By an Australian practitioner
About a year ago, I was driving home late at night with my girlfriend. The wind was as strong as I’d seen in quite a while, with dirt and grit being blown up against the windshield. As I drove along the main road I noticed all of the streetlights were out up ahead. It was very dark, so I slowed right down and proceeded along cautiously. As we continued I noticed a large tree had been blown down across the road up ahead, knocking down the power lines and blocking off the road just before the entry to my street.
I turned the car around and took an alternate route to my street. As I sped up, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye that looked like a man huddling close to a large tree, holding some bags. As we drove away, I wondered if we should go back and see if he needed help. On one hand I was worried that stopping might be asking for trouble, as I am normally wary of picking up strangers. On the other hand, he looked like he might be homeless, and he might really need some help. That morning I’d been reading about virtue and compassion in Zhuan Falun, so I decided to turn around and see if he needed any help.
When we got back to where he was, my girlfriend rolled down the window and called out, ‘Are you OK? Do you need a lift?’. He didn’t seem to hear us. We called out again, and this time he heard us. He moved slowly away from the tree, and seemed to say he was OK, but he didn’t look OK, I thought he looked drunk. Just then, a gust of wind knocked him flat on the ground, his shopping bags falling out of his hands. I got out of the car and retrieved his bags, and he just lay there, so I slowly helped him up and into back seat. Getting back into the car was difficult, as the wind was rushing down the street, pinning the doors closed.
Once in the car, the man recovered a bit and told us he had just been released from hospital, and was walking home when the storm hit. He said was on his way to a friend’s place a few streets away, so we drove him there.
After arriving, we roused his friend and helped him into the house. When we were leaving he was so grateful, saying ‘For all my life, and from the bottom of my heart, thank you’. I’d never been thanked so profoundly before, but in my mind I wanted to tell him that he should be thanking Falun Dafa, not me. I didn’t quite have the courage though, so I just told him ‘You’re very welcome’, said goodbye, and turned to leave.
As my girlfriend and I walked back down the steps, he called out, ‘What faith are you?’. I was a bit surprised, and said, ‘Sorry?’. He repeated ‘What faith are you?’. As I turned around, I said, ‘That would be Falun Dafa’. He said ‘What?’. I looked at him kindly and said, ‘Falun Dafa. We practice Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance.’ I again turned around to go, but he called out ‘Do you have a card?’. Again I was surprised, and said ‘Sorry?’. He repeated, ‘Do you have a card?’. I didn’t have a card, but went to the car, got a Falun Dafa brochure and gave it to him.
When we got home I sat on the bed, opened Zhuan Falun and started to read. I was surprised when the first line that met my eyes read, “Though you could ride a bike all over the city, you might not run into some good deeds to perform. Though you could go about things this way everyday, you might not encounter such opportunities”. I felt touched, and tears welled up into my eyes – I knew in my heart that the night’s events had not happened by chance.
The next morning, I thought back over the previous day’s events. I had been pondering throughout that day, “what exactly is compassion?”. Well, I realised part of the answer. In the moments when I was deciding whether to help the stranger, and a selfless thought had arisen – maybe that was compassion?
Posting date: 3/August/2003
Original article date: 3/August/2003
Category: Cultivation Stories
