(Minghui.org) For me, last Chinese New Year's was the best ever. A fellow practitioner and I studied the Fa and did the exercises together so that both of us improved as one body. It seemed that I was helping her, but actually I benefited greatly from the opportunity arranged by Master.
A Fellow Practitioner
The fellow practitioner started to practice Falun Gong prior to July 20, 1999. She was very diligent and became healthy. After the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began to persecute Falun Gong, she went to Beijing to seek justice. She did well handing out truth clarification materials, telling people the facts about Falun Gong, and advising people to withdraw from the CCP and its affiliated organizations.
Due to her attachment to her family over the last two years, she stop practicing Falun Gong and talking to people about it. She looked much older than she had before.
We were all worried about her. Other practitioners tried to contact her and encourage her to continue practicing Falun Gong. When they heard that she was no longer influenced by her family, they quickly contacted her and sent her Zhuan Falun and the exercise music. However, she encountered quite a bit of interference and made little progress.
My Plan
During the Chinese New Year holiday season, I implored Master: “Master, I want to help her; please let me find her.” Thanks to Master, I ran into her. I was surprised to see her aging, pale complexion. I invited her to my home, and she came that evening. I offered her some fruit and we chatted. I tried talking about cultivation, in hopes that she would resume practicing Falun Gong as soon as possible.
I reminded her about her diligence when she was practicing and validating Dafa. I said to her, “Master is waiting for you. Many practitioners who have their Celestial Eye open have seen that Master is enduring the colossal tribulations from the old forces for sentient beings and delaying the process in order for us to save more people. It is not something we can imagine and we cannot ignore what Master has done for us.”
She had tears in her eyes after listening to me. We agreed that, during the Chinese New Year, we would study the Fa together at my home after finishing our housework.
Studying the Fa Together
She came to my home the next day, and I started to study Zhuan Falun with her. I let her read the book by herself for a couple of hours, and I corrected her when she made mistakes. I noticed the change in her complexion while she was reading. After the Fa study, her complexion went from sallow to somewhat rosy and her eyes lit up.
She came for several evenings in a row. Her complexion became better, and she had more energy. Both of us were pleased with the changes. I felt happy that I was able to help her to resume her practice. I also gave her an E-book and a copy of Minghui Weekly for her to read at home.
A Challenge for Me
The practitioner came to my home whenever she felt like it. Sometimes she stayed all day until we finished sending forth righteous thoughts around midnight. My daily schedule was interrupted and, at times, it was a challenge for me to find time to make truth clarification materials or do housework.
I felt a little frustrated and thought that she should now be able to study the Fa at home on her own. Looking inward, I immediately realized my problem: the attachment of fear – I didn't want her to know that my home served as a site for printing truth clarification materials, because one of her family members had previously reported some Falun Gong practitioners. Selfish and lacking benevolence, I was afraid that she would impact my cultivation; I was being superficial, only doing a good job on the surface.
I said to Master in my heart, “Master, I was wrong. My own schedule is not as important as her improvement. I should continue helping her because she just resumed her practice.” Thus, I made good use of my time for housework and prepared only simple meals every day. We studied the Fa together whenever she came.
Improving Together
One morning after she came, I suggested doing the exercises together in addition to Fa study. She had improved so much and looked very different from her first visit. If I was working on truth clarification materials when she came, she helped me staple and fold. We shared our cultivation experiences as we worked. Once the work was done, we continued our Fa study and exercises.
I noticed the changes in myself: from asking her to study the Fa together, to being afraid of her coming, and then to compassionately waiting for her to come. When she was around, I didn't spend time on my computer except for accessing the Minghui website or waching TV except for the NTDTV New Year show.
Her presence actually created more time for studying the Fa and doing the exercises to assimilate myself to the Fa. When doing the exercises together, she corrected me on something I was unaware of for a long time. Master also let me become enlightened through her about something that perplexed me, so that I made significant improvement.
We improved together, because “The Buddha-light illuminates everywhere and rectifies all abnormalities.” (Zhuan Falun)
Master said,
“In the future, Dafa disciples will see that everything Dafa disciples did was for their own sake. What are saved are their own sentient beings, what they're consummating are their own paradises and sentient beings, and they're establishing mighty virtue for themselves--all these things are done for Dafa disciples' own sake. Not a single thing you've done is for Master, and not a single thing you've done is for anybody else.” (“Teaching and Explaining the Fa at the Metropolitan New York Fa Conference” from Teaching the Fa at the Conference III)
It seemed that I was helping my fellow practitioner over the Chinese New Year holiday season, but, actually, I benefited more and my improvement was greater.
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