Cultivating Solidly and Improving Myself While Working with Practitioners

(Minghui.org) I’d like to take this opportunity to review the recent years of my cultivation journey of coordinating the practitioners in my small study group to do the three things together and how I have improved myself through actual cultivation to share with you and report to Master. Though the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) continues its severe persecution, practitioners in China show their compassion and love to sentient beings when they clarify the truth to them. I understand that we should also treat other practitioners with compassion and love while we do Dafa work together. This is also a process of validating the Fa and improving oneself.

Understanding Practitioners

The practitioners in our Fa study group are in their seventies and eighties, and live in different areas. We study the Fa, share our cultivation experiences and insights, and send forth righteous thoughts together for half a day once a week. Every one of us does the three things separately at home. Though we don’t have many practitioners in our group, we still have conflicts due to our human attachments. We have studied the Fa together for more than 10 years. Practitioner Lan (alias) did not focus when studying the Fa. She didn’t study Master’s new articles and didn’t have clear understanding of the Fa principles. She regarded doing things as cultivation and was not careful about safety. As a result, she was persecuted several times. We reminded her to be aware of safety several times, but she didn’t change. As time went on, I started to resent her. When we met, I always reminded her about safety issues. She felt a lot of pressure from me.

For a long time, I had a heavy heart when I thought of her. I worried that she would be detained again. One day I shared with a practitioner who was not in our Fa study group. He reminded me that I had an attachment. I didn’t quite understand him then. By studying the Fa more and receiving hints from Master, I realized that I was wrong.

Master taught us,

“A cultivator has no role models. The path each person is to take is different, because everyone’s foundation is different, the sizes of their various attachments are different, the characteristics of their beings are different, their jobs among ordinary people are different, their family environments are different, and so on. These factors determine that each person’s path of cultivation is different, that how they get rid of their attachments is different, and that the sizes of their tests are different. Therefore, amidst the manifestations of things it is very unlikely you will find a path that others have made, and even less is it possible for someone to get a ride down one.” (“Path,” The Essentials of Diligent Progress II)

Master made it very clear in his lecture. I didn’t understand it well. I looked at other practitioners from a human perspective. I thought I had cultivated better than her. I forced my notions upon her and caused gaps to develop among practitioners. I apologized to her sincerely and dissolved the conflict. My heart felt lighter. I learned a lesson from this incident, and I have looked within during conflicts and treated other practitioners kindly since then. I don’t think I’m better than other practitioners. I look at practitioners’ merits and am not attached to their shortcomings. We improve ourselves together.

Expanding My Tolerance When Treated Unfairly

There were things that happened unexpectedly when I worked with other practitioners on Dafa projects. One scorching summer afternoon the temperature rose to 43°C (109°F). Practitioner Pei (alias) and I had agreed to meet at a place at 3:30 p.m. I would then hand Dafa materials to her. There were almost no people walking or cars running in the streets. I arrived at the meeting place to wait for her, sweating. My shoes were soaked with sweat. I waited for her for almost one hour. She didn’t show up. I didn’t feel good and had some resentment. At the same time, I worried that she might have run into some trouble.

We met several days later. She seemed to have forgotten about our appointment and didn’t say why she hadn’t shown up. I became a bit angry and asked her. She said that it had been too hot and her daughter wouldn’t let her go. She said it without any guilt. I became speechless and felt she was so selfish and didn’t care about other people. I was annoyed and couldn’t understand why she, a practitioner, had behaved this way. But I remembered what Master taught us.

“A wicked person is born of jealousy.Out of selfishness and anger he complains about unfairness towards himself.A benevolent person always has a heart of compassion.With no discontentment or hatred, he takes hardship as joy.”(“Realms,” Essentials for Further Advancement)

I realized that my behavior was like a wicked person and was not up to the standard of a practitioner.

Master had arranged this opportunity for me to improve. I had not enlightened and had anger and resentment. I pushed the opportunity to improve away. As a veteran practitioner, I had failed a basic test. I was ashamed of myself and felt guilty. I realized that I should enlarge my capacity for enduring. Going forward, I must be stricter with myself and be more tolerant of others. I should treat practitioners with compassion and tolerate them. I will then be able to coordinate and cooperate with other practitioners when doing the three things.

Helping Another Practitioner and Moving Forward Together

Practitioner Lan is 83 years old. She passed a test of life and death early last year. At the beginning she could only eat little, then she had difficulty breathing, especially at night. The practitioners in our Fa study group sent forth righteous thoughts for her and encouraged her to believe in Master and the Fa to pass this test. We tried to find her attachments that had led to this test. I knew her well, as I had studied the Fa with her for more than 10 years.

I shared with her several times. I thought she had two problems. The first one was that she had read the Fa but didn’t understand it. The second one was that she had harbored resentment toward her husband for decades and hadn’t let it go. I thought she should understand these things from the Fa perspective and improve her xinxing before she could pass this test. I listed down Master’s lectures about sickness karma and articles regarding resentment on a piece of paper and asked her to read Master’s lectures and articles repeatedly and hoped that she could gain some understanding from the Fa.

I brought some food that would help her health. She was a vegetarian. She thought vegetables were good for her health. I encouraged her to eat meat as well. We studied the sections in Zhuan Falun about the issue of eating meat. She understood.

Thanks to Master’s protection and his bearing karma for her, she passed the test. She improved her understanding of the Fa. She let go of her resentment gradually. Her health improved. As she changed, her husband became more easy going.

After all these years of working with practitioners, I have realized that whether we come across good things or bad things, we must study the Fa. Only when we have a clear understanding of the Fa, can we see through things, find our attachments, get rid of them and improve. In the limited remaining time before the Fa rectifies the human world, we should be stricter with ourselves, be humble and treat practitioners with compassion. We should cherish the predestined relationships with other practitioners and be willing to bear hardships and sacrifice for others. Only then can we coordinate with other practitioners well and improve together in cultivation.