(Minghui.org) Greetings Revered Master! Greetings fellow practitioners!
Ying and I have teamed up to tell people about Falun Dafa for the past twelve years. She’s often a little late. Whenever she’s late, she apologizes and says that something unexpected came up or an unexpected guest stopped by. I tease her and say, “Next time I’ll only wait five minutes and then leave.” I can see that she is glad that I was willing to wait for her.
Ying has a small child and endless chores. Like a junior monk, however, she always has a happy face despite the heavy workload. She also runs a grocery store, where her small television is always on, playing programs from NTD Television for her customers. The store is a place for her to clarify the truth. After a short conversation she can convince a person to quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated organizations. Most of her neighbors have already quit the CCP organizations.
She has a warm personality and often prepares special dishes to share with her neighbors. Every year she makes rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves and gives them to people she knows. As soon as she steps out the door her neighbor asks, “Heading out to clarify the truth?” or “Helping people to quit the CCP?”
She never loses her temper. I asked if her temperament was this good before she practiced Falun Dafa, she said, “No, I berated people, especially my husband.”
Ying said that when she once asked a customer to pay, the lady claimed that she had already paid. They got into an argument and then a physical fight. Ying smashed a beer bottle on her head and blood came gushing out. The customer had several stitches. In the end the police sided with the customer and Ying had to pay her 5,000 yuan.
In the 1980s, 5,000 yuan was a large sum of money. “Where did you get that much money?” I asked. Ying said that she had to sell midnight snacks such as stir-fried noodles, cold dishes, and popsicles to make up for the loss. “I had to work until 3 a.m. every day. My health was poor at the time and I often passed out. Thanks to Falun Dafa, I fully recovered. I am full of energy and have a good temper now,” she said.
We worked perfectly together without conflicts. For years all we wanted to do was to save more people. We never felt hot in summer or cold in the winter. One time we went to a college town and helped 170 students quit the CCP.
I just can’t get mad at Ying because she always apologizes first, “Sorry, it’s my fault.” I only got upset with her twice.
One time while we were riding the bus she asked how many people I helped quit the CCP that day. I said that I didn’t count, and she offered to count for me. I didn’t think that she needed to do that because it wasn’t important. I reluctantly gave her the piece of paper with the list of names of people I helped quit that day. She counted and said, “103,” and stuffed the piece of paper into my front pocket. When we got off the bus, I heard something drop. I looked at the ground and saw nothing.
That night I wanted to sort out the list but couldn’t find the piece of paper. I was worried. Without looking within, I resented Ying, “She wanted to count the number so I lost my list.” I sat in front of Master Li’s (Dafa’s founder) picture and asked Master to help bring back the list. With my hands conjoined and my thoughts pure, I felt surrounded by energy and that Master would help me.
The next morning I woke up and found the list laying on my couch. Shocked and happy, I repeatedly thanked Master.
The other time I resented Ying was one time we clarified the truth. I suggested we go directly to a busy area, but she suggested taking a shortcut. I took her advice and half an hour later we ended up in a place with few pedestrians. I complained and slowed down.
I suddenly realized that I was not in the right state of mind, and I needed to eliminate the attachment to resentment. “It’s not part of me, I want it gone,” I thought. I picked up the pace. At that moment Ying said, “Sorry, I was wrong.” I thanked her, “No big deal. I have to thank you for helping me remove my resentment.”
Hua recently joined Ying and I. Her presence helped us eliminate a lot of our human notions.
In the past, Hua practiced Falun Dafa on and off, and a senior practitioner encouraged her to resume practicing. When we went out together to clarify the truth, she often said things like, “Someone’s following us,” or “That person is calling on his cellphone, maybe we are exposed,” and “We can’t go to that place, a practitioner was arrested there before.” “We should be careful because a sensitive date is approaching,” When I told her that these were all illusions caused by her suspicion she told me that she didn’t make it up, and nearly cried because I didn’t believe her.
Hua once told me that she resented me, “You ignore what I say but you listen to what Ying says. You never criticize Ying.” I said, “You speak like an ordinary person, Ying speaks based on the Fa.” She agreed and asked me to point out what she did wrong. When I did she often found excuses.
