(Minghui.org) It’s been eight years since I started to cultivate Falun Dafa. Guided by Dafa’s principles, my xinxing has elevated steadily. I’ve experienced more wonderful and astounding miracles than I can remember. I’d like to share a few of them to validate Dafa and to show my gratitude toward Master for His merciful salvation.
Last November, my daughter-in-law was enduring a difficult pregnancy. At the time, both her parents worked and lived far away while my son was employed in another city. I was already retired, so the responsibility of taking care of her fell on my shoulders.
It’s a common belief that the mother-in-law/daughter-in-law relationship is a difficult one. Ours was no exception. Getting basic household chores done is not as easy as one might think, and the two of us had different habits and customs.
My daughter-in-law was used to being spoiled by her parents. She insisted on buying nothing but name brand foreign products; on cooking without pepper, soy sauce, or other normal spices; on having fish, shrimp, bone soup, and a variety of different colored vegetables at every meal; and on throwing away all leftovers. As someone used to being frugal, throwing away good food was, for me, the hardest thing to bear.
Master says:
“Forbearance is the key to improving one’s xinxing. To endure with anger, grievance, or tears is the forbearance of an everyday person who is attached to his concerns. To endure completely without anger or grievance is the forbearance of a cultivator.” (“What is Forbearance (Ren)?” in Essentials for Further Advancement)
I kept going over Master’s words in my mind and reminded myself I had to practice forbearance. That was how I managed to get along with my daughter-in-law.
One day, I made her breakfast before she was ready to eat. It got cold, so I re-heated it. She continued to complain that it was either too cold or too hot, so I had to redo it three times. My husband finally exclaimed, “This is ridiculous!” But I took it in stride.
Another day I went out to clarify the facts and forgot to bring my cell phone with me. When I got home that evening, I got an irate call from my son.
He demanded, “Where were you today? Why didn’t you have your cell phone with you? We tried to call you and couldn’t reach you. Did you spend the whole day roaming around the park?”
His words stung, and my tears fell. I knew it was my daughter-in-law who had told my son I was out without my phone. I felt wronged and took out my frustration on my daughter-in-law. “What a big tattletale,” I said to her. “You were out visiting your parents. There was no need for me to cook for you. Why were you looking for me?”
I tried to calm down to look inward and discovered I had an attachment to not wanting to hear criticism and a tendency to get angry when things didn’t go my way.
I called my son back right away to apologize. He responded in amazement and said half in jest, “Hey, Mom, what’s up with you? You are the queen mother. When you say ‘one,’ we don’t dare to say ‘two.’ After I called you, I was afraid you would ignore me or at least give me a good scolding.”
It was almost time to start preparing for the Chinese New Year when my daughter-in-law said to me, “I’m my parents’ only child, so I’d like to go home to celebrate the New Year with them. Your son can stay and spend the New Year with you. Is that okay with you?”
I replied, “I really don’t care much about celebrating the New Year or any other holiday. Why don’t you let my son go with you so you all can spend some quality family time together? I’ll just get some gifts together for you to take to your parents.”
That arrangement made my daughter-in-law happy and grateful, and I was able to use the time to attend to my Dafa projects.
My daughter-in-law’s mother was aware that, although I had a job, my salary wasn’t enough for me to live on and that I had to constantly dip into my savings. So she found me a second job in a hospital as a housekeeper.
Instead of being grateful, I saw her kind gesture as humiliating and a personal insult. I thought, “I used to work in a leadership position. You have some nerve to expect me to do a lowly job!” I suppressed my anger and turned her down, saying, “I’m afraid of all the germs in the hospital.” At the time, I was filled with resentment. I didn’t even think about looking inward.
Shortly after that, I realized I was in danger of getting into a financial bind and had to find a job that would help out but not interfere with my Dafa work. I sought Master’s guidance.
On my way home after a day out clarifying the truth, I happened to notice a “Help Wanted” posting. A small district nearby was looking for a cleaning crew. I lowered my pride and went for an interview.
I was hired and assigned to clean the streets at the front entrance area where there was an enormous amount of foot and vehicular traffic. I could feel people looking at me and hear them whispering among themselves, “So young and so good-looking. Is she fit for this kind of work?”
I wore a surgical mask to hide my face. I felt resentful and distraught. Then, Master’s Fa flashed into my mind’s eye:
“To tell you the truth, the entire cultivation process for a practitioner is one of constantly giving up human attachments.” (Zhuan Falun)
I kept repeating this Fa principle and gradually calmed down. I recalled how I had turned down my daughter-in-law’s mother’s kind offer and how it had brought to the surface my attachments to pride, to resentment, and to name and fame. What kind of cultivator was I? I should have thanked her.
