Discovering the Joy of Being Truly Considerate of Others

(Minghui.org) Our family-owned factory had to be relocated in 2011. We received a considerable amount of money as compensation for the forced demolition. Because my father-in-law played favorites, he gave the lion’s share, two million yuan (U.S. $313,863), to my brother-in-law, even though my brother-in-law was already well off.

My brother-in-law only invested 80,000 yuan (U.S. $12,555) during the initial startup of the factory and hasn’t lifted a finger since, while my husband devoted himself wholeheartedly in the operations of the factory for years. Both my father-in-law and my brother-in-law are shrewd and calculating to the extreme. 

I was angry about all of this, but I was not good at arguing. They know that I’m not an articulate person. I held onto my grievances toward them for years, and I often thought about how my mother-in-law and my sister-in-law bullied me. All of these things combined made me vexed and frustrated. I was tormented by these grudges. Because I am a cultivator, I tried my best to let go of this resentment, but it kept coming back. I was plagued by anger and grievances for years. 

I read some experience-sharing articles recently where practitioners mentioned how they pitied their family members who were lost in fame, fortune, and sentiment. It dawned on me that my relatives were also entangled by their pursuits of fame, fortune, and sentiment, but they seemed to enjoy all of it and even liked to show off what they scooped up. How pitiful! I realized that they were all actually in a miserable situation.

I was doing the second exercise one day when an idea came to me: “My brother-in-law has a son. He does need a lot of money to help his son get started in life. My father-in-law is getting old. He also needs to save a lot of money for his retirement. He probably gave my brother-in-law more money because he is counting on my brother-in-law to take care of him in his old age.”

The moment I thought of this, I felt as if I shot up into the sky like a firework. Wow! I felt enlightened and liberated from the resentment that had burdened me for years! My spirit felt light and so did my body!

After this pivotal moment, I realized that I was liberated just because I had considered other people and stood in their shoes for a moment. The key was considering others!

It finally dawned on me! Fellow practitioners who have cultivated themselves well have considered others constantly. They have handled things according to the principles of Falun Dafa at home and at work. That’s why people help them instead of interfere with them. That’s why they feel happy instead of bitter. For the first time, I personally experienced how great it is to consider other people!

Master has told us,

“If you are always compassionate and friendly to others, if you always consider other people when you do things, and whenever you have issues with other people you first think about whether they can take it or whether it will cause them harm, then you won’t have any problem.” (The First Talk, Zhuan Falun, Translation Edition (Feb. 2003, North America)) 

I had studied Master’s teachings but had failed to follow his instructions. I experienced such great happiness after genuinely considering other people for just a moment. It was indeed beautiful to enjoy this little spiritual ascension!