Operating an Airbnb Offers Cultivation Opportunities

(Minghui.org) I opened a home-stay (Airbnb) business in 2019, and by 2023, I'd hosted more than 2,500 guests from 20 countries, including the United States, Canada, France, Denmark, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Poland, Vietnam, South Korea, Singapore, China, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Italy, Germany, Mexico, Austria, and Turkey. 

Winter is the off-season for Airbnb, so in January 2020, I decided to go to Florida in the U.S. for 40 days to promote Shen Yun Performing Arts. The night before I left, the furnace stopped working. The temperature dropped, and the house was cold. I called a repairman who said he would come the following day. When he arrived, he opened the boiler panel, said he couldn’t see any issues, and suggested replacing the circuit board. I immediately understood that something was wrong with my xinxing.

When he heard I would be gone for more than a month, he said, “It’s so cold, the pipes might freeze and burst. You’ll have to spend thousands on repairs if that happens.” 

At that moment, my business partner phoned and said a Chinese family wanted to stay for two weeks. Although Chinese guests are a small proportion of my clientele, they often have high expectations while hoping to spend less. They might leave negative comments if they are slightly dissatisfied, which could affect our business.

I had been worried when hosting Chinese guests, and it was more challenging this time. Not only was I about to leave on a long trip, but there was a problem with the furnace. If the situation wasn't handled well, it could lead to trouble. I firmly believe that promoting Shen Yun is the most righteous thing to do. As long as I believe in Master and the Fa, Master will surely help me.

At the same time, as a cultivator, I knew I had to treat my guests kindly. I bought a nice box of chocolates and wrote a note: “Welcome! Thank you for choosing my home. Unfortunately, I already planned to be out of town. If you need anything, please text me, and I will do my best to help. I wish your family a pleasant holiday. Thank you for your understanding!” I also asked my neighbor to shovel the snow in the driveway.

Having arranged these matters, I sincerely asked for Master’s blessings. The furnace issue tested my faith in Master and the Fa. These superficial obstacles could not stop me from helping with Shen Yun. I firmly believed that as long as my heart was on the Fa, nothing would go wrong. I picked up my luggage and left. It turned out everything was fine. When the guests left, they sent me a message saying they enjoyed staying at my place.

The most profound insight I gained from this incident is that “letting go” is the key to spiritual elevation. We should abandon human notions, and our behavior must meet the Fa’s requirements and conform to ordinary people’s principles.

The Fear of Filth

A few days after my home-stay business opened, a guest called me downstairs, saying the toilet was blocked. I opened the toilet lid and saw a pool of filth, I almost vomited.

I had been living a life of comfort and cleanliness. I don’t remember how I cleaned the toilet that day. For a long time, just the thought of it would disgust me.

I understood that nothing is accidental for a cultivator: What happened must have something to do with my cultivation and attachment. Master said, 

“Do you know what the yellow soil, or loess, that covers part of the Earth’s surface is? It is actually the feces of beings at the level higher than the human dimension. That is why gods said in the past that humans are in a filthy world—that’s the meaning.” (“Teachings at the Conference in the Western U.S.”)

I know that every attachment keeps us human. Everything here is dirty in God’s eyes. I looked within and found that I was afraid of filth. In fact, whether it is dirty or not is psychological, and going to extremes is a kind of attachment. Shouldn’t such a serious attachment be eliminated? If we dig deeper into the fear of dirt, it’s actually the result of intolerance and being picky. I found that this attachment became weaker when I paid attention to eliminating it.

Be Kind to People Who Commit Fraud

There were some guests who booked a five-day stay. On the fourth day, I came home and saw a bloody, dead gray rat on the path to the guest’s room. I was a little frightened, so I went to my room and thought I would clean it up at dawn the next day.

The next day, my partner called and said, “Go downstairs. The guest said there’s a rat.” I opened my door and saw the dead rat lying on my doorstep. I went down and asked the guests where they found the rat. They said it was downstairs under the bathroom cabinet. They demanded that the management fee charged by Airbnb, the accommodation fee, and the cleaning fee totaling more than $700 be reimbursed, or else they would leave a negative review and say they found a rat in my house. I smiled and asked one guest if it was possible not to refund the management fee charged by Airbnb. He said he had to ask his mother. That evening, several cars arrived, and many people came. They appeared poor and not well educated, except the young man who spoke to me seemed educated. He went over to speak to a woman and then told me his mother agreed to waive the Airbnb’s management fee. I immediately refunded them more than $600. After they were given the money, the young man said, “It’s not your fault. The rats are probably behind the dresser.”

