(Minghui.org) I’d like to share how I treat people with predestined relationships with kindness. I will also share how I help them begin to practice Falun Dafa, study the Fa, and cultivate. I would also like to include some of my cultivation experiences.
The current pandemic has changed the ways things are being done and caused people to panic. Facing the coronavirus, the rising cases of infection, and the death toll, people have felt increasingly more helpless. Since people have been ordered to stay at home, they now rely on the Internet and social media, which have become truth-clarification platforms for Falun Dafa practitioners.
I remember when I first started practicing, I signed up for a Facebook account and that’s how I met the first fellow practitioner. Since then, this account has helped me connect with people from all over the world. Later, some of us who worked on the same project developed a truth-clarification program and designed a Facebook page specifically for it and put a lot of effort into promoting it. Over time, this page has attracted ever more people who are willing to learn the truth. It also helped me make more friends.
The first friend was a successful businesswoman and a millionaire. She had a team working for her. Her husband is a famous dentist who's worked in his field for more than 30 years. When we first met online, both of us felt as if we had met a long time ago. We talked about everything, from famous singers to our hobbies, such as singing, opera, doing business, and so on. We chatted about her grandchildren, my child, and their education. Although I am about a dozen years younger than she is, we got along very well.
She knew I was a host for a Sound of Hope program. She liked my voice and often asked me to help her with her pronunciation, as I speak standard Mandarin. She also asked me how to use one's voice properly to sing. I recorded the songs composed by practitioners and shared them with her, and I sent her some musical programs I produced, which she shared with her friends. She had someone bring me some local specialties from Taiwan. In return, I also had someone deliver Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra DVDs, scarves, and other things to her. Our relationship flourished, and she was willing to listen to me.
Master said:
“Cultivation is the only way to find yourself comfortably free of illness and to accomplish the goal of being truly free! Only by having people practice a righteous way can there be true salvation of all beings.” (Lecture Two, Zhuan Falun)
I thought that, since we had gotten to know each other even though we were so far apart, I shouldn’t just limit myself to clarifying the truth to her but also encourage her to cultivate Falun Dafa.
I knew that she enjoyed Chinese literature, so I suggested that she read Hong Yin with me. In fact, we read every book from Hong Yin to Hong Yin V. She really enjoyed it. More amazingly, she encouraged her friends to learn the truth from me. Seeing how excited she was to begin cultivating Dafa, I truly came to feel the power of Dafa and Master’s benevolence.
I went on a business trip to Taiwan in March 2019 to explore developing business and marketing opportunities. I wasn’t familiar with the country and thought, “Maybe this is an opportunity for me to meet this friend.” I called and told her that I was in Taiwan and the purpose of my trip. I told her where I wanted to go, hoping she could help me. Without hesitation, she pulled set aside her busy routine and came to see me at the hotel.
The moment we met in person, it was just like a family reunion. We hugged each other for a long time. Then she took me sightseeing. Eventually I asked, “Can you please take me to the Yiqun Bookstore?”
She said, “I’d actually like to take you to see a couple I know. Both are entrepreneurs, and their business employs thousands of people. However, the wife has gotten ill and can’t take care of herself. Her husband has been tied up with their business and still tries to take care of her. It’s not been easy for them! They are looking for a way to change their lives for the better.”
I said, “Ok, but can we go to the bookstore first?” I bought two copies of Zhuan Falun and wrapped them separately. After that, we went to see the couple. They were very nice and treated me, my friend, and her husband to a meal at a high-end Sichuan restaurant. Afterward, they showed us around and then took us to their home.
We brought up the topic to Dafa cultivation, so I took out the two copies of Zhuan Falun and said, “I bought these two books for you. I hope you’ll treasure them and take up cultivation.”
I put the books above my head to pass them on to them, to show both couples how carefully I treated the book. After that, I explained the five exercises in great detail, then asked them to follow along. Thus, these two fortunate couples found their predestined relationships with Dafa.
Over the next few days, my friend took me to the places I’d planned to check out on my business trip. Then she took me to do some shopping, so I was able to buy a few things for my family and friends. She was very sad when I left.
After I returned to the U.S., I set up an online Fa-study group with them by setting aside half an hour every morning. We finished reading Zhuan Falun, Zhuan Falun Vol II, and other books. This has laid a good foundation for their future cultivation.
