My Difficulties Became Easier After Eliminating Attachments

(Minghui.org) I began to practice Falun Dafa in 2006 for health issues. I don’t honestly consider myself a diligent practitioner, but Master has never abandoned me and has watched over me all along the way.

My mother is a Dafa disciple. I read Dafa books before 2006, but I didn’t want to practice then as I was yearning for worldly goals and didn’t want to live by Dafa’s standards.

One day in 2006, I suddenly had large, red, hard, itchy lumps all over my legs. Doctors diagnosed it as rheumatism and prescribed medication (Ibuprofen) and a penicillin injection every day. The daily injections were troublesome, so my sister brought me long-acting penicillin, one shot a month. A neighbor suggested I eat dried skin of earthworms with rice wine, and a coworker brought me traditional Chinese herbal ointments for external application. Despite all the treatments, my condition worsened every day. I ached all over, and turning over in bed at night was the worst. Going to work finally became difficult, so I had to take leave and rest at home.

After taking leave, I called a friend to drive me to the provincial hospital, but she was unavailable for two days. “Why go to the hospital, when you have a simple solution right here?” smiled my mother, and handed me Zhuan Falun, Volume II. I took the book and began reading out of courtesy to my mother, and also out of boredom at home. Touched by one particular sentence, I said to my mother, “What the book says is so true!”

That night, I still felt a lot pain when turning over in bed, but it had reduced. I wondered, “Is it because I read that book?” But I didn’t tell anyone about it.

I continued reading the book seriously the next day, even before my mother urged me to do so. On the third day, my friend called to remind me about going to the hospital. I told her I didn’t need to go.

From then on, I just read the book and took one ibuprofen tablet daily. My condition improved every day, and the pain continually lessened. When my sister reminded me to take a shot of the long-acting penicillin, I said to her, “The shot hurts a lot. I’m not going to take it.” My mother asked me if it was because of the pain or having learned Dafa. I replied, “I feel fine now. I don’t need the injections anymore.” So I simply stopped taking medication, began to learn the five sets of exercises, and practiced with my mother every day. My condition continued to improve a lot, day by day. After taking sick leave for two weeks, I decided to return to work.

Although my joints still ached while walking, I managed to control myself and walk normally so that no one detected that anything was wrong with me. Before long, when climbing the stairs in my factory, I found that I had no pain at all. I had completely recovered, and did not even realize when the pain was gone for good.

A friend once told me that rheumatism is a lifelong disease, that I’d feel aches on cloudy or rainy days, and that I would not be able to stay anywhere with air conditioning. He warned me to be cautious because it could relapse at any time. But we had air conditioning everywhere at work. I also slept on the floor when I was tired from work during night shifts. But the rheumatism has never relapsed. I felt my body was light, having no illness at all. My life was also getting better and better. I subsequently met the right person and began a happy family.

At work, Dafa has opened my wisdom. I knew little about the machines in my factory. Owing to practicing Dafa, I diligently improved my professional skills. Because of being transferred to different sections in the factory, I often had opportunities to enhance my professional skills and gain more knowledge.

The equipment malfunctioned one night, and other workers thought it would take a long time to restore, but with a clear mind I re-designed the entire hardware system. The equipment resumed production. Similar situations happened several times, so my superiors and colleagues thought that I was competent. I was promoted from a worker to team leader, and then to the factory director. My work was progressing well.

Nevertheless, in July 2023, this smooth sailing work environment underwent significant changes. As the economy deteriorated, my company underwent restructuring. The factory became overstaffed, and all kinds of issues emerged. The equipment began to malfunction frequently due to strange reasons, such as thick cables unexpectedly snapping, new equipment breaking down, and bizarre accidents, like two unrelated pieces of equipment interfering with each other. Other pieces of equipment frequently broke down before I fixed the previous one. I felt extreme stress in taking care of these accidents every day.

My mother once told me, “There is spirit in all that exists,” which reminded me to say, “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good” to the equipment, steel structures, and the factory. The accidents then began to decrease.

