Cultivation Is Xinxing Improvement

(Minghui.org) Cultivation practice requires improving one’s xinxing, or character. When practitioners change their mindset and rectify themselves from the perspective of the Fa, any seemingly insurmountable problems will instantly disappear.

Seeking Fame

I started practicing Falun Dafa in 1996 after suffering from headaches. When I first started, I read the Fa and did the exercises, but I did not know how to cultivate my xinxing. It was through one incident that I learned how to cultivate my xinxing.

I lived in a dormitory and had two roommates. One of them worked in the same office as I. We were both hired by a school after graduation. We were of similar age and taught the same course, so we were very close.

My colleague and I agreed on how to improve the course teaching model we were using, and decided to write a paper about it.

I came up with the main idea and framework of the paper. Since I had to study for my graduate school exams and had a tight schedule, my colleague wrote the paper. I helped put it together at every critical juncture.

After we completed the paper, my colleague presented it to the principal. He liked it so much that he recommended it to the city, and it was well received. The principal praised my colleague at the weekly meeting several times, but did not say a word about me. Whenever I heard the principal’s praise of my colleague, I became upset. The worse I felt, the more the principal praised her.

Master Li (the founder of Falun Dafa) said,

“But, usually when a conflict comes along, if it doesn’t provoke you, it doesn’t count, it doesn’t work, and you won’t be able to improve from it.” (The Fourth Talk, Zhuan Falun)

Why was I upset? I looked inward. I was unhappy because the principal praised my colleague and ignored me. I hoped my efforts could be recognized as well. I realized that I was pursuing fame. When I realized this, I calmed down, and let it go. After that, the principal stopped praising my colleague.

Near the end of the year, this colleague presented me with the annual excellent teacher honor certificate. I was surprised because I had never received such an award. It turned out that my colleague wrote a work evaluation for me, submitted it on my behalf, and helped me get the award.

When the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began the persecution of Falun Gong (also called Falun Dafa), on July 20, 1999, we practitioners faced a lot of pressure at work because all the leaders were told to fire those employees who practiced Falun Gong. My principal had to talk to me as well, but he did not give me a hard time. He first affirmed my good performance, and then kindly reminded me not to go out to clarify the truth about Falun Dafa, and to be careful for my safety.

This roommate and I have always had a good relationship. When others attacked me because I didn’t give up my faith, she always defended me, saying that I was a good person and that what the propaganda said on TV was not true.

One time, I told the truth about Dafa in class. Because I did well in clarifying the truth before, I got a little carried away this time and ignored the students’ reactions. After class, a student said something bad about me, and my colleague learned about it. She called to remind me to do better next time. 

Although I haven’t seen her that often after we moved out the dormitory, we remained very close and were always happy to see each other when we met.

Removing Human Notions

I learned to find my true self and remove human notions through interacting with my mother-in-law.

I looked down on her as soon as I got to know her, because I didn’t like the way she acted and did things. For example, she made a futon for us before we got married, and said to me in an unpleasant tone, “You should have prepared the bedding.”

I was upset and responded abruptly, “My money is for the house!” I thought: Your son is over 30 and has no money, and neither does he own a home. I paid the deposit, most of the down payment and applied for the loan. How can you have the nerve to pick on me because you spent a little bit of money on new bedding for us?

After we got married, my mother-in-law came to help take care of our child. I had an argument with her one day, and she left our home. When my husband came home from work, he was angry and did not listen to my explanation. I thought: Yes, she is your mother, but so what? Couldn’t she be wrong? Why couldn’t I point out her mistakes?

That night, my son’s little feet were hot. A while later, he showed signs of coming down with a fever, as his calves became hot. Something was wrong and I started to look inward. I knew that the real cause of the conflict was that I looked down on my mother-in-law.

Why did I look down on her? I was independent, and she wasn’t. I didn’t liked to gossip, but she talked a lot as if she knew everything. I took money lightly, but she wanted to take advantage of others. I was almost the opposite of her.

When my son came down with a fever, I knew I had to change my thinking. My mother-in-law and I grew up in different environments. My mother died at a young age, and my father was busy working. He didn’t have time to be concerned about anything else for us except for food and clothing. I had to be independent when growing up. My mother-in-law had been through the CCP’s political campaigns. She had relatives abroad at that time, so her family was discriminated against. They were always in trouble with the Party and lived in fear. She had to stay up all night gluing matchboxes to support a family of five when she was a little girl. As a result, although she was smart and capable, she was timid and afraid of making any decisions at home.

