(Clearwisdom.net) Jane is typical of many Falun Dafa practitioners. She began her career after graduation from college, married and had a son. Then she applied for immigration and came to live in Canada.
Jane practices the Falun Dafa sitting meditation at Milliken Park in Toronto
Following the Principle of Truthfulness in Daily Life
In 1997 Jane's husband had an accident which led them to start practicing Falun Dafa to aid in his physical recovery. From then on, they not only became healthy, but were also inspired by the spiritual teachings of the practice and their outlook on life began to change dramatically.
At that time, Jane's mother worked for a foreign company that would reimburse her for daily taxi fares accrued as a result of any transport related to her job. Since she lived close to her job, she did not need to go to the company by taxi.
Jane said, "Before practicing cultivation, I often gave my own taxi invoices to my mother to submit for the reimbursement money." Jane did not think that this was wrong, because everyone did such things. In addition, her mother's taxi invoice reimbursement was less than others. Some employees received reimbursement for very long taxi distances. After starting cultivation practice, Jane realized it was wrong to do this kind of thing because it does not meet the criterion of truthfulness for practitioners. She did not give her mother any more taxi invoices for reimbursement. She said, "If I did not practice cultivation, I would not have thought that there was anything wrong with my previous behavior."
After Jane began her job, she was sometimes away on business trips. She always applied for reimbursement based on actual cost. Once, she finished a local business trip and received extra travel reimbursement in error. She returned the extra money to her company. Later, many young people in her office told her it was silly to return the money. Some of her peers said, "Why would someone return the money? It would be great to get all that reimbursement! Who will it hurt if you get extra money? There will be no problem if you turn a blind eye to it." Jane told them it was all about a principle that she lived by and she could not take the extra money. Jane said, "I felt happy after I returned the money."
Cultivating the Inner Self Amid Conflicts
Falun Dafa cultivation requires compassion and forbearance that is sometimes a challenge to practice. Jane's son became difficult to discipline as he got older. Jane said, "In fact, I am not tough with my son, but I will become stern if he is still disobedient after I told him something several times. If he continues to be disobedient, I will get very angry. My mother, a Falun Dafa practitioner, reminded me that I should look inside when I see my son's problems, as I may have the same problems and attachments." Jane said, "My son's teachers told me that he had poor self-management skills and created chaos around himself. I looked inside and realized that I also did not possess good self-management skills."
Jane's son is in the third grade in Canada and has been admitted to the gifted class at his school. When Jane teaches her son, she also encourages him to be a kind person based on the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance. She knew that sometimes her son was mischevious, but that he was a kind person at heart. One day her son's school had pizza available to purchase for lunch. One of his classmates lost the money he brought and he did not have money to buy any pizza. Jane said her son had two pieces of pizza and so gave one piece to the classmate who lost his money. The other classmates said he was stupid, "You gave him pizza? You will not have enough to eat, will you?" Her son told her that his classmates all said that he was stupid. Only his best friend said nothing. Jane told her son, "What you did was very good. If he did not have the pizza for lunch he would have gone hungry, wouldn't he?"
Whether Cultivation Is Easy or Not, Depends on One's Mind
It is not easy to persist in cultivation practice. Jane and her husband had stopped practicing cultivation for a period of time because they were scared by the cruel persecution in China.
In 2002, Jane's husband suffered from a stroke. His mouth and face became distorted. He then decided to resume the practice. He recovered one week after practicing the exercises and studying the teachings diligently. Jane and her husband regained a firm faith in Falun Dafa.
Jane stated, "I think cultivation is the only way out for human beings in this world. I have read many different books. There were cultivators from kingdoms and empires. Sakyamuni was born a prince, but he finally went to practice cultivation." "Who can solve the problems of birth, old age, illness and death? I think cultivation is the only way for human beings, but it is really not an easy way." Jane found that sometimes it is really hard to do. For example, it says in Zhuan Falun:
"...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."
But she sometimes could not control herself and became angry when she disciplined her son.
Jane said, "I feel that whether it is difficult or easy comes from a person’s instant thought and if you really want to give up those immoral thoughts and attachments, it is actually very easy. If not, it will be very difficult. That's what I feel. It seems that some bad thoughts are quickly eliminated. If you have a strong thought that you do not want them, those things will be eliminated immediately. Some attachments will appear repeatedly, and are hard to completely eliminate."
When Jane's parents-in-law lived in China, they had tried to persuade them to give up practicing Falun Dafa because they worried about the safety of Jane and her husband. Since settling in Canada, the couple has also taken up practicing the exercises and studying Zhuan Falun.
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Category: Improving Oneself