I knew there were no holes in the wall behind the dresser and that none of the guests before them ever saw any rats.

Throughout the incident, I remained calm and smiled, and when the family left, I waved goodbye. The young man and his father were the last to leave. They drove away slowly and waved to me. I could tell they were apologetic.

I felt sorry for them, because they did such a thing for a small profit. As a cultivator, I wanted them to leave knowing Falun Dafa is good.

My relatives later told me those rats were from labs. 

Telling the Truth to Guests

With so many guests coming and going, I knew they were all people with whom I had a predestined relationship, and I couldn’t miss the opportunity to save them. I knew everything I did had to conform to the rules of society, so I put a small shelf on the fireplace where I put a magazine edited by practitioners and a copy of the Epoch Times.

I also bought small lotus flowers other practitioners had made with the words of “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good” and the Minghui website address. These crystal-clear lotus flowers were like beautiful jewels and became a link between me and my guests. I gave them to the guests as they left, and they loved them and would repeatedly thank me.

Six young South American men stayed at my place. They didn’t have a car, so when they left, they were very quiet. I looked out the window and saw they were already across the road from my house. I quickly ran out and gave each of them a lotus flowers and wished them a safe journey. They held the flowers tightly and said, “Your home is five-star.” After that, their friends came to stay at my house and brought me a beautifully decorated cup.

A family of Americans stayed at my place. The husband checked in while the family stayed in the car. He was tall, robust, and confident. I saw them off when they left. The husband said the home was hot. I apologized and said they should have let me know, and I would have turned on the air conditioning. I offered him the little lotus flower with both hands and wished them a safe journey. He was pleased. With a big smile, he took out his ID. It turned out that he was a police officer somewhere in the U.S. No wonder his demeanor was different. He was so security-conscious that I didn’t get a chance to see his wife and children.

For Chinese students, in addition to giving them a lotus flower, I also clarified the truth and suggested that they quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations, and most of them did. Only one student left a negative review and suggested people not come to my house. His review didn’t work, and the number of guests didn’t decrease, even during the pandemic.

Not Slacking Off in Cultivation

I did not start this business by chance. One practitioner suggested I do it but I seldom saw her after that. This business solved my financial problems and it also helped me improve my cultivation in many ways, and I have the chance to clarify the truth to people. 

I participate in the Global Rescue Platform and regularly make phone calls in the morning and at night.

Every day, I got up at 3:10 a.m. (2:10 a.m. in the winter) and did the exercises. Then I sent righteous thoughts and memorized the Fa for an hour and a half. I usually studied the Fa in the morning and evening and did the cleaning in the afternoon.

I also play in the Tian Guo Marching Band. I noticed that the parade schedules did not conflict with the work for my business, including those parades that were out of town.

Over the years, I haven’t missed a single parade. I also participated in most of the car parades during the pandemic. When there were two parades a day, after the morning parade, with the help of other practitioners, I would rush home to clean, greet the guests, and then hurry to another parade.

I gradually realized that cleaning was also a process of cultivation and improvement. At first, when a guest said that there was hair on the floor or that the door handle had not been wiped, I would look inward to see if I had CCP (Chinese Communist Party) culture and a mentality of doing things chaotically. 

I knew that, as a cultivator, I should hold myself to a high standard and do everything carefully to serve the guests. I would clean the floor three times, including every corner. As long as the weather permitted, I aired the pillows and quilts outside. Some guests said the pillows and quilts were fragrant. Whether the guests used the towels or not, I would wash them all, so I would often get excellent reviews, and once I was rated as a superb landlord. I now had more guests, even in the winter off-season.

It usually took me about five hours to clean the entire apartment, which was physically tiring. I used this time to listen to the Minghui radio and was moved to tears by practitioners’ stories, which inspired me to be more diligent. Time is precious, and there are only so many hours in a day. I think that, since I came for the Fa, I cannot delay doing the three things. I lead a simple life and cook simple food. 

I recently closed the home-stay business for other reasons. When I waved goodbye to the last guests, there were tears in my eyes, and I silently wished that they could soon practice Falun Dafa.

I know there are new cultivation opportunities for me. I will cherish everything that Master arranged for me, and I will be even more diligent, and live up to Master’s compassion.