People Who Inspired Me On My Life’s Journey

(Minghui.org) I’m 74 years old, and this October will mark exactly 30 years since I began practicing Falun Dafa. For over 70 years, I’ve experienced the care of loved ones, the help of friends, as well as entanglements of gratitude and resentment. I would like to reflect on a few unforgettable people I’ve encountered over the years, people who left a deep impression on me. They were all my benefactors who helped shape me, temper me, and paved the way for me.

The Ragpicker Who Taught Me to Be Kind

When I was five years old, my family was living in Yantai City, Shandong Province. One day, a senior woman, a little over four feet tall, appeared in the street. She was holding a bag of rags in one hand and a kitchen hook in the other. A few children were chasing after her. Suddenly, someone shouted something at her and all the kids followed along shouting. I didn’t know what they meant, but I felt excited and joined in the fun. This woman then became furious and screamed at us, “My son is on the front line fighting the enemy, and you’re enjoying life at home!”

Seeing her anger, we all ran home as fast as we could. Strangely, she didn’t chase anyone else but me. I was terrified, and dashed into the restroom outside my home. The woman stood outside, waved the hook, and kept repeating, “My son is on the front line fighting the enemy, and you’re enjoying life at home!” After shouting for a while, she left.

This event left a lifelong impression on me. Even now, I remember it vividly. I knew I had done something wrong. I shouldn’t have mocked or bullied someone. A seed of compassion was planted in my young heart. This experience played a significant role in shaping how I treated people throughout my life.

I later read Master Li’s teachings and came across this passage:

“Did you know that in order to save you the Buddha once begged for food among everyday people? Today, I once again make the door wide open, and teach this Dafa to save you. I have never felt bitter for the numerous hardships I have suffered. Then what do you have that still can’t be abandoned?” (“True Cultivation,” Essentials for Further Advancement)

I always had a unique feeling that Dafa practitioners tend to think on a broader and deeper level. I thought, “In order to save us, how much groundwork did Master have to lay? How much suffering did he endure? How much pain did he have to endure?” Tears filled my eyes, and a deep sense of gratitude arose in my heart. It was a feeling that no words could describe.

Fortunately, kindness had already taken root in my heart. It laid a strong foundation for me to develop compassion in Dafa cultivation, especially in fulfilling the great mission of assisting Master in Fa-rectification and saving sentient beings.

When clarifying the truth face-to-face, I never skip over street sweepers or ragpickers when I encounter them. I remember there was a new neighborhood not far from my home. I rode my electric bike there and realized that no Dafa practitioners had helped people to quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). So I visited frequently and spoke to people on every street. Many were street sweepers or landscapers.

These people at the lowest level of society have relatively simple thoughts, and they were more receptive to the greatness of Dafa and the compassion of Dafa practitioners. The rate at which those people quit the CCP and its youth organizations was very high. Very few refused to quit.

Several ragpickers told me, “Rich people often look down on us, but you treat us so well. You’re a really good person. You are so kindhearted!” I told them that I practiced Falun Dafa, which teaches Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, and that our Master teaches us to be this way. When they thanked me, I always told them to thank Master Li.

Former Teacher Constantly Picked on Me

When I was ten years old and in second grade, I was a good student, and my homeroom teacher liked me very much. She named me the leader of the class, and often praised me in front of the other students. She invited me to her home during weekends or holidays, gave me treats, and even taught me a traditional, rhythmic singing method for performances.

One day, she told me she had to attend a meeting and asked me to be responsible and watch over several mischievous kids in class during her absence. As soon as she left, the naughty students went wild. Some were talking loudly and others were being boisterous. No one listened to me. One boy even got a long stick and pretended to fire a machine gun over everyone’s heads, making the whole class burst into laughter.

When the teacher returned in the afternoon, the other teachers told her about the chaos. She was furious. She called us class leaders to her office, gave us a stern lecture, and punished us by forcing us to write 4,000 Chinese characters that night. After she left, we all complained. I muttered, “Writing 4,000 Chinese characters overnight!? Maybe 4,000 dots would actually be doable.”

The teacher returned soon after. She let the others go home, but kept me there. She gave me a harsh scolding, saying that I was arrogant, proud, overly confident, and had a hero complex. I cried. I didn’t understand why she was suddenly treating me like this.

I went home feeling troubled. Even worse, starting the next day, without naming anyone directly, she began criticizing me, “Some people are arrogant, proud, overly confident, and have a hero complex…” My classmates didn’t know who she was talking about, but I did. This continued to the point where I became afraid of going to school. Only when I advanced to third grade and got a new homeroom teacher did that nightmare finally end. This experience was also unforgettable, and I often wondered why she was so mean to me.

