(Minghui.org) A woman in our community began practicing Falun Dafa in 1995. Even though she’s 72 years old, she goes out to distribute materials and tells people about Falun Dafa.
I first met her around the 2019 Chinese New Year. I wanted to see Shen Yun and asked Master to help me. I met her later that day. She was very friendly and invited me to her home to watch the Shen Yun performance.
Due to the COVID lockdown, I couldn’t go, and I did not see her for months after that. After the lockdown restrictions eased, I met a practitioner who did business at the market and she said that the veteran practitioner was looking for me.
When I went to her house, I saw that her situation wasn’t good. She said that she had no strength and her shoulders ached. When she did the second exercise she could not keep her arms up. She could not focus when she read the Fa and she could not keep her palm upright when she sent righteous thoughts. She said that because of the lockdown, it was hard to enter or leave the neighborhood.
She could not contact other practitioners. Since no one delivered materials to her, she no longer went out to clarify the truth to people. She said she had waited for me to come to her house to see the Shen Yun performance, but I never showed up. She said she thought that was due to the pandemic. She said she felt unwell and she asked me to read the Fa with her.
I was basically practicing by myself. I read the Fa alone, went out to clarify the truth alone, and went online to submit the list of people whom I helped quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) organizations. I read Minghui.org and printed my own truth-clarifying materials, I was not in contact with other practitioners. I gradually began walking on my own path of cultivation.
I told her that I’d gone to the south that winter. I was elsewhere when Wuhan was locked down, so I did not get to go to her home to see Shen Yun. After I returned, even though the restrictions were in place I still went out to clarify the truth every day. Though there are very few people on the streets, I was still able to talk to people. I agreed to read the Fa with her.
She kept saying that she did not cultivate well and did not gain her own understanding of the Fa when she read. I reminded her to examine herself when she encountered problems. She said that she did not know how to look within. She told me what happened when she went out to distribute materials with another practitioner. She chatted with an elderly man and gave him a copy of Minghui Weekly. He took it and was about to leave when the other practitioner handed him some additional truth-clarifying materials. He got angry and threw everything on the ground. He even said some disrespectful things about Falun Dafa.
She said that she wept as she picked up the materials. She felt bad and no longer wanted to hand out materials. She said that the other practitioner did not want to do it by herself but at the critical moment she interfered and messed up the whole thing. In fact, the other practitioner complained, saying, “Why didn’t you tell him that some of the information was about Falun Dafa?” When the veteran practitioner recalled what had happened, she did not think that she’d done anything wrong, but she no longer wanted to go out with that practitioner.
I told her that she should unconditionally look within. When she talked to people, she focused on helping them quit the CCP but did not always mention Falun Dafa..
I sincerely shared my thoughts with her. From Master’s lectures, we all know that whatever a cultivator experiences is a good thing because it helps us improve our xinxing. I told her what I understood: First, we should not have grudges against fellow practitioners. Next, she said that she did not clarify the truth about Falun Dafa to the man. Had she remained at the same level in cultivation for too long and this was an opportunity for her to make a breakthrough and improve her xinxing?
When the man threw the materials away, she did not maintain her xinxing. Instead, she got angry, felt wronged, complained, and even grumbled about the other practitioner. If she’d gotten rid of these attachments at that time, wouldn’t she have improved her xinxing and raised her cultivation level? That would have been a great thing. It was a pity that she missed the opportunity. However, she should look inward now. She should never judge who is right or wrong from the surface appearance. How you improve in your xinxing depends on how you look within yourself.
After I shared my thoughts with her, she suddenly saw the light and was quite happy. She said that Master had been watching over her and she knew that Master was hinting to her that her recent cultivation state had not been good.
I gave her a copy of the music for the second exercise, which was half an hour long. I suggested that she switch to doing the second exercise for half an hour in the morning and do the remaining half an hour another time. When her arms got stronger and her shoulders no longer hurt, she could switch back to the one-hour-long version. After she did this for a while, she said that it was effective.
When she felt better, she went out to clarify the truth, but she always wanted to find a partner. I said, “You should try to eliminate this attachment to relying on others. You need to walk your own path. It’s good to go out by yourself. You can go where you feel like going and manage your own time. I am so used to going out alone that I prefer it.”
