(Clearwisdom.net) I am a young practitioner and I would like to share some of my cultivation experiences. Everything that happens in my daily life is testing my xinxing. Based on my understanding of the Fa, when we upgrade our xinxing, and conduct ourselves in a moral and upright manner, not only do we benefit but so does society. If everyone's heart moved toward kindness, ordinary society would dramatically change and become better.
Eliminating selfishness
Once after shopping at a supermarket I went to the check-out, and saw that the small shopping baskets filled the aisle in the check-out lane. People should have been piling the baskets up as they checked out, but obviously nobody had done it. I thought to myself that the people here are not well behaved. As I thought this, the man in front of me dumped his things out of his basket, placed it on the floor and then moved forward. Because he did not pile his basket up, it blocked the aisle. I instantly became angry with him. I thought, “What kind of person is he?” While I stood there thinking this, it was my turn, and without thinking, I just stepped over his basket. However, the man behind me picked up the basket that I had just stepped over and placed it on the pile.
Instantly, I felt so ashamed. I am a practitioner. Master told us to mind our speech, but did I remember to do so? There is no difference whether one swears silently at someone or whether one says it out loud. As practitioners, aren't we supposed to constantly upgrade our xinxing, get rid of our attachments, keep compassion in our hearts, and be helpful and considerate of others? Did I conduct myself this way? Not at all!
I felt extremely guilty. I did not even act as good as an ordinary person. I immediately said to the man behind me, “I'm sorry!” He smiled and said, “It's all right. Pay attention next time.” Since then, I pile up the baskets whenever I see them in disarray.
Getting rid of the attachment to greed
I sell cell phones. There is so much swindling and dishonesty in this profession. For example, passing off counterfeit phones as originals, or selling refurbished ones as new. Before I became a practitioner, I just went along and followed the flow of lying and cheating. Since I could get a very high commission for every cell phone I sold, I just did whatever it took to make the most money. When customers brought their phones in to be repaired, I would tell them that it was a big issue and a very complicated repair when it was actually just a simple fix. I only understood how awful this was after I began studying the Fa. How could I support myself and make money by cheating people? Wasn't I accumulating karma?
After I began to follow Dafa's principles, I no longer sell cell phones the way I used to, so I thought that I would make less money. On the contrary, I now make much more money. Why? Because I sell cell phones based on honesty and integrity, the number of my customers has increased and they've even brought more customers to me. The reason is that they trust me. I understood what is meant by “loss and gain.” I “lost” my bad behavior and a unkind heart, and “gained” by acting responsibly as a Dafa practitioner.
Eliminating the attachment to competition
When I was in mainland China, before I began cultivating, I was extremely disgusted by buses. When that big lumbering elephant merged lanes, all the vehicles behind it had to slam on their brakes. So whenever they merged in front of me, I would try to pass them up and merge back. Isn’t this behavior giving De (virtue) to them? Put another way, the bus is public transportation, and private vehicles should yield to them. However, in retaliation I would intentionally merge back right in front of the bus so the driver had to slam on his brakes. There are so many passengers on the bus! When the driver slammed on the brakes, what if a passenger fell down? Wasn't my behavior putting their lives in danger? If anyone was hurt, how much karma would I get? Here I would like to say, “Sorry” to all the people I used to hurt.
Now when I drive, I yield to the bus and let it merge first. The driver waves to me in a friendly way. I am so eager to let everyone know that Dafa teaches me to be considerate and that I am a Dafa practitioner.
There are so many stories in the news about bus drivers being overbearing and never yielding. After I began practicing Falun Dafa, I understood that we should first think about others before we do anything.
Master has compassionately arranged cultivation opportunities for me, allowing me to upgrade myself. Dafa helped me understand a lot of principles and made me aware of many things. I will continue on my cultivation path. My xinxing is not very high; however, I will try my best to use every opportunity to upgrade my xinxing and focus on cultivating myself. I wish everyone would truly understand the beauty of Dafa. Even if you don’t practice Falun Dafa, if you try to follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance you will become a good person that benefits society. Falun Dafa is good! Thank you Master!
Category: Improving Oneself