One day, my mother asked me if the accidents had become fewer. I asked her how she knew. She said that a few days earlier, while sending forth righteous thoughts, she seemed to see a small and dark shadow like me. Today, while sending forth righteous thoughts, she had a vision of a normal person whom she thought to be me. From the perspective of non-practitioners, it seems that the accidents decreased because we kept addressing problems and improving the equipment, but I knew the real reason was that I recited “Falun Dafa is good” to them every day.

While I dealt with equipment issues, various problems with people also occurred. My company’s management became stricter, so everyone felt more and more stressed. With many people crowding in the factory, conflicts increased. I had to take care of all the emotions aroused from those conflicts. I felt frustrated with handling those chaotic issues every day.

What made me fall apart was when one of my most capable deputies decided he wanted to resign. Being competent and diligent, he played a crucial role in helping me, but with all my effort, I could not change his mind.

I was anxious, both mentally and physically. In addition to being surrounded by negative emotions every day, I was full of complaints, which were passed around by gossipers, only making things worse. And the responsible and hardworking deputy turned out to be petty, with extreme negative emotions.

At that time, I felt distressed when thinking about going to work in the morning. The distress was so much that I could sense it was material in other dimensions. It controlled me, and I became distressed even from the slightest things.

Master said:

“...when problems come along, you look inside.” (“Fa Teaching Given at the Meeting with Asia-Pacific Practitioners,” Collected Teachings Given Around the World, Volume VI)

As I persisted in looking inside, I found many of my problems. After I obtained the Fa in 2006, my circumstances improved significantly, and I knew it was because of practicing Falun Dafa. So I believed that practicing Dafa should make everything go smoothly, and I became obsessed with my happy life. I had gotten used to the comfortable life, so when the happy days changed, I felt unexpectedly resistant.

After reading an article one day written by a fellow practitioner, about “Journey to the West,” I realized that the Buddha had meticulously arranged the 81 trials to help the Tang monk and his disciples cultivate. How much effort did the Buddha make for them! I realized that those frustrating issues which happened to me were designed to help me elevate. Upon failing to pass any test among the “81 trials,” one cannot be fulfilled as a Buddha. It turned out that those people were arranged to play out dramas for me. But I was lost in my role so deeply that I felt exhausted from the illusions.

I adjusted my attitude, and began to feel that going to work was like a spiritual roaming to endure hardships and atone for karma. Thus, when encountering conflicts and issues, I tried to remain unmoved, and avoided becoming anxious. I also dug out a lot of deeply-rooted attachments. Regarding the attachment to comfort, I wanted harmony and stability in my workplace because I didn’t want to stay late to solve conflicts and issues. As to the attachment to fame and money, I worried that the accidents in the factory might become proof that I was incapable in my leaders’ eyes. I was unwilling to let go of my deputy for fear of shouldering his heavy job due to the attachment of dependence. I complained everywhere and shifted the responsibilities to others for the attachment of the grievance. Regarding the attachment to self-interest, I was unable to put myself in others’ shoes to consider why they acted as they did, but thought what they did was wrong. I found that because of all those attachments, I couldn’t eat or sleep well.

I then began to change my ways. Although my work in the factory was still complicated, and I was overloaded, I tried to oversee everything myself instead of simply assigning tasks, and no longer harshly criticized others when they failed to complete them in time. I worked with everyone if a problem could not be resolved smoothly. We thus often found good solutions together. Although it was busy and tiring, when I thought about enduring hardships to eliminate karma, I could face it positively.

Actually, we have Master and the Fa, so what can’t be resolved? I had a sincere conversation with my deputy and let him know that if he could find a more suitable job, I would let him go. I knew I would feel as comfortable whether he stayed or left. So things regained their order. After changing my attitude and getting rid of my notions, I saw the light at the end of the tunnel.

When recalling my bumpy journey of cultivation, I realize that everything in this world is illusory. Only by striving to cultivate myself diligently can I not disappoint Master’s compassionate guidance.

If there is anything inappropriate in my article, please kindly point it out.