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Major Tribulations Tested My Determination in Cultivation

March 6, 2021 |   By a Falun Dafa practitioner in Heilongjiang Province, China

(Minghui.org)

Master said,

“Dafa disciples are the hope of humankind—the one and only hope. It is our mission to save lives, and a tremendous responsibility. Only by cultivating yourselves well can you do well what Dafa disciples must do.” (A Congratulatory Letter to the European Fa Conference in Paris

My Heart to Save People Could Not Be Locked Down

The CCP virus (coronavirus) spread widely in Wuhan at the beginning of 2020. Cities, districts and even streets were locked down across China. Residents’ movements were strictly controlled when they were going in and out of their residential complexes. I downloaded truth-clarification materials from the Minghui website and made pamphlets, cards, and small self-adhesive posters so that other practitioners and I could distribute them around the residential areas each day. Because I had to register at the gate of our residential area each time I went out, and the time allotted for outings was limited, my husband, who is not a practitioner, also delivered materials and memory cards to other practitioners for me.

Thanks to Master’s compassionate arrangements, I broke through difficulties and did the things that I should do. 

I wanted to put truth-clarification cards on residents’ doors one day, but I had fear and didn’t dare do it. My heart started beating faster and my legs felt weak when I thought about going out to put the cards on people’s doors. I asked Master to strengthen me. I sent forth righteous thoughts to dissolve the evil beings and factors that were interfering with me saving sentient beings and to dissolve my fear. At 2 a.m., I found I was awake. I heard a voice say “Don’t miss this good opportunity.” I knew Master was helping me. I got up and went out to put the cards on residents’ doors. 

Several days later the neighbors who live opposite us and our neighbors downstairs took down the New Year couplets they had put on their doors, but left the truth-clarification cards on their doors. Those cards are still there now. 

Hardships Piled Upon Hardships

My son’s classmate asked my son to apply for a credit card on his behalf in 2013 because the bank had denied his application due to bad credit. I was not aware of the kind of agreement they made. My son applied for a credit card using his ID. The application was approved and the card had a credit limit of 300,000 yuan (approximately US $46,500). His classmate used this card and paid my son back some of the money each month. But he soon stopped paying my son back. My son chased him for the debt and also went to his family, but it was in vain. My husband received a final notice from the bank saying that my son would be arrested if he didn’t pay off all of the money, a total of 336,000 yuan, within three days.

This was a heavy blow to us. We are not well off financially. We had run at a loss in any business venture we had tried when we were younger, so we didn’t have any savings. We took out a high interest loan to pay off the credit card debt. This matter was about to be settled when another incident cropped up.

My husband worked in a boiler room in a residential complex. His contract was coming to an end in two days. His boss had told him that he didn’t need to sleep in the boiler room at night, but my husband insisted on sleeping there so that he didn’t need to rush to work early in the morning. 

My four-year-old granddaughter ran up and down the room after dinner. My husband was on the computer in another room. My granddaughter ran over to me and said, “Nanna, grandpa will not sleep in the boiler room. He will stay at home tonight.” I said, “That is very good.”

My husband came out of his room after 9 p.m. fully dressed. I asked him why he had put on clothes. He said that he was going to the boiler room. I said, “Our granddaughter told me that you said you would not go tonight, that you will stay at home.” He said that he didn’t say that and left the house. 

About 10 minutes later, I was sitting on the sofa watching television with my son and granddaughter when my son’s mobile phone rang. He answered the call and it sounded like something serious had happened. He asked if the person was okay and then rushed out of the room. I had a strange feeling and asked what had happened. My son was already running down the stairs and said, “Dad was in a car accident.” 

I took my granddaughter and knelt in front of Master’s photo and pleaded that Master help my husband and save him. I thought to myself that my husband had to bear whatever he had to bear but I would deny any arrangements made by the old forces and that I had come to validate the Fa and anything negative or that prevented people from being saved was not allowed to happen.

I didn’t know what his situation was or whether his life was in danger. I wanted to go to the hospital with my granddaughter. But on a second thought, what was the use of going to the hospital? Making good use of this precious time was saving lives. So I sat down and sent forth righteous thoughts and pleaded with Master for help. After a while I called my son. He said that his dad’s life was not in danger, but the bone under his knee had been cut and he needed surgery. 

I talked to my husband and said: “Please don’t be afraid. I will help you at home. Please recite ‘Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.’” He said, “I have been reciting it. Don’t worry. Just stay at home and look after our granddaughter. You don’t need to come here. I am all right.”

I was sleepless that night. I still practiced the exercises the next morning. I then recited Master’s poem.