In my heart, I said to Master, “I know I’m wrong. I don’t want those attachments. I want to get rid of them. I will get rid of them, Please help me.” And so, for the entire morning, I cleaned up the streets with a feeling of gratitude and tranquility. As a matter of fact, I actually ended up doing my job with pride and dignity.
When it was time to get off work, a stranger walked up to me and asked, “Do you know how to use a computer? Street cleaning does not suit you. Why don’t you come to work in my office? Your salary will be double what you earn now, and you will be working in an air-conditioned building.” And so, my fate took an amazing turn. I knew it was all Master’s arrangement.
On my first day of work, I was given a number to get on the internet. I was overjoyed. I hadn’t had a chance to visit the Minghui website for quite a while because my cell phone was being monitored due to my son’s special employment status. Now, I could finally go online.
Later, I found out that many people had vied for my position. At the time, the company was not looking for new employees. So when I was hired, my colleagues all thought I had some kind of high-up connection.
More amazing things were yet to happen.
So that I could continue to do the three things well, I chose to work the night shift. One night after I finished my job to my satisfaction before my shift ended, I settled down to study Zhuan Falun. I was deep into my reading when, all of a sudden, red, orange, yellow, green, indigo, blue, and purple Falun flew out from among the words and circled all around.
When I switched to studying Master’s new lectures on the e-book reader, the same colorful, rotating Faluns showed up again. When I accidentally looked down, I saw more colorful rotating Faluns flying out from my skirt. When I looked more closely, I noticed countless srivatsas. My excitement was beyond words.
When I looked up, I saw a phoenix just shaking out its wings on my computer screen. I stared at it, stunned. Just then, the next shift worker walked in. I pointed to the screen. He looked at the phoenix with its wings now fully spread and was similarly stunned. It was a full five minutes before the phoenix gradually faded away.
The shift worker murmured incredulously, “I must be dreaming. I’ve just entered fairyland!” From then on, he became a Falun Gong believer and supporter.
Two wonderful events happened to my family at almost the same time! My daughter-in-law gave birth to a healthy baby boy on May 22. A few days later, my son got a promotion.
Master says:
“Haven’t I said that with one person practicing, the whole family benefits? At a minimum, the energy field that you carry is beneficial to all of your family members since you are cultivating the righteous Fa…” (Teaching the Fa at the Fa Conference in Australia)
People envy my luck, but I know that Master and Dafa are responsible for all my blessings.
One day my daughter-in-law said to me, “Here, grandchildren are all raised by grandparents. I bought several babysitting books. Please read them carefully. We need you to stay and take care of your grandson until he enters kindergarten.”
I thought to myself, “Taking care of a baby will most definitely interfere with my Dafa work. But if I refuse, my son, my daughter-in-law, and her family will not understand and will turn against Dafa. What should I do?”
I pleaded with Master, “Saving sentient beings is my only obligation. I need to put Dafa first. I must let go of any possible attachment to the sentimentality of the family. I must go home to validate and spread the Fa.” A few days later, my son and daughter-in-law decided I should go home for the summer and return at the end of October.
When I returned home, I ran into another problem. My husband was out of work. With unemployment widespread, where could he find another job? Seeing his frowns and listening to his sighs, I felt for him.
I said to him, “Don’t worry. Take this Dafa amulet. Ask for Master’s help. Trust in Dafa and trust in Master. I’m sure Master will take care of things.” Sure enough, not two hours later, my husband landed a satisfactory job. In present day China, landing a good job without connections and pulling a few strings is practically unimaginable, almost downright impossible. But we didn’t even spend a penny. My husband said, “This is so amazing!” With my husband working, I can concentrate on my Dafa projects.
One night I was out with another practitioner clarifying the truth. In 45 minutes, we were able to help save 10 people. On the way home, my son called.
He said, “My wife and I had a talk. We decided we cannot be selfish and only consider our own needs. You and Dad are getting on in age. You are not used to our way of life and living in the south. We want you to stay where you are. But come for visits whenever you want to see us and your grandson. Just take care of yourselves. We’ve already made arrangements for our son’s care, so don’t you worry about a thing.”
I shared what transpired with another practitioner. She said, “You did the right thing. You let go of your attachment to sentimentality for your family, so Master made the best arrangement for you.”
Indeed, when we look to the Fa for everything, when we maintain our righteous thoughts and actions, when we put our trust squarely in Master and Dafa, Master will make the best arrangements for us.
Thank you, Master!