Cultivation and Getting a Driver’s Licence

I started learning to drive over a year ago. At first I thought it would be very easy. But it was no simple matter and it took me one year to get a driving licence. At the same time, the process of my cultivation went completely beyond my expectations.

I took the first driving test right before I went overseas to study for four months. Since I had almost accumulated enough driving hours, my husband urged me to take the test before leaving Germany. But I was not feeling too positive about the outcome because sometimes my driving during practice was not so good. On the other hand, my husband thought there should be no problem with me because I used to be good at any practical skill. And he compared my learning situation with his situation several years ago and thought I could get the driver’s licence pretty soon.

But I failed the test after five minutes because I did not see a traffic sign. Later, it came to mind that the result of the test just reflected one of my problems when doing Dafa work. That is, I had the tendency to regard Dafa work as some ordinary work and tried to finish it in a hurry. I demanded of myself to do the work very well and I appeared to have the abilities acquired in the human world to do it well, just like driving was a practical skill which I should be good at. But I forgot that whether one can do Dafa work well does not depend on one’s abilities but on one’s attitude, on whether or not he does what he should do, and also on whether he has any attachment.

Another attachment of mine was that I was swayed by my husband’s mind. In fact he did not understand that my learning situation was different from his. After our cultivation in the Fa-rectification period, each practitioner is under great pressure, tangible or intangible. I could sense the pressure when learning to drive, but I just regarded it as some everyday matter, in an effort to use abilities acquired in the human world to deal with it, but without a clear understanding of my own situation. In reality, my instructor had advised me several times not to take the test, but my husband insisted that there should be no problem with me. As far as I was concerned, I did not consider it from the angle of Fa-Rectification. I thought my husband was an experienced driver and his opinion would be right. Therefore, I took the test with the human thought of handling the problem with my acquired abilities. But in the end I wasted a lot of money and energy.

Four months later I came back to Germany and continued to learn to drive. I kept finding my attachments. For example, incredibly, I frequently failed to see the stop signs, or the signs saying no right of way, or the no entry signs. The instructor usually applied the brakes at the last minute, shouting, “Why didn’t you stop?”. I was asking myself the same question. At first I thought of the whole matter from the viewpoint of an everyday person. I had been careless since my childhood, which might be the reason why I did not see the road signs. I tried to concentrate on driving, but the situation did not improve much. Again I searched deeper within myself and saw that when doing Dafa work, sometimes I just kept going forward regardless of others’ feelings and their acceptance of my way of doing things. Whenever there was any obstacle to go through, I would go through it; whenever I needed to stop, I should stop. Just like driving, I should go when the traffic light turns green and stop when it turns red; I should speed up on the high way and slow down in residential areas. I realized that the impatience and recklessness displayed in my way of doing Dafa work prevented me from adjusting my pace and considering a matter from different angles. After becoming aware of my own attachment, I felt that I became much more clear-headed when driving.

Gradually I made fewer mistakes and became more confident in my driving. With confidence I took another test. When I arrived at the appointed area at noon, there was a boy waiting for his test in front of me. I read Zhuan Falun for half an hour until the car came. The examiner got out of the car, spoke to the boy in front of me, and then asked me if I was in a hurry to leave. I said that I needed to go to college in the afternoon. Therefore, the examiner let me take the test first. Without thinking about it, I got in the car. Unexpectedly my test was over quickly this time; I failed the test in less than two minutes because I did not see the traffic sign telling me to stop. I felt quite frustrated. How could this happen to me after I had practised driving so well? “Well, just let it be. Maybe I don’t have any talent for driving. Besides, it costs a lot of money to take a test. And our budget at home is very tight, so I will give up trying to get a driver’s licence.”

On my way to college I could not help but think about the test. Suddenly it occurred to me that when the examiner asked me if I would take the test first, I did something wrong; I did not consider whether the boy waiting in front of me had some engagement. He was supposed to take the test before noon, but his test time was postponed for half an hour; and then I cut in front of him without considering if he might miss his lunch. I just considered my going to school without considering his need first. Seeing my selfishness, I felt even sadder.

On my way to college I was still thinking about the test, when a lady in front of me twisted her ankle. She bent down, holding her ankle with pain. I thought about whether to go to college directly or to help her to the hospital. It flashed into my mind that I should help her to the hospital. When I walked toward her, she stood up with no painful expression on her face and quickly walked away as if nothing had happened. At college I encountered another test. In order to enrol in an exam, I had to wait queue for two hours. At first, the classmate waiting in front of me left because of some business. One hour later she came back, asking me if she could cut in front of me. I said yes. When it was her turn, she asked me again if I would like to cut in front of her. This time I did not. After reflecting on the whole matter, I realized that the two tests I had encountered resembled the previous one I did not pass when taking the driving test. I was so grateful to be given another chance to correct my mistake.

