(Minghui.org) The opportunity to cultivate in Falun Dafa is precious and hard to come by. It is the same for practitioners' family members, as they also have to be upright in order to share the many benefits of having a practitioner in their family.
My father remarried after my mother, a practitioner, was persecuted to death. Among his friends who considered remarrying, their children were often against the marriage out of concern that the other side would take their family assets.
Although I did not practice Falun Dafa back then, I had been influenced by my mother. Thus, I used Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance as the guiding principles in my day-to-day life. Knowing that my father was still fairly young when my mother passed away, I decided to support him in terms of walking the remainder of his life with someone else.
My father married and my step-mother and her child came to live with us. At that time, I worked in another city and came home only occasionally. Every time I came home, I felt out of place.
I had never shared my feelings with anyone. I doubted whether people would understand that my mother was wronged. However, it seemed that deep down inside me, in a very deep place, there was a ray of light, very weak, but still clear enough. It was this tiny thought that I wanted to be saved by Master Li (Falun Dafa's founder)! I felt that only Master Li could help me step out of the human sea of suffering.
With this thought getting stronger and stronger, it seemed that it was predestined for me to finally find Falun Dafa. I married a man who was a practitioner. I felt that we had a great relationship in a previous life. When we met in this lifetime, it was very clear to me that it was arranged for me to start practicing Falun Dafa in this way. And indeed, soon after I married him, I began to practice Falun Dafa.
As I progressed in my cultivation, I came to realize that it was predestined for my step-mother to marry into my family. In any case, I knew that I should treat them nicely. Therefore, after one year of cultivation, I started calling her “Mom.”
Every time I came home, I tried to take care of as many of the household chores as I could. I also brought her birthday gifts and presented her with the “red pocket” (a tradition for a Chinese New Year gift), just as I did with my father during the Chinese New Year.
When my father's and her coworkers saw this, they started thinking very highly of me. They also couldn't believe that we came from two different families, as they thought that we were one family from the very beginning. In turn, this laid a good foundation for clarifying the facts to my father and step-mother.
When I was alone with my step-mother. I said, “Mom, during all these years, you have endured a lot of hardship. And I previously wasn't thoughtful enough and didn't handle many things in a proper manner. Today, I want to sincerely apologize to you.”
I then talked to her about Dafa. But she was deeply poisoned by the lies fabricated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). She didn't understand why one had to quit the CCP and its youth organizations. So my husband and I worked together to help her, without pursuing any outcome.
Every time we went to their home, we brought her and my father some truth-clarification materials and talked to them about the CCP. In the end, she finally came to understand that Dafa was persecuted and the injustice of it. She finally agreed to quit the CCP. Later, her children also quit the CCP.
After my mother passed away, anything about Falun Dafa became taboo for my father. His attitude changed over time. He went from being agitated to being willing to listen to me. Then, I told him that my mother's death was because of the persecution. I told him about the staged “self-immolation” incident.
The strongest aspect of my clarifying the facts to my father was a process of my compassion coming forth. I had a great attachment to my parents since childhood. I realized that this was something I had to let go of.
I used to lack compassion. With the improvement of my level and Master's empowerment, each time I talked to him about Dafa I managed to eliminate some of the evil interference behind him.
This process of helping him was also a process of my letting go of sentimentality, which was replaced by compassion. Thus, my mindset became much more rational and peaceful. I was more open-minded and became more understanding of what my father had gone through all those years. I could clarify the facts to him more rationally.
Eventually, I could discuss the truth about Dafa with my father in an open manner. He had a good attitude and was in agreement with my viewpoint. He also saw no hope when it came to the corruption under the CCP. However, he was not ready to quit the CCP. But, then, just before leaving one time, he agreed to quit the Party.
I felt that it was only after I had completely let go of sentimentality, that my father began to embrace the truth.
I contacted whomever I could among my mother's old friends and my father's friends and tried to find opportunities to talk to them about Dafa. For those who couldn't decide to quit the CCP, I continued with my efforts.
For some with whom I didn't have an opportunity to meet face-to-face, they suddenly ran into me for one or another reason. I knew that it was arranged for them to come to listen to the truth. So I seized such opportunities and did a good job for the most part. The times when it didn't go well were because I was blocked by my own notions.
Before long, when chatting with my father, he mentioned that among his relatives or friends who are in a second marriage, they typically had a lot of conflicts among the family members. He said that our family was an exception, as we have had great harmony in our family.
I shared my opinion with him, saying that he and my step-mother are good people, but that, more importantly, I attributed it to the fact that my husband and I are practitioners. As when one person practices, the entire family benefits.
Moreover, he and his wife chose to quit the CCP and came to realize that Dafa is good. Therefore, our entire family has been blessed by Dafa, and it is no wonder that we have a wonderful family life.