(Minghui.org) Greetings, Master! Greetings, fellow practitioners!
Our family members are also our sentient beings, with special predestined relationships with us. For years my family has endured much pressure because of the persecution, and my family members have helped me improve in my cultivation. Since they came to this world to obtain the Fa, we must cultivate ourselves well so that they can be saved in the future. This is our destiny and responsibility.
Starting a Material Production Site
I moved to the city where my son worked in 2012 and met a few practitioners. They didn’t have their own truth-clarification material production site and had to get materials from somewhere else. I decided to set up a production site at my home, and another practitioner joined the effort.
We bought a printer in 2014 and put it at my home. This posed a safety risk for my family, given the ongoing persecution of Falun Dafa, so I did not tell my husband about it. I learned how to use the printer from a practitioner and I quickly printed out my first-ever truth-clarification pamphlet. It seemed unreal and I was quite emotional. From then on I printed truth-clarification materials behind my husband’s back.
After some time, my husband found out what I was doing. He was not upset but praised the quality of the printer. Then, my attachments of zealotry, showing off, and validating myself surfaced. I stopped paying attention to safety and scattered the materials all over our bed. I ignored how he might feel.
My husband often reminded me, “Don’t print that much. Be careful.” When I reassured him that nothing would happen, he became irritated and said that it would be too late if anything happened. I continued to do what I did, only putting things away after I finished printing.
One day I couldn’t find the power cord to the printer. I knew that my husband had taken it in an attempt to stop me from doing the work. I became more determined to do this work and borrowed a power cord from a fellow practitioner. A few days later I came home to find the printer sitting outside the door with a note saying, “Take it somewhere or I will throw it away.”
Things escalated after that, but I still had no righteous thoughts. My human notions led me to hide the printer under the bed and I only printed the materials after midnight with the lights off. The more I didn’t want my husband to find out, the worse things got.
One night he charged into the room when I was printing and started to throw things around. He even hit me as I tried to protect the printer. He warned me that he’d smash it and throw it out if I didn’t move it elsewhere. At my wit's end, I said, “If you throw it out, I will leave and never come back.” He was shocked and could not utter a word for a while. “I beg you – think about this family and our children. Don’t be so selfish,” he said.
The word “selfish” struck me. To save people, I endured all the pressure to print the materials. I did not do it for myself. While I had no idea where I went wrong, I knew that it was time for me to look within and find the root of the problem.
Master says,
“For a cultivator, looking within is a magical tool.” (“Fa Teaching Given at the 2009 Washington, D.C. International Fa Conference,” Collected Teachings Given Around the World, Volume IX)
I found many notions and attachments, and among them was that I habitually looked outward and sought external solutions and blamed others when there were conflicts. I would resent others without admitting I did. When I occasionally looked within, I only touched the surface and did not dig deep for the root cause.
There was a stubborn notion that made me all about me, and I could not let go of me. I realized that this was the root of my attachments and it prevented me from having a pure heart when doing Dafa work.
When I printed the materials, I did not wholeheartedly want to save more people. I wanted Master to see me as a good disciple. I wanted to compete with and do as much as other practitioners. I did the work to validate myself and did not care how my family felt. My actions were not based on the Fa and I did not walk the path righteously. Hence, my family environment had long been hostile.
To solve the issue, I knew that I had to prioritize saving sentient beings and assimilate to the Fa without conditions.
Being Considerate
During the time that my husband opposed me making the materials, he suffered two heart attacks. One time it was so serious that he thought he was dying and said his last words. I was terrified and wondered if I should call our son. At that moment, Master Li (the founder of Falun Dafa) reminded me that it was an illusion. I began to recite the Fa and send righteous thoughts and asked Master to help me. Half an hour later, my husband told me that he felt much better. He had me pat his back and he went to sleep.
