(Minghui.org) As soon as I started practicing Falun Dafa in January 2003, I experienced amazing improvements in my mind and body.
Some of my friends said that they knew of many women who were married to wealthy men but were not happy. They said our family was different, because we were very happy.
Another friend of mine commented, “Your husband treats you well and provides you with whatever you need.”
My husband is a senior manager. He has personally benefited from my practice of Falun Dafa, and has become very considerate and generous. His health has also improved. He truly supports me in my practice.
I have told him about the principles of "no loss, no gain," and he understands the importance of being good and not creating karma.
I believe I have had a positive influence on him with my demeanor. He has a great reputation at work, and sometimes when I see him painstakingly working away, I'll ask, “When do you think you'll finish? You should to take a break if you're tired.”
“Aren't you the one who always talks about being a good person?” he will say. “Besides, I believe Master Li is looking after me.”
My Son Learns How to Be a Good Person
I teach my son, who is in senior high school, the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. I ask him to respect his teachers and to be considerate of others. I also tell him not to worry about losing out, but rather to be more carefree.
Once when we were at a get-together, my husband's friend secretly tried to give my son a little red envelope with cash inside, a custom in China. My son, however, politely declined to accept it.
When he was young he did not like his teacher. Although he knew this was wrong, he could not help but complain to me about her. Apparently she pressured the students to get better scores on their exams, so that she could get a bonus. To get a discount, she forced them to buy their textbooks from her.
I tell my son, “The Fa teaches us to be tolerant of ourselves and others.” My son always gets along well with his classmates, and his teacher praises him quite a bit.
Recently, another family friend secretly gave him a cash-filled red envelope. My son just gave it to the friend's father without opening it, asking him to return it.
How I Found Falun Dafa
Aware of Dafa's health benefits, I started practicing, because I wanted to keep a young and healthy appearance. I found Master Li to be truly compassionate.
I stayed at my parents house for a few days in late 2002, and my mother happened to be ill—she felt dizzy and was unable to get out of bed.
She wouldn't even let me open the curtains for her, saying that the sunlight irritated her eyes.
When a practitioner visited her, I heard this practitioner tell my mother what Master had taught:
“Inward (clockwise) rotation offers self-salvation while outward (counter-clockwise) rotation offers salvation to others...” (Zhuan Falun)
I suddenly realized that while staying with my parents those few days, my face had become much smoother, and the acne that I had for a long time had disappeared. I asked this practitioner if it was because I had benefited from the Fa.
She was happy to hear me ask and affirmed my thought. My mother had fully recovered after two days. When I slept alongside her one night, I said, “I want to practice cultivation, too.”
Attachment to Reputation
It was quite difficult getting rid of my attachment to vanity. For many years I got used to people telling me how pretty I was. Thus, I always fussed over my appearance. I even worried that one day people would stop praising me. After taking up cultivation however, I knew it was important to eliminate this obsession, but I didn't know how.
I once paid a visit to another practitioner. Her daughter asked what was wrong with me, “You don't do your hair or put on makeup?” I said that I had given up the attachment. “Really!” she exclaimed, “Is that how you've given up the attachment?”
I had been obsessed with my appearance for so many years and always used expensive imported beauty products. I just thought that as a practitioner, it made no difference what I used. Thus, my attachment grew even more, and I started using more expensive products.
Then, last year, my husband bought me some very expensive skin care products. One day my face was red and itchy. I wondered if it was due to my attachment to the beauty products, but discarded the idea as I had been using them for so many years.
One morning my face was so swollen that I could barely open one of my eyes. I had to stop using the products altogether.
After not touching any of those products for one day, the itching and swelling lessened somewhat. My face stopped itching after two days and was less red. I even shed a thin layer of skin after four days.
However, I started to use my beauty products again. My excuse was that so long as I was not attached to them, it didn't matter. But my face became swollen and itchy again.
I soon realized that I just had to eliminate this attachment. I told my husband that I was not going to use any more such products. With a puzzled look on his face, he asked me why. I simply said that he could save his money, but he was quick to correct me, saying, “Now our family can save money.”
I realized that my vanity was caused by my attachment to reputation. This reputation brought out other attachments, such as showing off and competitiveness. I was never satisfied with myself, and always wanted to hear flattery, so I focused on cultivating away this attachment to reputation.
I thought, “I'm a cultivator who should relinquish attachments. What's the point of being attached to one's reputation?” I stopped being so obsessed with beauty products and came to feel so much more relaxed. I was also more peaceful in my meditation.
Battling Loneliness
My husband leaves early each morning for work and returns home late. My son doesn't live at home anymore, so I am usually by myself. It is quiet and there's not much housework to do.
The good thing about this is that I have a good cultivation environment. I find joy in doing the three things that a practitioner should do.
However, if I don't keep up with my cultivation, I tend to feel bored and lonely. When I have feelings of boredom, I remind myself that I should maintain an upright state of mind and not lower my standards or indulge in everyday people's forms of entertainment.
Although loneliness is a bother sometimes, it normally passes soon enough, because I have the Fa in my heart. I know that one day I will be able to completely do away with this loneliness.
I sincerely thank Master Li from the bottom of my heart for everything.
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