A Greater Willingness to Help Others after Practicing Falun Dafa

(Minghui.org) Before practicing Falun Dafa, I suffered from a host of chronic ailments, including insomnia, neurasthenia, anemia, low blood pressure, stomach ulcers, arthritis, intestinal adhesions, and sinusitis. They made my life unbearable. My inability to fall asleep made me feel groggy all day long. The intestinal adhesions caused frequent bloating and severe bouts of pain when I attempted to straighten my lower back and walk upright.

I consulted both Western and Chinese medical specialists, desperately visiting each one as soon as news of their skills reached my ears. Obtaining and taking Western and Chinese medications became the most important thing in my life, yet nothing helped to alleviate the suffering my deteriorating condition was causing me.

I started to practice Falun Dafa on May 13, 1995. Coincidentally, around that time, I had been scheduled for surgery to free up my intestinal adhesions, but the doctors decided I was too weak for the procedure and I would have to wait to get stronger.

Eschewing medications and injections, I read Zhuan Falun every day and practiced the five exercises every morning and evening. When I went to the hospital for my scheduled exam, the doctors found that my intestinal adhesions had separated naturally on their own. My symptoms had vanished, and my stomach no longer hurt or was distended. I was able to straighten my lower back and walk normally.

After practicing Falun Dafa for less than three months, my other health issues completely vanished. For the first time in my life, my body felt light and free of pain. I was so happy and amazed by Falun Dafa’s power! I have enjoyed perfect health ever since. I turned 68 this year, but my colleagues frequently comment on how young and energetic I look.

By studying the main book of the teachings, Zhuan Falun, I learned how to become a good person who is sincere, kind, tolerant, and patient according to the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and how to apply these principles to my everyday life.

“There Aren’t Many Good People Like You Anymore”

During the 2018 Mid-Autumn Festival, I went shopping in a Carrefour supermarket. I picked out a rice cooker worth more than 200 yuan and some food and daily necessities. At the checkout counter, the cashier carefully scanned each item, but after settling the bill, I felt something was amiss and suspected I had been undercharged. The cashier was busy serving a long queue of customers, so I was hard-pressed to go back to her and bring up my suspicion.

As I headed toward the exit, I realized this incident might be a test to eliminate my attachment to self-interest. I pushed my shopping cart to the customer service counter and asked for help to tally up all the items on the receipt. The clerk asked, “Were you overcharged?” I replied, “No, I think I’ve been undercharged.” Stunned, she said “I’ve never encountered a situation like this. Customers come here to ask for refunds or to return goods. Nobody complains about being undercharged.”

She looked at the receipt, checked off the items one by one, and said, “There’s nothing wrong.” I pointed to the rice cooker and said, “This item is missing.” She carefully examined the receipt again and realized it really was missing from the receipt. She called her manager and reported the problematic cash register. The store stopped accepting payments at that checkout and started to run tests on the cash register.

The clerk turned to me and said, “Thank you for your timely response, otherwise our supermarket would have incurred more losses.” I replied, “Returning unpaid goods is the right thing to do. I am a Falun Gong practitioner, and we strive to be good people in line with the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. Greed or taking advantage of others is frowned upon, and we are taught to be considerate of others. If everyone lived by Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, your supermarket would never suffer any losses.” She looked at me in admiration and said, “That is certainly true. There aren’t many good people like you anymore.”

Our Good Deeds Can Influence Those Around Us

My family lives on the third floor of an older residential housing building. The first floor has its own dedicated rainwater downspout, but the second to seventh floors share a single downspout. The old guttering was prone to getting blocked up, and rainwater would collect in the second-floor apartments before leaking into those on the first floor. This resulted in unpleasant quarrels between the neighbors on these levels.

Replacing the main downspout would essentially solve the problem, but the property management company refused to cover the cost, so each resident was asked to pay a fee to get it replaced. The long-term residents were unwilling to pay, not to mention those who were temporary renters, so nothing was done.

We had a rainstorm one day that lasted from the morning until 4 p.m., causing a lot of water to accumulate in the front yard. I ventured out to buy food as soon as the rain stopped. As I passed the first-floor apartment, I saw my neighbors busy clearing out the remaining rainwater that had leaked into their place. While I had heard about the situation in passing, I had not seen it before with my own eyes.

When I offered to talk to the property management company, the elderly couple shook their heads. “It’s useless. We’ve tried talking to them many times, and even called 110 for police assistance, but the problem remains. In recent years, our apartment floods whenever it rains heavily, destroying our furniture.” I checked with my neighbors in 202, one level above, and they shared a similar story. They said, “If there is even a possibility of rain, we dare not go out. We have to stay home to scoop up the rainwater, or there will be trouble once it leaks to the first floor.”

Seeing their worry and frustration, I wondered how I could help them. According to the teachings of Falun Dafa, we should strive to be good people according to the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, and this includes being kind to and considerate of those around us.

I discussed it with my family later that day. Although my husband and son are not practitioners, my family acknowledges the goodness of Falun Dafa and wholeheartedly supports my cultivation. I described the situation to them and suggested, “Let's do a good deed. We can use our money to help our downstairs neighbors replace their downspout.” Both my husband and son agreed, “Let's do this good deed.” My son added, “I can buy one item less of clothing, and the money can instead be used for this.”

I located the property management company representative and asked for her help to arrange to have the downspout replaced. When she quoted a fee of 400 yuan, I handed her the sum without hesitation. She was surprised, “You [Falun Dafa practitioners] are so different from the others.” The spout was replaced that same afternoon. When the building security guard saw me, he cried out, “Why did you pay all of it? Get the rest of them to contribute.” I replied, “Keep your voice down, I’m just doing a good deed.”

The property management representative later returned 100 yuan to me. She said she had shared my altruistic act with the construction company representative and asked for a discount. The company representative agreed. “Since this is the case, let us follow up on this good deed and give a 100-yuan discount.”

This incident soon spread throughout our community. The old couple shared my good deed with the residents in unit 201. This encouraged them to pay the necessary fees to change their downspouts. One after another, the residents on the first and second floors of several other units replaced their failing spouts, until all of them were replaced. The flooding issues in our building complex were resolved.

These good deeds were the result of the power of Falun Dafa. When Dafa disciples do well, their actions can influence those around them to do the right thing.