Making Benevolent Connections

(Minghui.org) I am 63 years old and live by myself in northeast China. I have been practicing Falun Dafa for 27 years. The practice has transformed me from being a selfish, narrow-minded and jealous woman into one who is tolerant, kind and considerate of others. In this article, I’d like to share how I have made benevolent connections with people in various situations over the years.

Tolerance and Kindness Towards My Ex-Husband

I divorced my husband seven years ago. He was working in the south, and only returned home once every one or two months. He had an extramarital affair and got the woman pregnant. When he revealed it to me, he told me that he had suggested an abortion, but she refused. I replied, “That is a life, you should protect it. I won’t advise you to get an abortion. If needed, I can raise the child as my own.”

Despite knowing that the birth of the child would add a burden to our marriage, I told him to take good care of that woman and not to pressure her, and let her give birth to the baby. I told him, “I practice Falun Dafa and cultivate kindness. I cherish every life.”

He was touched, and said, “I will live up to your expectations.”

We did divorce later because of the child. To express his remorse, he intended to give up all of his property. However, when settling matters later on, I still gave him a majority of the assets, telling him that as the child was little and the woman didn’t have a job, they needed his support. Besides, my ex-husband was about to retire, and earning money wasn’t as easy as before. Our daughter worked a full-time job and could support herself. The whole process gained respect from my ex-husband’s family. His older brother said to me, “I never thought you could handle this matter so nicely, I truly admire you.”

His sister told me, “My father [referring to my father-in-law] said among his daughters-in-law, he has the most respect for you.”

I told them, “It’s because I practice Falun Dafa that I can be tolerant and kind. If it were the old me, I wouldn’t have handled it well.”

Getting Along with My Stepmother

When my mother passed away at the age of 70, my father was in poor health, suffering from various chronic illnesses. None of us children could take care of him since we were all busy. Thinking of a companion for the rest of his life, my father married someone new, whom I will call Aunt Liu.

Following Master’s teachings and being a good person, I treated Aunt Liu well. During holidays, I would give red envelopes (with money inside as gifts) to both my father and her. I would buy most of the medicine she and my father needed. As she had heart disease, I would help her with chores whenever I visited them. Every time I left their place, I would make sure to tidy up their house.

Aunt Liu said, “You are like my own daughter. Even my daughters couldn’t do it better.” She talked to me about everything. I introduced to her the beauty of Dafa. She believed what I told her, and would frequently recite, “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.” She would sometimes listen to Master’s audio lectures and occasionally do the exercises. However, she lacked perseverance and hasn’t truly embraced the cultivation.

My father passed away two years ago, and a conflict arose over the funeral expenses. My family believed that it should be covered by the funeral allowance from my father’s workplace, but aunt Liu wanted to keep the money for herself. Considering that she didn’t have a good salary and no other source of income after my father’s passing, I agreed to let her keep the money. I paid for my father’s funeral instead and resolved the situation. When her neighbors learned of the matter, they praised my kindness. Later, when I told them about Falun Dafa, they trusted me and quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its youth organizations.

“Saving a life is my top priority”

Practitioner Ling was arrested and illegally sentenced to six years in prison. Her son Yangyang was 37 at the time, single, and couldn’t really look after himself. He couldn’t hold on to a job, and it seemed that he suffered from depression. Ling’s husband passed away two years before she was arrested. After Ling was imprisoned, her family fell apart. Her son was not able to cook for himself and would only order takeout. Sometimes, I would deliver to him some food I cooked, telling him to study the Fa and take care of himself.

I went to visit him during the Chinese New Year holiday and found that he was very skinny and seriously ill. He suffered from leg pain, dizziness, a rapid heartbeat, and a bloated stomach. He had difficulty walking and only ate soft food. He said, “Auntie, I can’t make it on my own. Can you find a practitioner’s home for me to stay for some time?” He told me that he had asked his aunts and uncles, but they refused.

I explained to him, “It’s inconvenient for a grown man like you to stay at a practitioner’s home because there are ordinary people in most practitioners’ families.” I suggested that he stay with me because I live alone and I could find other practitioners to help him.

Although I said that, I was reluctant to take him to my place. After all, he wasn’t a child. He was in his late 30s, and it would bring a lot of inconvenience to my life. But, I had no choice, as saving a life is my top priority. During his stay with me, I guided him in studying the Fa, doing the exercises, and looking inward. He realized that he had done many things that were inconsistent with the principles of Dafa over the past two years. He kowtowed to Master’s portrait to repent and expressed his sincere intention to truly cultivate.

