(Minghui.org) Before I started practicing Falun Dafa, I was attached to my reputation, material interest, and being comfortable and happy. But I sometimes wondered if there was life after death.
In 2015, my mother told me about Falun Dafa. Although I only did the exercises occasionally, Master Li, the founder of Falun Dafa, still purified my body. One day after I threw up and had diarrhea, my low blood pressure and sore throat disappeared.
My mother often brought home copies of Minghui Weekly. After reading practitioners’ sharing articles, I understood the importance of studying the teachings, so I began to memorize Zhuan Falun.
Practicing Truthfulness
Every time I read the story in Zhuan Falun about the textile factory workers taking home towels from the factory, I felt ashamed because I wasn’t doing well in that regard.
The winters are long and bitterly cold where I live, and the gas bill for heating can be up to several thousand yuan each month. To save money, I had someone install a tampered-with gas meter, so the reading never changed no matter how much gas I used. After taking up Dafa, I knew I was losing virtue whenever I did not pay for the gas I used. I decided to switch back to the normal gas meter. I felt relieved after doing this, as if a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I would not have done this if I hadn’t practiced Falun Dafa.
Letting Go of the Attachment to My Appearance
I used to care so much about my appearance that I bought all sorts of cosmetics to make myself look attractive. Whenever I met with friends, I always had to be the best dressed. Before I left home each day, I spent hours getting dressed and felt I never had enough clothes. I believed that pursuing money and material gain were what people were born to do, so I lived my life that way too.
After studying Dafa, I knew that if I truly cultivated, I would naturally look young. I also realized that wanting to look nice came from my attachments of lust, desire, showing off, competition, and vanity. Knowing that I had to eliminate these attachments, I stopped buying skin care products and expensive clothes, working out, and reading about the latest fashion trends. One day, a friend told me that I was different after I began practicing Falun Dafa. “You are now peaceful and simple, and no longer competitive,” she said.
I saved a lot of money every month, and I know that the secular world is just a place to improve ourselves, so we should not get attached to everyday things.
Caring for My Stepfather
My stepfather had a stroke and underwent surgery in 2020. His son from his previous marriage lived in another city and couldn’t help him. His son’s wife lived in town but had diabetes and had to work as well. My mother and I ended up taking care of my stepfather the entire time he was hospitalized.
My stepbrother came back a day before my stepfather was discharged from hospital. The day my stepfather got home, he asked his son’s family to come to his room and he spoke to them while my mother and I were in the kitchen cooking. Shortly after, he had my mother bring a box into his room. My mother later told me that there were 100 silver coins in the box, which belonged to his ex-wife, and he wanted to give them to his son.
I felt this was unfair – we spent so much effort in caring for him, but his son did nothing for him when he was hospitalized. Now he couldn’t wait to give his son the silver coins. Did he even consider how my mother and I felt? I tried hard to calm down and reminded myself to be tolerant like a practitioner.
Then I remembered Master’s words,
“It is hard in that you knowingly lose your vested interests among everyday people. Amidst your critical self-interests, are you moved?” (Lecture Eight, Zhuan Falun)
I kept reciting this until I calmed down.
My mother told me that the box was kept under her bed and she never opened it. It was my stepfather who told her that there were 100 silver coins in the box. I suddenly realized that the box had nothing to do with us, and the money didn’t belong to us. From then on, I let go of my grudge and told my mother not to mention the incident or blame my stepfather for not trusting her. “This is a test Master gave us,” I said.
As the days went by, my stepfather’s health deteriorated. One day I came home and saw feces on his bed and on the floor, and my mother was working hard to clean it up. I quickly helped her, not even thinking about how filthy and smelly it all was. After everything was clean, I actually felt calm and relaxed.
Cleaning up after him became a routine as he often soiled his pants and bed. I got so used to it that, when he got the floor dirty, I’d comfort him first before I put on some gloves and cleaned up. I used to be a clean freak. There’s no way I would have tolerated the feces or helped clean someone who wasn’t related to me if I hadn’t practiced Falun Dafa.
My stepfather had been a Chinese teacher all his life. He had many students and some of them enjoyed successful careers. He became a professor when he was young, so his peers respected him. Looking at him now I felt a bit sad, thinking that at some point a person’s achievements in life amount to nothing. I felt lucky that I began practicing Falun Dafa and had the opportunity to transcend the cycle of suffering.
My stepfather’s younger sister saw what my mother and I did for him while he was ill. She said that we were different from other people and that my stepfather was very lucky. She had nothing good to say about my stepbrother. I reminded her that my stepbrother had a sick wife and a young child, and he did the best he could.
My stepbrother came back to town to take care of his sick wife earlier this year. One day he stopped by to visit my stepfather and asked us to lend him 20,000 yuan. My mother agreed.
Three days later, my stepfather suddenly passed away. After the funeral, my stepbrother asked if he could have the 20,000 yuan immediately. We scrambled to put together the cash for him.
A few days later, he and his family came and asked about my stepfather’s death benefit payment. My mother assured him and his family that they’d get one-third of the payment as soon as she received it. When I saw the big smile on his face, I was upset: His father died only a few days before and my mother and I were still grieving. Yet he had the nerve to show up and ask about the money, even though he never cared about his father or spent any money on him. I couldn’t understand why he desperately needed money.
One morning my stepfather’s nephew stopped by and said that he wanted my stepfather’s antique Qing Dynasty books. I quickly gave him the books. After he left, my mother was very hurt and took it out on me, “Your father left the books to me, how dare he come and take them?” She was angry that I gave them away. I felt sad, seeing how much it bothered her.
Nothing is coincidental in cultivation. When I looked within, I found my attachments of being self-righteous, keen to complain (about my stepbrother and the nephew), and being unable to take criticism.
Thinking about the principle of “Loss and Gain” Master talked about in Zhuan Falun, I realized that the books didn’t belong to us; otherwise he wouldn’t have been able to take them. Master arranges everything for us. I asked my mother to let it go. She sighed and said, “As a practitioner I won’t fight to get them back.”
After talking with my mother, we decided to return all the money our relatives and friends gave us at the funeral. We reminded each other to study the teachings of Falun Dafa and act like practitioners at all times.
For years I have felt that Master is right next to me, safeguarding and guiding me. It is an honor to be a Falun Dafa disciple. I will continue to work on my heart and completely assimilate to the Fa.
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