(Minghui.org) I have been practicing Falun Dafa (Falun Gong) for 20 plus years and have faced many trials and tribulations. If I were to document my journey in detail, I would have a lengthy book. However, when I reflect on it, what stands out the most is cultivating compassion and being considerate of others.
Many incidents remind me of how selfish I used to be and how much I’ve changed. I was self-absorbed and indifferent to others’ suffering, never going out of my way to help anyone. I was lazy and self-indulgent. It is Master Li who saved me from going further down this self-destructive path. He purified my body and soul. Dafa showed me the true meaning of life and gave me a chance to start anew.
Extending a Helping Hand to a Practitioner and Her Family
A local practitioner and her family have gone through numerous ordeals. She used to practice Dafa, but has become mentally confused after being repeatedly persecuted. Her husband and youngest daughter passed away a few years ago. Her eldest son is bedridden after having a stroke, yet his own son rarely visits. The practitioner’s youngest son also suffered a stroke and has been in a vegetative state for the past eight years. The eldest daughter lost her right leg and remains permanently disabled.
I’m close to this family and have been involved in almost everything they’ve experienced over the years, trying to help as much as I can. I regularly visit the youngest son, who has been in the Intensive Care Unit at a hospital. I supply all the adult diapers and wipes he needs. I also help fill out his paperwork so that he can receive benefits and be reimbursed for his medical expenses.
The family has moved several times over the years and has relied heavily on me. I packed their belongings, loaded and unloaded all the boxes, unpacked, and cleaned the homes before and after each move. Whenever someone in the family was hospitalized, I took care of the paperwork, picked up medications, and stayed at the ward to care for them. I also cooked and did their laundry. I handle their banking, collect their social security payments, and buy household items for them. I’ve lost track of how many times I was woken up in the middle of the night by phone calls from the family, quickly dressed, and hurried to their house.
Most members of this family don’t have a stable income, so they struggle financially. To cover living expenses and medical bills, they’ve sold two of the three apartment units the government gave the family when their land was appropriated for urban development. When I help buy household items and groceries, I go to several places to find the lowest prices or I buy discounted items. I also give them fruit, tea, snacks, and spices if I have extra, so that they don’t have to spend money on those items.
Whenever I visit, I always bring a copy of Master’s latest article or printouts of helpful sharing articles from the Minghui website. I encourage her to do the exercises, send righteous thoughts, and keep up with the progress of Fa-rectification.
Initially, the practitioner didn’t ask for help very often, and whenever she did, I tried to respond as quickly as I could. However, as she called more and more frequently, I grew impatient, thinking, “Why do you ask for help for every little thing? Are you that dependent on me? Don’t you have someone else you can call?” Whenever her name showed up on my caller ID, I felt annoyed, thinking, “Why do you always have so many things you need help with? Can’t you try to take care of it yourself first?” Even when I did go and help, I would complain and criticize her.
But when I looked at it from her perspective, I saw the unfortunate circumstances and the difficulties she faced. This family has suffered so much and they truly needed help. However, I was tied up in many things and already busy. I tried to find another practitioner who could help occasionally and ease my burden a little. I looked around for some time but couldn’t find anyone suitable. This made me realize, “Am I trying to avoid this tribulation? How is this being considerate of others? Maybe this is my cultivation path and my responsibility. I should look at it as an opportunity to cultivate my compassion and work on getting rid of my impatience and resentment. Isn’t it a good thing if look at it from a different perspective?” I felt much better and at peace because my compassion emerged.
Helping a Relative in Need
My sister-in-law’s father was diagnosed with late-stage lung cancer two years ago. Since there was not much the doctors could do for him, the old man chose to go home instead of staying in the hospital. The family brought him home and took turns taking care of him. The excruciating pain made his nights restless. His caregivers and even the rest of the family couldn’t get much sleep. It was taking a toll on my sister-in-law, as she had to work during the day.
My sister-in-law called and asked if I could help out for a few days. I agreed and stayed with her family, caring for the old man full-time so everyone else could have a break. I learned how to operate the ventilator and the vital signs monitor, and kept track of his medication schedule. I also cooked three meals each day.
The old man was skin and bones and very pale. I told him, “Master sent me to help you. You have to believe that Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.”
I gave him a Dafa keepsake, and he held it in his hand, saying, “This is the most precious gift.” I pointed to the two auspicious phrases on it and asked him to repeat the words after me. He repeated, “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.”
I told him, “Reciting these phrases can continually help reduce your pain.” He nodded in agreement.
I was surprised by how receptive the man was, as if he was destined to learn about Dafa. I read Master’s article “Stay Rational” to him and showed him Master’s article, “How Humankind Came To Be” online. He said to me, “Thank you. I have never read Master Li Hongzhi’s articles before. They are wonderful. I used to be so busy and focused on making money, but never learned the true meaning of life.”
He was very respectful when he mentioned Master, and I could tell he was truly impressed. I clarified the truth to him and explained why it is so important to separate oneself from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). He listened attentively and agreed to quit the Party and its youth organizations. With his consent, I played a recording of Master’s nine-day seminar in Guangzhou for him. He finished the first four lectures and was in the middle of the fifth when I left.
I was only able to stay for four days due to prior commitments. I didn’t get much sleep while I was there. The old man needed a lot of help and I could only doze off briefly between times. He called for me several times a night, needing one thing or another. I tried to stay alert so that I could get to him quickly. In just a few days, I found many of my human notions and attachments, such as my tendency to complain and criticize, my impatience, and my lack of attention to detail. I also recognized the need to work on being better at accepting criticism and being considerate of others’ feelings.
