(Minghui.org) On the evening of New Year’s day, more than 30 Falun Dafa practitioners from Taipei City and New Taipei City gathered at the Yangde District Citizens’ Activity Center in Shilin District. They wished compassionate and great Master Li (Dafa’s founder) a happy New Year. They participated in the local monthly group study and experience sharing.
Among them were two young students who made a special trip to participate in order to wish Master a Happy New Year. One was a 23-year-old practitioner who went to study in the United States at the age of 16 and returned to Taiwan to serve in the military. The other is a Western practitioner from Argentina who is currently studying at Ming Chuan University. He chose the Department of Mass Communication, hoping to spread Dafa to the people of Argentina and other Spanish-speaking countries in the future.
Letting Go of Personal Interest
Ms. Ye said that her company had a contract problem with a manufacturer. This contract was handled by her husband. She didn’t know the details, but both parties said that it was the other’s fault, and neither was willing to back down. This caused the situation to escalate. Her husband kept getting more irritable, and his health was starting to be affected. If this continued, it would hurt both sides, and cause loss to both companies.
She thought, “It’s normal for ordinary people to fight for their own interests, but I am a practitioner, so I want to resolve it.” However, the amount involved in this contract was big, and the company’s money or family savings could not be used to cover the payment. So, the only way left was to use her personal savings. If this was done, her own savings of decades would be wiped out at once. Her feeling of reluctance kept surging like waves, making her unable to make up her mind.
Master said,
“...what you give up are bad things, and only this way will you be able to return to your original, true self.” (The Fourth Talk, Zhuan Falun)
“What we lose, actually, is something bad. And what is it? It’s karma, and it’s intertwined with all the different attachments people have.” (The Fourth Talk, Zhuan Falun)
Through reading the Fa, she became open-minded and was able to let go of her attachment. So she called the director of the manufacturer to find out the situation. The other party kept accusing and complaining, and she just listened quietly. The other party seemed to feel her kindness and gave in a lot. In the end, the two parties reached an agreement, and the conflict was successfully resolved.
Reminder to Cultivate Diligently
Ms. Ding’s wall clock stopped working. She took it to a nearby store for repair. The shop owner called and asked how much the clock cost. Ms. Ding was a little puzzled and said it was about one thousand yuan. The shop owner said, “It will cost 500 yuan to change the shaft. I don’t think you should repair it.” The implication was that it was not worth repairing. He also said that if the shaft was replaced, the acrylic shell of the clock case might be damaged and the clock hands might be exposed. He asked her if she still wished to repair it.
Ms. Ding said frankly that she was shocked by the shop owner’s words: “I don’t think you should practice anymore.” (“repair” and “practice” are homophones in Chinese). She realized that Master used his words to alert her. Even though she made phone calls to China, she recently relaxed in her cultivation. She had an attachment to sentiment and all sorts of ordinary human thoughts.
After she realized this, she focused on reading the teachings, sending righteous thoughts, and raising awareness of the persecution. Many days passed, and then she went to the store to pick up the clock. Unexpectedly, the shop owner said, “Our technician carefully replaced the shaft with an original Japanese one, and the acrylic shell is not damaged. It’s like new.” Through his words, Ms. Ding realized again that Master reminded her of the importance of remaining diligent in cultivation—as she was when she first began practicing.
Eliminating Sentiment
Ms. Lin and her husband are both retired elementary school teachers. They have been friends with another couple for many years. The couple’s son was one of Ms. Lin’s students and her son’s classmate. So the two families are like relatives.
A few years ago, Ms. Lin learned that David moved back from overseas to live with his parents and got married. The family of seven lived in a small building. Ms. Lin wanted to help, so she took back her old apartment that was rented out to others, and sold it to David cheaply. David later said that the apartment was too old and decided to give it up. In desperation, Ms. Lin asked a realtor agent to sell her apartment. But it was sold at a price one million yuan higher than what she offered to David.
She later heard that David’s wife and in-laws were not happy living with his parents. So they moved out and rented another apartment. The monthly rent was more than 30,000 yuan. Ms. Lin was sympathetic, thinking that her younger sister also had an apartment that she helped to manage. She asked her friend couple, David, and his wife to go to see the apartment first, and offered a price below the market value.
After confirming their willingness to buy, she asked the tenant to move out in advance. In the process of shortening the lease, she also paid the tenant three months’ rent as compensation. She wholeheartedly hoped that David’s family would have a stable residence. Unexpectedly, the young couple said no and decided to buy an apartment in a building with elevators. After a moment of astonishment, Ms. Lin asked a realtor to deal with it again, and the apartment was sold at a high price within one day.
The same incident happened twice in a row. Ms. Lin thought to herself, I am a cultivator, so why did this happen? She found that not only did she not look inward, but she also felt resentful, feeling that they were not grateful or kept their promise. One day, she read what Master said,
“When you’re in the middle of tensions that test your character, can you stay calm inside? Or when things that directly impact you come up, can you stay calm inside? That’s really hard to do. So it’s not like when you want to do that you just can. You can only do that when your character and your virtue have improved by cultivating.” (The Ninth Talk, Zhuan Falun)
She suddenly understood that it was all because she didn’t cultivate, so she didn’t pass the test the first time. So the test came again. She knew she should thank them, and her feelings of resentment disappeared instantly. She thanked Master.
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