(Minghui.org) My father does not practice Falun Dafa, and his health is poor. He is looked after at home by a caregiver, an elderly Dafa practitioner. He’s always been keen on various health supplements and he’s been swindled multiple times by so-called salespeople. He spent most of his monthly salary on such items.
A salesperson who previously sold my father health equipment recently visited him to pitch some electric blankets. He claimed the original price was 4,000 yuan but they were currently being offered at a promotional price of 2,000 yuan. My father bought one, and so did his caregiver. Neither of them mentioned this to me.
I visited my father’s home and discovered an electric blanket. I looked it up online and found that an identical product from the same manufacturer was selling for just over 500 yuan. I told my father, “The price this man charged is a bit inflated. Let me ask him if we can return it. We can send this one back, and then I’ll buy you the same model.”
In truth, my composure was already beginning to waver. I resented my father for having been duped again, and my tone was far from kind. Instead it was heavy with a mix of reproach and sarcasm. I then called the salesperson and asked if a return was possible. He became evasive, one minute saying it would be difficult, and the next saying he needed to consult his superiors. He cited various issues with their system. I got the distinct impression that this operation resembled a pyramid scheme.
I said, “Please just do your best to process the return for us.” Then I headed home.
My father called and said he phoned the man again. The man claimed that all the products sold online were fake—he insisted that the one my father bought was different and said it wasn’t possible to return it. My father added, “Let’s leave it at that. We’ll just have to accept the loss.” Seeing that he decided not to pursue the matter any further, I chose not to interfere.
However, from the moment I learned about this incident, I felt a sense of heaviness. I knew I needed to engage in some serious introspection—I should look within to examine myself. I calmed my mind and reflected: Why did my emotions fluctuate so much when I was confronted with this situation. Why did I even become agitated?
When I looked within, I discovered a surprising number of attachments. The first was to familial affection. Wasn’t the source of my distress simply the pain of seeing my father being deceived and suffering? When I heard about other people being scammed, why didn’t I have this same emotional reaction?
The second was the attachment to material gain. My father bought products from this person in the past, and whenever I found out, after checking online prices and seeing a discrepancy of only one or two hundred yuan, I usually just let it go. But this time, the price difference was several times the actual value, and I was reluctant to let the money go. My mother is a practitioner and is experiencing a severe state of sickness karma. She requires constant care, and we still have household expenses. I simply couldn’t come to terms with such a senseless waste of money.
I also had some resentment. I previously asked our caregiver to tell me if a situation like this happened so I could verify the price and prevent us from being scammed. This time the caregiver deliberately kept it from me. I felt emotionally unbalanced, as if he and my father didn’t take me seriously—instead they blindly trust the salesperson’s claims. Despite my repeated warnings and earnest admonitions, they still fell victim to a scam. Why wouldn’t they just listen to my advice?
I was reminded of the story of how Sun Wukong beats the white-bone demon three times in Journey to the West. The deceiver’s tricks were not very sophisticated. Yet much like Sun Wukong, no matter how I analyzed the situation for my father, he was beguiled by the salesperson’s honeyed words and kept using the man’s arguments to justify what he did.
As I looked inward to examine myself, I discovered a deep-seated attachment to validating myself. I asked myself, “Why must they listen to me? Why do I feel so upset when I find out they’ve been keeping things from me?” Isn’t this a manifestation of Communist Party Culture—the mindset that one is always right, that everyone else must obey one’s commands, and that any failure to comply constitutes a transgression and leaves one feeling disrespected? Intertwined with this was a tinge of jealousy—the indignant thought that, after all my hard work for their own good, they still hid things from me and treated me like an outsider, while readily placing their trust in the words of a swindler. Aren’t these an ordinary person’s emotions?
So, from the perspective of a cultivator, how should I handle this? I realized that regarding matters in the ordinary world, provided they do not undermine Dafa or are major issues such as safety, one should not interfere excessively. If I discover that a family member is being deceived by others, it’s okay to offer them a reminder, but I mustn’t become overly attached to the outcome. It’s enough to simply offer kind advice. If they heed it, so be it. If they absolutely refuse to listen, then I should let things follow the course of nature. It is quite possible that they are meant to repay a portion of their karmic debt through this experience. While giving advice I must maintain a heart of compassion, let go of resentment and blame, and speak in a gentle tone.
Once I came to this understanding, my heart gradually became peaceful. The sense of blockage I felt in my body dissolved, and I was able to step back from the situation and look at things objectively—I was no longer swayed by superficial appearances.
Nothing we encounter on our cultivation journeys is accidental. I am grateful to Master for arranging this incident to help me see my hidden attachments. Although I haven’t yet completely eradicated these attachments, I feel that they have become significantly weaker. So weak, in fact, that they can no longer sway me.
These are my personal understandings at my level. If there is anything improper, please correct me.
Category: Cultivation Insights