At the same time, I tried my best to take care of him, preparing dishes he liked. He had stomach pains and could only eat a little at each meal, and had to eat five or six meals a day. I was really tired, but I knew that saving a life was such a significant matter. The most important thing was to bring him back to Dafa, which is what Master wants. Hardship is part of my cultivation, and I must endure it. Sometimes when I couldn’t manage it all by myself, I would ask other practitioners to help him study the Fa, while I was preparing his food.

With Master’s help, Yangyang’s physical condition went back to normal after a month. He happily exclaimed, “I’ve come back to life again!”

Assisting Practitioners in Our Fa Study to Improve as One Body

There are elderly practitioners in our Fa study group. Some had only completed three or four years of elementary school, while others had higher education, but no experience with computers. In order to improve together, I taught elderly practitioners Aiping and Lihua how to access the Minghui website and read the sharing articles. I also helped practitioners Aiping and Wei write their own experience sharing articles. I was happy to help them fulfill their wishes even though it would take up a lot of my time and sometimes I would receive complaints from other practitioners. I treated it as part of my cultivation, because what I did for them was for the benefit of others, which aligns with the requirements for Dafa cultivators.

I downloaded programs from Minghui Radio to TF cards for other practitioners to listen to. They said they could do household chores while listening to the radio programs, which helped save time and enhance their enlightenment and righteous thoughts. Elderly practitioner Bao said, “Last year, I overcame tribulations of COVID-19 by upgrading my xinxing through listening to Minghui Radio, I’m so grateful to you.” I replied, “Thank Master, it was Master who arranged for me to help you.”

Forging Good Relationships with Migrant Workers

A group of migrant workers came to our neighborhood in the summer of 2016 to install thermal insulation (phenolic foam board) on the exterior of the buildings in our community. This would increase the indoor temperature by about three degrees in the winter. The summer weather was very hot, and the workers had to start early and finish late. Some workers were frugal and reluctant to buy bottled water. Seeing this, I brought a thermos of boiled water and placed it outside for them to drink. I hung up plastic bags with paper cups on the thermos, telling them to help themselves.

The next day, a worker told me that there was no need to boil hot water, as tap water would be just fine in the hot weather. I said, “Perfect, I have a water purifier, and the water it produces is good. You can drink it directly, and it won’t cause stomach problems.”

One of the workers asked if I followed any belief system, and I replied, “Yes, I practice Falun Dafa. It teaches people to be good.” I would often go down to chat with them, take the opportunity to clarify the truth, and help them quit the CCP organizations. Most of them had only joined the Youth League, and after learning the truth, they chose to quit.

One day, the workers were insulating the walls of my apartment. I opened the window and handed each of them a cup of water. I chatted with them, expressed my gratitude for their hard work, and shared information about Falun Dafa with them, and they chose to quit the CCP.

There was a sudden thunderstorm one day. Two workers asked me if they could climb through my window and exit via my hallway to avoid getting wet, because getting down from the scaffolding would take a while. I let them in and they repeatedly thanked me. They later told me that other residents didn’t allow them to pass through their apartments because they were covered in mud and dust. However, I didn’t think about anything else, and only hoped they wouldn’t get soaked in the heavy rain.

Relationship with My Daughter’s Mother-in-law

My daughter got married in 2016, and the wedding banquet was organized by the groom’s family. My daughter’s mother-in-law was concerned that I might have different opinions, so she invited me to participate in the selection and planning. Knowing that their family had financial constraints, I suggested ways to simplify and save money during the process. She was pleased, and even the staff from the wedding company praised me, saying, “You are really nice, always helping them save money.”

My daughter and her husband wanted to buy a house in the city where they lived two years ago. The property prices were around 40,000 to 50,000 yuan per square meter, and the down payment was over two million yuan. My daughter’s mother-in-law could only contribute 300,000 yuan, and I provided 1.8 million yuan for their down payment. It’s a custom now that when children buy a house after marriage, it’s a fifty-fifty split between the two families, as each family has only one child. I told my daughter to be considerate of her mother-in-law, as she earned very little money, and our family was in a better financial position. I could contribute more and I just hoped that the young couple got along well and lived a good life.

My house is spacious, and on every Chinese New Year holiday, I would set aside a day to invite my daughter’s in-laws over to have a celebration. The three of them enjoyed eating, drinking, and playing mahjong while I cooked for them, and the atmosphere was harmonious. I told them the facts about Dafa before, and they have all quit the CCP. My daughter’s mother-in-law is especially supportive of Falun Dafa. Whenever anything happened in my family, she would come to help. When I was arrested and experienced illness karma in March 2023, she came to the hospital to take care of me. People who shared the same hospital room with me commented that we were like sisters.

These are some instances in my daily life where I have followed the principles of Falun Dafa. These might be small matters, but they reflect the righteous power of Falun Dafa that has transformed me from being selfish and narrow-minded into a cultivator who is considerate of others.