(Minghui.org) I began practicing Falun Dafa in 1997. Time flies, and nearly 30 years have passed in the blink of an eye. I stumbled countless times. It is my unwavering faith in Master and the Fa that has allowed me to keep going.
Cultivation is serious and we must pass every test and tribulation well.
My husband and his older brother were business partners. His brother handled the accounts, while my husband was responsible for purchasing and selling goods. My husband trusted his brother completely and rarely checked the accounts. After his brother finished building his house, he told us that nothing remained in the business accounts. That was when we discovered that he used all the funds that should have been our half.
My husband couldn’t accept it. After working so hard for years, how could everything suddenly be gone?! He was devastated.
As a cultivator, I understood that none of this was accidental. It was meant to help me take financial gain lightly. My husband also gradually regained his composure and he soon started doing business again.
Once I let go of my attachment, I realized that what was meant to be ours would still be ours. Perhaps we owed his brother from previous lifetimes, and Master arranged for us to repay him in this way. This experience also helped me let go of my attachment to personal gain and gain a deeper understanding of the Fa.
My husband was married before, and his two sons from his previous marriage lived with us. Because he was often away on business the responsibility of caring for them fell on me. I went from being a young woman to suddenly taking on the responsibilities of raising children and caring for my mother-in-law. I felt overwhelmed and unsure of what to do. I treated them according to the standards of a practitioner and cared for the as if themy were my own. We got along very well.
There are all kinds of tests in cultivation. To help me improve, Master continually arranged different situations to help me let go of my attachments and improve my xinxing.
Because my husband was frequently away, some people spread rumors that he was having an affair. These rumors kept me on edge. A woman even called me to provoke me, claiming that my husband was her husband. On top of that, my husband treated me poorly, making the rumors seem all the more believable.
Facing these challenges, I kept Master’s teachings firmly in mind:
“They live just for this qing. Affection among family members, love between a man and a woman, love for parents, feelings, friendship, doing things for the sake of friendship, and everything else all relate to this qing. Whether a person likes to do something or not, is happy or unhappy, loves or hates something, and everything in the entire human society comes from this qing. If this qing is not relinquished, you will be unable to cultivate. If you break free from this qing, nobody can affect you.” (Lecture Four, Zhuan Falun)
I silently recited this passage from the Fa every day. As I gradually calmed down, these incidents stopped occurring, and my husband’s attitude toward me improved as well. I was deeply grateful to Master for helping me improve.
My older stepson had a good temperament, but my younger stepson who had lived with his paternal grandparents developed some bad habits. He was willful and had a bad temper. He often got into trouble at school, and we were frequently called in to meet with his teachers. By the time he was 15 or 16, he began smoking, drinking, and fighting. Sometimes, he didn’t come home at night. Since his father was often away on business, disciplining him became my responsibility.
If I did not discipline him, people said, “He isn’t your child, so you don’t care how he behaves.” If I was too strict, they would say, “You’re so strict because he isn’t your child.” It seemed that no matter what a stepmother did, she could never avoid gossip and criticism.
As a practitioner, I did not concern myself with what others said. In the face of criticism and even misunderstanding from my own family, I did my best to maintain my xinxing. My husband was often away from home, and he believed what others told him. He even blamed me for the way his son behaved. This was undoubtedly another test for me.
I understood that everything has its karmic causes and relationships. As long as my stepson called me Mom, I had a responsibility toward him. I realized that this situation was helping me let go of my resentment for my husband and my emotional attachment to my stepson.
I did everything I could to help my stepson get back on the right track. I showed him more care, tried to meet his reasonable requests, and taught him to live by the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. Gradually, he became more mature and considerate. He stopped fighting with others and staying out all night. He found a job, and our relationship became very harmonious.
As I continue on my cultivation path, I’m grateful to the practitioners who have walked alongside me. I’m even more grateful to Master for always watching over me.