(Minghui.org) Since the creation of the old universe, sentient beings and all life have been selfish. Our great benevolent Master Li (the founder of Falun Dafa) feels compassion for all lives. Master gives all lives an opportunity to be reborn into the new universe as the old universe disintegrates.
Master therefore came to the human world to spread Falun Dafa, and give people the opportunity to cultivate, so they can become a particle of the new universe. To this end, our esteemed Master has devoted His heart and soul to helping His disciples assimilate to Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and take on the mission of saving all beings. Master taught us to “...attain the righteous Enlightenment of selflessness and altruism.” (“Non-Omission in Buddha-Nature,” Essentials for Further Advancement). As a result, a hundred million Dafa disciples the world over have bloomed like plum blossoms, offering the hope of spring even in the harsh weather of a late winter.
How much effort must Master expend on my behalf to protect and support me, I, a being who was born in the old universe? Given my “selfish” nature, how much support and protection have I needed to make it through thick and thin over more than 20 years of cultivation?
I would like to share some examples of my striving to cultivate toward selflessness and altruism by following Master’s teachings.
Be Ready to Help Those in Need
One day I walked past a store owned by a fellow practitioner, Aling (alias), and saw her organizing the merchandise as if she was moving. So I asked her, “Are you closing the store?” She invited me into the store and began to explain. She said that with her assisting practitioners and customers coming and going at her store each day, she didn’t have time to read Dafa books or do the exercises. She wanted to read and practice at home at night, but she was so tired after a whole day’s work that she didn’t even have the energy to boil water – she lives alone – let alone read or cultivate. And being physically and mentally exhausted, the old illness she’d had prior to practicing Falun Dafa returned. She felt that it had worsened, so the only option she could think of was to close the store.
She said she wanted my opinion because none of the other practitioners supported her closing the store. They thought there would be no place for fellow practitioners to exchange their understandings face-to-face if she closed the store. They said she was thinking only about herself, and not about fellow practitioners, or the whole body of practitioners, and she was causing losses to the whole body.
Distressed, she asked me, “Is it true that if I close the store, I will cause losses to the one body? Should I close the store?”
I thought for a moment and said, “In view of your current cultivation state and physical condition, I support your closing the store.”
She immediately folded her hands in heshi to express her gratitude. “Finally, someone is supporting me and putting themselves in my shoes!”
I, on the other hand, felt it was appropriate to show understanding to her at this time, because what I heard from her was what she needed most. I continued, “But I don’t agree with what you said about a ‘relapse’ of your old illness, and that it is getting worse. In my opinion, this is an illusion of sickness karma caused by the evil that is taking advantage of your not being able to study the Fa and do the exercises for a long time. It is a form of persecution.”
I continued, “Of course, there is also a factor of omission by fellow practitioners in this area as a whole. In fact, closing the store is the wisest decision for both yourself and fellow practitioners, and your situation does require you to spend more time studying the Fa and doing the exercises. It’s up to you to make the final decision; this is just my personal opinion; I will support you either way.”
Aling was so relieved and relaxed that she said she would no longer hesitate and would close the store immediately. She invited me to her home and asked me to visit her often. I visited her a few times. Aling was studying the Fa and memorizing the Fa, and her health improved. However, she didn’t quite understand the Fa principles in terms of distinguishing between the evil old forces’ persecution of Dafa practitioners versus eliminating karma in personal cultivation. She still thought it was a “relapse of an old illness.”
I knew I could not rush her, although I wanted her to get better as soon as possible. A practitioner’s righteous understanding of Fa principles is not something that can be achieved just by others wishing for it. I was usually impatient and tended to rush to get things done. Thus, this was also an opportunity for me to remove my attachment of impatience. I had faith that my fellow practitioner would make it through with Master’s strengthening and enlightenment.
Aling called me one day and said she was in the hospital. She was sad and said she couldn’t do it anymore, and told me to let her be. She wouldn’t let me visit her in the hospital because she was in an infectious diseases hospital, and she was afraid I would get infected.
How could I give up on her? She is a disciple of Master and a fellow practitioner of mine. Although I hadn’t had much interaction with her before, I knew that her wish to be Master’s genuine disciple was very pure. When she still had her store, she clarified the truth to her customers and persuaded them to withdraw from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and/or its youth organizations. She left out almost no one. She always returned from running errands or shopping with a list of people who had agreed to withdraw from the CCP. She put a lot of effort into cultivation. Now, in the midst of a demonic crisis, she needed fellow practitioners to hold her hand to support and encourage her; even in this situation she was still thinking of others and wouldn’t let me visit her for fear that I could get infected. What a good practitioner! She needed help and support more than anything else right now. This was my responsibility; how could I leave her alone?
