(Minghui.org) I have been able to melt my cultivation into my daily work and study during the past year. It is as natural as breathing. When I encounter problems, even if I don't immediately recall the Fa principles, I am able to find where I fall short before the event is over. It is easier to deal with most problems when we follow the requirement of the Fa.
Sometimes I had the feeling of “After passing the shady willow trees, there will be bright flowers and another village ahead!” And, as I follow the requirement of the Fa, I enlighten to more and more principles of the Fa.
I heard good news from my mother-in-law a few days ago. She ran into two neighbors from my old neighborhood. They did not know me personally, but I used to work in the same workplace as their husbands. They were happy to find out that she was my mother-in-law. They told her that although I lost my job as a result of the persecution of Falun Gong, I was regarded as a very good person by the whole workplace.
My mother-in-law is also a Falun Gong practitioner, so she clarified the truth of Falun Gong to them. My mother-in-law told me: “You have left this workplace for so many years. However, the families of your colleagues still remember how great you were. It looks like you did quite well at that time.”
I accidentally hit a car while parking my car last year. The mark on my car was barely visible, however, the other car had an obvious scratch. I went to the guard of the parking lot to search for the phone number of the car owner. I called him and negotiated with him on compensation. Finally I paid him 200 yuan.
Long after this incident, my father was told: “Your son is such a great man. People usually run away after scratching another person's car, if no one sees them. But your son spent two hours to find the owner.” My father used to be neutral towards Falun Gong. However, he recognized the honesty and kindness of cultivators through this incident and became more supportive.
I was on a business trip with a group of young men and I chatted with them during the long journey. We covered many topics from dating to social connections. I listened to them, put myself in their shoes and gave suggestions according to my understanding of Truth-Compassion-Tolerance. They were very touched.
Two people kept coming to me and told me that the conversation with me was the most valuable experience during the whole trip. They always tried to help carry my luggage. Later, I found them one by one to help them to quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated organizations. So far, besides the two that I have yet to find, all of the other people quit the CCP as soon as I talked to them.
I used to criticize others whenever I saw something inappropriate. It was because of the hidden mentality of showing off. Sometimes I was not happy because others caused trouble for me, which was also because I was selfish. Then I realized that I also made lots of mistakes. But I had been quite tolerant of myself.
I decided that I must learn to be considerate. When I saw others' mistakes, I told myself that he must have some special reason. Or I told myself: “It is not easy for him. It is understandable.” Sometimes I still complained when other practitioners or my family members did something that I disliked. Actually it is because I still have human notions and sentimentality.
I run a small truth-clarification material production center. Oftentimes practitioners donate money for it. I have no problem affording materials for more than twenty practitioners. However, other practitioners insisted on donating money. I reminded myself to be careful with money and not to make mistakes.
I spent my own money whenever I bought electronics both for Dafa projects and myself. I also use some printing paper, so I spent my own money to buy some. I cannot spend what practitioners donated for saving sentient beings on myself. I always bought the best printing media, but I controlled the budget very well. Rarely was anything wasted. 500 copies of flyers in color cost less than 40 yuan. The characters are clearly printed and the colors are vivid. People are all satisfied with the quality of the flyers.
I am not detail-oriented. Sometimes I forgot to take money out of the donation money to reimburse my purchases for materials. Sometimes I spent my own money when the cost was not much. Practitioners always asked me: “Why don't you ever take money to pay yourself back? Do not always spend your own money.” I told them: “It does not cost much, really there are still a lot of money left.” They said that the 2000 yuan that they donated lasted for almost one year, while the practitioner in charge of the printing site before spent much more money on supplies than me.
I think that practitioner was probably not as familiar with electronics as me, so he was not able to choose a more economic plan. I locked the donated money in a drawer in my workplace, separated from other money. I always made purchase with my own money, then got refund from the donated money.
I also learned to say no. Many practitioners asked me to print certain articles for truth-clarification. At the beginning, I did not have the heart to let them down. Then I thought that I should be responsible for the Fa instead of maintaining my own image. I started to verify the articles on Minghui. I only printed articles that were published on Minghui, and turned down requests for other articles.
Some practitioners sent me a master DVD for the Shen Yun Chorus, as well as many DVD boxes. They asked me to copy the DVD. I searched for this chorus on Minghui. Very few practitioners mentioned it. I was not sure what to do, so I turned down the request. With the same efforts, it is much more worthwhile to make DVDs for the Shen Yun shows or the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party.
Although it does not take much efforts for me to make a few dozen DVDs, practitioners would spend a lot more efforts to distribute them. It is not worthwhile to make something that would not help them to save sentient beings.
I used to think that the old forces would seize the loophole if I were not diligent in cultivation, which could cause sickness karma or other difficulties. Later, I realized that it is not the correct understanding of the Fa. I was afraid of hardships, which is a kind of fear, and an attachment for me to get rid of. In cultivation, practitioners would face hardships. We should face hardships with a peaceful mind. We do not seek hardships, nor do we avoid them.
Since we are cultivators, the hardships target certain attachments that we have. As long as we get rid of the attachments, the hardships will be gone. Now I am no longer afraid of hardships. I focus on finding where I should improve. The hardships are not difficult for me to endure any more. There is a delightful feeling of sublimation after breaking through the hardships.
These are my recent understandings. It is encouraging to see my progress, but I also see my shortcomings, such as laziness. Please correct me if there is anything inappropriate in my understanding.