(Minghui.org) The longer I read the teachings of Falun Dafa, the more I understand that as practitioners during the Fa-rectification period, our goal is not only to cultivate until completion, but we also have a mission to save sentient beings.
Getting Rid of the Attachment to Fear
I can still remember the first time I went out to put up truth clarification posters with an elderly practitioner. I was so tense that I could almost hear my heartbeat. The elderly practitioner was relaxed. She calmly pasted the Falun Dafa is Good, and the Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is Good banners/signs to telephone poles along the road. I admired her.
I wanted to put one up too, but my legs were shaking so hard that I could barely walk. She encouraged me by saying, “Don't be scared. We are protected by Teacher Li (the founder).” She was right, I have Teacher. What should I be afraid of? As I put up my first poster a warm current rushed through my body. Then I put up a second one and the third. I knew what we were doing was sacred, and I was no longer frightened.
Getting Rid of the Attachment to “Saving Face”
It was the day before May 13, World Falun Dafa Day. We were making a banner that read, “Celebrating World Falun Dafa Day”. I was happy to participate.
As I was busy making the banner in a practitioner's home, my husband came to look for me. The practitioner's face was stern as she said, “Why did you let ordinary people know that you're here? This impacts everyone's safety. You can't tell your family everything.”
I felt very wronged in my heart. I didn't tell my family about this. Besides, she criticized me right in front of everyone which made me feel hurt. This was the first time something like this happened to me. I felt she made me lose face.
I felt depressed when I got home. Should I go back tomorrow? Then I thought, was saving face more important than validating Dafa? Teacher's teachings came to my mind. Whatever happens to cultivators is not a coincidence. There must be factors that I needed to enlighten to.
Teacher said,
“In truth, the spiritual journey is none other than an ongoing process of learning to let go of the things of this world that we may be attached to.” (The First Talk, Zhuan Falun)
Didn't this happen to help me remove the attachment to saving face? I felt relieved when I arrived at this understanding.
The next day, I continued working on the banner as if nothing happened.
Eliminating the Attachment to Gaining Benefits
This is my husband's and my second marriage. In 2016, his son needed some money to establish his cattle farm. My husband wanted to lend him the money and asked me. I am a cultivator and need to validate Dafa. I agreed.
We are not rich. My husband was an ordinary employee who was the only person that made money in the family as I didn't have a job. We led a simple life. His son had borrowed money a few times in the past but never returned it. I lent him fifty- thousand yuan that took me a long time to save and said, “This money is for you. No need to return it.” My husband was very touched.
Last year the relocation issues came up in my area and we paid more than forty- thousand yuan. When we were relocated to a new building, my husband's son asked, “Can you give me this apartment?” I remember the example Teacher gave in Zhuan Falun about a cultivator who didn't fight with others when they were allocating housing, and let someone else have the apartment. As a Falun Dafa practitioner, shouldn't I be better? Wasn't this an opportunity for me to eliminate my attachment to personal gain?
Teacher said,
“A practitioner will surely not be occupied by the wants that normally consume people, and will place little value in worldly things. What he will have in his life, however, are higher things that people ordinarily can’t have—even if they come to know about them and want them.” (The Ninth Talk, Zhuan Falun)
I told my husband, “I practice Falun Dafa now. I want to do things according to what my Teacher asks us to do. Teacher wants us to be selfless and consider others first. Your son wants this apartment, let's give it to him.”
My husband replied with emotion, “That's so nice of you. I need to learn from you.” Soon after my husband began studying the Fa.
Improving My Cultivation So I Can Save People
Teacher asks us to let everyone know about Falun Dafa and how it's persecuted. In order to do a better job, I began producing truth-clarification materials in my home. Practitioners also come to my house to study the teachings. There were as many as eight people in our group. I produce materials for my own use and enough for the rest of the practitioners in our Fa-study group.
We study the Fa in the morning. In the afternoon I print materials for us to distribute at night. I go to nearby neighborhoods alone, but when we go to more remote areas, my husband takes me on his motorcycle.
When winter comes, it's very cold at night. Even though my hands feel frozen, as soon as I step out, my heart is filled with a sacred feeling and my attachment to comfort disappears.
Nothing Is Trivial in Cultivation
On September 8, 2018, I was awakened by a painful toothache. I felt a sharp pain in my left temple, and the left side of my face. I immediately sat up and began to meditate. Afterward, I recited the Fa.
The previous day I read an inspiring sharing on the Minghui website. It was about how a practitioner overcame three different tribulations by reciting the Fa. As I recited the Fa I asked every cell in my body to recite with me. Gradually the pain lessened.
After a while, the pain returned and it grew. It felt like a drill was drilling into my temples and my ears and I almost suffocated. I clenched my teeth and insisted on sitting in the meditation posture. I continued reciting the Fa until it was time for righteous thoughts. I sent righteous thoughts and the pain lessened. It still hurt so much that I couldn't sleep. I decided to do all five sets of exercises. When I finished, the pain disappeared.
I lay in bed and continued reciting the Fa. I gradually fell asleep. When I woke up again it was time to send righteous thoughts. I sat up and sent righteous thoughts.
Afterward, when I thought about what happened it felt like a nightmare. I calmed down and asked myself what caused it? I watched my every thought very carefully. As soon as I had a negative thought, I immediately eliminated it.
Teacher said,
“But it’s cultivation—whatever happened to being “free of gaps” (wu-lou)? There are no little things.” (“Fa Teaching at the 2015 West Coast Fa Conference”)
That day was our wedding anniversary. Since I was very busy every day, I decided that I could relax a little. I went to the market and bought a lot of delicious food. I prepared a sumptuous dinner and we celebrated.
I had behaved like an ordinary person. When I dug deeper, I saw all kinds of attachments: I sought comfort, I wanted to eat delicious food and enjoy warmth and romance. Weren't these all attachments to emotion? When I examined my behavior, I was shocked because I always thought I took sentiment lightly. I realized that I was yearning for romance. This was very dangerous, and I knew that I must eliminate it.
Teacher said,
“Spiritual things like these are sacred, and not to be treated like toys or normal skills. Your mind needs to dwell on a higher plane if you want to get anywhere in spiritual practice.” (The Second Talk, Zhuan Falun)
Nothing is trivial in cultivation. I must not relax.
I went through many tribulations throughout the years. It's only because Teacher is always watching over us and protecting us that I've made it until today. I need to be diligent, genuinely cultivate and save more people to show my appreciation to our Teacher.
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Category: Improving Oneself
