My Neighbors and Me

(Minghui.org) I am in my 70s and have been practicing Falun Dafa for over 20 years. I have experienced different kinds of tribulations on my path of cultivation, but I have overcome them because I have taken cultivation seriously and have been protected by Master Li, Falun Dafa’s founder.

Blocked Drain Presents an Opportunity to Validate the Fa

My apartment is on the second floor. A family lives downstairs and the wife is in her 60s. She doesn’t get along well with her other neighbors and often argues with them over trivial things. The area outside her apartment is a public space, so it’s normal for other people to leave their bicycles there, but she doesn’t allow it. If someone leaves a bike there, she yells at the person.

The relationship between my family and hers was fairly good, because my son often repaired her family’s computer and printer for free. After my son got married and moved away, it was inconvenient for her to ask my son for help, and she soon turned cold toward me. I thought, “I am a practitioner and should act in accordance with the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. I can’t behave like an ordinary person, so I will get along with her as I did in the past.”

However, something unexpected happened that angered her. My husband has cerebellar atrophy and is easily confused, so he is often clumsy and doesn’t do things right.

I went to buy groceries one afternoon, leaving him alone at home. He locked the door from the inside. I couldn’t open the door with the key when I came back, and he did not respond to my call. I had to find a locksmith, but the technician said that there was no way to open a door that was locked from the inside without cutting the lock open. I had no choice but to get a few relatives to help. One of them tried to climb through the window, but the ladder wasn’t tall enough to reach the window on the second floor. It was getting dark, and I was worried.

Someone suggested that we call the fire brigade. When they arrived, they said they could only climb up to my neighbor’s first floor overhang and open my widow from there. I talked to my neighbor, but she refused to allow it, fearing that they might damage the door overhang and cause rain to leak inside. Some onlookers commented that she was intentionally making things difficult for someone in trouble. At that point, I was not terribly concerned about it and said to her, “Don’t worry! If there is any damage to your property, I’ll pay for for the repair!” She reluctantly agreed. The firemen climbed onto her door overhang, got into the window on the second floor, opened my door, and the problem was solved.

After that, she held a grudge and would often find fault with us and try to vent her dissatisfaction. She often told other neighbors that my husband moved things around in the middle of the night, disturbing her sleep, and said that it was unfortunate we were her neighbors, among other unpleasant things.

We ran into each other in the community yard one day. I greeted her, but she gave me the cold shoulder and turned away. I thought, “We have treated your family well, but every since that incident, you’ve turned against us. It is our bad luck to be your neighbor!”

I couldn’t get over it for two days and my heart felt tight. Later, through intense Fa study, I realized that she had been helping me improve my xinxing, which was a good thing. So why should I get angry? Weren’t these my attachments to saving face and competitiveness? I slowly let go of my resentment and gradually calmed down.

Earlier this year, the first floor drainpipes were blocked. This neighbor paid to have the problem fixed, then knocked on the neighbors’ doors upstairs to collect money for the repair. Some of the residents did not give her anything and scolded her. Some paid her but also badmouthed her. I was not at home when she knocked on my door, so she called my son to explain why she was collecting the funds. My son said to me on the phone, “I’ll use WeChat to pay the lady downstairs.” I replied, “It would be better for me to give it to her in person! There might be some misunderstanding, so I can explain things to her when I see her!”

She was surprised to see me. I said, “I am here to pay you for taking care of the drainpipes. I was not at home when you knocked last time. I can’t let you make a second trip, so here I am. Handling the matter of clearing the drains is not easy. Thank you!”

She was overjoyed, and her attitude completely changed. She expressed her gratitude to me repeatedly, saying that I was kindhearted and considerate and that, compared to ordinary people, practitioners were different.

She now greets me cheerfully whenever she sees me, her dissatisfaction and resentment now things of the past.

My Upstairs Neighbor

My upstairs neighbor and my family have been neighbors for 30 years and have gotten along very well. But they often have leaks, and my apartment has gotten flooded more than once. Either their bathtub broke, or the water pipe in the toilet tank was not properly installed, or they forgot to turn off the faucet. I would normally forgive them for the leaks and didn’t let them compensate me for the water damage.

One day last year, the fifth floor of our building flooded, and water came down all the way to my apartment on the second floor. The neighbor on the third floor, of course, was also flooded. A little embarrassed, the wife said to me, “My friend, I really admire you! We have flooded your apartment several times before. Now I know how much trouble it causes. But you have always remained calm and never asked us to compensate you.”

I smiled as I replied, “No problem. I practice Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance and should consider others first and not cause them trouble!” She nodded in agreement.

A few days ago, my third floor neighbor’s apartment flooded again. They came down to my apartment several times to find exactly where it was leaking and fixed it. I had to stay up until very late that evening. They were really sorry and tried to give me 200 yuan as compensation, which I did not accept. I said, “Who doesn’t have troubles? As long as you pay more attention to your apartment in the future, everything is OK.” They were embarrassed but once again sensed the tolerance and generosity of a Dafa practitioner.

My neighbors have witnessed the beauty of Dafa. I have told them about Dafa and they quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its youth organizations. I know there is still a big gap between me and the standard of Dafa. From now on, I will be more diligent, cultivate myself well, do the three things, and return home with Master!