Be Truly Good to Other People

(Minghui.org) Because my parents brought me up well, I was an honest person, never bullied anyone, never took advantage of others, and had sympathy for those who were weak. People said that I was a good person, which I also thought to be true.

But after I started to practice Falun Dafa, I noticed that I was far from Dafa’s principles of Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance. I have learned to follow Dafa’s requirements to always think of others first, be kind to and understanding of everyone, and truly be a better person.

Being Kind and Sincere to My Mother-in-law

I am the eldest daughter-in-law in my husband’s family and the eldest daughter in my own family. Over the years, I have been responsible to the older generation on both sides and tried my best to help my younger siblings and those on my in-laws’ side resolve their problems. Because of that, both families respect me.

My father-in-law passed away 12 years after I got married. My mother-in-law was in her 60s at the time, and lived alone in a rural area. My husband and I both worked in the city. Our incomes were quite low and we had a child to raise, so our finances were relatively tight. But, when it came to supporting my parents and in-laws, whether it was food, clothing, or money, we never argued. Every year, we always gave more to my mother-in-law than anyone in our families expected.

I always gave my mother-in-law more food and other things than my own mother. Over the years, my sister-in-law, as well as the wives of my brothers-in-law, have all treated me like their sister. We have never quarreled or had any disputes. Other villagers praised us for being a good family.

During the last five years of my mother-in-law’s life, I treated her extremely well, as if she was my own mother. She passed away at the age of 87. Her doctor said to others in the village several times, “I have been practicing medicine for more than 30 years, and few families have treated the elders as well as this family did; not only the were children filial, but the daughters-in-law as well.”

Facing the Onset of the Persecution

In the first two years of the persecution of Falun Gong (also called Falun Dafa), I went to Beijing to appeal three times, and was arrested twice. Both times, I spent Chinese New Year in a detention center. My two sisters-in-law are both Dafa practitioners and that first year they were also held in the detention center. My mother-in-law was deceived by the propaganda and lies on television about Dafa. When the three of us were in the detention center, her attitude toward me changed. She asked my husband to pass on a message to me twice, saying that if I continued to practice Dafa, she would never again let me in her home.

I was very upset when I heard this. I thought, “I have always treated your family well. Now, when I am being wrongly persecuted, you are standing on the evil’s side. I will not give up my belief in Dafa. If you don’t let me visit you, then I will not visit you.”

After I was released, I did not go to my mother-in-law’s for the first three months. Then, I realized that I was wrong. My mother-in-law’s misunderstanding was caused by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). She had to endure so much pain when three of us were arrested and detained at the same time! She was a kind-hearted person. As a Dafa practitioner, how could I be angry with her? I should care about her and understand her. From then on, I treated her even better than before.

I was arrested again and fired from my job for not giving up my belief. My son was in college, and my husband’s employer was going through a hard time and did not pay the employees for several months. We had no savings, and life became very difficult. It was with the help of my mother and my siblings that we were able to get through those difficult times.

My sister-in-law told my mother-in-law about my family’s situation. When I went to visit my mother-in-law, she took out all her certificates of deposit, and asked me to check them one-by-one to see if any were mature so that she could make a withdraw to support us. I was very moved and couldn’t help but cry. I said to her sincerely, “Mother, how can I spend your money? I appreciate your kindness. I have money. You don’t have to worry about us.” I saw tears in her eyes, too.

Because I always treated her kindly, she treated me like her own daughter and was always willing to tell me everything. One of her neighbors said to me, “Your mother-in-law always praises you for your good heart and says that she has a great daughter-in-law.”

I told them, “I do this because I practice Falun Dafa. Dafa’s Master taught us to be kind to everyone. She is my mother-in-law, so of course I should treat her well.”

Being Kind to Neighbors

We live in the staff building where I work, and families are always moving in and out. Wherever they are from, my workplace or not, I always remember Master’s teachings and treat everyone well.

Whenever I see neighbors, I always greet them warmly. After a while, the new neighbors who at first wouldn’t even want to raise their heads warmly greeted me. Some people ask their children to call me “Grandma,” and some young people call me “Auntie.” Because they all respect me, when I clarify the truth to them, they usually are able to accept it.

A couple in their 80s live downstairs from me. They really likes to occupy public space. They take over any usable space downstairs and upstairs for their own use. They have had arguments with many neighbors over this, and hardly anyone in the building wants to talk to them. But I respect them and have lived in harmony with them for many years.

When my son was getting married a few years ago, there was a pile of things the couple had put in the corridor that had not been moved for a long time. I went to see them and said to the wife, “Auntie, I want to discuss something with you. My son is coming home to get married in a few days. Are those things in the corridor upstairs yours? Can you move them so I can clean the space?”