After thinking about this, I understood that her character was molded in the environment in which she grew up. If my mother-in-law had grown up under different circumstances, she might have had a different personality. So her character was formed throughout her life, and she was really not her true self.

Furthermore, it occurred to me that I didn’t like her because she didn’t fit my thought pattern. However, my perceptions were also formed from my environment. Under different circumstances, I could also have a different character. So my notions did not represent my true self.

Master said,

“If you do not change the human logic that you, as an ordinary human, have formed deep in your bones over thousands of years, you will be unable to break away from this superficial human shell and reach Consummation.” (“Cautionary Advice,” Essentials for Further Advancement)

The only way to solve the conflict was to break away from my human notions and not become entangled in the surface matter of who is right or who is wrong. After realizing this, I became relaxed, as if I had just broken through a thick shell. When I touched my son’s feet, his temperature had returned to normal.

My mother-in-law called my husband the next day and asked if she should still come to help with the baby. My husband replied, “If you don’t take care of the baby, who will?” As soon as my mother-in-law entered our home, I hurriedly apologized to her. Before I had the chance to finish, she said that she was also at fault. It was the first time I heard her say that she was wrong. I truly experienced the wonderfulness of improving myself from the perspective of the Fa.

When my husband went abroad for one year, my mother-in-law stayed with me. We studied the Fa and did the exercises together. I overslept one morning, and she got up by herself to do the exercises. She told me that the exercise music woke her up, but I was still sleeping, and no one had turned on the exercise music.

She went to the hospital, talked to the people there about Falun Dafa and helped several of them quit the CCP and its youth organizations. My mother-in-law is now in her 80s and has good hearing and vision. Although she does not cultivate, she likes to read Dafa materials and uses the Falun Dafa desk calendar every year.

Rescuing My Eldest Sister

My eldest sister, Ling (pseudonym), is also a Dafa practitioner and there are several practitioners on my mother’s side of the family, and their whole family supports Dafa. When I was about to give birth, Ling came from our hometown to take care of me. The police stopped her when she was boarding the train because she was on their blacklist. When they asked if she still practiced Falun Dafa, she responded, “I will cultivate to the end.” With these righteous thoughts, they did not arrest her.

Two days later, my second sister, Fang (pseudonym), called from my hometown and said that a group of people went to her home, trying to pressure her to persuade Ling to go home and attend a brainwashing class. I told Fang, “How could they want my sister to leave a woman about to give birth. Don’t they have any humanity left?”

When those people approached Fang again, she refused to help them get Ling to come back home. Later, Fang also began reading Dafa books and went out daily to talk to people about Falun Dafa with Ling.

Once, Fang called and said that Ling had been arrested. Fang asked me what to do. I told her that all our siblings should go to the police station to tell them to release her.

I then quickly wrote an article, and posted it on the Minghui website to expose the news of my sister’s arrest. My relatives from out of town learned of the information and they all went back to help with the rescue efforts.

At this point, I firmly believed that Ling was under Master's protection. Master asked us to look inward when facing tribulations, so I thought about what caused Ling to be persecuted. I realized that she was attached to the end time of Fa-rectification and maybe that was her loophole.

The fact that practitioners were attached to time was also a sign of disbelief and disrespect for Master. The old forces must have seized on this loophole and wanted to drag my sister down.

The situation was so urgent that I asked Fang to try her best to visit Ling and tell her to remove her attachment to time.

I also thought that rather than returning to my hometown, I should send forth righteous thoughts to use the divine power given to me by Master and Dafa to eliminate the evil elements that were persecuting my sister.

My determination to deny the persecution had never been so strong and more powerful. I felt that my hands were so huge that there were two giant hands in my dimension. It was the first time I had such a feeling. Ling’s righteous thoughts also became stronger. She was taken to the forced labor camp, but was not allowed to enter; instead was taken back to the police station.

Ling was soon released, and became more mature in her cultivation after this experience.

Looking back, I realized that Master was always by my side. Every thought I had at that time was not well thought out, but it was actually Master telling me what to do.

Given all of our effort to rescue Ling, she returned home safely after she removed her attachment. As a result, we all became more aware of the seriousness of cultivation.

Cultivating for so many years, all along the way, I felt that Dafa practitioners are always under Master’s care. Our compassionate and great Master has prepared everything for us. All we need to do is to listen to Master’s words, cultivate solidly, fulfill our vows, and cherish our cultivation opportunity.