My two failed driving tests also led my husband to think twice about the whole matter. I was under much pressure from him to take the driving test. He had expressed his desire many times for me to get a driving licence. In this way, I could share the long-distance driving next time when we travelled to take part in Dafa activities. Besides, it really cost quite a lot of money to take the driving test again and again, and he got a little impatient about it. After my second driving test, I told him that I would take a break for a while, to figure out why I wanted to learn to drive, if I should give it up and wait until I really need the driver’s licence in the future, or if I should take the driving test a third time. I also told him the changes of my state of mind in the process of learning to drive as well as the difference between a practitioner and an everyday person in their process of learning to drive. My husband came to realize the pressure he imposed on me as well as the negative effect that his worries about time and money might bring. Therefore, he let go off his attachment and no longer asked me if I would take the driving test a third time.

During the school holidays I had more spare time and a part-time job. So I planned to continue learning to drive. Because I had already had driving lessons for a long period of time, I was quite familiar with driving and just had some extra lessons. As a result, I was getting impatient. I have disliked repeatedly practising things since my childhood, so I had to take care that this attachment would not be taken advantage of. I had a good understanding of my own attachment, but could not handle it very well in practice. Maybe the difficulty lay in the fact that I was also rectifying my own little universe when making efforts to change my deeply rooted concepts.

The situation of my learning to drive was sometimes good and other times bad. The day before I took the third driving test, I made many mistakes. The instructor kept encouraging me, but I felt so incapable I thought about cancelling the driving test. After my driving lesson, I felt unhappy and went to get my bike which I had left in a building. I hoped that the door to the building was unlocked and I could silently take my bike away because I was in no mood to talk to anybody. I checked the door to the building several times and was disappointed to find that the door was locked. I helplessly leaned against the door, thinking about pressing someone’s doorbell. Then to my surprise the door opened by itself. I understood that perhaps it was some encouragement. I was being encouraged me by all means, telling me that something impossible might become possible. I enlightened to the fact that as long as I wanted to, my seemingly rooted weaknesses could be conquered.

The next day I was silently reading “Lunyu” to myself when doing my part-time job. When I read, “If human beings are able to take a fresh look at themselves as well as the universe and change their rigid mentalities, humankind will make a leap forward,” I could not help but laughing at myself. I thought I had been reversing the positions of myself with the universe. I had had more confidence in my own abilities than in the abilities of the universe. As soon as I changed my rigid mentalities, I had a completely different state of mind. I realized that I still cared too much about gain and loss; when I did something well, I would be cheerful; when I did not do well, I would feel frustrated. I was determined to take a different attitude toward the third driving test.

After finishing my part-time job for the day, I went to take the driving test. This time I had a different confidence. When taking the second driving test, I had trusted my own ability, but this time I trusted the power of Dafa. I was the last one to take the test. As I got in the car, from the conversation between the examiner and the instructor, I knew that surprisingly very few examinees had passed the test today. I was not affected by their conversation and just focused on my driving. Half an hour later, I did nothing wrong with any road situation, traffic sign or parking the car. Basically I had passed the test. But the examiner and the instructor had to go to another place and I was supposed to drive them there. As a result my test would be prolonged for another 15 minutes. I told myself to pay attention. Though my test time was over, I would leave a loophole and I might still fail the test if I made a mistake now. Taking this test was like [a metaphor for] practising cultivation during the Fa-rectification period. My test time being over is like reaching my personal consummation. The remaining time seems unimportant [for personal cultivation] but I need to persevere, and not to slack off. I still need to be diligent until the last second, or all the previous efforts will be in vain. We finally arrived at the destination, and I got my driver’s licence.

I had been doing my Dafa work with the abilities and skills I had acquired in the secular world. Only this time I overcame the weakness in my belief in Dafa. I am more clearheaded and realize what I did not do well before. I have more patience and can consider a problem from different viewpoints. I am also much better in sending forth righteous thoughts and explaining the facts to people. In addition, I have come to understand that Fa-rectification is closely related to any trivial thing around us. Everything we do has a different meaning from everyday people’s business. If we are attentive enough, we can understand the systematic and careful arrangements made by Master. In the process, what we rectify first is ourselves.