She told me that I should ask her husband. I asked him if he could move the things for a little bit, as it was inconvenient with my son getting married. His face fell and he said, “I need them there! There’s no place to move them.” He ignored me after that, so I had to leave.

Two days later, the broom, boards and other things in the corridor were taken away, but a large bag was still there. I opened it and saw that it was a bag of lime that already hardened and some other garbage. The day before my son’s wedding, a relative helped me clean the area.

One day, the wife saw me and said coldly, “I don’t know who threw away our things.” It was then that I noticed their pile of garbage was gone. I told her that it might have been the person who came to help out for my son’s wedding, and if it was something they still needed, I would compensate them for the loss. She replied, “It was not of much use. I was just asking.”

A few days later, I heard that the wife was sick. I bought her some milk, fruit and other things. She was very moved. She praised me in front of others many times, saying that Dafa practitioners have good hearts.

Several police officers showed up downstairs one time, and she heard they were there to arrest me. She quickly knocked on my door and told me, “The police are coming to arrest you. Don’t go out. I’ll buy you anything you need.” I was very moved and thanked her. I was able to avoid being persecuted because of her help.

Stopping People from Committing Crimes Against Dafa

Whenever I encounter people who slander Dafa, I always try to stop them. It is a practitioner’s responsibility to protect Dafa, and it is truly good for those people to stop committing crimes against Dafa.

I ran into a close high school classmate whom I had lost contact with for many years. She was living in a different city and was here visiting someone else. She was very excited and held my hand, saying, “I haven’t seen you for so many years. I really miss you.” I told her that I really missed her, too! We chatted for a while, then I began to clarify the truth to her. I told her that I had worried about her and wondered if she knew the truth about Falun Dafa.

She immediately changed when she heard this and said loudly and angrily, “Don’t talk to me about that. I don’t want to hear it.” Then she started to curse Dafa, and some people walking by stopped and watched. I thought that I couldn’t let her say this nonsense anymore, so I told her in a low but stern voice to calm down. I asked her to answer two questions before commenting on Dafa. She stopped talking.

I asked, “Have you ever practiced Falun Dafa?” Without hesitation, she said no, and she didn’t want to! I then asked, “What harm has Falun Dafa done to you and your family? How much loss has it caused you?”

She blinked and did not answer immediately. After a pause, she said softly, “It has not harmed us at all, and it really has nothing to do with us.”

I said, “You have never practiced Falun Dafa, and it doesn’t harm you, so why do you hate it so much?” She told me that she heard it all on TV. She also heard on TV that Falun Dafa practitioners went to Tiananmen Square to burn themselves to death.

I said, “You’re a smart person. How can you believe everything you see on TV? Why don’t you think about it? The clothes and face of that person who ‘self-immolated’ seemed to be burned, but his hair and the plastic Sprite bottle with gasoline did not catch fire. How? The little girl whose trachea was cut could speak and sing when reporters interviewed her two days later. How? The police never patrol Tiananmen Square with fire extinguishers, but within two minutes of the ‘self-immolation,’ more than a dozen fire extinguishers appeared. How was that possible if it had not all been prepared in advance?

“There are many more obvious things. The Tiananmen Square self-immolation was staged by the CCP to discredit Falun Dafa and incite people to hate it.” I told her some other facts about Dafa and the persecution.

She understood and said, embarrassed, “I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have said those things just now. Falun Dafa is good, and I won’t be fooled again. Please help me quit the CCP. And, please pay attention to your safety.” I thanked her for her concern.

One day, someone told me that a person who used to be in a Fa study group with me had stopped practicing and was saying bad things about Dafa. The next day, I went to his workplace to see him. He was polite, gave me a seat, and asked what I came for.

I remained calm but said with all due seriousness, “I have something important to talk to you about. I’ve heard that you don’t practice Falun Dafa anymore.” He acknowledged that he didn’t. I continued, “Whether to practice or not is your personal choice, and no one will force you. But I’ve also heard that you said some bad and disrespectful things about Dafa and Master. Is that true?” His face turned red, and he stammered and couldn’t say anything.

I continued, “It seems that it’s true. We studied the Fa in the same group for more than three years. I know you are kind. How could you go against your conscience like that? I remember that you told everyone that you saw layers of srivatsas appear endlessly in front of your eyes. You also said, ‘Falun Dafa is really good!’ But when Dafa is wrongly persecuted, as a person who has benefited from Dafa, you couldn’t stand up and say a fair word for Dafa. Instead, you insulted Dafa and Master. Is it right for you to do this? Don’t you feel guilty? You can’t be like that! Even if you aren’t grateful, you can’t repay kindness with hatred!”

He lowered his head and said with a heavy heart, “I was wrong! I really shouldn’t have said those things. I will never do it again. Please believe me.”

I never heard about him saying anything bad about Dafa again.