(Minghui.org) I can feel that Teacher is always with me, guiding every step on my path of cultivation. Recently, Teacher arranged an incident to help me to see my own attachments and eliminate them.
The Wrong Hair Salon
When I needed a haircut, a fellow practitioner recommended a salon that had done a good job on her hair. I planned to go there, but I accidentally went to a different one instead.
I felt disappointed as I entered the place. The one-room salon had a few broken chairs and dirty tables. The floor had not been cleaned. The hairdresser looked tired, and she showed no expression at all when I entered. She did not have enough hot water, so she rinsed my hair with cold water. There was still shampoo in my hair when she began to blow dry my hair. She burned my head and blew hot air into my ears. When I told her about it, she did not seem to care at all. I was irritated by her attitude and bad service.
At that moment, I remembered that the fellow practitioner always talked to her hairdressers about Falun Dafa, so I began to send righteous thoughts. However, conflicting thoughts began to surface in my mind: “What if she forgot what she was doing while listening to me? … Maybe I should wait until she finishes cutting my hair... but what if she was planning to go home right afterward? On the other hand, what if she had been waiting for me to tell her the facts of Dafa all along?...” etc.
I finally was able to let go of my negative thoughts and began to talk to the hairdresser about how Falun Dafa teaches practitioners to follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance to be good people, as well as Dafa's healing power. I also told her about the Tiananmen self-immolation hoax and how it was staged by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) authorities to slander Falun Dafa. I finally suggested that she quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations. She listened attentively while cutting my hair. I could see in the mirror that she now had a smile on her face and was doing a great job with my hair. She looked very beautiful when she smiled.
Through chatting with her, I found out that she'd played mahjong all night long and was tired from lack of sleep. I then recalled that she actually unlocked the front door for me to come in. She must have been waiting for me to tell her the facts about Dafa.
She asked me whether it was true that people could have the “mark of the beast” on them. I answered that when she raised her fist to vow her allegiance to the CCP flag and give her life to the CCP, she had given the CCP permission to put the mark on her.
I added, “The CCP has launched one political movement after another and killed more than 80 million Chinese over its history. It persecutes Falun Dafa practitioners and illegally harvests their organs for profit. It has committed unpardonable sins, so Heaven will punish it. No one who has joined the CCP or its affiliated organizations will be able to escape karmic retribution unless they renounce their membership to have the mark erased from them.”
I also told her that nearly 300 million people have renounced their memberships in the Party so far and that she would be choosing a good future for herself if she also did so.
Her face lit up while listening to me. When I told her that she could renounce her membership without revealing her true identity for safety concerns, she said that she wanted to use her real name. She had an even bigger smile on her face now.
I asked her, “Has anyone else talked to you about this before?” She said, “Only you sounded convincing.” I knew that I was not the only practitioner who'd talked to her about Dafa, but Teacher had arranged for me to come today to help her make the final decision.
Reflection of My Cultivation State
On my way home, I searched inside and found that I had failed to cultivate every single thought of mine. I was bothered by the first impression of the salon's environment due to my pursuit of high-quality service. I was disappointed when reality did not satisfy my human desires. The fact that I was annoyed by her facial expressions and attitude meant that I was still attached to human emotions.
Teacher said, “...preferring one person to another, hobbies, and dislikes. Everything belongs to sentimentality, and everyday people just live for it.” (Lecture Six in Zhuan Falun)
She could have sensed my displeasure from my appearance, so she did not respond well to me at first sight, either. That was why her service was so terrible at first.
After digging deeper, I found that I was not always so meticulous myself, so Teacher used the hairdresser as a mirror to reflect my own issues and cultivation. I disliked the dirty environment of her salon but had forgotten that I did not always keep my own living environment clean.
I am deeply indebted to benevolent Teacher's mercy and forgiveness. I must cultivate even harder to eliminate all of my human attachments and cleanse my heart. I must make the best use of the remaining time to cultivate myself and do the three things well.
Category: Improving Oneself
