(Clearwisdom.net) My mother started practicing Falun Gong in 1995. One day she bought 50 Jin (Chinese weight measurement, roughly equivalent to one pound) of premium quality cotton. When several elderly ladies living in our neighborhood learned about her purchase, they also tried to buy some, but the high quality cotton was no longer available. They asked my mother if they could buy some of hers, and mother readily agreed, saying, "By all means, if you all like it, then take it. I can buy more later." Several of the ladies happily accepted the offer and bought all the cotton from her to be shared among them.
Unexpectedly, the next day one of the ladies came over and told mother that another vendor came and offered cotton for sale at a much cheaper price. She sounded like she regretted paying the higher price to mother the day before.
Without hesitation mother refunded the difference in price to all the ladies who had bought the cotton from her. At that time I was not a practitioner yet, and I felt they took advantage of mother. "Mother, the quality of the cotton was obviously different, how can the price be the same? Didn't they know that?" Mother cheerfully said, "Your dear elder Liu and elder Wang do not have any retirement money. They always have to ask their sons to support them. Although your dear elder Xin does have retirement pay, her children all got laid off recently, and she needs to support the whole family. After all, they are not practitioners and I can understand their concern about the price. I am a Falun Gong practitioner, and I must be considerate of others."
After a few more months passed by, these elderly ladies all noticed that mother's previous pale colored complexion had turned rosy and healthy. They were also touched by mother's courteous and humble manner. Before long they all started practicing Falun Gong. During that time they practiced together in the morning, and studied the book in the evening at mother's house. Dafa assimilated each practitioner, and these senior citizens became healthy, happy and cheerful like mother.
After the persecution of Falun Gong began, my mother was killed by the evil forces. Even though the ladies did not have much money, they saved all they could to make truth clarification materials. Sometimes their children would question their motives, but they would candidly speak out, "If I had not practiced Dafa, you could easily have spent 10,000 Yuan on my treatment at the hospital and still come up short. People must live by their conscience, and we must not be selfish. I benefited from practicing Dafa. I must also tell others so that they can benefit from Dafa, too."
During the time when I was forced away from my home by the persecution, I occasionally ran into the elderly ladies. I saw them holding the hands of their grandchildren, calmly and contentedly walking along the streets and alleys, handing out truth clarification pamphlets to predestined people. They walked tirelessly, compassionately and ceaselessly talking to people about the principle that is intimately related to every sentient being.
Their waistlines bulged, and I wouldn't be surprised if they were stuffed with at least 200 copies of truth clarification materials. They came over to hold my hands after they saw me and said, "We will continue the unfinished work left behind by your mom and other fellow practitioners who have lost their lives."
Tears rolled from my eyes while I nodded studiously.
Category: Improving Oneself