Different Thoughts Produce Different Results When You Remember that You Are a Practitioner

It was a rainy day when I brought Teacher's article "Fa Teaching at the 2009 Greater New York International Fa Conference" to my elder sister, who lives with my mother, and I reminded her to study the Fa diligently. In our conversation, we talked about my younger sister's poor living conditions, and I blamed her husband for her difficult situation. I said that he was very lazy, and that he did not even try to look for a job for the sake of his family. I also expressed many other complaints against him. My parents were present, and they added comments to my criticisms, so I continued. At that point, I totally forgot that I was a Falun Dafa practitioner.

After a while I drove home, but after a very short distance the car got stuck in a ditch. The two wheels on the left were firmly in the muddy ditch, and the car door was jammed shut. The more I stepped on the gas pedal, the deeper the wheels dug in. I asked my sister for help, but it was raining so hard and the car would not budge, so I stayed at my mother's house to wait out the rain and tried to think of what to do next.

I then suddenly realized that it was a flaw in my character that had caused the problem. How could I forget that I was a practitioner? I kept complaining about the weather, thinking that was what had caused my trouble. Why hadn't I thought of our Teacher? I said to my sister, "We are Dafa practitioners, and we should recite 'Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.' People who are enlightened to the truth know the power of reciting these words, and it would be good for us to do it." I then said, "I was wrong to criticize our brother-in-law. Every person has his or her own destiny, and I shouldn't complain so much and be so angry."

I realized I had some issues of my own, so I apologized to Teacher in my heart that I should not be so concerned about things that happen every day in our society, and I would try to do better. When the rain stopped, we tried to restart the car. I held onto the steering wheel and stepped on the gas pedal while my relatives pulled the car in the front. The car was soon out of the ditch. It was like a miracle, and I thanked Teacher in my heart.

It seemed like a trivial matter, but I discovered many of my attachments: to comfort, to affection for family, to complaining, and to being easily angered. Frankly, it was my own selfishness and self-interest and a demand for a good life for my family. These are attachments that a cultivator should seek to discard. I must study the Fa diligently and let the Fa cleanse me, so that I can attain the state of complete trust in Teacher and the Fa and become a practitioner that conforms to the requirements taught by Teacher.