(Clearwisdom.net) I started to practice Falun Gong in 1994. After experiencing many tribulations, I am considered a "veteran" practitioner. Under Master's merciful protection, my experiences have been similar to other practitioners. My ailments were cured. The atmosphere of our family home has become better and better. There is no need for me to describe such stories again.
Master told us that we should do the three things well. I felt that I was doing them every day. For example, when I go to a market to do grocery shopping, I always find opportunities to clarify the truth. When I meet people that I am familiar with, such as my old classmates, colleagues, or neighbors, I always find opportunities to clarify the truth to them. However, I was not willing to talk to one particular person at all, even though I ran into him repeatedly. Why? It's simple. More than 10 years ago, he and I worked in the same office. He was a Party secretary of my office and he offended me.
The story is as follows. It was the end of the year, and all of us in the office had to select one among us to be an "excellent worker." Everyone in the office voted for me--except him. He could not explain why he disagreed with the others and claimed that the final decision would not purely depend on votes. Other factors were also important. Therefore, I lost that year. In the following years, he used the same method to make me lose. He became my enemy. Shortly after that, he was transferred to other work. He used to be a laborer, could not read or write, and created conflicts and divisions among the workers. Since he messed things up at work, none of the offices wanted him. Therefore, he decided to retire.
After several years, I also retired. Sometimes we ran into each other at the retiree reunion. However, I was not willing to speak to him. One day, while I was doing grocery shopping at a morning market, we ran into each other. He pretended that he did not see me by lowering his head and passed by me. After I got home, I told my husband that I had met Party Secretary Zhang in the market and that I had just ignored him. My husband said, "What you did was right. You don't have to say anything to him." In that way, I obtained my husband's support and never felt regret about my behavior. I felt that my behavior was appropriate. I heard from someone else that his family situation was not good. His wife had had a stroke and was bedridden, and he had to take care of her all the time. Later, since another market was established near his home, he rarely came to the market where I had seen him.
After reading Master's article, "Let Go of Human Attachments and Save the World's People" several times, I really felt regretful about my past behavior. I felt that I had behaved poorly. Even an ordinary person would not treat other people like that, let alone a cultivator. Could I still be a Dafa disciple? In "Teaching the Fa at the 2004 Chicago Conference," Master said,
"I'll say this again: I don't want to leave a single person behind. That's why Master's thinking is usually different from yours. Sometimes you think that certain people are iffy, certain people are unsavable, certain people are this or that... but my thinking is different from yours. You know, today I have opened the door for saving people so wide; the way things are in terms of jobs the sentient beings in human society have is such that people are doing all kinds of work, and I want to save each person. As long as someone has learned the Fa, I want to save him, I don't want to abandon those people."
Master also said, "So, I tell you that you cannot Consummate if you do not love your enemies." ("Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Canada")
When I thought of Master's words, I felt that my attachments were too strong, and I was really poor. Therefore, I decided if I could meet Mr. Zhang again, I would change my behavior and clarify the truth to him. My thought proved to be useful.
Two days later, I went to the morning market to do grocery shopping. Normally I use the side door. This time I used the main entrance. As I entered the market, the Party secretary was walking out. We ran into each other. Because there were so many people, he probably did not see me, but I recognized him right away. I called out to him, "Secretary Zhang, you also come here to shop for groceries?" He was stunned, stopped walking, and still wasn't willing to recognize me. I smiled at him and said, "Did you forget that we were in the same office?" He said, "How could I forget? Of course I do." Then, he put his groceries down. We were just like old friends that had been separated for a long time. At that moment, my only thought was to clarify the truth to him. We started to discuss our daily family activities. Immediately, he mentioned that his wife's health was poor, which had affected his health as well. He looked really exhausted. We are the same age, but he looked much older than me. He asked me how I felt. I told him that I was feeling very well. After I started to practice Falun Gong, all my physical ailments had disappeared. I took out some truth-clarification materials from my purse and gave them to him. I asked him to look at the materials with his wife. He gladly accepted them and put them into his bag. He also told me his home address and asked me to visit him sometime. We chatted for a long time.
Through this small incident, Master enlightened me to get rid of my attachment. I will do better in the future.
August 30, 2007