“To consummate yourself, reaping Buddhahood,Let joy be found in hardship.Physical pains count little as suffering,Indeed, cultivating mind is hardest.Each and every barrier must be broken through,And everywhere does evil lurk.Abundant troubles rain down together,All to see: Can you pull through?The world’s miseries endured,One departs the earth a Buddha.”(“Tempering the Will,” Hong Yin)

Wasn’t Master telling me that I had to pass a big test when hardships and bitterness rain down on me? 

My husband’s boss hadn’t asked him to stay in the boiler room and my granddaughter had said that he would not go there. So he was destined to have this accident. Obviously, it had come to take his life. If Master hadn’t protected him, he might have come across a bigger problem. It was terrifying. Thank you, Master for saving his life!

Letting Go of Interests and Sentimentality

Master said,

“No matter how much money she was paid, how could she be comfortable being hospitalized for the rest of her life? Those bystanders even found it strange that the elderly woman did not exploit him and ask him for money. Nowadays, human moral values have been distorted. The driver indeed drove the car too fast, but how could he possibly hit someone on purpose? Didn’t he do it unintentionally? But people are like this today. If he were not exploited, even the bystanders would find it unfair. I have said that now people cannot distinguish good from bad. If one tells another person that he is doing something wrong, he will not believe it.” (Lecture Four, Zhuan Falun)

Master’s Fa told me what I should do, but my husband was not a practitioner and we were in a lot of debt. If I wanted us to pay the medical expenses, rather than have the driver pay, would my husband understand? I am a practitioner and must comply with Dafa’s principles. All of my family members support me in my cultivation and know some of the Fa principles. We discussed it and decided that we would not ask the driver for compensation. The traffic policeman had suggested that we sue the driver and ask for compensation. He said: “At least you have to ask for reimbursement for your medical expenses.”

We didn’t ask for reimbursement. Instead of paying back our debt, we used the loan money to pay for my husband’s surgery. He had a steel plate put into his leg, and his leg was then put in plaster. He sweat heavily and shouted because of the pain. Seeing his suffering, I felt his pain. I was moved emotionally. I then recited the Fa: 

“When your friends or family suffer, are you moved? How do you weigh them? This is how difficult it is to be a practitioner!” (Lecture Eight, Zhuan Falun). 

According to the righteous Fa principles, it is good to have tribulations and suffer hardships. It allows one to pay back the karma that one has accumulated life after life. It is a process of eliminating karma and turning it into virtue. When I changed my perspective, I wasn’t as emotionally involved in this matter as I had been. 

I played Master’s audio lectures to my husband and asked him to sincerely recite “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.”

Though we still had debts and were struggling financially, we didn’t ask for a penny from the driver, who hadn’t even showed up. My husband and I didn’t complain about him. We bore it ourselves silently. Falun Dafa teaches me to take “fame, interest and sentimentality” lightly and become a selfless being who thinks of others first. 

Some people didn’t understand and asked me why I was still happy after coming across such a big thing. I said: “It is easy to understand. Master saved my husband’s life and also saved our whole family. It is such a big blessing. Shouldn’t I be happy? It is not a bad thing to bear suffering because we are paying back debts.”

My son and his family had planned to visit his in-laws in another city. They didn’t want to go now because they wanted to stay behind and look after his father. I told them to go as planned. I could take care of his father. 

Unexpectedly, I had started to feel strange after they left. I felt dizzy and without strength. I had pain in my right rib area. I coughed day and night and had a low fever. I sweat heavily at night and didn’t want to eat. I was out of breath and walked unsteadily. But still I had to do the household chores, the shopping and cooking, as well as look after my husband. This was a big test for me. 

I kept reciting Master’s Fa: 

“When it’s difficult to endure, you can endure it. When it’s impossible to do, you can do it.” (Lecture Nine, Zhuan Falun). 

I didn’t waver in my belief in Master and the Fa and tried to assimilate myself to the Fa. I took bitterness as joy and persevered.

Thanks to Master’s strengthening and the guidance of the Fa, I passed the test, though I lost a lot of weight. 

Master said,

“No matter what it is you have encountered as you've gone about validating the Fa, it is all, I will tell you, a good thing--and that's especially so in these years of persecution--for those things have come about specifically because you do cultivation. Those ordeals and the suffering, no matter how great or harsh you find them to be, are good things, because they take place solely on account of your cultivation. A person can eliminate karma and shed human attachments when he goes through ordeals, and through ordeals he can improve.” (“Fa Teaching at the 2008 New York Conference,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. VIII)

All of my symptoms disappeared when my son and his family came back. Falun Dafa is truly amazing!