Cultivating Myself When Personal Interests Are at Stake

(Minghui.org) I am 70 years old now. During my 20-plus years of cultivating Falun Dafa, Master Li has purified my body, eliminated my illnesses, and cleansed my thoughts. I have never met Master, but I feel that Master has been with me, protecting me and giving me hints all the time. He has put all his heart into Dafa practitioners. It is Master who changed me from a selfish person into an altruistic one. I am infinitely grateful to Master and for Dafa’s boundless grace and mighty virtue. I think the only way for me to repay Master is to cultivate myself well and help save more people.

Here, I would like to report to Master and share with fellow practitioners about two recent experiences in my cultivation.

The Down Jacket Came Back

In mid-September 2022, I took two old-fashioned down jackets to the clothes store and asked them to make one new-styled down jacket from the two old ones. Both jackets were filled with white down and were of good quality. The shop owner’s wife pulled out the down filling from the two jackets and weighed it. I paid them more than 300 yuan, and we agreed that I could pick it up in 10 days.

After 10 days, I had some matters to attend to and didn’t pick up the down jacket. Then it was a public holiday. When I went to get the jacket, the clothing store was closed for the holiday. After the holiday, I went again to pick it up, and saw that the storefront had changed, and the sign for the clothing store was gone. My heart sank. Had the shop owner’s wife taken the down jackets and left? I called the phone number on the clothing pickup ticket, but the call wouldn’t go through. At this point, I was certain that the down jackets were gone. I thought: “The two down jackets and the alteration fee totaled 700 or 800 yuan, and they were lost just like that? Should I report it to the police? That would be quite troublesome, and for a matter of 700 or 800 yuan, no one would care. Even if I found the shop owner’s wife, it wouldn’t be good for her.”

When I chatted with her before, I learned that her family lived in the countryside and their life wasn’t easy. I clarified the truth, and she quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its youth organizations. Perhaps she really had some difficulties. I’m a practitioner, and I should consider others first when doing things. I thought, “Forget it! If they’re lost, just let it be.”

Nothing that happens to practitioners is accidental. So after returning home, I calmly looked inward. Why did such a thing happen? Where did I go wrong? After searching and searching, I found it. It was like what the elderly used to say about being wasteful and destructive. Those two jackets could still be worn, but I wanted to destroy them and really did so. I spent over 300 yuan on top of that. Wasn’t this an extravagant waste? I was truly wrong. This was a lesson. I really can’t be so wasteful in the future. Although I still felt some regret in my heart, I gradually let it go.

More than two weeks later, as I was walking by this store again, I looked up and noticed the clothing store sign was there. I was quite puzzled. I thought: “Let me go home and get the clothing ticket to see if I can get the jackets back.” As soon as I entered the clothing store, I saw my down jacket hanging there. I asked the shop owner’s wife: “Did you move to a different location?”

She denied it outright, only saying, “Getting a new license would cost me over 1,000 yuan.” I didn’t say any more. I was glad that my down jacket came back. Things that belong to me don’t get lost.

The Money I Loaned a Neighbor 12 Years Ago Came Back

My neighbor and I have had many years of interaction, helping each other. In 2011, the neighbor told me her family had an accident, and she asked to borrow 15,000 yuan from me. Without hesitation, I withdrew the money from the bank and lent it to her, without asking her to write a promissory note. I didn’t at all consider whether she could repay me, even though she had no pension and was living on a low-income benefit. I just thought about helping her with her emergency. She lived with her mother, who was in her 80s and had a pension, which was enough for them to survive.

One year later, my neighbor said, “I had saved enough money to repay you, but my mother used it to see doctors.” Another year passed, and she said to me, “I saved enough money again, but my son used it.” Later, she began to do business, and when she saw me, she said she had loaned money to someone and she would return it to me when she got her money back.

Hence, a few years had passed, and I felt she didn’t really want to repay the money. Initially, I felt upset, thinking: “How can she be like that? She has not said one single true word. She must not be willing to repay me the money.” I felt that my trust in her was taken advantage of, and I was being bullied. I didn’t even want to talk to her when I saw her again.

I later realized that, as a practitioner, I should follow Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and always consider others first. Perhaps she didn’t repay my money because she really did have difficulty in doing so. If she did have money and just didn’t want to repay me, then it might be because I owed her in a previous life, and now I have paid her back. If either case were not true, then the principle of “no loss, no gain” that Master mentions in Zhuan Falun governs people. It was also a test of my attachment to personal interests. As a cultivator, I shouldn’t be the same as everyday people. So I let the matter go.

When I saw her again, she told me again that she would repay the money at a certain time. I said, “I don’t want it anymore.” Later on, the same thing happened again. She promised a time, but didn’t repay me. This happened more than 10 times. However, I totally let the matter go, and never thought about it anymore. When I saw her again, I talked to her as normal, as if nothing had happened. Over 10 years had gone by, and I never criticized her.

During the 2024 Chinese New Year, she came to my home, holding a package wrapped in newspaper. It had 18,700 yuan in it. She came to repay me the money. I said, “I don’t want it anymore.” But she insisted. When I asked why so much, she said it included interest for the past 12 years. I told her that I didn’t want the interest and appreciated her intention. She wouldn’t agree and insisted on leaving it all with me. After she left, I thought, “Her mother has passed away, and now she has no pension, living only her low-income benefit, leading a hard life. If I return all the interest, she won’t agree to it. Then let me return 2,000 yuan to her.” When I gave her the 2,000 yuan to her, she accepted it happily.

I had previously clarified the truth about Falun Dafa to her and her son, and they had quit the CCP. However, she still had some barriers against Falun Dafa in her heart. Thus, I took the opportunity to give the 2,000 yuan to her to clarify the truth further. Then she completely understood. I felt gratified that she had no more niggling doubts about Falun Dafa and for my being able to let go of the attachment to personal interest. When I let go of the attachment, I gained after losing. I also experienced the extraordinary nature of Dafa through this.

I think this was the result of Master’s reinforcement, and also a test of my attachment to personal interest. I will firmly cultivate this heart of mine, continually cultivate and improve myself in Dafa, eliminate the mentality of selfishness and self-interest, and return home with Master.