(Minghui.org) I am originally from Vietnam, and am now staying in Melbourne, Australia. I started practicing Falun Dafa in November 2015. During my cultivation, there have been challenges as well as miracles that I would like to share with everyone.
A Miracle Brought about by Benevolence
I started cultivating Dafa while working in an aggressive workplace. My boss was a tough one, who easily became angry and irrational, and often complained about everything. She yelled at me in front of the other colleagues many times. I felt this was unfair, and I lost face because this hit upon my ego. I knew that I needed to cultivate compassion, so I kept silent. In my mind however, I couldn't dissolve the negative thoughts I had toward her, nor could I get over the feeling of being treated unfairly. The more I felt upset, the more frequently these issues occurred.
A fellow practitioner advised me that if I could keep my mind still, my benevolence would emerge, and I could then resolve this tribulation benevolently. So I calmed down and looked at the issue from the perspective of a practitioner.
Master said:
“You should always be benevolent and kind to others, and consider others when doing anything.” (Zhuan Falun)
I thought that if I was not a Dafa practitioner, I would be the same as her and look down on others due to having a strong ego. She is affected by the big dye vat of ordinary human society, and she can't escape the sea of suffering, with sickness and human conflicts.
Master said,
“Cultivation practice is the only way to find yourself comfortably free of illness and to accomplish the goal of being truly free!” (Zhuan Falun)
It was at this moment that I felt really sorry for her and decided to tell her about Falun Dafa before I left the company. When I gave her a truth-clarification leaflet, she smiled, and the negative burden in my mind was totally eliminated. I only had one hope—that she could be saved.
My Mother's Changes
Before becoming a practitioner, I felt annoyed and impatient upon talking with my parents. I thought that since we belonged to different generations, they did not understand my life and that they were trying to push me to follow their desires instead of listening to my thoughts. Whenever my mother started complaining or advising me about the same issues, I usually argued, but sometimes compulsively followed my parents’ advice. My relationship with my parents was not good and they reckoned that I was a stubborn child.
After becoming a practitioner, I began measuring myself against the Fa. I put myself in my parents’ shoes and realized that my parents were over-worried for their children, and all they wanted were the best things for me. If I look at their favorable intentions, I am not annoyed with what they say. I try to cultivate my tolerance toward other people, but wonder why I cannot be benevolent and patient towards my mother, who is always concerned about taking care of me.
Master said,
“You should always maintain a heart of compassion and kindness.” (Zhuan Falun)
There are no coincidences on the path of cultivation. Whenever my mother advises me to improve in some way, I feel calm and think that I need to look inward if I still have any shortcomings in that area. When I become patient while talking with her and express my true sympathy toward her concerns, she does not continuously complain about me as she did in the past. She takes time to listen to what I say. Our relationship then becomes harmonized.
Identifying Shortcomings During Group Fa Study
We have an online group Fa study especially for new Vietnamese practitioners who have limited English language proficiency. At the first stage of being a coordinator, I felt quite unconfident in this responsibility because I have not cultivated as long as many other practitioners here. I was also worried that I would not have enough sharing experience or profound enlightenment to support new practitioners. I thus kept asking my fellow practitioners, who had cultivated longer, for advice in resolving obstacles in the group, and about whether I had a righteous response when dealing with certain circumstances.
I realized while talking to one fellow practitioner, that I had the attachment of being overly-worried and self-deprecating. I wanted to eliminate it but it was not an easy process. After being asked for advice numerous times, the fellow practitioner expressed discomfort and told me that I should ask only when it is seriously needed. At that moment I felt very irritated in my mind and felt that it was unfair, because I did not do this to gain any personal benefits, but was simply trying to help other people. I tried to be calm and wondered what I was doing wrong in this case.
Master said:
“When you meet with a conflict, it doesn’t matter whether you are in the right. You should be asking yourself, “What on my part isn’t right in this situation? Might it really be that there is something wrong on my part?” You should all be thinking this way, with your first thought being to scrutinize yourself to try to find the problem.” (”What is a Dafa Disciple” from Teaching the Fa at the Conference XI )
A word then popped up in my mind, “Stick warning” (Zhuan Falun). I suddenly realized that if I kept asking and following what the fellow practitioner said instead of measuring myself against Fa, then I was not a genuine practitioner because I kept depending on another practitioner’s enlightenment. As long as I study the Fa more diligently and measure everything against Fa, Dafa will always guide me. Realizing this, I felt thankful to the fellow practitioner for this situation which enabled me to relinquish my attachment of dependence and being overly-worried.
Thank you, Master. Thank you fellow practitioners.
Category: Improving Oneself