She overheard Ying and I comment on her. She didn’t seem upset and said, “You should point out what I did wrong in front of me.” As we tried to explain, she said, “Save it, I heard everything.” The next day I purposely sat next to her on the bus and apologized, “I shouldn’t have talked about you behind your back. You are right, I should talk to you face to face when I have an issue. I am also sorry that I treated you differently than I do Ying. I won’t do that from now on.” Tears came to her eyes and she started to tell me how she felt that she was wronged.
This incident made me realize that I hadn’t been kind to her. I pointed fingers at her and hurt her. I must eliminate the elements of struggle which came from the CCP culture. A few times she accused me of things I didn’t do. I didn’t want to explain or get upset. I knew that I must be kind to my fellow practitioners.
Hua came to talk to me one day after a group Fa study. Lian asked her how it has been to work with Ying and me to clarify the truth. “I told Lian that you and Ying work together and I work alone,” Hua said. “Lian said that we should work together and I told her that Ying likes to work with you. Lian is concerned about me.” Hua made it sound like Ying and I avoided her and didn’t care about her. It felt wrong since the three of us spent almost every day together. As I tried to argue, I saw an image of her when she was young. She was beautiful, pure, and friendly. She looked like she didn’t blame us for hurting her. I said nothing to her; I knew that it was Master reminding me to be kind to other practitioners. Hua helped and reminded me that I needed to cultivate kindness toward practitioners.
Master said,
“As gods see it, for a cultivator to be right or wrong in the human world is not important in the least, whereas eliminating the attachments that come from human thinking is important, and it is precisely your managing to eliminate those attachments rooted in your human thinking as you cultivate that counts as important.” (“Fa Teaching Given in Manhattan,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. X)
One morning we planned to head out to clarify the truth. I was eating breakfast when Hua arrived. She told me that she was constipated. “Now what attachment am I supposed to eliminate this time?” I asked myself. The next day while I was eating breakfast, she brought up the same topic again. I held back and said nothing. On the third day she did it again while I was eating! At the moment I felt nauseated and almost vomited. I was about to berate her, but stopped.
It took me a long time to find the attachment that I needed to eliminate from the incident, my fear of filth. I felt grossed out when I saw a rat, I didn’t like to hear negative comments or be preached to, I couldn’t put up with certain things, and I had jealousy, resentment, and was a snob.
The three of us saw good quality daikons (radishes) for a good price after we finished studying the Fa one day. Wanting to make hot daikon pickles, Ying bought two bags, and Hua and I each bought a bag. Hua needed to go to her mother’s and asked Ying to help her take her bag of daikons home. Ying told her that she didn’t have a free hand. Hua insisted that Ying take her bag of daikons home. At that moment the bus came. Hua put her bag on the bus and left.
When Ying and I got off the bus, I carried my and Hua’s bags. I left my bag on the side of the road and headed to Ying’s home with Hua’s bag. I said, “It’s a good thing.” Ying agreed, “It’s a good thing. It makes me a better person.”
Another day Ying told me, “Hua won’t criticize you, but she criticizes me.” When I talked to Hua about it before she seemed genuinely shocked because she didn’t realize that she was doing it. I told Ying, “You resent Hua and I can see that you tried to hold it in. If you keep resenting her she’ll keep criticizing you. You have been doing well but this is a test for you to do even better.”
Master said,
“I have seen that some people really have done an excellent job with it, while others, though it seems that they have let it go, have not really done so deep down inside and they are still struggling with it in their minds. (Master laughs) (Audience laughs) They don’t say a word, and they seem perfectly calm, but inside they’re really upset and just holding it in. (Master laughs) At least that means they can stay calm. And that’s the first step. Since Dafa disciples are at different levels, they will be held to different cultivation requirements. That means that someone who is doing well may be given requirements that are slightly higher, and he can thus improve that much faster. That’s exactly how cultivation is. If the trial that’s set up for you is too small, then you can only take a small step with it. If the trial that’s set up is great, then it will be a leap forward that you make.” (“Fa Teaching Given in Manhattan,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. X)
I shared with Ying my understanding of Master’s words. Shortly after this, Ying went to see her mother. Her mother criticized Ying and her granddaughter, with abusive words. Ying resented and despised her mother. She knew that it was time for her to eliminate her resentment. She remained silent as her mother criticized her and didn’t get angry. Her mother was smiling after she got done talking. Ying knew that she had passed the test.
