Two Cultivation Stories: Learning How to Look Within and Memorizing the Fa

(Minghui.org) This article includes two stories submitted by two different practitioners in China.

Learning How to Look Within

A few days ago, two ladies got into a furious argument, and then these two practitioners found me to explain what had happened between them. The cause of the argument was the repayment of a loan. However, both sides’ stories were not totally the same. One practitioner said that the argument had started from a joke, and she felt that such a thing should not have happened. Their behavior had been worse than ordinary people, so she hoped that I could help them resolve the conflict. The other was in a total fit of anger as she reasoned it out and told me that I would be unable to help them because only they could resolve this matter.

I thought that it was no coincidence that I had heard about this and that both of them had come to look for me to tell me about the matter personally. I must put in an effort to look inside myself.

First, I found my attachment to being competitive. As Dafa practitioners, we cultivate Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. The occurrence of conflicts means that we did not attain forbearance and that we did not look within when we encountered conflicts. Recalling my behavior toward my family members, sometimes my tone of voice could be inflexible, impatient, and forceful toward them. This was Chinese Communist Party (CCP) culture, which I should get rid of. I also found my attachment to unkindness.

When the conflicts happened, the two parties were unwilling to admit defeat, confronting each other head-on, refusing to back down, each stating their own reasons. I found my attachment to resentment. I recalled when I had tried to clarify the truth to my family, friends, and colleagues, and they had not accepted what I said. Some of them had refused to quit the CCP and even remained distant from me. I had felt very disappointed with their behavior and that I had lost face, so I actually looked down on them. Isn’t this an attachment to resentment? I blamed them for not knowing what is good for them. This was very serious selfishness, an attachment to selfishness and self-centeredness. Looking down on others is also a result of jealousy.

The cause of the conflict was related to money, so I found my attachment to benefits and gain. On the surface, I do not seem to care so much about money, but in fact, I do have a deeply hidden attachment to personal gain that has caused me financial losses when I attempted to gain a high return on an investment.

Master said,

“The ancients said, "Money is something external to this physical body." Everyone knows it, yet everyone pursues it.” (“Wealth with Virtue,” Essentials for Further Advancement)

How can a cultivator pursue wealth? The attachment to benefits and gain is something we need to get rid of.

The discrepancy between the two practitioners’ narration of events may be because they did not tell the truth, or that they wanted to prove that they were right, so they hid some parts of the truth. Furthermore, one of the practitioners said that it was a joke. I felt that this may mean that she was not speaking the truth, or she was trying to avoid the important parts and emphasizing only the trivial factors.

Having found so many attachments, I felt that my heart was being suppressed by all the matter around it, such that I could not breathe properly. I thus put my legs into the full lotus position, closed my eyes, and calmed myself down, while I sent out strong, righteous thoughts to eliminate these attachments.

I Tasted the Sweetness of Memorizing the Fa

During my nearly 30 years of cultivation, I have conducted myself based on the standards of Dafa. However, due to my lack of Fa study, or because I was just going through the motions, I did not absorb the Fa into my mind even though I studied it. There were many times when I was not able to let go in the face of conflicts. I just let the conflicts drag on, especially when something suddenly arose. At the time, it would be hard to control myself, and I would feel regret after the matter passed. I recently put in effort to memorize the Fa. I set time aside to memorize the Fa with another practitioner every day. Except for in special circumstances, we persisted in doing so every day. Something happened two days ago that made me experience the sweetness of memorizing the Fa.

My family opened a local large-scale supermarket and hired some employees. One of the employees is a relative of mine. My husband discovered that some relatively expensive cigarettes were missing. When he checked the surveillance camera, he discovered that the missing cigarettes had been taken by this relative. Hearing this, the first thing I thought was, “Why did he do that? We did not treat him badly. His salary was 300 yuan more than other staff, and there was a year-end bonus of 500 yuan too.” I had thought of asking him to come to the office to take a look at the surveillance video. I would then follow the shop rules to withhold one month’s worth of salary and dismiss him after that. However, I changed my mind. I thought, “I am a cultivator; isn’t this the way an ordinary person would settle the matter?”

I thought that if his theft was publicized, he would be unable to face our friends and relatives and all the staff in the supermarket. Actually, he had already submitted his resignation and was leaving in four days’ time. I told my son, “Let him leave now. I am afraid that he will take more cigarettes in the remaining days, and we will have to watch him.” My son replied, “Since you want to cultivate yourself, why not let it go, since it’s just four more days?”

I thought that although my son did not really cultivate, and he only understands that Dafa is good, he could still look at the matter like that. As a cultivator, how could I still be entangled in this matter? Didn’t Master teach us the principle of not gaining without any loss? The moment that I totally let it go, my heart felt especially calm. There were no traces of resentment or discontent with this relative. I knew that when I thought of cultivating, Master helped me eliminate a lot of bad material.

During the four days, I still treated this relative well, and I did not monitor him. My heart felt so clean, as though it had been washed with water. During those few days, he passed in front of me many times as though nothing had happened.

This time, I personally experienced the wonder and magnificence of cultivating based on the Fa. Before obtaining the Fa, I was a calculative person who was unforgiving when I was right. It is great Master and Dafa, that have enabled me to transform completely.

There have been many more such incidents that I have gone through. I am really grateful to Master for his benevolent salvation and protection!