Nothing Is Trivial in Cultivation

(Minghui.org) Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, is a Buddha School mind and body cultivation practice. Based on the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, its teachings guide those who practice it to get rid of their attachments and always be considerate of others.

By cultivating Falun Dafa, I have learned that however trivial things may seem, they are important steps for us to improve.

Getting Rid of My Attachment to Money

My younger sister’s daughter was often sick, and she wasn’t able to get reimbursed for her medical expenses. Before I practiced Falun Dafa, I offered to write my daughter’s name on the prescriptions so that my husband could take it to his employer and then give the reimbursement to my sister.

In China, reimbursement is loosely managed since many companies are owned by the government and people are not interested in overseeing the government. Thus, many people take advantage of this loophole.

After I started to practice Falun Dafa in August 1996, I understood the true relationship between loss and gain.

Teacher said,

“There is a principle in this universe called “no loss, no gain.” To gain, one has to lose. If you do not want to lose, you will be forced to lose. Who plays such a role? It is precisely the characteristic of the universe that assumes this role. Thus, it is impossible if you only wish to gain things.” (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun)

As a practitioner, I knew I should hold myself to a higher standard. What we were doing was dishonest, and I knew we should stop.

I had just started cultivating at that time and didn’t know how to explain it to my sister so that she would understand. The good thing was that, when I explained it to my husband, he did understand.

“What do we do if your sister gives us her medical bills again?” he asked.

“Let’s pay her out of our own pockets,” I said. “But don’t tell her about it, since I don’t know how to explain it to her yet.”

He agreed.

We used our own money to compensate my sister a few times. Then she herself began to feel it wasn’t right and stopped asking us to do that.

My husband is very kind. He worked hard and never complained. Later he was promoted to be the manufacturing manager.

It is common practice for people to give gifts or money to those in power for special favors. I told my husband, “Do not accept gifts from your employees. They don’t have much and need to support their families. Be nice to them and you will be blessed.” He agreed.

My family and I once went to visit my sister and took many gifts and fruit for her. We met one of his employees on the bus.

“Wow, boss, why didn’t you call a taxi?” The woman asked.

“The bus is very convenient. No need to call the taxi,” my husband answered.

“But the company can reimburse your taxi fare.”

“I’d rather save the company’s money if I can.”

My husband later told me that, at his company, the manufacturing manager can submit travel expenses for reimbursement. His predecessor did it—once for several thousand yuan! But we didn’t want to take advantage of his company.

Another time our daughter took her taxi receipt to my husband and asked him to get it reimbursed. I told her, “Your father has that privilege but you and I don’t. You have read Dafa’s book and understand the principle. If we do something wrong, we will accumulate karma and will have to pay it back. We cannot be lax when it comes to trivial things, either.” She took the receipt back.

Teacher also told us that when one person practices Dafa, the whole family benefits. This was exactly what happened to my husband. Every time he goes for a checkup, the results are always good. He often said to me, “You do the Dafa practice well and I benefit from it.”

I told him that Teacher said, “Whoever Practices Cultivation Will Obtain Gong” (Lecture Eight, Zhuan Falun) and therefore it is better if he cultivates himself. Now he has been reading Dafa books.

Cultivating Myself by Helping My Dad

I realized that sometimes I didn’t sound very nice when I spoke to my father. I first tried to try some temper control methods, but they did not work. Then I realized that I had affection for a family member and that I needed to cultivate to remove this attachment and pay attention to my words and speak in a way that he could accept.

My father used to badmouth my older sister’s husband. Once when he started again, I said, “Dad, you often say bad things about others. Badmouthing is bad for you. Could you not do it?”

He stopped but started doing it again a little later. “Dad, we can’t badmouth people,” I said, stopping him. “Kind people never say bad things about others. Whoever badmouths or curses is not a good person.”

He laughed.

“If I listen to your badmouthing, I am indulging you and I become your accomplice.”

After a few times, he got it. He stopped badmouthing and told my younger sister, “Your sister told me not to badmouth or curse people.”

When my father was hospitalized, I stayed in the hospital to care for him. I explained the facts about Falun Dafa to a patient in the same room and helped him to understand the importance of quitting the communist party.

My dad smiled at me and said, “You are talking about Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. But you are neither truthful nor compassionate.”

I was calm and thought that I must have done something wrong. I asked him sincerely, “Dad, did I do something not truthful or compassionate? Please give me an example and I will do better.”

He thought for a while, smiling, but didn’t say anything.

I then realized that Teacher was giving me a test: to see how I would respond when I was humiliated in front of someone to whom I had just explained Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.

I feel that I am the luckiest person in the world because I practice Falun Dafa!