I live in Jerusalem. Every Sunday I travel to Tel Aviv, a neighboring city, for business. I would like to share with fellow practitioners the xinxing tests I had to pass on my last trip, and how I overcame them.

To get to Tel Aviv I take two separate buses; the first transports me from my neighborhood to the local central bus station, and the second takes me from there directly to Tel Aviv.

At 10:15 in the morning I was at the bus station, across the street from my house, waiting for a bus scheduled to arrive at 10:30. At 10:32 the bus had not yet arrived. I began to grow irritated. In my thoughts I accused the bus driver of being lazy and irresponsible. I also blamed the bus company and the Ministry of Transportation for being incompetent.

At 10:40, when the bus still hadn't arrived, I grew so angry that I began to feel physically unwell. I felt like a demon was sucking my energy away, and I had to sit down. For guidance and to ease my suffering I tried to remember any of the Fa that I had studied earlier that morning. What appeared in front of my eyes was the last sentence I read before I had put down the book. It was the heading of a subchapter in the First Talk of Zhuan Falun: “Why Doing Cultivation Exercises Doesn’t Increase Gong.”

Pondering that question, I realized that what does increase Gong is xinxing cultivation, and part of xinxing cultivation is getting rid of anger. I calmed myself down and settled for the thought that I would board the next bus, scheduled to arrive at eleven o'clock.

Standing there at the bus station, I had plenty of time to search within. A whole lifetime passed before my eyes. I suddenly saw all the hundreds of times I stood at that same bus station, or other bus stations, waiting impatiently for a late bus, angry, frustrated, engulfed in darkness and gloom. I felt I was now able to break out of it once and for all.

The eleven o'clock bus arrived on time. Some of the others, who waited with me for the 10:30 bus, were still very upset that it hadn't arrived and complained to the driver about it. But I didn't. I was happy with my new realizations.

When I arrived at the Central Bus Station, I was annoyed to find out that buses traveling to Tel Aviv were being delayed because of a security problem. I tried to treat the incident with righteous thoughts: "Is this yet another xingxing test?" Anyway, I hurried out of the bus station to a nearby taxi station. The taxis going to Tel Aviv are minibuses that hold ten passengers.

Relieved to find a vacant seat, I hopped on the first taxi, strapped myself in, opened a Fa book, and braced myself for the ride. I thought: “Phew! Finally, I am on my way to Tel Aviv!" But I was wrong; the troubles were just beginning: the taxi's engine refused to start. The driver tried again and again, but to no avail. Many passengers were upset and frustrated; nobody likes it when things do not go as planned. I tried not to slip into anger again and waited patiently for a solution.

After giving up trying to start the taxi, the driver told all the passengers to get out and move into a new taxi parked nearby. Everybody ran to the new taxi.

Inside the new taxi we waited for the driver to arrive. But after ten minutes there was still no sign of him. There is no need to describe how annoyed some of the passengers were by now. As for myself, I was able to maintain a positive state of mind, because in between exchanging buses and taxis I managed to read some Fa; one sentence here and one sentence there. This broadened my horizons, enabled me to look at the bigger picture, and be tolerant. I figured that in the worst case scenario I would never get to Tel Aviv that day. And if so, what of it? Isn't that a minor tribulation?

Sitting there, waiting for the taxi driver to arrive, I had an opportunity to reflect on the bizarre turn of events that had befallen me since I had left my home that morning. It wouldn't seem strange if one bus had been late or one taxi broke down, but in my case things went wrong with every single vehicle that was supposed to serve me that day. In my estimation, the odds for that happening are in the billions. Israel is a developed country and not some primitive banana republic. Here, buses and taxis are all new, the work discipline is high and schedules are computerized. So, how can this be explained? My explanation to myself, as a practitioner, is that someone was pulling the strings backstage and testing me.

One of the passengers, who was particularly irritated and impatient, got out of the taxi to fetch the driver. After a minute he found him and they came back to the taxi together. Is this the end of our troubles? Will we finally go to Tel Aviv now? No. The driver told us to go back to the old taxi, the one that wouldn't start, since they had repaired it.

Once we heard this we quickly shuffled out of the new taxi and ran back to the old taxi to grab a seat. Since by now more people had arrived at the taxi station, there was more competition for seats, and people were afraid to miss the ride. I was amused and as lighthearted as a little child.

One lady passenger, who was the last to board the taxi, was unlucky. While all the seats in the taxi were taken, she remained standing in the aisle shouting and complaining that she was entitled to a seat more than anyone else since she was the first to arrive at the taxi station. The taxi driver, desperate to end the embarrassing affair and hit the road once and for all, announced that the last passenger who arrived at the taxi station should give his seat to the lady and get off the taxi.

Nobody made a move. I looked within myself and thought: it wasn't me who arrived last at the taxi station, and I don't have to give my seat to the lady but I will, because it feels like the right thing to do. I also had a strange sensation that this was my greatest and final test of the day.

I got off the taxi, while some of the passengers praised and thanked me. I felt very happy.

Immediately after the taxi had left a new one arrived to pick me up. The trip from then on was quick and smooth. By the end of the day I had accomplished all my plans in Tel Aviv, definitely on the bright side.