I truly appreciated Master’s arrangements. I not only managed to take care of my business on the trip but also helped people with predestined relationships to connect with Dafa, begin cultivation, study the Fa, and continue their cultivation. As Master said: “The Buddha-light illuminates everywhere and harmonizes everything.” (Lecture Three, Zhuan Falun)
I have a close friend from childhood. She, my husband, and I were also high school classmates. She was the leader of our class and was also a faithful Christian. When I first started practicing Falun Dafa, she didn’t understand why I always clarified the truth. She thought we were getting involved in politics. Every time I mentioned to her how practitioners were being persecuted, she always replied, “Cultivation is great, but one should not associate that with politics.” That’s how we always ended our chats.
Five years passed and our lives changed. On the surface, we both seemed to be very busy. However, after I began to cultivate, I became much happier, whereas her life was getting more miserable.
Her mother developed psychosis. Her husband was diagnosed with advanced esophageal cancer. After chemotherapy, he was only expected to live another five years. Their older son was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy. His doctor said the disease would only get worse and his muscles would atrophy. In five years at most, he would very likely lose his mobility. She was under tremendous mental pressure and very depressed.
After I began to practice, we stayed in touch. Over time, I spent less and less time clarifying the truth to her and more time listening to her tell me about her hardships. I did use the Fa principles each time to try to help her resolve her dilemmas and to comfort her.
She flew to see me in 2016. She learned the five exercises from me, then I took her to participate in our local Fa study group so she could finish reading Zhuan Falun once before she returned home.
After she returned home, her husband saw in a dream that a god was smiling at him, then the same god brought him back from the verge of death. That’s how he survived his advanced cancer.
However, just last year, she ran into a bigger tribulation. Her husband had an affair with their nanny, a young student from mainland China. He insisted on a divorce. Right after that, he had a relapse of the esophageal cancer, coupled with kidney stones. Business in the two restaurants they operated went downhill. One of them, a Japanese restaurant was sued by a customer, so they had to close it down for a while.
She worked as an accountant but also had to take care of their restaurant and their children. For her children’s sake, she didn’t want to leave her husband. So she endured the pain and supported the whole family on her own. It’s hard to imagine how much she went through.
She had been keeping me updated. Though it was painful, she remained calm. She said to me, “I understand that all of this is cultivation, and I have to pay back my past debts.”
Before that, she had been very interested in nutrition and found a famous nutritionist for her family and herself. Then this nutritionist suddenly died of cancer. His sudden departure stunned her. Afterwards, all of her close friends advised her to follow Buddhism. She began to think about what her life meant to her and if she should make some changes in her life.
One day, she asked me, “Can you explain to me the difference between Buddhism and Falun Dafa?” After I did, she said, “When you asked me to study the Fa with you before, I hadn’t made up my mind. But now I have decided—I will cultivate Dafa.”
“No problem,” I said. “Let’s get started tomorrow.” This time, she was very serious and diligent.
Her husband had tried a number of ways to cure his cancer, but his doctor continued to say that he would live for only a few months. My friend tried a few times to talk him into practicing Dafa, but because he was also a Christian, he didn’t want her to practice Dafa, let alone himself. When she was almost ready to give up on him, he unexpectedly agreed to give it a try.
I gave him a link to the Falun Dafa website and had him listen to the Dafa music and to the recordings of Master’s lectures. Then I showed him how to do the five exercises. Afterward, my friend told me that, as soon as he took the initiative to listen to Dafa music, his kidney stones passed on their own, after having had three operations to remove the stones without success! This surely gave them hope.
My friend has had to cope with a lot of hardships in her life, yet she has remained very strong and optimistic, which I think is related to her inborn quality. Also, because of these hardships, she has stayed in close contact with me. Then she began to cultivate and improve herself. This has truly demonstrated the preciousness of Dafa.
Master said:
“Perhaps everyone has heard this statement in Buddhism, “When one’s Buddha-nature emerges, it will shake the World of Ten Directions.” Whoever sees it will come to give a hand and help this person out unconditionally. In providing salvation to humankind, the Buddha School does not attach any condition or seek returns, and it will help unconditionally. Accordingly, we can do many things for students.” (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun)
“I know all of the suffering of my disciples. The truth is, I treasure you more than you treasure yourselves!” (“Eliminate Your Last Attachment(s)”, Essentials for Further Advancement II)
We have come a long way to this day and have seen Dafa embraced all over the world and Master saving sentient beings. How truly fortunate we are!
As a particle of Dafa in this chaotic world, with Master’s great compassion and blessings, we should demonstrate a practitioner's demeanor and fulfill what Master has asked us to do in terms of clarifying the truth.
We should maintain a firm belief in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, help people with predestined relationships find Dafa, and cultivate well until the Fa rectifies the human world!