(Minghui.org) Looking back, my cultivation path was bumpy. I had resented, hated, and hurt others due to selfishness and my attachment to emotion, and I sometimes did not behave like a Dafa cultivator. However, I have now decided to be guided by compassion in my everyday life.
I moved to my mother’s house (she is also a Dafa practitioner) in another city to take care of her in 2019. Due to attachments and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) indoctrination, we hadn’t eliminated our attachments. We had hurt each other so much that she has harbored hatred towards me to this day. No matter how much I did for her, she kept saying negative things about me. She is my mother after all, and as a daughter, I have the responsibility to take care of her regardless of how she treated me. I know I owed her in this lifetime, and perhaps in a previous life too. We all must repay our karmic debts, which is common sense.
She is my fellow practitioner and she pointed out my shortcomings in her way. I should look inside, because everything is arranged by Master, and Master could be using her mouth to enlighten me. I also do not need to worry about her incorrect condition, in that some of her actions don’t seem to be grounded in the Fa, or that she has illness symptoms, because Master is taking care of her. I should remember that her behavior is a mirror that allows me to examine myself and identify my attachments. Every facet of my existence should assimilate to compassion.
Having Compassion for My Family
My husband recently started practicing Falun Dafa. He studies the Fa and does the exercises, and he can feel his karma moving in his body and disappearing gradually. But he still smokes cigarettes, plays with his cell phone, and watches the CCP-culture-infused TV series without a clear understanding of what the CCP is all about.
I shared my concerns with him based on my understanding of “no second cultivation way,” and he stopped watching the TV series. But he watched it again when I was away, and I expressed my concern again, which kept happening on and off.
I realized I should not impose my ideas on him, but instead should allow him to gradually see the CCP for what it is. I understood that Master has arranged everything for him, and these are also opportunities to cultivate myself while helping him.
My father-in-law practiced Falun Dafa for a short time prior to July 20, 1999, when the CCP began persecuting Falun Dafa, but gave it up due to the intense suppression. Years later, the CCP forced him to attend a brainwashing class and changed him. He has subsequently refused to listen when I clarify the truth to him. I wanted to help him and encourage him to study the Fa, but he became impatient and turned me down.
I looked inside, corrected my thoughts, and identified my attachments. I told myself to take it easy and do good deeds without seeking anything in return. To ease his hemorrhoids, I bought him wet wipes, and to soothe his stomach and ease his blood stasis, I bought him orange peel from the Chinese herbal store to make tea with hawthorn. I did it out of my genuine concern. He started to listen when I told him about the persecution. I understand that a practitioner’s conduct can determine the fate of those who have connections with Dafa.
My husband was away from home. When I heard that my father-in-law had no appetite, I arranged a comprehensive physical examination for him. It turned out that he had cancer. In the process, I fulfilled my husband’s duty, and his sisters witnessed everything I did. In the past, when I tried to clarify the truth about Dafa and the persecution to them, they remained silent, but now they listen to me.
In my humble understanding, non-practitioners don’t just listen to what we say, they also watch what we do, because we represent Dafa. They can feel the compassion through our words and deeds.
I called my husband as soon as I was told that his father had cancer. My husband quit his job immediately and came home to take care of his father. That was more than three months ago, and I was away from home during that period of time.
My sisters-in-law finished their farm work for the season and offered to have their father live with them, but I postponed their idea for a month because I had just come back home and wanted to take care of him for the month when I was home.
When my father-in-law was in my older sister-in-law’s house prior to the diagnosis, he had no appetite due to stomach pain. But when he lived with us, he ate normally and had no pain. His children were pleasantly surprised at his better condition when staying with my family. I understood that a practitioner’s righteous field is beneficial to all those around, even though they do not study the Fa or do the exercises.
While celebrating my father-in-law’s birthday on September 27, 2023, my three sisters-in-law decided that each of their families should give us 600 yuan to compensate for my husband’s giving up his job to take care of their father.
I discretely put the money back into my younger sister-in-law’s bag. When my husband said he wanted me to keep the money from his other two sisters, I said, “We should give it back to them. We decided to do this because we wanted to, and we were able to.” I knew this was a xinxing test of whether I had an attachment to personal gain.
My younger sister-in-law has now changed. When she was selling apples, her friend who helped out weighed the apples repeatedly when the buyer was not paying attention to help her make more profit, but she stopped her friend. I previously told my younger sister-in-law about the principles of virtue and karma, and her behavior showed that she listened and followed what I told her. It’s living proof that practitioners’ righteousness and compassion can influence the people around them.
Having Compassion for the Police
I was doing some copy-paste one day at home in 2017, but I was only able to paste the character “Compassion,” which puzzled me. A few days later, someone reported me while I was telling people about Falun Dafa and the persecution, and the police arrested me.
I realized that Master had enlightened me in advance that I needed to have compassion, so I clarified the truth to every police officer I encountered from that moment on.
The police treated me like a criminal at first, yelling at me and telling me to sit still. I calmly explained to them why I began practicing Falun Dafa, my physical conditions before and after, and how my character had improved.
I also told them the basic facts about Falun Dafa, and the police gradually relaxed, and even nodded with a smile on their faces. The officer in charge said they had no choice but to carry out the orders because they could get paid by the CCP for doing that.
They searched my bag and found 1,000 yuan in truth-clarification currency bills, four phone cards, and twelve truth-clarification pamphlets. I asked that they not raid my home (because all the truth-clarifying materials were laying around in my house), which they agreed. They did not commit more crimes.
It is noteworthy that this particular police station has a long history of arrests and house raids. I feel that my compassion and truth clarification has changed them.
Compassion also let me see their good side, not the usual evil police image—they are people who just want to make a living, but they do bad things because of the CCP’s deception... They are really poor souls being pushed by the evil CCP to commit crimes against Dafa, and they were heading towards the road of “No Return” without knowing it.
I understand that the greatest compassion is manifest by helping people recognize Dafa and quit the CCP organizations, so as not to be held accountable for its crimes. I strive to help people quit the CCP every day.
While looking after my grandson, I went out with the stroller, and looked for people to tell them about Falun Dafa and the persecution. I held compassion in my heart and sincerely asked them to make the right choice.
I am just one of the millions of Falun Dafa practitioners who are cultivating compassion in all corners of the world, in all walks of life, and in all different projects that validate the Fa. We treat others with kindness, speak kind words, and do good deeds. For those that we did not have a chance to talk with, we would left behind a field of compassion for them. Compassion is our guide and companion.
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Category: Improving Oneself
