa, and we put others before ourselves, then Master can do anything for us. Perhaps the cleaning lady saved the best she could afford and gave them to me. I should have been be grateful and not complain.

I'm truly grateful for Master's compassionate enlightenment! Based on this experience, I was able to pass the tribulation of sickness karma later on my cultivation path.

My experience with the bugs reminded me of something that happened to a practitioner. A truth-clarification materials production site was destroyed by the police. Practitioners A and B were afraid that those going to the materials production site would be arrested by undercover police staking out the area. Therefore, they went to the site area to warn other practitioners, and were both caught. When the policeman tried to take practitioner A away, she thought with sadness, “I'm sorry Master. I have not cultivated well and have wasted time that I could have used to save sentient beings!” Suddenly, the policeman let go of her and said, “Go home now!” Practitioner A could not figure out why the policeman let go of her. The policeman repeated, “No one is taking you away. Go home now!” On her way home, practitioner A realized that Compassionate Master helped her get away from the bad elements because she had righteous thoughts.

When practitioner A was faced with imminent danger, she was still looking inward for her shortcomings, and thinking of sentient beings. This goes to show that changes in our environment are the results of our state of mind.