PureInsight | July 29, 2021
[PureInsight.org] Last night, I suddenly thought of the topic of hardship and comfort and I wanted to discuss it with fellow practitioners. I remembered that in the early days of the persecution, my wife and I had been re-educated through labor and sentenced. Suddenly the rest of my family lost their financial resources, such as my children and parents. It was like the sky had fallen...
I remember that before the illegal re-education through labor, I ran away from home and was displaced for a while. During that time, I even lived in the wild, stayed in caves, and begged for food in order to avoid the evil arrests. The hardship was indescribable. Despite that, I felt very pure during that period of cultivation. I stayed in the cave overnight, had thatch underneath my body, and covered with a small blanket that I brought with me. Sometimes there were no caves to live in, so I just slept on the ground in the wild, using the sky as my blanket and the ground as my bed. But in the daytime, I wrote “Truth Letters” and sent them to relatives, friends, colleagues, and acquaintances by quietly running to the city at night and mailed it out. I remember that one of my friends immediately informed my family after receiving my letter by telling them “Don’t worry, so-and-so sent me a letter.”
I remember that when I came back from the forced labor camp, my monthly salary was less than 1,000 yuan. My wife lost her job since the day she was kidnapped. I divided my salary into four parts for use, such as payback part, emergency part, truth-clarification material part, and 200 yuan for living cost. I ate steamed buns with pickles daily. Or made some noodles eating with salt. I went to work during the day and went to the countryside with fellow practitioners to send out truth-clarification materials at night. The hardships were soaked in the enrichment of cultivation, and the cultivation state was particularly good.
In recent years, the environment has changed. I have moved into the city and lived in a building. Salaries have increased several times, and my children have also earned a lot. Since my wife’s persecution and death, the children have been filial piety to me. They bought clothes that occupy my entire closet, foods, and other items all the time. I got a pampered and peaceful life as a retiree. However, my heart became more and more uncomfortable and uneasy. After being away from a difficult environment, I lived a comfortable life but became more distant from the connotation of cultivation. I felt more and more that I was not practicing. Instead, I am living as an old man's life in his twilight years. This kind of deep affection from my children has made my desire for comfort increasingly worse, so the state of not being diligent has become more serious and I became worse and worse at doing the three things. Meanwhile, my physical condition appears to have problems.
Master said in Fa-rectification Period Dafa Disciples, “If you are still unclear about what a Fa-rectification disciple is, you won't be able to step forward in the current tribulation, and you will be led by the human world's pursuit of comfort to "enlighten" along an evil path. Master's heart has always been pained by those who have fallen, and the majority were ruined by that pursuit.” I was very anxious and afraid that I would be ruined in comfort. I am well aware that enduring hardship and eliminating karma are the essence of cultivation. Ease and enjoyment are things that must be cultivated. How can a cultivator cultivate ease and enjoyment? Don't be ruined by ease. It is a topic that every elderly fellow practitioner should be wary of. Moreover, Dafa disciples in the Fa-rectification period have a mission. It is a huge issue to be unfulfilled on our mission and pledge.
Recently, when I watched my children spending money lavishly, (especially when spending money for me) without cherishing the money, I was anxious. Thus, I repeatedly said to them, “money is hard to make, so save for a rainy day”, but nobody listened to me. My children considered my warning as old school concept with an attachment of interest. I am a person who came from the bitter days of spending a penny for two things, how can I not cherish it? There is a generation gap between the elderly and the young in terms of concept, life philosophy, and living habits. It is undeniable that I can communicate with them very well. Frugality is a traditional virtue, and it will not be wrong for anything. We elderly also have the responsibility of educating our children!
When the conditions are better and the environment improves, then the attachment of pursuit of comfort will follow. Perhaps some elderly practitioners may be more or less affected by the affection of their children, be disturbed by the pursuit of comfort, or be trapped in it. This article is my own personal experience. I wrote it out to discuss with fellow practitioners. Please be compassionate to correct me if there is anything wrong.
Chinese version: https://www.zhengjian.org/node/266427