I told her, “I’ll come to see you tomorrow. Don’t think about contagion, there is no such thing!” In fact, I wanted to say, “We are both Master’s disciples, what is there to fear for practitioners of Dafa?” (I put it a different way for phone safety.)
After a few days in the hospital, Aling saw that the medication she was given did not work, and she asked to be discharged. She was afraid of getting me infected, so she lied to me, saying she went to a relative’s house. I knew her relatives would not have accepted her after she had just come out of an infectious diseases hospital, so she must be at her own home.
When I appeared at her home, she was delightfully surprised, “Are you really not afraid of getting an infection? Are you still willing to see me?”
I said, “I’ve been here several times before you were hospitalized, didn’t I know what symptoms you had? I’ve also been to the hospital; was I afraid of being infected? We are Master’s disciples, how could our energy, which comes from cultivating a righteous Way, be afraid of those bacteria? Besides, Master is protecting us all the time.”
Aling talked a lot that day, although she had to catch her breath and take a break after a few sentences. She told me about her situation before and after her hospitalization. She said several fellow practitioners came to see her before her hospitalization, and voiced their various opinions. She felt that everyone was right, but didn’t know who to listen to. She also felt that no one’s opinion was right for her specific situation. Some of them accused her of closing the store prematurely, and some said she shouldn’t stay in bed, that she should go out and clarify the truth to people. She said their tones and words were so strong that she could not take it. In the end, all parties got upset, and she simply drove them away and told them not to come anymore.
She said in tears, “I knew they were saying those things for my own good. I wanted to go out to offer people salvation, but I could not walk more than a few steps without being exhausted. I had no energy. I could not even lift a thermos; how could I go out to talk to people?! I was so anxious, I felt I was about to have a nervous breakdown! I drove them away and couldn’t stop crying... I couldn’t take it anymore, so I went to the hospital.”
Aling took a break and then continued to tell me that the fellow practitioners knew she had gone to the hospital. They said she should not have done so because there would be a greater crisis waiting for her in the future. She cried so hard that the doctors and nurses came to comfort her, but she couldn’t stop crying. She cried because the fellow practitioners said she had dropped to the level of a person who doesn't cultivate. She thought she had no hope, and was afraid she would not be able to practice cultivation any longer.
She said, “When you came to see me, I thought you would blame me like they did. But you did not say a word of blame. Instead you said since I was already there, I should settle my mind and not think about anything, and see how things unfolded in a few days... You said it isn’t that I cannot practice cultivation anymore after I went to the hospital, it’s that I just did not pass a test. I just needed to do better in the future. You know what? I was in a particularly good mood after you left that day. The doctors and nurses wondered why! They didn’t know it was because you didn’t say I had dropped to the level of an everyday person and couldn’t cultivate anymore – instead you said I could still cultivate. I cannot tell you how happy I was that you understood me and comforted me.”
After a pause, she said solemnly, “In the future, I will allow no one but you to come and see me.”
Upon hearing this, I felt a heavy burden on my shoulders. I knew Aling had given everything she had to Master and Dafa, and on the human side she was giving her hope to me. I not only must walk my own path well, but also must walk it well with her, together. A great responsibility was given to me.
Playing back what happened since I met Aling, it was clear that Master put Aling’s hand in mine. What a lot of trust that was! This was Master’s arrangement! I said in my heart, “Master, please rest assured that I will help her out of the swamp and back onto a solid path to heaven.”
Master taught us:
“The next person’s things are your things, and your things are his things.” (“Fa Teaching Given at the 2002 Conference in Washington, D.C.,” Collected Teachings Given Around the World Volume II)
I am willing to be a stepping stone and a paving stone for my fellow practitioners, and I am willing to be a plum blossom that blooms for others and refreshes their hearts on their path to Godhood.
Through a lot of Fa study and Fa memorization over these past several years, in addition to looking inward, as well as Master’s enlightenment, Aling has become clearer and clearer in her understanding of the Fa. She has fully recovered and looks much younger than before.
One day, she told me that her former employer had notified all retirees to come pick up a retroactive payment. She figured there would be a lot of people there, and she feared she would not be able to stand for a long time, so she wanted to find someone else to collect the money for her.
I said, “You’re well enough to collect it yourself. It’s a precious opportunity to meet your former colleagues. Don’t miss the opportunity.” She decided to go on her own.
When she arrived at her former workplace, she did not rush to pick up the money, but instead waited outside for people to come out after collecting their money. She clarified the truth to whoever was willing to talk to her, and she advised them to quit the CCP organizations. She successfully persuaded more than 20 people to withdraw from the CCP that morning.
