Cherishing Every Cultivation Opportunity

(Minghui.org) Reina needed to relocate to another city due to a job change. Because she has many belongings, Kenjiro and I decided to help her move.

Reina and I had no experience driving long distances, while Kenjiro was relatively experienced. Since the journey was long and most of it was on highways, in order to avoid getting lost, we decided to have Reina and Kenjiro lead the way and I followed them. We used our mobile phones to navigate.

I tried my best to follow them. But when we drove on the merging section of the highway, other cars often “cut in” between our cars. At first I worried that I wouldn’t be able to follow them or I would get lost. I was anxious and thought: “It would be great if this car in front of me turned into the fast lane. When will he move from this lane?” Sometimes, I waited for the right moment to overtake the other car on merging roads to reduce the possibility of being cut off. While these actions were dangerous, they did provide temporary solutions to the problem.

However, I found that other cars cut in from time to time, and it seemed to be beyond my control. I realized that I was obsessed with being cut off. From a cultivation standpoint I was worried that my interests would be damaged and my plans would be affected, so I had negative emotions towards these cars and thought they were obstacles. I had no compassion. When I did things, such as overtaking them, it was to protect my own interests. This seemed to temporarily solve the problem, but this impatient and reckless behavior wasn’t in line with forbearance.

Cultivation is wonderful. What seems to be a very small thing in life exposes and helps me realize that I have some problems. I can see the big picture from these small things, and they are cultivation opportunities. I realized that my heart nature (xinxing) needs to be corrected.

All my negative thoughts when a car pulled in front of me came from selfishness—I considered problems only from my own perspective, cared about my own feelings, and wanted to protect myself from harm. As a practitioner, I should give up these bad thoughts caused by selfishness and maintain a positive attitude.

When other cars cut in again, although I was still reluctant and worried, I told myself, “Don’t hurry, just follow him and drive carefully.” At the same time, I examined my own thoughts and controlled myself to try not to have negative emotions and bad thoughts. I found that I was gradually able to calm down, and the car in front of me seemed less “annoying.” I even started to observe which city the car in front of me was from, as well as its appearance and characteristics. When I calmed down, I discovered that most of these cars left the highway at the next exits, maybe 10 or 20 minutes later. My schedule was not affected in any way, nor did I lose my fellow practitioner’s car or get lost because of this. Obviously, my worries were unnecessary.

Master said,

“We have said that good or bad comes from a person’s initial thought, and the thought at that moment can bring about different consequences.” (Lecture Four, Zhuan Falun)

The road is long. As we met by chance on the highway, we might only have this short 10 minutes of fate to travel together. These “cut in” cars may not be obstacles but a kind of companionship. This is a kind of fate. I should cherish it, and not reject the cultivation opportunity or complain.

When I changed my notions, everything seemed to change. My negative thoughts and emotions vanished. My heart was full of gratitude and peace. I felt bad about the negative emotions I just sent out. Why didn’t I cherish these drivers during our short encounter? Maybe I won’t have the chance to see them again. I told myself to do better next time and cherish all the sentient beings I meet. No matter whether this matter seems to be a good thing or a bad thing at the time, I must cherish it.

When I encountered a merging section again, I no longer rushed to follow the fellow practitioners’ car, but instead I slowed down, and let the merging cars enter the highway. I also silently greet these new friends I met by chance: “Hi, thank you for accompanying me. Let’s drive together.”

After I changed my mindset, I felt as if a piece of ice in my heart melted. I realized that I actually had similar problems in my life and work environment. I often used acquired concepts to measure others and “label” them in my mind. When the other party did not meet my standards or might affect me in some aspects, I thought the person was blocking my progress, and I had negative emotions and rejected and avoided them. Even if I could still maintain a peaceful appearance on the surface, my heart already drew a line or kept people away.

Cultivation is about cultivating one’s heart. Was I not deceiving myself? All sentient beings I met were predestined. Do I cherish these predestined relationships? Can the people and things I met on the road of cultivation be accidental? I realized that I should maintain positive thoughts and kindness, and look at and treat all people and things I met positively.

Through this experience, I realized that I lacked kindness and patience, and I was selfish. I hope that I can do better in the future, truly respect and treat others well, cherish the cultivation environment around me, and not have any regrets.