(Minghui.org) My ancestral home was sold for 1.2 million yuan in 2010. According to Chinese Inheritance Law, I was entitled to part of the money. However, my brothers and sisters divided up the money among themselves without telling me. It was only later that one brother called me and told me about it. He sent me 10,000 yuan that was left behind by my mother as compensation.
Upon hearing the news, I was shocked and saddened. I was the youngest of all the siblings. I had been very kind to them, yet at that difficult time of my life, not only did they not help me, but they cut me out of the inheritance. I knew that I could exercise my rights through legal means, but I also knew that as a Falun Dafa disciple, I should not fight for personal gain.
“Thus, our practitioners should be like this even less so, as a practitioner should follow the course of nature. If something is yours, you will not lose it. If something is not yours, you will not have it even if you fight for it. Of course, that is not absolute. If it were as absolute as that, there would not be the issue of committing wrongdoing. In other words, there are some unstable factors. But as a practitioner, you are in principle protected by Teacher’s fashen. Others cannot take away what is yours, even if they want to. We therefore believe in following the course of nature. Sometimes, you think that something should be yours, and others also tell you that it is yours. Actually, it is not. You may believe that it is yours, but in the end it is not yours. Through this, it can be seen whether you can give it up. If you cannot let it go, it is an attachment. This method must be used to get rid of your attachment to self-interest. This is the issue. Because everyday people are not enlightened to this principle, they will all compete and fight before profits.” (Zhuan Falun, Lecture 7)
I thought perhaps that this money did not belong to me; or maybe I owed my siblings in the past; but even if they were in the wrong, I should not handle it as an everyday person because I am a practitioner. A year later when my brother visited me and apologized for what they did, I told him, “We are still family. Let's forget about it.”Because of the way I handled this matter, my brothers and sisters are all supportive of Falun Dafa; 22 people from their extended families have withdrawn from the Chinese Communist Party and its affiliated organizations.
I was the editor of a popular book in 1996. At the time, the printed copies of the book were almost sold out. A few years later, I was surprised to find out that someone was selling my book on the Internet. The person even left his contact information. I could have sued him for violating the copyright and demanded financial compensation.
But by then, I had started practicing Falun Dafa. Master said,
“Amidst the complex environment of everyday people and its interpersonal xinxing frictions, you are able to rise above and beyond––this is the most difficult thing. It is hard in that you knowingly lose your vested interests among everyday people. Amidst your critical self-interests, are you moved? Amidst interpersonal mindgames, are you moved? When your friends or family suffer, are you moved? How do you weigh them? This is how difficult it is to be a practitioner!” (Zhuan Falun, Lecture 8)
My heart calmed down quickly after I read this passage of the Fa. Instead of resenting the person, I felt sorry for him for taking the risk of breaking the law. He could have gotten himself into major legal trouble. Once I let go of self-interest, everything went on as if nothing had happened.
I left China when I was in my sixties. Once overseas, I worked at a Chinese supermarket to make a living. Because I do not speak English, I could only do menial labor in the back of the store and got minimal pay. I usually get paid around $300 per week, based the number of hours I work. One time I got my paycheck and it was over $700. I knew there was a mistake. I also knew I could keep the money and nobody would know, but I was a practitioner.
I went to the manager and told him there was a mistake in the paycheck. At first, he thought I was making a fuss about being underpaid. When I told him that I was returning the extra pay, he was surprised and thanked me. The next day, he told me that it was an accounting mistake and it would be corrected.