She came home and had two bananas as a late lunch, and made up for the 12:00 p.m. sending forth righteous thoughts. She then studied and memorized the Fa. She told me happily, “I’m not tired at all. Studying the Fa, doing the exercises, sending forth righteous thoughts, and helping save people, I did not miss a single thing. I feel great!”
Aling now lives in another town with her child’s family. Although she has not yet contacted the local practitioners there, she does not feel lonely or isolated at all, and she continues to study the Fa diligently and clarify the truth to people. She comes back here every year, and she brings back a long list of people who agreed to quit the CCP organizations.
Looking back to several years ago, Aling was like a waning day, its light dimming in the evening wind. Now she is like a spring rain, greening trees and moistening lands, and bringing blessings to other places. I hope she will persevere and live up to her sacred destiny.
Don’t Give Up on Those in Hardship
Bing (alias) is an elderly practitioner. We met once a week for ten years to exchange our understandings with each other. It has helped us both to gain a better and better understanding of the Fa.
When Bing’s husband died, it was a heavy blow for her, and she developed health problems. As she described it, it felt like a heart attack or a complication of diabetes. She felt it as soon as she moved even a little, so she had to recline halfway to avoid the pain. She didn’t respond to my sharing about her situation and couldn’t quite understand it anymore. I felt that she was looking at her issues from the perspective of a non-practitioner and realized that her situation was serious. So I immediately decided to temporarily quit the Dafa truth-clarification project I worked on, and devote myself to helping Bing, because she was in great need of help. I told myself that no matter how Bing behaved, I must not let go of her hand and I must get her back from the old forces. I started spending all day with her.
We went out to clarify the truth every morning and studied the Fa at her house in the afternoon. Bing was very verbal, while I was not very good at communicating, so we naturally formed a pattern whereby Bing mainly did the talking. We worked very well together. Bing is talented and could always make people agree to quit the Party in a joyful and lively manner. I typically sent forth righteous thoughts while observing the surroundings. At the same time I observed Bing’s state and the reactions of the other party, so I could add a few things when needed, which was also very useful. If I saw that Bing was momentarily speechless, I quickly spoke and spiced up the moment, and then Bing would follow along.
Some people listened for quite a while without taking a position on whether to quit the Party or not, so I found the right entry point and said a few words, and then the other party agreed to quit. For example, there was a time when Bing spoke to a 60-year-old woman who had been a member of the Young Pioneers, but the woman would not say anything even though Bing had clarified the truth to her a lot. At this point I interjected, “The Tiananmen self-immolation was staged.” Then, Bing immediately dissected the Tiananmen incident and showed how it was a CCP hoax, and the woman immediately agreed to quit the Young Pioneers.
Because of Bing’s physical condition, we needed to take frequent breaks. We took the time to discuss, look inward, point out each other’s problems in time, and share our understandings.
One time, a young woman came out of a store, and Bing walked up to her to clarify the truth to her. The young woman listened, but did not take a stand no matter what Bing said. I watched from the sidelines and at an appropriate moment I said, “You don’t have to go to your workplace, school, or community to quit, you just need to sincerely tell us now.” She immediately said, “That works. I quit.”
I noticed that Bing seemed a little unhappy. As we continued on our way, Bing said, “I talked for so long, and she didn’t quit, while you said just one word, and she quit.” She implied that I had taken all the credit.
I immediately shared my understanding with her. “We are seeking to help save sentient beings, not garner credit for ourselves. It is our greatest joy to see sentient beings make the right choice. In addition, we are one body, and it is our combined effort that helped every sentient being regardless of who speaks more and whose words played a bigger role. What matters is how we position our heart. We aim to ‘attain the righteous Enlightenment of selflessness and altruism’ through helping save sentient beings. In fact, the one who really saves people is Master. We should not take heaven’s merit for our own.”
We worked better and better together, and were saving sentient beings in joy and laughter every day while fulfilling the mission of Dafa practitioners.
After three months, Bing had sufficiently recovered from some of the symptoms she was dealing with. She didn’t need me to continue to spend all day with her, so I began to spend half days with her. We studied Master’s article “Fa Teaching Given at the 2002 Conference in Washington, D.C.” (Collected Teachings Given Around the World, Volume II) and went out together to clarify the truth every morning. Then we returned to our respective homes to study the Fa, do the exercises, or do Dafa projects in the afternoon.
After another three months, Bing’s physical condition was back to normal. She had fully recovered, so I did not need to accompany her any more, and we resumed our own usual schedules.
For more than 20 years, Dafa practitioners have been tempering themselves and saving sentient beings in the baptism of blood and fire. We have always been one body, supporting and encouraging one another, walking the righteous path of Fa rectification together. Plum blossoms bloom for others.
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