I knelt in front of Master’s photo with tears in my eyes. I thanked him for saving my husband’s life. As I pondered what my next step should be, I said to Master, “I will stop being self-centered and selfish, because that would force my husband to commit crimes against Dafa and incur karma. It would eventually ruin him and it would be my fault.” I picked up a Dafa book from the shelf and the first paragraph I saw was:
“Stop letting the evil exploit gaps, and stop being interfered with by human attachments. Do well the things that Dafa disciples should do, and walk the last leg of the journey well. Righteous thoughts, righteous actions.” (“Eliminate the Dark Minions With Righteous Thoughts,” The Essentials of Diligent Progress III)
Studying the Fa more and progressing more diligently was what I should do. I joined two Fa study groups and started to memorize the Fa. Only when I studied the Fa well would I have strong righteous thoughts. I also sent righteous thoughts more often. Besides the four universal times, I did it at 2:50 a.m. after I got up, and once at 10 p.m. before I went to bed. I tried to clean my dimension so that nothing evil could sneak in.
“You should always be benevolent and kind to others and consider others when doing anything. Whenever you encounter a problem, you should first consider whether others can put up with this matter or if it will hurt anyone. In doing so, there will not be any problems. Therefore, in cultivation you should follow a higher and higher standard for yourself.” (Lecture Four, Zhuan Falun)
As I was trying to find a place to put the printer and make the pamphlets, I saw my attachments to saving face and protecting myself and my own interests. It also dawned on me that moving the printer to other practitioners’ homes would cause problems for them and their families. I had to put myself in others’ shoes and be mindful of their families’ feelings. I had to think like a divine being so that the old forces would not have gaps to exploit.
I talked to other practitioners. One of the practitioners and her family were all practitioners. She had long wanted to make truth-clarification materials but was too busy because her family ran a hotel. She offered to let me use the printer at her home, which happened to be close to mine. This went on until her son got married. It also happened that another practitioner’s relative’s house was empty and she let me use it until her relative came back for the summer.
A practitioner who was a realtor told me that she had an empty property for us to use. I told my husband, and he was happy for me. He helped me clean up the place, fix the water pipes, install locks for the door and windows, and change the light bulbs and curtains. Later he bought printing paper for me. After I started working there, sometimes he’d help deliver the materials to other practitioners. I saw hope, and that my husband had changed for the better.
As the printer moved from place to place, I let go of different attachments again and again. My husband started to accept what I did. The demand for the materials increased, and I got a new printer.
My experience taught me that as long as I follow Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, the Fa will protect me and things will work out fine.
My Husband and Son Support Dafa
I did not slow down during the COVID-19 pandemic and started printing messages on paper bills. In October 2021, the realtor practitioner told me that she needed the place back and I had to move out quickly. I told my husband the situation, and the two of us were silent for hours. Out of nowhere, he said to me, “Get up. Let’s go move the stuff.” When I asked him to where, he replied, “Home. And put them in your closet.” We each got on our bikes and took the printers home.
I was able to print materials at home again. It all worked out perfectly. A practitioner said to me, “He [referring to my husband] would not put up with one printer and now he welcomes two.” This did not come easily, as I let go of a lot of human notions, and Master helped me tremendously on the rough journey.
A few days ago, a practitioner came to my home to fix the printers. My husband opened the door for the practitioner and said, “Your friend is here.” The practitioner asked me if my husband practiced Falun Dafa because “he looks too young to be in his 70s.” I told the practitioner that he had not practiced yet, but often recited “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance is good” and followed the principles of Falun Dafa. Many of his illnesses disappeared. He often said, “Falun Dafa is amazing.”
A dozen years ago my son did not approve of my practice. I forced him to quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated organizations even though he was reluctant. He refused to listen to me clarify the truth. He said and did things that were disrespectful to Master and Dafa. He did so because I did not cultivate well and I had always felt guilty about it. Seeing that my husband’s and my health improved a great deal, and that we became more tolerant and kind, my son began to support my practice.
Earlier this year, a practitioner who was also my son’s coworker was illegally arrested. She refused to cooperate with the police and they had a section chief at her workplace handle her case. The section chief had just transferred there and wasn’t sure what to do. He called my son that night to discuss the situation. My son thought about it and said, “She is a good person and we need to protect her.” The section chief agreed and let my son take care of the case. In the end the persecution of that practitioner was dissolved.
My son told me this story and I was glad. “There will be good rewards for a man who protects good people and Falun Dafa practitioners,” I said. Nothing happens by coincidence. This perhaps was an opportunity for him to choose a good future.
Thank you, Master! Thank you, fellow practitioners!
Views expressed in this article represent the author's own opinions or understandings. All content published on this website are copyrighted by Minghui.org. Minghui will produce compilations of its online content regularly and on special occasions.