Hua improved a lot and did the three things steadfastly. She did a good job clarifying the truth, and at the same time she talked less like an ordinary person. Her mother was hospitalized and needed her care. Still she managed not to let it hold her back as she continued to clarify the truth each day.
She confessed to me once that she still couldn’t control her speech, and criticized Ying. Afterward she apologized to her. Now she seldom criticizes Ying.
Hua dreamed that she saw Ying and I walking down a slope. She said it reminded her that we needed to pay attention to our cultivation. We then looked for our notions and improved ourselves. The three of us help one another to move forward. We cherish this predestined relationship.
Master said,
“It looks like we’re giving a flyer to an everyday person, and it appears that we’re telling everyday people what the truth is. Let me tell you, when this Fa-rectification matter is over, humankind will enter the next stage, and those people and beings who in their minds think that the Great Fa of the cosmos isn’t good will be the first weeded out. It’s because no matter how bad some beings in the cosmos are, they are even worse, for what they’re against is the Fa of the cosmos. So when we clarify the truth, we’re eliminating some people’s evil thoughts towards Dafa. Haven’t we rescued them, at least when it comes to this?” (Teaching the Fa at the Great Lakes Fa Conference in North America,” Guiding the Voyage)
Master tells us to have compassion for people. I met a man who said some bad words about Falun Dafa and refused to quit the CCP. He shouted, “I believe in the CCP and Karl Marx. Don’t tell me about Falun Dafa, I won’t listen!” While Ying sent righteous thoughts, I said to him, “Marx began worshiping Satan when he was 18 and is now in hell. If you believe him, you will join him. The Chinese people are the descendants of Emperor Yan and Emperor Huang, not the descendants of Marx and Lenin. If you refuse to quit the CCP, you are part of it. It is gods’ will to destroy the CCP and when they do, you will go down with it. If you are a good person, wouldn’t that be a pity?”
Ying quickly took over the conversation, “I personally knew two people who were burned. One of them kept saying, ‘Falun Dafa is good’ and is much better now. The other one bad-mouthed Falun Dafa and had only a 50 percent chance of surviving. The doctor put skin grafts on him five times and the pain made him miserable. He also ran out of money.” The man argued that he didn’t bad-mouth Falun Dafa. I suggested that he stop doing so from then on.
I once helped a woman quit the CCP. As soon as I started talking about Falun Dafa, she frowned, “Don’t talk to me about it, I don’t believe it. Practitioners wrote messages on money. Falun Dafa is anti-CCP.” I said, “You have a right not to believe or listen. But you seem like a wise and kind person and I want to tell you the truth. The words on the paper bills are the principles of Falun Dafa that we follow, Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance. If a person is against these fundamental principles of the universe, they are in danger—wouldn’t you agree? As for ‘gods eliminating the CCP’, we do believe that gods will do this.”
The woman was silent for a while and then replied, “I didn’t know. You can’t fault me for that.” I comforted her and said, “Now you know because I told you. Please don’t badmouth Falun Dafa and I wish you a great future.”
Master said,
“But have you thought about it? You once signed a contract with me when you came to this world, vowing to save those sentient beings. You could then become a Dafa disciple, and you could then do this thing. But you did not fulfill it. You did not completely fulfill your vow, and you cannot even save those beings allotted to you, those you undertook to save, behind whom are countless sentient beings and gigantic groups of beings. What is that?! Is that simply just a matter of not cultivating diligently? That is an extremely serious crime! An unparalleled crime!” (“Fa Teaching at the 2016 New York Fa Conference”)
The three of us know how important it is to save people. We will definitely study the Fa and cultivate ourselves well so that we can more effectively save people with our wisdom. We will work hard to fulfill our vows and repay Master’s grace.
Thank you, revered Master. Thank you, fellow practitioners.
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