After practicing Falun Dafa, and especially in recent years, as my xinxing improved and my understanding of the Fa deepened, I came to feel grateful for that teacher. She put in so much effort to correct and guide me. As a 10-year-old child full of competitiveness and rebellion, if I was not corrected early, what would have I become?

In middle and high school, I continued to perform very well. At work, I was praised as someone with both integrity and talent. The negative traits of arrogance and pride never reappeared. I truly feel thankful for that teacher who corrected me in time and prevented me from straying.

I know all of this was arranged by Master. In order to help me become a Dafa disciple during the Fa-rectification period, Master had long since paved the path of my life and was watching over me.

My Husband Helps Me Eliminate Karma

Before cultivation, I often felt sorry for myself for having married a man who didn’t know how to care for me. I thought my life had been wasted. My husband didn’t like to do any housework. Despite being very busy at work, I had to do almost all the housework. From the time I married him, I rarely felt any warmth or thoughtfulness from him.

In the cold winters of the north, icy water can be excruciating, especially for women during their menstrual period. Sometimes after washing clothes, I had to rinse them twice with clean water, and we only had cold tap water. I would ask my husband to help, but he would say, “Why don’t you do it yourself?”

I’d reply, “It’s my period time, and the water is so cold. It makes my arms hurt.” He’d respond by saying his arms hurt too and just kept watching TV like nothing happened.

Over time, my arms, hands, and neck all had problems. Especially in winter, too much contact with cold water made my hands swell. My arms and neck would sometimes ache so badly that I couldn’t sleep. I had to rely on rheumatism patches for relief. I resented my husband because he seemed so cold and heartless. In our home, he was like the “lead monk,” and I was the “little monk” doing all the work.

He also had a terrible temper, and often got angry. For example, if I opened the curtains in the morning, he’d get mad, saying, “Why are you opening the curtains so early?” And when I waited to ask if I could open them, he’d reply, “Why are you asking such a dumb question?”

I felt utterly miserable. Why had I ended up with a husband like this? But my thinking is now entirely different. I recall how Milarepa’s master made him haul rocks to build and tear down houses over and over to eliminate his karma and achieve a greater spiritual realm. My husband also helped me eliminate a great deal of karma.

A Xinxing Conflict with My Daughter-in-Law

My daughter-in-law is usually quiet and easygoing. People say mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationships are difficult, but for years after she married my son, we never raised our voices to each other. We always took the initiative to do the housework and to think of each other’s preferences when cooking food. One day, we were chatting about the nature of our relationship, and my daughter-in-law said, “We don’t have those typical problems. You’re very easygoing and kind-hearted!”

But something happened soon afterward. When we visited my sister for a meal, someone mentioned that the daughter of a leader at our workplace was nearly 40 and still unmarried. I then quipped, “She’s so rich, and her dad’s a big official. Who’d dare marry her?!”

My son replied, “I’d dare to marry her!” I then exclaimed, “You’re speaking nonsense!”

On the way home, my daughter-in-law rushed off ahead. At home, my son asked if I had said something wrong because she was upset. Only then did I remember what I said.

The next day, she acted very differently. She was cold and silent, and even ignored me when I spoke to her. Coming home from work, she turned her face away and went straight to her room. I apologized that evening, saying, “I must have said something hurtful without realizing it. Please don’t be upset.”

She just replied, “You’re overthinking.”

But she kept her distance from that day on. She never argued with me, but was just silent. She even avoided looking at me. I was miserable for days and felt like a child who had done something wrong. I blamed my careless mouth, and knew I needed to cultivate my speech.

As a practitioner, I understood she was helping me to improve my xinxing. Though I knew this in principle, my heart still ached. I had been an educator my whole life, was respected by many, and now I had to bear such a grievance from someone younger.

But with years of cultivation experience, I knew this was a test to help me improve. Even when I felt bad, I kept doing what I should do. I still woke up early to prepare breakfast for them and cleaned up after they left. In the evening, I cooked and made sure they liked the food. I also bought clothes and shoes for my daughter-in-law, and sometimes for her mother, her sister, and even her sister’s children. Gradually, the ice began to melt, and our relationship returned to normal.

I know all these people were arranged by Master to help me succeed as a Dafa practitioner. I thank them, but I’m even more grateful for Master’s boundless compassion. As a Dafa practitioner, I must cultivate diligently, walk the path Master has arranged, do the three things well, save more people, and not let down Master’s compassionate salvation.

Thank you, Master! Thank you, fellow practitioners!