Spiritual Interludes

By a fellow practitioner from Mainland China

One day, I was about to take a train home from a pleasure trip out of town. After I bought my ticket, I waited at the entrance to the train platform. Soon a young woman carrying a child came up to me and asked where I was headed. When she learned that we were both going to the same destination, she happily asked me if she could travel with me. This reminded me of my condition before initiation: I wanted to help others, but not everyone trusted me. However, after initiation, I have had countless experiences in which strangers place their faith in me.

After I agreed to let her travel with me, the young woman told her mother, who came to see her off, saying that she could now relax and not worry about her daughter's safety. The mother seemed completely assured and asked me with a smile, "Please take care of them!" I then held the child as the young mother carried her luggage. We boarded the train together, and after finding our seats, sat down and chatted. I had a bottle of pure water in my bag, which I had placed on the luggage rack above the seats. I asked the young mother if she wanted some water, thinking that I would get it only if she did. And she said that she did not need it because they had water with them. Seeing how touched she was, I thought that I must be a very loving person.

But after a while, I saw the woman get some boiled water from the other end of the train, while carrying her child in her arms. The water was so hot that the child cried loudly when trying to drink it. The mother waited for a long time, but the water was still hot. At last, she took a small cucumber from her luggage and gave it to the child. I then realized that the woman had had not accepted my water simply out of politeness! After we arrived at our destination, I helped her with her luggage while she held her child. We then exited the station and I waited with her and the child until her husband came to meet them.

At that time, I thought I had done a good deed. At least I felt that I had tried my best to help a fellow human being. But after some retrospection, I realized that I still needed to improve spiritually. The woman was obviously not well off and could only prepare things such as a cucumber for her child to eat, while most other children normally consume numerous snacks while traveling on trains. Suppose our Master had been in this situation. She would definitely have thought of getting some snacks or toys for the child. On the surface, I seemed to have done something good, but after analyzing my behavior, I understood that I still can not sense what others feel and give love and concern when necessary. There is still much for me to learn!