(Clearwisdom.net)
1. Obtaining the Fa in Tribulation
Before obtaining the Fa, my husband started seeing another woman when he was doing business away from home. I fought with him after becoming aware of this, and from that point on, there was no peace in the family. Later, my husband left me and our two children and ran away with the woman. I cried day and night and lost confidence in anything I did. I felt that I would rather die than live a life like that. Friends and neighbors pitied me and encouraged me to find a job to break out of that mode. They thought that my husband might change his mind after a while.
So, I decided to find a job and found one in a family service company. A young mother hired me to take care of her small child, Haohao. At first, I took the advice of a lady I job-searched with who told me to keep the change after buying goods for my employer, instead of returning it. Now, I feel so ashamed. A month after I started that job, the employer’s mother, a Falun Dafa practitioner, visited her daughter’s home. She told me the truth about Falun Dafa, how good Falun Dafa is, and how Teacher teaches people to be good people. She also reported the truth of the staged Tiananmen Immolation incident. She also lent me the book Zhuan Falun to read and a VCD of Teacher’s lectures to watch.
Since I started reading Zhuan Falun, my mind changed tremendously. I started to comprehend the characteristic of the universe, Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance, the true meaning of being a human being, and the relationship between gain and loss. Therefore, I returned all the money to the employer I had previously kept for myself.
Once, when Haohao’s mother paid me my salary, she gave me tens of yuan of extra money. Although I refused to accept the money, she said sincerely, "please take it" and pushed the money into my hands. After she left for work, I put the extra money into a piggy bank in her home.
Another time, when I went to the grocery store, I found one yuan on the floor that someone had lost, and gave the money to the store owner. The manager didn’t understand why I gave him the money because I had paid money for the groceries. I told him that the money was lost there by someone. He found it unbelievable that such honest, kind people still exist. I explained the reason to him. I told him, "I’m a home care worker and the grandmother of the child I’m taking care of is a Falun Gong practitioner. She taught me to follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. She asked me to remember that Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good, and I should always think about others first."
The owner was very impressed by what I said and believed that Falun Gong is very good. Afterwards, I gradually started practicing Falun Gong.
2. Do the Three Things Well
After obtaining the Fa, I read the Fa every day and concentrated on cleaning all bad thoughts from my mind. I also recited poems from Hong Yin. Gradually, my mindset changed tremendously and I gave up the attachment to the issue about my husband and that woman. I no longer hated them. Instead, I felt they were in a pitiful position by hiding themselves here and there. At that point, all the people in my mother-in-law’s family changed their attitude toward me. When I went back home for the Chinese New Year, I discussed the issue with my husband. He told me that he had a baby with another woman, who gave him two years time to sort out the mess. If my husband would not divorce me, she would leave him. I put down all my selfishness and told him that I will not make his life more difficult, and that I understood his pain and the other woman’s desire for a home. If he chose to stay with the other woman, I would agree on a divorce. If he wanted to stay with me, I would take care of their child as my own. I let him make his own decision. I also reminded him that it is not morally right to have both of us, as it is fair to neither woman. Of course, I didn’t want to divorce, because he is the father of both my children.
At that moment, I just followed what Teacher taught me. What I did surprised him. From his eyes I saw that he was sincerely touched by the magnanimous power of Dafa. He responded that it was indeed hard for him to give up the three of us. He asked me to give him some time and he would in good faith endeavor to do right by us. After the Chinese New Year, I went back to Haohao’s.
One morning in September 2006, I got a phone call saying that my father-in-law was seriously ill, asking me to go home immediately. I asked Haohao’s mom what I should do. She had me call her mother first to notify her, then visit her to discuss the situation based on the Fa. That was what I did. When we discussed this, she said, "This must be interference of the old forces. The old forces made your father-in-law ill, so as to force you into a situation where you would stop studying the Fa or doing the practice. Now that Haohao is in kindergarten, you have plenty of time to study the Fa after you finish your daily work. And I just gave you another Dafa book for you to study. Now, suddenly this happened. So it must be interference. We should not acknowledge it." Through the discussion, I realized that I would not be able to come back had I left. The old forces were trying to block me from studying the Fa by persecuting an ordinary person. I told myself I should not acknowledge this. No one will stop me from studying the Fa. I will follow the path Teacher has arranged for me and do the three things well. If I leave, that will interfere not only with me, but also with Haohao’s mom and grandmother. Haohao’s mother is very busy, so her mother will have to spend time taking care of Haohao because Haohao’s dad’s parents have gone back to the countryside home. Her mother needs to do the three things and help some other practitioners while they are in tribulation. Haohao’s mother will not have time to study the Fa or send forth the righteous thoughts after work. After my thoughts were clear, I decided not to go back and persisted in sending forth righteous thoughts at the top of each hour. After that, I spent all of my extra time studying the Fa and digging out my attachments, or doing other things to clarify the truth.
A few days later, my mother-in-law’s family called to let me know that my father-in-law had recovered. Because I previously felt that my husband’s family treated me very poorly, and I didn’t go back when his father was ill, I was afraid to call back and to be maligned. This was an attachment to fear. I told myself that I’m a Falun Dafa practitioner and a practitioner has no fear. Teacher taught us, "...just by having your heart unaffected you will be able to handle all situations." ("Eliminate Your Last Attachments" from Essentials for further Advancement II). So I studied more, sent forth righteous thoughts and cleared my own unrighteous thoughts. Gradually, I gave up the attachment of fear. When I called my mother-in-law, she was never so kind to me and told me that I don’t have to worry about home and that my children were doing very well. She is also considerate and understanding of my obligations at work, thereby allowing me to do my best.
I then told Haohao’s mother my experience and how important studying the Fa well and sending forth righteous thoughts are. I told her that over the approximate three years of coming to her home, I felt she was not very diligent in studying the Fa, sending forth righteous thoughts, or doing the practice. The impression she gave to me was that those things were not very important. After I talked to her, she and I, as well as Haohao, changed a lot. I previously always treated her as my employer and didn’t dare to tell her what I thought. I enlightened that this is also an attachment to fear. I told her that she should spend more time studying the Fa and doing the exercises. I enlightened that it doesn't matter to me if she likes or dislikes my observation, but I nonetheless have to say it because we are all Falun Dafa practitioners. It also cannot be accidental that Haohao was born into this family. I noticed that whenever she (my employer) studied the Fa well, her temper and attitude would be good and Haohao would be nicer too. In this family, we have three Dafa practitioners, but we don't even have an environment to study the Fa. Only when Haohao’s grandmother came and encouraged us to study the Fa did we do better. Once she left, we behaved as usual again.
Haohao’s mother was moved and told me she wanted to cry after hearing what I said, and she felt that I was so close to her, like one of her relatives, to kindly tell her these things. As a veteran practitioner, she felt that she was not as diligent as me and didn’t do many things well, which caused me to misunderstand her. Because she didn’t study the Fa and send forth the righteous thought well, she had given the old forces the excuse to take advantage of her. That prevented me from studying the Fa. She hoped I would treat her as a Falun Dafa practitioner from then on and let her know whatever she doesn’t do well. She said she will be very appreciative of that.
Since this episode, I enlightened to the importance of studying the Fa well, sending forth righteous thoughts, and clarifying the truth about the persecution. I also understood how pure the relationship among practitioners is. When we put down our selfishness, cultivation is simple, but sacred and solemn.
Above are some of my experiences during my cultivation. I will try my best in the future to cultivate myself and do the three things well. I hope all Falun Dafa practitioners reach enlightenment.
