Learning from Car Breakdowns

(Minghui.org) After dealing with car problems for a year, I finally started my car without waiting for it to warm up for a long time. This was truly amazing!

I am a street vendor and I sell clothing and daily necessities‎ by driving goods to the mountainous villages in eastern Taiwan. My last car was very reliable and seldom needed attention, but as time went on, it developed a serious oil leak. I finally switched to another car, which was more than ten years old. With this new used car, I found myself frequently waiting for a tow truck on the side of the road and dealing with emergency repairs.

The steering gear broke down on the first day, and more issues developed later, such as tire blowouts, oil leakage from the tires’ drive shaft, broken belts, generator failures, shock absorbers, exhaust pipes, faulty tripods, water tanks, and water pipes that burst and leaked. The car failed the vehicle inspections twice a year because of many issues, and I spent a lot of money on the repairs. Fortunately, after starting to practice Falun Dafa in 2018, these car problems gradually dimished‎! Thank you Master for taking care of me!

However, in the winter of 2021, the car would not start up smoothly. I started it in second gear and then changed into first gear. It took 30-40 minutes to warm up. The repair shop confirmed that the gearbox was aging and it would cost a lot of money to repair. Driving the car became an endless nightmare. I never knew how long it would need to warm up before I could get on the road. I tried to look inward but did not know what to look for. Sending righteous thoughts did not resolve the issue.

One day, I read Master’s Fa:

“...Some students go to extremes as they cultivate. They suddenly enlighten to something and think, “Oh, this can stir up my attachments. I don’t want it. I’ll do away with it. Oh, this job I have can stir up my attachments. I will quit it. Hmm, I think I’ll just avoid everything.” Think about it: Is that doing cultivation? Isn’t that going to extremes? I often say something. I say that you are cultivating among everyday people, and you should cultivate while conforming to the way of everyday people to the greatest extent. This is not a simple sentence, and it’s not to say that you have met the standard set forth in the sentence just by doing your job as usual. Think about it carefully. [What I am talking about] is manifested in every facet of your cultivation practice. If you are unable to cultivate in everyday people’s society [following the forms of] everyday people, then you are damaging the way of everyday people’s society. Even though ordinary society is not good, it too was created by the cosmic Dafa for the beings at the level of mankind. It is precisely because of its bad traits that mankind is allowed to cultivate here. It is meant for you to melt and dissolve away human badness, and for you to rise above and beyond, just like the lotus flower, rising out of mud—holy and pure. You absolutely must not go to extremes, and you absolutely must not understand the Fa in an off-track way. When you go to extremes, when you wish to cast off all sorts of [normal] things, when you discard your jobs, for example, in reality you are already in the midst of another attachment. Your fear of attachments itself has formed an attachment; it is your attachment of fearing attachments.” (Teachings at the Conference in Australia)

I thought about my attitude towards doing business. ‎Before I began practicing Falun Dafa, I misunderstood some Buddhist principles and had a negative attitude towards my life. For example, when customers bargained to reduce prices, stole clothes, or did not pay their debts, I would let them go, and regard these bad experiences as eliminating my karma. I continued to wear worn clothing and seldom trimmed my beard and hair because I felt that the body was made to eliminate karma, and it would rot sooner or later, anyway. ‎I lived with these misconceptions for many years!

I roughly understood the meaning of “you should cultivate while conforming to the way of everyday people to the greatest extent” from Master’s lecture. But I felt that since my prior misunderstanding of Buddhism had caused my life to be so chaotic and troublesome, I should change my attitude towards life and conform to the way people live (as Master told us to).

I had previously cultivated alone for several years. So I started to participate in the Fa study group. I felt my character rapidly improve. My life, spiritually, and business-sense became smoother! ‎

When I was about to drive the car to do business one morning, I suddenly felt more power from the car. It started up right away after I put it in gear! ‎A year of painful car problems finally disappeared! How wonderful! It was amazing!

Dafa is magnificent! I am truly grateful for Master’s care and guidance along the way! Thank you Master!