My brother and sister-in-law’s views on Dafa changed during my short stay. I gave my brother copies of Master’s articles “Stay Rational” and “How Humankind Came To Be,” and he read them both carefully. This was very unexpected, as I had never imagined he’d be open to learning about Dafa. I had tried before, but he was always hostile and unwilling to listen. This made me realize how powerful it is to cultivate ourselves and be considerate of others.
He eventually passed away, but I believe he is in a better place now.
Resolving a Family Feud
My uncle had a stroke this February and was hospitalized. He has a daughter who works in a different province. We tried to call her, but her cellphone was turned off. Unable to contact his daughter, my brother asked me to take care of my uncle for the time being. I agreed, but went to the hospital with mixed feelings.
My parents had not spoken to my uncle for years because of unresolved conflicts, and the feud between them ran deep. My father is the second of the siblings in his family and the eldest son. When my grandfather was labeled a “Rightist” by the Communist regime and exiled to the Northeast region of China, my father took a job as a night school teacher in Harbin City, leaving his hometown.
For over a decade, my parents sent money to my grandmother each month to help her raise my young aunt and uncle by herself. At first, my parents didn’t make much and only sent 10 yuan a month, then they gradually increased it to 20 yuan. What my parents didn’t know was that my uncle took the payments each month and only gave 5 yuan to my grandma, keeping the rest for himself. My father only found out when we visited Grandma years later. He confronted my uncle, who denied it, which caused great conflict between the brothers.
Five yuan back then was enough to cover a person’s expenses for an entire month. My parents have four children. When I was born, my family was facing significant financial strain. Due to malnutrition, I was much shorter than my peers, gaunt, and had a yellowish complexion. I was often sick, and one time, when my father took me to see the doctor, the doctor jokingly said, “Look, the old ‘sickly’ brought the little ‘sickly.’” My parents struggled to make ends meet, yet my father still sent money to his mother every month. When we got sick, my mother had to borrow money from the neighbors to pay for a doctor’s visit.
When we moved back to our hometown years later, we needed to add our names to the family residential registration book. My uncle saw this as a threat, because it would give my father the right to inherit the family home. In fact, my father was the one who had acquired the family home, where my grandma, uncle, and aunt lived. My uncle asked my parents for money to buy gifts, as he needed to influence people he knew to get our names added to the registration book. Then he turned around and asked my eldest sister for money for the same purpose, without my parents’ knowledge. My parents were furious when they found out and completely stopped talking to him.
My uncle found himself in a difficult situation over the past few years. To help his only daughter pay off her high-interest loans, he sold his apartment and borrowed from everybody who would lend him money. He borrowed multiple times from some people and lied about being sick to avoid repaying the money. Our family and friends keep their distance and try to avoid my uncle as much as possible.
Deep in debt, my uncle leads a difficult life. He doesn’t have a permanent home and moves frequently. He can’t afford nutritious meals and often skips meals. His unhealthy lifestyle and depression eventually caught up with him, and he fell ill.
Before I started practicing, I would never have helped my uncle because he cheated my parents and all of us in the past. But I am a Falun Dafa cultivator now. I couldn’t just watch him suffer and not do anything. We don’t have enemies as cultivators, and we don’t hold on to hatred, as it is the core of Communist ideology. Do I really want to pass down the family feud to the next generation? Or is it time to resolve it with kindness once and for all?
However, it’s easier said than done. When I saw my uncle, withered and haggard, in the emergency room, I couldn’t help but feel bad for him. The 5’11” man was reduced to barely 100 lbs. But memories from the past flooded my mind, and I felt bitter. I tried to keep my negative thoughts at bay and stay calm. I greeted my uncle with a warm smile and reminded myself, “Don’t resent him. He is in such bad shape already. You can’t just leave him alone.” I had to take care of him, as he is family after all. I played audio recordings of Master’s Fa teachings for him that day.
The next time I visited my uncle, I played Master teaching the Fa for nearly eight hours. He slept well that night and seemed much better the next morning. His speech was no longer slurred. If I brought myself close enough, I was able to make out what he was saying. I changed him six times that day. I helped him roll and lie on his side so that I could clean him, change his diaper, and replace the underpad. I was very careful, as the smallest movement caused him to moan in pain.
My uncle’s condition stabilized over the next few days, and he was ready to start rehabilitation and physical therapy. After we transferred him to a different facility, my brother took my mother to visit him. My younger sister, who cared for him the night before, told us about his dream in which he passed a Chinese literature test he had taken.
All lives came for the Fa. My uncle is no longer in critical condition and is on the path to recovery. Improving each day, he must be waiting for something. Maybe he is waiting to hear about Falun Dafa; maybe the Buddha Fa is what he is waiting for. Master’s compassion is truly omnipresent.
Epilogue
I believe every practitioner has experienced similar challenges in their cultivation. Following Master’s teachings, we all hold ourselves to the standards of Dafa and try to become better people. It is easy to do this for a day, but not for over two decades. It is easy for one person to accomplish this, but not for a group of nearly 100 million people. Yet Dafa practitioners have achieved this collectively. It is because we’re cultivating a high level Fa and this is a pure land.
My thanks to Master!
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Category: Improving Oneself
