(Clearwisdom.net) Six years have passed since I started to practice Falun Dafa. Thinking back, much has happened to me since 2004.
1. Eliminating the Attachment to Gain
Seven months after becoming a practitioner, I began to work for a large hotel, hoping that I might be able to save some money so my family could buy a larger house. Now, we live in a two-room house and with our child growing up, a larger house is needed. We're also young and think that we should live better. Furthermore, this would be more prestigious. I thought I could cultivate, make money, and tell people about Falun Dafa at my place of work. In the beginning I managed quite well with all I wanted to do. But, as time passed, I became less diligent in studying the Fa and doing the exercises. Before long, my righteous thoughts became less strong and my cultivation came almost to a standstill. I recognized this and thought of resigning from my job. It wasn't that easy, as my boss raised my salary by 150 yuan to 600 yuan, so I didn't resign. Then, I thought of quitting again, but my boss increased my pay by another 100 yuan, so I just stayed on.
In 2004, when the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party was published, we began to encourage people to withdraw from the Chinese Communist Party and its affiliated organizations. Fellow practitioners in my area helped more than a hundred people to withdraw. Observing this made me see my own shortcomings and my heart grew heavy. Fellow practitioners told me more than once that I had forgotten about saving people because of wanting to earn money.
When I was thinking about this problem, my husband hit an elderly lady with his motorbike on his way home from work one night. He said that the bike barely touched her and that he could have easily escaped. But, his conscience would have bothered him. So, he negotiated with her and they agreed that he would pay her 1,800 yuan, including 400 yuan that were earmarked in case hospital treatments were needed. Although I didn't say anything, I felt awful at the time! I looked inwards and thought that this accident happened because I still held a human mindset, which yearned for a better life. Wasn't it that I had become less diligent in my cultivation and no longer put the Fa ahead of everything else? I came to understand that nothing in this world is accidental. We are not able to control what will happen to us.
I returned to studying the Fa diligently.
2. Diligently Clarifying the Facts about Falun Gong
A fellow practitioner and I went to visit a family when they were having their dinner. I said, "Oh, you're having dinner. We are sorry to bother you! We're selling socks and clothes, do you want to buy some?" They said "No." I responded, "Thank you anyway! By the way, I have something to tell you." They looked surprised, "What about?" I then said, "There's been a public notice on the Internet that can keep you safe. It is about withdrawing from the Chinese Communist Party and its affiliated organizations to keep you from suffering tribulations. Have you heard about it?" A man asked, "Is it about Falun Gong?" I answered, "Falun Gong is the Buddha Law. It teaches people to be good and promotes the principles, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. It teaches that one cannot lie or deceive anyone and that we should always be kind to others without getting angry. Actually it also teaches that one will stay healthy when having a peaceful mind and can handle things patiently, without confrontation."
So, I asked, "Did any of you join the Communist Youth League?" Two of them said yes and the others shook their heads. "How about wearing red scarves like the Communist Young Pioneers?" They all said yes. Then I said, "I can do the withdrawals for you using assumed names, because didn't you raise your hands to swear you'd give your life for Communism? In doing so, you became part of it. You should resign to keep yourselves safe." One of them said with a thumbs up that being good is after all better than being bad. They asked us to eat with them, but we declined and thanked them. We said our goodbyes and we were happy, because these people understood the truth.
We use different methods to deal with different kinds of people when talking about Falun Gong. Some are mahjong players and some are Christians. There is so much I could tell fellow practitioners, but time is short and the article would get too long.
All in all, when cooperating with fellow practitioners, I have had many opportunities to eliminate my attachments. When noticing that some practitioners were better in helping people withdraw from the Communist Party, I began to compare our achievements, developed a competitive mentality, and was jealous. I wanted more people to withdraw from the Communist organizations. If I did better than others, I became complacent and had a show-off mentality. If I worked with a practitioner who couldn't speak as well as I, I became arrogant and looked down my nose at him/her. I had to learn to look within and eliminate these attachments. I wanted to be at one with fellow practitioners.
When the environment got better, I felt lazy at times. When faced with friction, I didn't look within. Therefore, from now on, I must be responsible to myself as well as to sentient beings. I must continue to work hard, cultivate myself well, look within when facing problems, and save people with a pure heart.
June 9, 2010
