(Clearwisdom.net) I had previously been imprisoned simply for my belief in Falun Gong. A few months after I was released, I accidentally found out that my husband had an affair. After I found signs of his affair, I went to talk to him rationally. I told him, "Having an extramarital affair is a corrupt moral behavior. A practitioner's home is clean. I will not support this kind of behavior." Dafa practitioners should correct things that are not righteous. I asked him to tell me what had happened. I didn't want to dwell on past wrongdoing and I would forgive him, but I wanted to hear his honest thoughts. He told me that during the second year of my imprisonment, several companies organized a tour to Hong Kong, and a colleague introduced him to the woman. When the woman found out that I was in prison, she was sympathetic to his being home alone. Under the influence of the evil Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) propaganda about Falun Gong, many people mistakenly think practitioners don't care about their families. He said he would cut off contact with her in order to obtain my pardon.
Nonetheless, after a few days, they contacted each other again. When I learned about it, my heart was unsettled. In fact, I hadn't eliminated the attachment. I didn't maintain my xinxing, and I thought about divorcing my husband. I warned him that I would inform the managers in his company that we are getting a divorce, not because I practice Falun Gong, but because he continued having an affair. I also told him that I wanted to talk to the woman, and her husband and kids. The attachments of competitiveness and revenge surfaced. My husband promised in front of Teacher's photo that he would end their relationship, but I no longer believed him. I struggled with myself. I repeatedly recited "True Cultivation,"
"As a matter of fact, when you agonize over infringements upon your reputation, self-interest, and feelings among everyday people, it already indicates that you cannot let go of ordinary human attachments. You must remember this: Cultivation itself is not painful--the key lies in your inability to let go of ordinary human attachments. Only when you are about to let go of your reputation, interests, and feelings will you feel pain" (Essentials for Further Advancement)
I felt ashamed of not being diligent when Master is benevolent enough to save me. I cried. I told Master in my heart, "Master, my suffering is because I can't put down human attachments. Please help me through this difficult time!"
I remembered Master's teaching:
"As you know, when a person reaches the Arhat level, in his heart he is not concerned about anything. He does not care at all in his heart for any ordinary human matter, and he will always be smiling and in good spirits. No matter how much loss he suffers, he will still be smiling and in good spirits without any concern. If you can really do this, you have already reached the entry-level Fruit Status of Arhatship." (Zhuan Falun)
I repeatedly asked myself why I kept holding on to the issue? If I was to reach consummation tomorrow, and Master was leading the way for us, did I not want to go? Master is allowing us to cultivate to become Buddhas, Taos and Gods. I can only follow Master to go forward and not back down. My heart began feeling much brighter. Suddenly, I recalled a dream I had of four big words in front of my eyes - "Ocean holds thousand rivers." Isn't that a hint from Master? Isn't it hinting that I should have more tolerance? As a practitioner, how can I hold a grudge against ordinary people? My destiny is to save sentient beings. For anything not righteous, I just need to do my part to advise people to be good. I should not be attached to it. When I dug deeper, I realized that I was still attached to affection and that was why I had a difficult time letting go. I hadn't treated my husband as a sentient being to be saved. I only looked at the problem from my own point of view. Why was I not moved when the same things happened to other people? Why was I so troubled when it happened to me? After I repeatedly looked inward, my heart began to be more at peace. I previously thought about quarreling with the woman, but after enlightening in Dafa, I was sympathetic to her.
With a benevolent and kind heart, I treated her as a sentient being to be saved. I went to her company to talk her. I introduced myself and told her why I was there. We chatted while walking. She saw that I did not have a hostile attitude towards her, so she told me the whole story about them. I told her that having an extramarital affair can bring unhappiness and a negative impact to both families and to society, and that we should all be responsible to our own families. To help her gain a better understand Falun Gong, I told her Master's teaching of how to be a good person. I shared how I benefited from Dafa, how it changed me, and why I cultivate. I also told her that as a practitioner, I am determined not to allow the affair to continue, etc. Our conversation went very well because I was truly thinking of others and thinking from her point of view. She also felt the beauty of Dafa. She said she had received a truth-clarification phone call from overseas at night and she finished listening to that call. She said that maybe she would start cultivation in the future. She is a member of the CCP and agreed to let me help her quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations. I told her I would send her a copy of the "Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party." I suggested that she read it carefully and also let her family read it. She was touched. She initially thought that I was going to slander her. I told her that my Master teaches us not to fight back when being punched or insulted, to be good to others in any environment, and to be kind to people. If I wasn't a Dafa cultivator, I may have taken dramatic action towards her and would not have such a good attitude. I told her that practitioners don't have enemies. I knew since I was a cultivator, I should follow Master's requirement. Then, I can improve myself. Before I left, she told me that she and my husband were wrong in the past, and she would cut off her relationship with him. She also hoped I would ask her for help if I needed it. I also welcomed her to visit me.
Through this event, I enlightened that when you are truly kind to others, everything will change, and everything will proceed in the right direction. Maybe because I had put down the attachment, from that day on they didn't contact each other. My husband also supports my cultivation. He said, "Except for Dafa practitioners, there are no good people in the world."
Views expressed in this article represent the author's own opinions or understandings. All content published on this website are copyrighted by Minghui.org. Minghui will produce compilations of its online content regularly and on special occasions.
Category: Improving Oneself