She later began going out alone and no longer needed me to study the Fa with her. I encouraged her to persist in studying the Fa by herself. She now says that studying the Fa and clarifying the truth alone is good.
Helping her improved my cultivation. After she began going out to clarify the truth again, she contacted a practitioner to help find someone who could deliver materials to her regularly. Sometimes when she did not have enough materials, she contacted me.
I usually carry thumb drives, truth-clarifying cards, single-sheet fliers, or QR codes. The veteran practitioner wanted bigger truth-clarifying materials such as amulets, books, calendars, souvenirs for cars, etc., but I do not make those things. I went to other practitioners’ homes to find and ask for them. Because of safety concerns, I try not to make phone calls. I just go to their houses at prearranged times to collect the materials, then I deliver them to the veteran practitioner.
Sometimes when I went to her home, she wasn’t there and I had to go back. She needed quite a few amulets and the practitioner who supplied her could not meet her demands. She asked me for help again. But twice when I brought her amulets, she did not want them because she had already gotten some. The first time, she turned down over 120 amulets, and the second time she didn’t take over 80.
I kept half of the 120 amulets and distributed them. I returned 60 to the practitioner who’d made them as I did not want them to accumulate at my place when others might need them. When the veteran practitioner refused to take the 80 amulets, I thought that I couldn’t return them to the practitioner who’d made them. I asked Master to help me deliver them to the practitioners who needed them. Every time I went out, I put around 20 of them in a sealed bag and gave them to other practitioners who needed them. I gave over 50 to practitioners and distributed the rest.
We distributed calendars in August and September, and the veteran practitioner asked me for some. I planned to deliver them to her the next afternoon. However, when I met another practitioner at the market that morning, she told me the veteran practitioner had asked her to tell me that she no longer needed them. I was unhappy and thought, “You call yourself a veteran practitioner, but you are not considerate of others. When you want something, you ask for it, and when you don’t want it anymore, you just don’t take it. Your words do not count. I traveled a long way and carried such a heavy load for you. You made me run an errand for nothing. Next time, I won’t help you.” I even complained to the other practitioner about her. After I returned home from the market, I noticed a small tear in my lower lip.
I quickly looked within. When I helped others, I was quite clear about things, but when I ran into difficulty, I looked outwards. This was a trivial matter but I still paid attention to it and even talked about that practitioner behind her back. I did not guard my speech. I obviously feared hardship and sought comfort. In my heart, I still felt I was wasting my time when I helped others. This was an attachment to selfishness; I was happy when the veteran practitioner accepted the materials and unhappy when she didn’t. Wasn’t this an attachment to defending my feelings? I really needed to improve in my xinxing and capacity!
The veteran practitioner was not asking for materials for herself but to raise awareness. An over-70-year-old person going out to talk to people, rain or shine, really deserved my respect. One day when I went to her house, her son was there. I talked to him about the pandemic and Falun Dafa and hoped that he could understand and support his mother. What moved me was that her son not only understood the truth, but he was also very supportive. He said, “It is really not easy for my mother to do all this. I think she’s great.” Wasn’t that proof that she not only practiced what she learned from Dafa and set an example, but she also balanced her family relationships with her cultivation very well? Not only does her family understand the truth, but they are also kind to practitioners and support our efforts to help people.
Just as her son said, she is really great and deserves our respect. When she needs my help, it’s an opportunity to improve my cultivation. Actually, helping others is helping myself. I thanked her from the bottom of my heart for helping me to improve my xinxing.
When I truly felt that my xinxing had improved, I felt a sense of indescribable joy. That day, whoever I spoke to agreed to quit the CCP. When I was taking the public bus home, I was surprised to see udumbara flowers blooming on the bus schedule board. Although I never take my mobile phone with me when I clarify the truth, I brought it with me the next morning to take pictures of the precious flowers. There were 11 pure white blooming udumbara flowers. I think Master was encouraging me.
Before this, I only saw udumbara flowers in photos in books or on the computer. I always wanted to see this sacred flower for myself. When I looked inward and truly improved, I saw udumbara flowers.
The veteran practitioner still looks for me when she needs help. I let go of my attachments and I always go whenever she calls me, because I know that her issues are also my issues.