(Minghui.org) I was delighted to learn Falun Dafa in 1996, after I had just graduated from school. I had few notions or attachments in my mind, and paid little attention to fame and gain. I studied the Fa and did the Dafa exercises every day, and happily lived a carefree life! That is, until I began to have issues with our neighbors.
Practitioners who follow Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and can truly behave in a sincere, kind, and tolerant manner, and be truly pure and selfless, but I am still far from these requirements. I would like to share my cultivation experiences of several years of conflicts with our neighbors, and I hope to expose and disintegrate my attachments to resentment, gain, and fighting.
My late father was a kind man, who helped the neighbors a lot. When the Forestry Bureau was demolishing houses, my father helped a neighbor obtain the vacant house immediately next to us on the left. This new neighbor agreed with my father to build his house at the same ground level as ours. However, after my father passed away, he built the house four inches higher than ours. He also often dumped garbage, snow, and dirty water in front of our house. In winter, the icy road became very slippery. I asked him to stop pouring dirty water toward our house, but he considered 20 feet from his house to be dumping in a public area.
My property was reduced by four inches last year because he placed bricks and stones around the wall, causing it to buckle, then nailed large wooden boards to cover the space. We asked the street leader and the construction committee to talk to him, but he refused to remove it. We thought he was being unreasonable. One friend felt sorry for us, saying that the neighbor got his house with my father’s help, and he should not bully my brother and me after our parents passed away.
The neighbor to the right of our house was also unfriendly at times, even though I helped him whenever he needed it, and even lent him money. I wanted to rebuild a shed on the right side of my yard in the same spot. This neighbor complained that the shed would block sunlight from his house, so he would not let me rebuild the shed. He wouldn’t even let me put a wooden box less than three feet high outside my window, saying the box would block sunlight.
In the spring of this year, I hired six people to repair a shed in my yard. The neighbors on both sides would not allow it. The left neighbor’s wife grabbed a shovel, waved it at us, and cursed loudly, demanding that this was her place and we were not permitted to repair it. My relatives thought they were very unreasonable to deal with, and suggested that we sell our house and live somewhere else.
A few days later, the tiles on my shed were out of place, which caused its roof to leak when it rained. A friend came over to help adjust the tiles. While my friend was working, the neighbor to our right came out and said we weren’t allowed to do it. She cursed and hit the boarded wall. I couldn’t help but quarrel with her and eventually called the police. She continued to curse after the police arrived. My brother’s blood pressure rose due to his anger. The neighbor finally stopped scolding us and went home after I told her that my brother’s blood pressure had risen, and he needed to go to the hospital.
I was very angry, and my resentment arose. These neighbors returned my family’s kindness with their bad deeds. I considered fighting with them, but realized I should not behave like them and fall under the old forces’ destructive arrangement.
I recited this passage of Master’s Fa over a hundred times:
“As a cultivatorOne always looks for one’s own faults‘Tis the Way to get rid of attachments most effectivelyThere’s no way to skip ordeals, big or small[During a conflict, if you can remember:]“He’s right,And I’m wrong,”What’s to dispute?”(“Who is Right, Who is Wrong,” Hong Yin III)
When studying loss and gain in Lecture Four of Zhuan Falun, I realized that the tribulation was caused by a deficiency in my cultivation, and my holding on to fame, gain, and emotion. It was really a heartbreaking and painful experience to overcome, besides trying to let go of the desire for gain.
Several practitioners heard about my situation and came to share their understandings with me about how to improve based on the Fa. Some sent forth righteous thoughts to help cleanse my dimensional field by eliminating the evil factors that interfered with my Fa study and doing the exercises. One practitioner told me a story that encouraged me to keep righteous thoughts in my mind, instead of focusing on evil things and bad people. I told the story to my brother, and he agreed with it very much.
Through ongoing Fa study, I understood that everything is a result of cause and effect. No matter how the neighbors treat me now, I cannot resent them because I might have hurt them in the past. I have to repay any karmic debts I owe from past lives. I should appreciate that they created conflicts which provided opportunities for me to refine my character, help me let go of the attachment to gain, and made me more tolerant.
After my understanding of the situation changed, everything began to improve. The neighbors on both sides wanted to reconcile with my brother and me. They said that distant relatives are not as important as nearby neighbors, so we should get along well with each other. The neighbor on the right told me that I could build a shed, either high or low, at any time. I apologized and admitted that I was wrong for arguing with them that day, and gave them gifts to show my friendship. They were very happy. It was truly like Master said:
“After passing the shady willow trees, there will be bright flowers and another village ahead!” (Lecture Nine, Zhuan Falun)
I realized that cultivation and xinxing are refined amidst ordeals. I am very grateful to Master for teaching me the Fa in my 28 years of cultivation and for guiding me to eliminate resentment and step out of tribulations toward a bright future.
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Category: Improving Oneself
